Record Setting Crowd

August 15, 2007


Knights 15 - Tides 6

A record setting seventy fans showed up for the first game of the 2007 Nahant Softball Playoffs and proves the fact that Nahant Softball is back, and back in a big way. Not since the days of the Frank and Sams dynasties, and the big Nahant Softball "Lowlands Field" sign with the seagull carved into it, has the buzz about a men's softball league been so big. Representatives from each and every team in the league were in attendance, and yes, a couple of Barbarians were even seen, roaming center field chanting, "We've come for your women!" The first team ushered out of the playoffs is Tides, falling to the sixth seeded Knights, 15-6. These two teams put on a very entertaining game for the first four innings, delighting the crowd, who appeared to be favoring the underdog. The Knights went with their lefty, Mike Kelleher, who was sporting a Richard Simmons-like, jerry-curl wig, and looked rather rediculous, but nonetheless got the job done. Joel Sanphy took the mound for the Tides, taking a tough loss. The Knights got on board early with some timely hits from the heart of their order, Jim Cronin, Andrew Wadden, Mike Kelleher, and Andrew Zimbaldi. Zimbaldi was mashing, after a disappointing season at the plate. The Knights ran the score to 6-0 after three. Comfortable with their lead, the Knights relaxed, only to see Tides crawl back into the game, making the score 6-5 going into the fourth. The Tides got some great defense out of Brian "Defa" Defalice in left field, who robbed a couple home-runs, sacraficed his and his centerfielders body in an outfield collision, and sparked his team's five run inning with a head-first slide into second on a double. The Knights buckled down after the fourth and scored nine un-answered runs to put this game out of reach. Jacob Musman, the Knights mild-mannered second baseman, came up with one out in the fifth inning. A plethera of boos came roaring from the crowd as the young righty dug into the box. Musman silenced his critics with a liner out to left for a seeing-eye single. This incident just goes to show you how quickly the crowd can turn on someone in this stadium. The big inning for the Knights finally came in the sixth, with help from a home-run by Brian Collins, and a moon-shot, 400 foot home-run by Andreas "The Latino Bambino" Uzeategui. Uzeategui, sporting jeans, sneakers, and his Venezuelan Men's field hockey polo shirt,(he won a gold medal for Venezuela in the Pan-American games, beating the U.S.) caught alot of flack from his teamates for his choice of attire. Coming off an ugly ankle injury the young Venezuelan smoked a hanging curveball deep into the August sky. Limping around the bases, ala Kirk Gibson, he was helped home by David Barille coming around third. Kelleher after letting up an inside the park home-run to the second batter of the top of the seventh, Max kasper, shut the Tides down and earned the first playoff win of his career.

Also of Note: The Brickyard starts their semi-final best of three matchup on Monday, August 20, regardless of rain-outs.
And: Contrary to popular belief, mens field hockey does exist, and is very popular in South America.