Last weeks (Playoff) recap
Game 1 - #8Balls of Fury - 6 #9Schweddy Balls. – 3
A rematch of week 1 and a different result. Despite the cowbells, BoF was able to pull this one out, providing an early excitement matinee for fans.
Game 2 - #5Wrecking Balls - 13 #12Closers - 1
Closers struck blood 1st, but that only angered the green beast as they won this one easily
Game 3 - #7Balls to the Wall - 0 #10UniBalls - 6
A lot closer than the score suggest, but Uni’s were clicking on all cylinders. Perhaps opening an old bottle of “Uni’s playoff mojo”
Game 4 - #6BlueMooners - 5 #11Kickelback - 4
Closers than the experts predicted, but Blue Mooners didn’t have to break a sweat until the last inning.
Game 5 - #1-1UCK - 12 Balls of Fury - 7
This game got the juices flowing. Every one was watching hoping for an upset and rooting for the underdog. Down 10-1, BoF made a run, but got caught short. This game got loud
Game 6 - #4FreeBallers - 0 Wrecking Balls - 5
A complete shutout! A focused wrecking balls team, the free’ers had no shot without their all-star center fielder/roamer. An end to a great season and possibly an era
Game 7 - #2Inglorious Ballstards - 4 UniBalls - 1
Domination from start to finish. Ballstards only allowing two runners past 2nd base all game. (Late 1st Inning Triple & in the 4th on a “fielder’s choice”).
Game 8 - #3Balls Deep - 3 BlueMooners - 4
This game had it all; Trash talk, cheater accusations, drama, and a spectacular ending. Bases loaded, 2 outs, bottom of the last inning, down by 1, All-star Jones from BD up… fly deep shot to right field… difficult catch made under a tree. Game over!
Captains Corner
The Ivy Division presents to you, the Final Four................
#1 – 1stUnited Ct Kickers
Another shorthanded victory for 1UCK. Still waiting on that perfect unified rules MMA victory, but despite the crowds cheering, 1UCK walked away with a 49-45 score on all the judges score cards. As far as that crowd goes, well I learned a valuable lesson from a dear friend of mine Kat Williams. Like he told me a few years ago "You need haters. What the **** is you complaining about? What the **** do you think a haters job is? To ****in’ hate. So let them muther****as do their goddamn job. What the f**k is you complaining about? Ladies if you got 14 bitches hating on you, you need to figure out how the f**k to get to 16 before the summer get here. What the f**k is you mad about? Fellas if you got 20 haters, you need to get to 40 of them muther****as. What is you complaining about?” If there’s any haters in here right now that don’t have nobody to hate on, feel free to hate on me." So fill the stands and bring the cowbell. 1UCK can't wait for next week. As a reminder of how the season went, win win win, win win, win win, win win.
Some players to watch out for, well if you've been reading the GMoT the past couple of weeks, you know some of their names but really you don't have to worry about them. You know they will produce. What you need to worry about, is the other 2/3rds of the team who are just as dangerous. The line up is going to look like this, James or Chad or Nick or Russell or Miles, followed by one of them or Christina or Jen or Jen or Jenn or Tina or Marco or Jeannine or Matt or Danielle or Caitlin or Carey or Zak. Up third could be just about anyone on the roster, it doesn't matter who, they all know what to do. Fourth could be any guy who I've already mentioned or Kevin or Tucker or Troy. I'll put it together 5 minutes before the game and it will work out well for 1UCK. It might look something like this (but it probably won't)
Game 1 - #8Balls of Fury - 6 #9Schweddy Balls. – 3
A rematch of week 1 and a different result. Despite the cowbells, BoF was able to pull this one out, providing an early excitement matinee for fans.
Game 2 - #5Wrecking Balls - 13 #12Closers - 1
Closers struck blood 1st, but that only angered the green beast as they won this one easily
Game 3 - #7Balls to the Wall - 0 #10UniBalls - 6
A lot closer than the score suggest, but Uni’s were clicking on all cylinders. Perhaps opening an old bottle of “Uni’s playoff mojo”
Game 4 - #6BlueMooners - 5 #11Kickelback - 4
Closers than the experts predicted, but Blue Mooners didn’t have to break a sweat until the last inning.
