WESTFIELD – Cinderella’s run in the Westfield Adult Softball league playoffs came to a sudden halt in the championship of the B bracket at Whitney Park Monday night, as No. 2 Maple Leaf used early offense and another comeback to defeat Savage Arms for the second time in the tournament, winning 17-2 in three innings.
The teams from the Monday/Wednesday division swept their two matchups with the teams from Tuesday/Friday division, leaving No. 1 Rampage as the lone team left from the four-team league. While they will face Micro Abrasives in the winner’s bracket semifinal, Berkshire Industries/Firtion Adams eliminated the Hangar to qualify for a top three finish in the A bracket.
Maple Leaf v. Savage Arms (17-2, 3 innings)
For the second time in as many postseason meetings, No. 5 Savage Arms jumped out to an early lead, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning, but Maple Leaf responded early and often, needing three innings to claim the B bracket championship, earning their second mercy-rule win over Savage in the postseason.
Maple Leaf rallied for seven runs in the first inning and ended the game with nine runs in the third and 23 total hits, capped off by starting pitcher Roman Shilyuk’s game-winning single to seal the 15-run win. Five of the first six batters reached safely on hits past the five-man infield, highlighted by Mitch Charette’s three-run home run to quickly regain the lead. From the No. 10 spot in the lineup, Greg Fanion led the offense with four RBIs to tie with Charette for the team lead in a game which saw every batter record at least one hit.
Savage Arms v. Elm Pizza (15-11)
Before falling in the championship, Savage continued their torrid run through the bracket, winning their third game in four attempts, eliminating No. 1 Elm Pizza with a four-run victory in the second meeting of the tournament. Despite leading for a majority of the game, the No. 5 seed survived a late rally and added some insurance runs to reach the finals.
Tommy and Mark Davis led the offense with five and three RBIs respectively with the duo combining for the three allotted home runs. Mark opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the first inning, while Tommy hit two shots–a solo home run to open the scoring in the fifth inning and a two-run home run to add the two late insurance runs in the seventh inning.
The Hangar v. Balls Deep (15-13)
In what ended up being the closest game of the four played Monday night, the third team from the Tuesday/Friday league was eliminated during the first game on field two as the Hangar scored six runs in the sixth and seventh innings to eliminate Balls Deep from the tournament.
Balls Deep took a 6-1 lead after one inning, but Hangar responded with five runs in the second inning and three runs in the fourth inning to take a 9-6 lead. Josh Kopeski continued his offensive slugfest, belting another two-run home run to lead the five-run comeback in the second inning. Kopeski led the way with four RBIs, hitting a triple during the six-run sixth inning.
Nick Cocchi tied Kopeski for the team lead in RBIs, cranking a home run in the fourth inning to spark the three-run frame and give Hangar their second lead of the game. Mike Szalankiewicz, John Camerota and Steve Cipriani each added two RBIs to pad the offensive statistics.
Berkshire Industries/Firtion Adams v. The Hangar (13-1, 5 innings)
Hangar’s offensive outburst ended one game later, when No. 2 BI/FA used a seven-run second inning to jump to an early lead and cruise to a 12-run win, eliminating the No. 5 seed. The Hangar scored their lone run in the first inning on Cocchi’s sacrifice fly to right field, but Berkshire responded with a flurry of hits, aided by a handful of Hangar errors.
Kevin Charland, Phil Choe and Blair Collins led the Berkshire offense with two RBIs each. Choe drove in the first Berkshire run of the game on a triple, the first of two run-scoring hits in consecutive innings. Berkshire benefited from a pair of Hangar errors by the left side of the diamond, leading to a pair of unearned runs after the top three batters in the lineup–Nick Ochs, Andrew Hawley and Collins–drove in runs on consecutive hits.
With the win, Berkshire will await the loser of Micro Abrasives and Rampage for a chance to advance to the A bracket championship game.
