Autocraft got back to the winners side Friday night, beating LaCorte Family Auto, 15-12. Autocraft scored 10 runs in the first two innings, and then had to hold on in the late innings. Denny “Ace” Oehl held on for the victory, pitching despite a desperate comeback try by LaCorte. He was backed by a strong defensive effort, with rookie Don Simone, Aldo Balducci, and Tommy Vanasco. Aldo also led the way offensively along with rookie Chris Piccininni, Joe Lutz, and Brian Landy.
With each new year comes a chance to renew old friendships and rev up old rivalries. Paradox Cafe and Moby Drugs had never met in play before (or had they, under a previous name where Moby seemed to have O’Shea’s number), so now the slate was clean for a new year.
Moby started with a run in the first and then Paradox Cafe struck in the second inning. The middle of the lineup hit hard as Mike Hadnagy, Brian Mulcahy, Mickey Newbeck and Al Celeste all singled in runs and set the table for Bruce Kubart. Bruce found the gap in right center and closed out the inning with Paradox’s first grand slam of the year. The next inning found the Cafe with four more runs as Bob Kirk heated up a three for four night and Andy Cohen stroked a SAC fly. The score was 13 to one at this point but Moby would snap back for 10 more runs over the next three innings. Some nice defensive gems by Bill Gonzalez in left field snuffed out some rallies by Moby and limited the comeback. The Cafe continued to chip away a few more runs each inning to make the final score Paradox 17 – Moby 12. Paradox continues to have a balanced attack through out the lineup and scored nine runs with the top of the lineup and eight from the bottom while collecting 22 hits on the evening.
Lockie & Nowachek Family Chiropractors remained undefeated, with a 14-12 win over Zwanger Pesiri Radiology. L&N started off great with seven runs, but just when you thought it was going to be an easy night for L&N, ZP fought back. Eventually, ZP tied the score, 12-12 in the bottom of the eighth inning.
After tying their opponents the last two weeks, Lockie & Nowachek wanted back in the win column. In the ninth, back to back triples by Mike Quigley, who hit a home run earlier in the game, and Ron Schwabe, who was also the winning pitcher, gave the L&N the lead for good. Pete Gschweng also helped out with a couple of hits, including a triple during the game.
ZP hung in there thanks to the hot hitting of Marc Fisher, Brian Tinney’s pitching and John Hernandez spectacular defense at shortstop. Hernandez had at least eight assists and almost as many putouts as L&N keep hitting the ball in his direction. Fischer launched a pair of mammoth triples to left field and then followed with a rocket, three-run homer over the right center field fence. Rookie Gene Hennigan also had a big night with four hits in key situations. Bino Reverberi, Pete Mendelson and Jerry Mazza all had three hits, but it wasn’t enough as ZP could not muster a ninth-inning rally.
Barco Construction finally broke out of their funk with a 20-13 victory over Changing Times Pub. Barco opened with a five-run first inning with the RBI hits coming from Dave Saur, Kevin Moloney, Russ Graham and Dennis Ryan. CT made it close with three in the third but Barco bounced right back with seven runs in the fourth. The big hit of the inning was Bob Bergsten’s bases clearing triple. Also having RBIs during the inning were James Widmer, Bill White, Dave Ringer and Kevin Moloney. CT hung tough and stayed close but Barco continued to score with two in the fifth on Gary Jambor’s hit & Steve Jacobson’s sac fly and again in the seventh on another RBI hit by James Widmer. The final blow was the five Barco scored in the ninth to provide some breathing room. The key hit was Dennis Ryan’s three-run homer who ended up with four RBIs and a 4-4 night. Adding to Barco’s offense also were Dave Saur and James Widmer, both with three hits and two RBIs.
The Over the Hill Gang is now accepting online applications for its waiting list. Players could be called to play this season. Applicants must be 40 or older during this year and live in the Town of Oyster Bay or Farmingdale. To apply go to www.othgny.com.
