Battle of Swampscott

Swampscott is a town of many things.  Temples, yamakas, malakas, beaches, and most of all, youth baseball.  It is mandatory to get your offspring at least 10 innings of soft-toss work before their third birthday.  Swampscott is the self-proclaimed meca of both jewish people and Little League Baseball.  Swampscott has produced many individual stars and teams  in this baseball arena, most of whom have finally hit paydirt, in the Nahant Softball League.  The Barbarians and Gulls are two of the biggest draws in the NSL and have mostly bread their talent overseas in Swampscott.  The Barbarians, a perenial NSL powerhouse, has mixed a group of grizzled veterans and new young talent, whom they have sapped away from the Gulls squad in an effort to monopolize Swampscott's softball talent.  The Gulls are a mishmash of former standouts from the mainland, behind a new look ace, D. Barile, who hails from the island, home of the NSL.  The Barbarains and Gulls faced off in a fierce battle on Friday night that ended with the Gulls on the winning side, downing the Barbarians 14 - 11.

The Gulls were blanked by B. Serino in the top half of the first who worked out of a jam.  The Gulls were without their ace and decided to throw G. Wattendorf on the mound, in the first start of his career.  Wattendorf had a unique if not awkward delivery, that resembled a women's bowling technique.  The young righty had major problems in the early going.  The only thing that was even remotely in the strikezone was a 55-mile an hour changeup with little to no movement.  The Barbarians responded with  homeruns by all three of their big bats, M. Pressman, C. Capinigro, and A. Stone all put softballs into the stands in deep left.  The Barbarians had a 4-0 cushion at the end of a half inning.

The Gulls were told to go pound sand, and replied "Aww, Naw, Hell Naw, Y'all went out an' done it", grabbing a pair of runs in the top of the second courtesy of the Kelliher brothers. The Gulls exploded again in the top of the third with help from a G. Wattendorf two run homerun which scored the lightning fast M. Lausier, who spends his offseason bartending at the famous watering hole Maddies, in old town Marblehead.  K. Kelliher struck again with a two out RBI to stretch the Gulls lead to 6-4.

The Barbarians however, would not go away and continued to hit G. Wattendorf early and often as the meat he was offering was being sent all over the Lowlands Field.  A. Stone took Wattendorf's first offering to pound town in his second at-bat, his second homerun of the contest, this one a two run shot.  J. Capinigro laced a double to right and scored on a B. Serino sac fly to put the Barbarians up 8-6.

The Kelliher brothers would strike gold again in the top of the sixth, both scoring to even the score at eight.  In the bottom of the sixth Wattendorf buckled down, but a double by T. Nicosia and a deep fly ball led to a two base tag and score, putting the Barbarians out in front 9-8.

The Gulls rallied the troops in the top of the seventh and final inning with an offensive explosion.  With one out, Wattendorf, fighting for a spot in the rotation rounded third as the ball came into the infield.  Wattendorf dove and slid safely into home with the second run of the inning to put the Gulls on top.   Unfortunetly headfirst slides into home were banned from the NSL to protect players from possible head and neck injuries.  Wattendorf should have been called out for the second out of the inning.  However, rookie umpire T. Lorenza was unaware of the rule change and couldn't implement the ruling.  The league investigated the incident and put Lorenza on suspension for not fulfilling his professional umpiring credit requirements for 2010.

The Gulls would go on to score six runs in the inning, creeping out in front, 14-9.  The Barbarians drew three straight walks and scored a pair in the final frame, but ultimately fall to the Gulls, 14-11.

CURRENT STANDINGS

1.NFL        11 - 0
2.BARB        8 - 3
3.GULLS       5 - 2
4.GEA         5 - 5
5.KNIGHTS     3 - 5
6.LYNN        3 - 5
7.GALAXY      1 - 8
8.OB LAND     0 - 7 
Lynn vs. Knights was rained out on Monday.

My Va Jay Jay

Lynn 22 - OB LAND 2
OB LAND faced off against Lynn in a battle for the basement.  The basement isn't somewhere you want to be, unless your a high school senior with a nice little romper room set up for yourself in your parents basement, otherwise, no bueno.  OB LAND, always gives maximum effort, however, the talent gap has been too much for the upstart ball club in the early going.  Lynn, who has had some trouble in the clubhouse amidst retirement rumors, needed a confidence boosting win.  Lynn got exactly what the doctor ordered, serving up a plate of Humbaby to OB Land, 22-2.

