It was a long day of softball! The activitives started at 8:00am where The Keg, continuing their fine season, took care of Outback in the Plate semifinals. Imediately after that game Sportview beat up on Skitz placing them in the Plate Finals for the second year in a row. Congrats to both Outback and Skitz on a fine season! Even though neither one had a great record they played hard and represented the their team well every week on the field and in the bleachers. Anyone that thinks the bleachers would be the same without both obviously hasn't spent time out at King's Park!
Sportview would go on to win the Plate. This had been a difficult season for the young men of Sportview and it was nice to see them finish up with some hardware! We're all hoping the core guys come back for another run. For The Keg it was on to next year where the future is looking bright! Preston and the boys made great strides this year and showed that they belong with the league's big boys.
The third game of the day pitted Bulldog's against Lux in the Championship bracket semifinals. With Vince making his first appearance of the playoffs the stage was set for a climatic game three. After several innings of back and forth action the Dog's opoened up a can of whoop ass jumping out to a fifteen run lead. Lux put up a good fight and clawed their way back to close the gap to sevens runs but it was too little too late. For Lux it was a great season lead by the magnificent Hasbun and newcomer Chris Calvert. They won the regular season title and left all on the field in the playoffs! For Bulldog's it was on to their third final in a row.....
In the first game of the finals the Movers got off to a quick start with a Dom Martinetti grand slam in the bottom of the 1st. They would never look back! In a game that was at times slow moving both teams turned numerous double play's and traded low scoring innings. Hoover pitched brilliantly and kept the tough Bulldog lineup in check. In the end Santa Fe finished on top by a score of 11-4.
In game two of the finals it was too much Johnny So and the gang as Santa Fe rolled to yet another championship! I wish I could give you the score and provide some kind of description but my buzz had kicked in by that point and I just enjoyed the festivities. I do know this however- The Movers got some big time performances from just about everybody in the line up! Spencer Seto, Phil Kam and Dom Martinetti all had a great playoff run from start to finish. Hoov regained his form and pitched great throughout the entire playoffs. As usual Johnny "Spectacular" (John So) was outstanding taking home playoff MVP. Santa Fe won this thing in typical Santa Fe fashion- great defense, solid pitching and ample hits at the right time. Congratulations Santa Fe you are our 2008 champions!
For Bulldog's it was another great season! This marks the third year in a row that the Dog's have made it to the finals. Two times they did it as the #5 seed and once as the 4th seed. Willett, Brad Shadewitz and Dirty deserve special praise for having a huge playoffs and taking the Dog's back to the final one more time. Congratulations Bulldog's, you guys were great!
The end of the day was capped of by the season award ceremony. Your winners are as follows....
MVP Reg Season - Keith Foley
Playoff MVP- John So
Rookie of the Year - Chris Calvert
Most Improved - Jim Grandolfo
Pitcher of the Year - Ronnie Moss
Gold Glove Pitcher - Ronen Mense
Gold Glove 1B - Chris Angelosante
Gold Glove 2B - Ryan Callaway
Gold Glove SS - Andy Hasbun
Gold Glove 3B - Chad Boyd
Gold Glove OF - Eric Harrison, Mike Mabardy, Dave Trunzo, Chris Calvert, Eric Tong
Alex Graf: Sportsman of the Year - Tim Meade
Coach of the Year - Andy Hasbun, Dave Friedland
Batting Champion - Ryan Callaway
Runs Champion - Fares Jamatte
RBI Champion - Andre Leigh
Home Run Champion - Fares Jamatte
Strikeout Champion - Ronen Mense
ERA Champion - Ronnie Moss
Most Wins - Ronen Mense, Ronnie Moss
And thus closes another great season out at King's Park! Video's and photo albums are posted below. Andre and I would like to thank Ronnie Moss for the beautiful bat bags he gave us. It means a lot! We would also like to thank everyone that got our wives the Ruth's Chris gift certificate. A very thoughtful gesture that was greaty appreciated by them both! Ken Clark- the keys are in the ignition and the garage door is down- you're gonna do a great job!