The Westfield Leader Newspaper
The Times of Scotch Plains-Fanwood

A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION The Westfield L The Westfield L The Westfield L The Westfield L The Westfield Leader eader eader eader eader and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood Thursday, July 9, 1998 Page 11

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THE WEEK IN SPORTS

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TROLLEY CLANGS WITH NINE RUNS IN THE FOURTH

Jovial Jolly Trolley Rumbles Over Charlie Brown's, 11-6

QUICK, HALL AND RUSSO RIP TRIPLES

C & C Landscaping Trims Flannigan's Pub, 12-9 By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Victory was sweet as the Jolly Trol- ley avenged a 32-23 loss in a family feud grudge match earlier this sea- son to defeat Charlie Brown's, 11-6, at Tamaques Park in Westfield on July 1. The Trolley rolled into full speed and flattened Charlie Brown's with a nine-run fourth inning.

True sportsmanship and honor was displayed as each team agreed to provide its own umpire due to the absence of an official umpire. Strange as it may seem, especially with a family feud, there were no disputes

throughout the entire game. Paul Stofa led off for the Trolley and drew a walk and later became a victim of a force play. Don Tobey plunked a double to left, then Jason Swain swatted a two-run single to center.

Not to be outdone by the aggres- siveness of its feuding and boisterous brother, Charlie Brown's, also spon- sored by Taylor and Love Century 21 Realtors, tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the first. Ed Shinock drew a leadoff walk and Jeff Battiloro grounded into a force play. With Battiloro on first, Pete Valli stepped

to the plate and launched a two-run rocket shot to the far reaches of cen- ter field. Later in the inning, a jubi- lant Keith Joy and Mike Emery each added singles but were unable to score.

Charlie Brown's starting pitcher Neil Kamler retired the side in the second and Trolley pitcher Lee Marks nearly followed suit in the bottom half of the inning by allowing only a single to Chris Curty. Kamler gave up a single to Marks in the third and Marks retired all three Charlie Brown's bat- ters in the bottom of the third.

Finally, in the fourth, the Jolly Trolley found a reason to be jovial. Tobey thumped a double to left, Swain battered a single up-the-middle to drive in Tobey and Tom Jogis poked a single to center. Bob Jones jolted a one-run single to left, Steve Walsh reached first safely on an error and Jogis jogged home to score the third run of the inning.

Ken Beck bashed an RBI single over third, Marks mashed a single to right, scoring Walsh and advanced to second on the throw to home. Stofa ripped a two-run single to cen- ter and Gary Shor shuffled to first on a force play. Tobey looped a single to left and Jogis nailed a two-run single to right to conclude the nine-run assault.

Shaken and shuddering from the monstrous roar of the Trolley, Charlie

By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Mike Quick, Dwaine Hall and Phil Russo ripped triples as C & C Land- scaping chewed up the turf and fin- ished with a 12-9 victory in the first game of a double header with Flannigans in Scotch Plains Softball League action at Brookside Park in Scotch Plains on June 30. The second game was washed out due to a weep- ing act of Mother Nature.

C & C pitcher Russo retired the first three Flannigan batters and C & C went on the attack in the bot- tom of the inning. Paul Gosdick bounced a single to right field, Vinnie Rappa looped a single to left and Quick crunched an RBI double down the left field line. Rich Johns jolted a long sacrifice fly to center and Rappa ran home to give C & C a 2-0 lead.

Russo retired the next three Flannigan batters, then C & C in- creased its lead to 3-0 by the end of the second. With one out, Russo helped his cause by thumping a triple to deep center, Hall followed with an RBI triple against the fence in left field.

Flannigan's foamed with four runs in the third. Fred Pepe pep-

pered a single to left and Ed Blake bopped a single to center. Kevin Blake blasted a two-run double up- the-middle and Paul Mikla chopped a single past short. Kevin Mason stepped to the plate and mashed a triple to the far reaches of left field as Kevin Blake and Mikla trotted across the plate to give Flannigan's a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom of the third, with one man out, Rappa whacked a double to center but became a victim of a slick "back-pick" play initiated by Flannigan first baseman Mason, who crept behind the unsuspecting Rappa, received the relay and caught him off base. Despite the mental lapse, Quick stepped to the plate and hammered his triple to center and Johns brought him home with a single to right. Vito Castaldo crashed a double against the fence in left and Johns jogged in to score the go-ahead run.

Now on the light side of a see saw battle, Flannigan's responded with two runs in the fourth to regain the lead, 6-5. Dennis Baucom bashed a leadoff double down the third baseline. Pepe punched a single to

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Westfield Softball League Standings

WMSL STANDINGS: (As of July 4) TEAM W L Chaos 9 2 Mattress Factory 9 4 Checchio Chiropractic 7 4 A. J. Forklift 8 6 Jolly Trolley 5 6 Charlie Browns 4 8 Cellular Signal 4 9 Sour Grapes 2 8

A. J. Jersey Forklift 17, Checchio Chiropractic 1

A. J. Jersey Forklift avenged a pre- vious loss by dishing out a 17-1 serv- ing to Checchio Chiropractic. Ed Nugent was the winning pitcher and Manny Perez received the loss. A. J. Jersey Forklift elevated its record to 9- 6. Checchio Chiropractic fell to 7-4.