Game 5 - #1-1UCK - 12 Balls of Fury - 7
This game got the juices flowing. Every one was watching hoping for an upset and rooting for the underdog. Down 10-1, BoF made a run, but got caught short. This game got loud
Game 6 - #4FreeBallers - 0 Wrecking Balls - 5
A complete shutout! A focused wrecking balls team, the free’ers had no shot without their all-star center fielder/roamer. An end to a great season and possibly an era
Game 7 - #2Inglorious Ballstards - 4 UniBalls - 1
Domination from start to finish. Ballstards only allowing two runners past 2nd base all game. (Late 1st Inning Triple & in the 4th on a “fielder’s choice”).
Game 8 - #3Balls Deep - 3 BlueMooners - 4
This game had it all; Trash talk, cheater accusations, drama, and a spectacular ending. Bases loaded, 2 outs, bottom of the last inning, down by 1, All-star Jones from BD up… fly deep shot to right field… difficult catch made under a tree. Game over!
Captains Corner
The Ivy Division presents to you, the Final Four................
#1 – 1stUnited Ct Kickers
Another shorthanded victory for 1UCK. Still waiting on that perfect unified rules MMA victory, but despite the crowds cheering, 1UCK walked away with a 49-45 score on all the judges score cards. As far as that crowd goes, well I learned a valuable lesson from a dear friend of mine Kat Williams. Like he told me a few years ago "You need haters. What the **** is you complaining about? What the **** do you think a haters job is? To ****in’ hate. So let them muther****as do their goddamn job. What the f**k is you complaining about? Ladies if you got 14 bitches hating on you, you need to figure out how the f**k to get to 16 before the summer get here. What the f**k is you mad about? Fellas if you got 20 haters, you need to get to 40 of them muther****as. What is you complaining about?” If there’s any haters in here right now that don’t have nobody to hate on, feel free to hate on me." So fill the stands and bring the cowbell. 1UCK can't wait for next week. As a reminder of how the season went, win win win, win win, win win, win win.
Some players to watch out for, well if you've been reading the GMoT the past couple of weeks, you know some of their names but really you don't have to worry about them. You know they will produce. What you need to worry about, is the other 2/3rds of the team who are just as dangerous. The line up is going to look like this, James or Chad or Nick or Russell or Miles, followed by one of them or Christina or Jen or Jen or Jenn or Tina or Marco or Jeannine or Matt or Danielle or Caitlin or Carey or Zak. Up third could be just about anyone on the roster, it doesn't matter who, they all know what to do. Fourth could be any guy who I've already mentioned or Kevin or Tucker or Troy. I'll put it together 5 minutes before the game and it will work out well for 1UCK. It might look something like this (but it probably won't)
Projected Starting Line-up;
1. Travis (OF)
2. Nick (OF)
3. Jenn S (OF)
4. Tucker (1b)
5. James (3B)
6. Jen A (Ss)
7. Chad (C)
8. Zak (OF)
9. Christina (2b)
10. Danielle (OF)
11. Kevin (P)
12. Tina (OF)
13. Russell (OF)
14. Jenn T (OF)
15. Caitlin (OF)
16. Carey (OF/P)
17. Matt (OF)
18. Miles (OF)
19. Troy (P)
#5 Wrecking Balls
It’s the time we have all been waiting for, the kickball playoffs. All the hardwork, all the blood, sweat, and tears come to this. We started our playoff run against The Closers, a team of whom we didn't play in the regular season yet we weren't looking past at all. As it stood they actually scored first, but slowly but surely we gained our barrings and started to score in bunches. Before we knew it we were up big and looking ahead to towards our next game against the Free Ballers.
