Late-inning heroics highlight men’s softball action

Two thrilling games highlighted play in week three action in the Rome Men’s
Softball Association.

In the Sunday Community League, some late-inning heroics kept Advanced
Auto/Tebb’s unbeaten while in the Monday Burt Smith League, extra frames were
needed to decide a tense matchup between Brew Crew and Black River Ale
House/D&D Carpets. While no nailbiters were seen in the Thursday Jim Korpela
League, plenty of runs were scored throughout the night.

In the Bravo’s/Wagoner-Hickok versus Advanced Auto/Tebb’s game,
Advanced/Tebb’s scored six runs in their half of the sixth inning to tie the
game. RBI doubles from Rich Mansfield and Del Sharron helped spur the
Advanced/Tebb’s comeback.

After Bravo’s/Wagoner-Hickok failed to score in the top of the seventh,
Advanced/Tebb’s went to work quickly as Chris Smith singled to lead off the
inning and Rich Brockway knocked him home for the walkoff victory. The win kept
Advanced/Tebb’s unbeaten in league play while Bravo’s/Wagoner-Hickok fell to 1-1
on the young season. Eugene Cappoccia was a perfect five for five from the plate
for Advanced/Tebb’s who were also aided by Larry Pendolf’s perfect four for four
day and Bryan Brockway’s home run.

In other Sunday action, Sammy G’s remained unbeaten, doubling up the B-52s
12-6. Ace Hardware evened up their record in beating All Pro Homes 18-11. Travis
Oliver homered for Ace and team captain Jim Rizio had five hits to pace Ace.
Brian Adams smacked a home run for All Pro in the losing effort.

Monday’s Burt Smith League finale featured a backyard brawl between Casey’s
Brew Crew and Black River Ale House/D&D Carpets. Down by three heading into
the bottom of the seventh, Brew Crew’s Dan Vescio and Lou Westcott provided a
RBI single and double respectively to tie it and send the game to extras. Black
River/D&D scored four runs in their half of the eighth inning for what
should have been the back-breaker. John Brawdy had a RBI double and Bill Menter
cleared the bases with a double of his own.

Brew Crew countered in the bottom of the inning as Gary Reese smacked a RBI
single to left center field. Vescio, continuing his torrid night at the plate,
drove home Reese with a double, and was followed by Gary Roth’s two RBI double.
Travis Piersall ended it with a sharp liner that scored Roth from second to take
the victory and knock Black River/D&D from the ranks of the undefeated. Both
teams now stand at 2-1 in league play.

Other Monday action saw Performance Wire continuing to crank out the runs in
knocking off Rhine Haus/Slices 14-0. In three games this season Performance has
scored 63 total runs. Sean Wutsch, Matt Crye and Vinny DiMaggio all contributed
three hits apiece for Performance, who will face defending RMSA Tournament
Champion Garage/The Mill this Monday in the 8:30 game on field two. Garage/The
Mill is coming off an 18-6 dismantling of Bostwick Liquors and remains
undefeated.

Thursday’s Jim Korpela League, while short on drama, was not short on run
production. Crooked numbers were seen all over the score sheets throughout the
night. The evening’s feature game had Mac Contracting knocking newcomers The
Mill out of their first place tie in the early game on field one.

Mac piled up ten runs through the first four innings to cruise to a 15-10
victory for their first win of the season. Travis Piersall, Rob Fallon and Shane
Kirkham collected three hits each for the victors, while Marco Carletta, Norm
Baldomir and Pat Ferrare did the same for The Mill. The bottom of the lineup for
Mac provided much of the spark as the combination of Bill Bost, Jay Brewer,
Kirkham, Kurt Kohl, Rick Neidl and Josh Westcott combined for eleven hits and
six RBI for the game.

Palisades, Mattacola Law Firm and Midnight Mikey’s/Federated Insurance all
remained undefeated with convincing wins. Lee Legion gained their first victory
of the season over Dilligaf.

RMSA will be holding a mid-season 12-team double-elimination tournament on
Saturday and Sunday, June 5-6, at the Haselton-Wright Sports Complex. The entry
fee is $200 per team. Cash prizes will be awarded to the first- and second-place
teams and proceeds will benefit the newly formed RMSA Scholarship Fund and Rome
Youth Baseball and Softball. Deadline for entries is June 1.