Scotch Plains Men's Softball League:

(As of July 4) A Division:

TEAM W-L Percentage The Hideaway 13-3 .900 PEPCO 12-4 .777 Sneakermania 10-4 .750 Phoenix Tube 9-9 .600 Malibu 7-11 .400 CTC Renovations 3-15 .300 Bravo Landscaping 8-10 .200 Jade Isle 5-12 .111

B Division:

TEAM W-L Percentage C & C Landscape 14-3 .777 D & L Locksmith 14-4 .667 Starlight Cleaners 11-6 .667 S. P. Post Office 9-9 .600 Flanagan's 8-9 .555 Depth Chargers 6-12 .400 Appezzato Const. 4-13 .250 Fridays 4-14 .100

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Brandt and Buccino Lead Locals in Women's Games

MANNO, BREUNINGER BLAST HOMERS

Shady Lane Tracks Down Hunter Avenue, 11-5 By MICHAEL BABIK

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Shady Lane pulled off an impres- sive 11-5 victory over Hunter Avenue in Fanwood Old Men's Softball League action on June 29. There was no doubt that the Shady Laners were out to show their strength as Phil Manno and Hal Breuninger both hit home runs.

Shady Lane flexed its muscle in the first inning when Manno mashed his solo home run to center field. Next, Ralph Vaserberg, who dubbed himself as "a little older, a little more tired" slammed a triple in the gap in right-center. Breuninger, sent Vaserberg home with an infield single, stole second base and scored the third run when Ron Greco

doubled. Paul Ewing and Phil Wein slashed one-out singles for Hunter Avenue in the bottom of the first; however, Shady Lane pitcher Kevin Walsh got the next two batters to pop out. Brett Melworm poked a single to right and stole second, but Shady Lane was unable to score in the second.

Hunter was on the prowl in the third. Kevin Ewing walked and stole second base. Mike Ewing walked and Paul Ewing singled to bring Kevin in to score, narrowing the score to 3-1.

Shady cast a blanket of doubt over Hunter by scoring two runs in the fourth. Greco singled and stole sec- ond, Sean Kelley singled to put two runners in scoring position. Melworm and Matt Bedau had back-to-back

Fanwood's Erin Brandt and Jenni- fer Buccino of Westfield led a strong local contingent in the 1998 Women's Games held at Kehler Stadium on June 28. The second annual 'Games' presented by PNC Bank featured teams and individuals from New Jer- sey, New York and Pennsylvania and attracted over 250 athletes.

Competing in the High School di- vision, Brandt breezed to the 800- meter title in a time of 2:33.3 while Buccino placed fourth in the elite

Practice Hard Mile in 5:51.9 after winning her age group and finishing fourth overall in the 5 Kilometer road race in a time of 20:51.

Other track and field standouts included Heather Dennis who fin- ished third in the High School divi- sion long jump (15'4") as well as Adrienne Blauvelt, Stephanie Bistak and Claire Tafelski who teamed with Dennis to win the High School 4x100 relay.

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RBI singles to put Shady Lane in the lead, 5-1.

The Hunters came to the plate with their guns loaded in the bottom of the fourth. Kyle Bilcher successfully rounded the bases when he belted a shot which rolled to deep center. Frank Marcazzo singled, then Corey May thumped a two-run homer over the left-field netting. Hunter had tightened the score to 5-4.

Hunter pitcher Paul Ewing yielded singles to John Cholankeril and Manno in the fifth, but prevented any scoring. Pitcher Walsh allowed only a walk to Mike Ewing and Shady Lane came to bat in the top of the sixth full of confidence.

Mike Forte yanked a single to left, Joe Viviano singled to center and

Melworm walked to load the bases. Walsh whacked a two-run single to center, then Cholankeril drilled a two-run double to left to give Shady a 9-4 edge.

Dave Roth drew a leadoff walk for Hunter in the bottom of the sixth.

DEADLINE INFO DEADLINE INFO DEADLINE INFO DEADLINE INFO DEADLINE INFO. .. .. Sports deadlines are: All sports that take place during the week MUST be submitted by FRIDAY, 4 P.M. Weekend sports ONLY will be accepted up till Noon on Monday. Aritcles must be typed, double spaced, upper and lower case and no longer than 1-1/2 pages. NO EXCEPTIONS

St. Joseph Keeps Rolling; Crunches St. Jude, 11-2

By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Things appeared gloomy for St. Joseph as the St. Bartholomew's Oldtimers Softball League defend- ing champions dropped its first two games of the season. Since that time, St. Joseph has rolled off four-straight victories. The fourth victory came at the expense of the formerly unbeaten St. Jude team at Brookside Park in Scotch Plains on June 29.

St. Joseph pitcher Bill Wolff was nearly untouchable as he held St. Jude scoreless in the first inning and allowed only one run in the second. St. Jude pitcher Frank Chupko was also effective in the first inning as he limited St. Joseph to one run.

St. Jude's quest to remain unbeaten was shaken when St. Joseph scored five runs in the second, then it was shattered when St. Joseph erupted for five more runs in the third. Tom Straniero led off the third with a single to right-center, Wolff whacked a single to right and the opportunis- tic Straniero darted home for the score. Harry Semple beat out an in- field single and Karl Grossman gnashed a two-run double into the right-center field gap. Gerry Spitzer splattered a single past second to bring in Grossman and Dave Rothenberg ripped a single up-the- middle to drive home Spitzer.

Down 11-1, St. Jude wanted a miracle, but none came in the fourth. Rich Worth popped out to short, Marty Bernstein popped out to right field and Tom Engleman grounded out to the pitcher.

Chupko found his range in the

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