With 5 innings under our belts we got off to a flying start, starting the game with a bases clearing triple by Papa Fischetti. We then worked a couple of more runs through the next couple of innings, moving runners and getting clutch hits when needed. Then we let our defense do the talking, putting the clamps down on the ever dangerous Free Ballers, shutting out one of the better teams of the season.
And like that, we were in the Final Four, facing the undefeated leaders of the league 1.U.C.K. Last time we met, we let them off the hook, allowing them to maintain their undefeated record. Do we have it in us to take down the team whose only goal is to win the league? Who knows. I do know that we will almost certainly have a vast amount of support from our fellow New Haven kickballers eager to let it known that Hartford isn't the only town in CT that can play some kickball.
The keys to the game will certainly will be our defense, keeping the game close and using our experience to not allow the game to get out of hand. Overall, our first meeting was without a doubt the game of the season, and there's little doubt with as much pride on the line that the next meeting won't be at the very least entertaining.
Projected Starting Line-up;
1. Tim Moran (P)
2. Tom Fischetti (C)
3. Chris “critter” Choma (1b)
4. Shannon Pocevic (2b)
5. Robyn Siedel (Ss)
6. Jeromy Reynolds (3b)
7. Matt Griswold (LF)
8. Erika Pachlhofer (LC)
9. Tommy Choma (RC)
10. Rick Staube (RF)
11. Brianna Sullivan (SF)
#2 Inglorious Ballstards
All that Morning, all I kept thinking about was hopefully, we don't have to do it. I was referring to the UniBalls. I was hoping Balls to the Wall would pull the upset, but I knew "old yeller" was a scrappy old dog. They would get away from B2W. You see everyone loves that Dog "Old Yeller", or used too. They were great in their prime; used to strike fear in the hearts of so many foes.... But that time had past, someone had to finally take "Old Yeller" behind the woodshed and do what so many didn't want to see happen. UniBalls, always in the Final game, all that the Ivy had known, but the time had come. So at 4:15pm, I realized that someone that had to put down the old legend, was me and the Maroon Army. Let me give you the highlights. We came early, we drank magic beverages, ate performance enhancing potato chips, rocked out to a little ACDC, jumped around in a rally circle chanting like a bunch of fools and put the Uniballs in their place – the losing column – done for the season. "RIP" Though they played ok; fiery, scrappy they were; we were completely in sync. Solid team defense with 1-2-3 innings like ya read about. They played tough early with a 1st Inning triple with no one on & some solid, solid defense that gave the notion it was going to be a grind em' out game but... A 4-1 beat-down nonetheless. We didn't allow anyone past 2nd base after the early 1st Inning triple until the 4th inning with 2 outs and at that point, Eulogy's and Obituary's had been read. Team MvP goes really to the whole team. Everyone did their part for a complete domination win. Just to think, it all started with a little bar crawl. Our team was pieced together just 1 player at a time. It was clear that we had to go back to our roots and tip our glasses (towards our mouths). We’ve come a long way baby and we are not done yet. Looking forward to some sweet revenge against the Blue Mooners.
In the Final four, some players to keep your eyes on are; our all-pro honorable mention Center-fielder, Dom Alston. Our quick and agile catcher Kelly Miller, and our secret weapon referred to as Sarah (No last name needed)
Projected Starting Line-Up;
1. Dom Alston (CF)
2. Kyle Settle (P)
3. Theresa Jakubowski (IF)
4. Steve Burlingame (OF)
5. William “Bill” Speirs (RF)
6. Kelly Miller (C)
7. Rich LeBlanc (3b)
8. Lindsey “Snookie” Carroll (OF)
9. Jen Burlingame (Ss)
10. Tiago Rodrigues (1b)
11. Patrick Skuret (RF)
12. Steve Smith (OF)
13. April Chevalier (OF/IF)
14. Matt Fleming (1b)
15. Sarah Culbret (OF/IF)
16. Rebecca Crosby (2b)
#6 Blue Mooners
Kickelback game: This game was a no-brainer. It also wasn’t nearly as much fun as the first time we played them. It appeared that everyone was in “game mode” here, with little fun admitted. 5-0 I think we made up for a loss from them last week. This was a nice warm up game; with some great pitching from Kim, third-base action from Ed. Bob did some great playing on first, and Billy had one hell of a kick! Overall, fun times.
Balls Deep: I don’t even know how to begin this section without first recapping earlier in the season. Our first game against this “cheater” team was a real doozy… and for those of you that don’t remember, let me remind you: They cheated, openly admitted to it, TWICE, talked lots of shit, got me to buy pom poms and cheer for them (Kharim) and then had THE NERVE to say we didn’t have good sportsmanship! WOW BALLS DEEP! WOW! This was the game of the season for our team; the game we looked forward to playing (aka why we needed them to be 3 and us 6) and finally getting our revenge…which we MORE THAN SUCCEEDED AT! If I don’t say so myself…On a happier note, this was an AWESOME game! Both teams played really well. I don’t even know who our MVP would be of this game, because everyone was just awesome. We got an early lead on Balls Deep (3-0), along with before and during game trash-talking, seemed to really intimidate Dan and his teammates. Both teams were dead serious…and while there still were a few smiles, most were smiles that said, “I will eat your face!” Carl may or may not have got the catch of the game, when he managed to dive into the air (about a foot higher and to the left of himself) and catch a power-drive Kharim kick. This kick could have broke our team and cost us the game, but instead, well, you know what happened. Overall a great game. Oh, and thanks Dan for the pitcher of beer! We look forward to you wearing Blue on Sunday. =]
Overall this season, Blue Mooners has no complaints. When the team is there, we are unified as one, and NO ONE can stop us! It’s been a season of awesomeness: Billy becoming “Mr. golden foot” our catcher and learning that even though he’s better at sports he still has to listen to his coach. Kim making some great plays and becoming the only pitcher to intimidate that “gun dude” from Balls Deep. Megan having to sit out with her boot, teaching Jillian how to catch a ball, ironing on ton of letters, drinking a lot of beer AND making some good catches. Hannah who not only is probably the most intimidating girl in the league, but also ironed on letters, drank…and drank…AND taught Jillian the “lingo” to sports. Chris O. was the real mutt of our team moving from pitcher, to left, to mutt, to center…an overall team player! Rachel one of our allstars who deserves every honor she gets, kept all the players thoroughly entertained with her “mud catches”. Ed our new star third baseman whom I hope learned that sometimes you have to tell your coach “Bitch! I don’t want to play in the outfield!” Ben our consistent shortstop that has caught more outs than I can even recall (in one game, I think he managed 8!), also Ben is the barer of constant “name calling” from the females of the team, which he takes all with a smile. Kelly our first baseman who took out TONS of kickballers, and even managed to almost get taken out herself…but pulled through, and came back strong the very next game. Me, who never played a sport before ever, learned SO MUCH, and looks forward to learning to slide, writing for the blog in the fall, playing kickball more than once a week, and kicking Kyle’s ass on Sunday. Then there is Brian, Bob, Carl, Chris B. and Frank…our occasional showers that really pull things together and shake up the other teams, when they are there! Brian and Frank with their big kicks; Carl with his bunting skills and catching ability; Chris B. with his speed and attractive-ness, I mean awesomeness; and Bob with his ability to morph to wherever he is needed – like a true gym teacher. I wouldn’t trade my team for anything! I look forward to this week, and many weeks of kickball in the future with these great people.
Players to Watch For: All of us! We are THAT GOOD! =]
Projected Starting Line Up:
1. Carl LaRovera (OF/IF)
2. Hannah LaPlante (LF)
3. Ed Goad (3b)
4. Bill Ryan (Catcher)
5. Rachel Finley (CF)
6. Ben Deptula (SS)
7. Megan Kinsman (RF)
8. Bob Powers (1b)
9. Chis Orszulak (OF/IF)
10. Frank Costa (CF)
11. Kim Ryan (Pitcher)
12. Kelly Rayome (2b)
13. Chris Berjeski (1b)
14. Jillian Kellogg (RF)
15. Brian Casey (2b)