NFL 6 - GEA 5

Another day, another walkoff, another one-run win for NFL.  Can they do it?  Can they become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go wire to wire and win the championship? Don't ask GEA pitcher C. Pantano, who walked in the tying run, and gave up the walk off single.  Pantano threw the game ball, like a shooting star in the night sky, into the surrounding bullrushes, and refused to shake hands with the opposing team.  Unfortunetly, the face of the GEA franchise is not a mirror image of itself.  Pantano was asked why he reacted the way he did and replied, "My Va-Jay-Jay was painin'".

Oprah actually coined the phrase "My Va-Jay-Jay is Painin".  I would love to take credit but its all Oprah's.


NFL           11 -  0
BARB          8 -  2
GULLS        4 - 2
GEA             5 - 5
KNIGHTS   3  - 5
LYNN         3  - 5
GALAXY    1  - 8
OB LAND   0  - 7

Recent Game Scores and Standings

Barbarians 11 - GEA 6
Barbarians continue to pull the proper strings, and are building confidence for a second championship run.  GEA, although highly competitive on the season and in the game, drop another tough game and remain a notch below the upper echilon teams in the NSL.

Gulls 9- Galaxy 0
The Gulls put it on a struggling Galaxy team who were blanked by D. Barile, who is having a career year.  Galaxy has know gone 14 innings without a run.  The Gulls are really putting it all together during their recent win streak.

NFL 5- Knights 4
The Knights let another mental lapse on defense cost them another close game to the undefeated NFL.  Clinging to a 4-2 lead, held up by a masterful effort by the P. O'Leary on the bump, the Knights had an  infield error followed by an outfield error with two out lead to two runs and a tie ballgame.  The Knights had runners on second and third in the top of the eight with one out and a weak line drive followed by a tailing liner to right left them with nothing.  A leadoff double by J. Osborne followed by a B. Brown walk allowed C. Alessi to smash O'Leary's first offering to the gap in left-center for the walk-off.

GEA 15 - OB LAND 5
GEA in a blowout, no shocker here.  GEA misteriously has reloaded mid-season and looks sharp.  OB LAND looks to avoid a second straight no-win season and possible ouster from the league.

Barbarians 23 - Lynn 5
Lynn lost their starting pitcher at the beginning of the game, who went down with a pinky toe injury.  J. Maggs stepped up in his abscence, but couldn't silence the powerful Barbarian lineup.  In the top of the fifth inning, a line drive shot came off the bat of one of the women at the adjacent field and towards Lynn's right fielder.  The Lynn player turned around, made a great backhand play and tossed the would-be homerun back in play.  The women of the Nahant Women's Softball League let him have it.  The Lynn player was surrounded in a mere seconds, and got whipped with 10" black dildos until the men's league umpires could break up the scuffle.  Bruised and battered, the right fielder stayed in the game, but the Barbarians were to much for a short-handed Lynn squad.

NFL 8 - Gulls 6
A great game between two quality clubs, was lost on errors.  NFL squeeks out another close one to remain undefeated.  NFL continues to get all the breaks and can finally see the light at the end of the undefeated season tunnel.  A question has risen on whether or not its luck, or a ball club, in a certain slow pitch softball era, that is playing the type of softball to be successful in this era.  The Gulls, playing really good ball of late, lose a heartbreaker.  If the Gulls can tighten up a few loose ends they could be a contender.

GEA 14 - Knights 3
The Knights squad, coming off a three day long bender on the island had trouble even making it down to the field on the monday after independence day, and GEA put a thrashing on the vombies that showed up at Lowlands field.  The Knights jumped on board first with a two-run top of the first, but it was very short lived.  A B. Guptill grand salami in the bottom with two outs put GEA out in front 6-2 and they never looked back.  The lone umpire botched a call in the third inning, a ball that was clearly caught by Knights right fielder C. Doucette.  Doucette bobbled the can of corn around in his big frying pan mit, but eventually held on.  The umpire went blind in his left, and brown eye at the exact moment Doucette made contact with the ball, and called it a drop.  P. Stubblefield threatened to kick the umpire right in his recently deemed useless brown eye, and was ejected from the game.  It was a straight road all downhill from there for the Knights, who couldn't get anything going at the plate and fell to a surging GEA, 13-3.  GEA made a new pickup out of the Swampscott farm system, a young talent who is said to be among the NCAA national leaders in home runs.  It was unclear at the published time of this article whether or not it was a legal pickup and to whether or not the league has received payment for the late pickup.

Barbarians 6 - Galaxy 0
The Barbarians continued their surge toward a second straight championship with a one-sided beatdown of Galaxy, who has been struggling mightily as of late.  The fifth straight day with temperatures reaching the ninetees had the Barbarians setting up a rehabilitation tent for their players adjacent to their dugout.  Galaxy made a late pickup of their own, a 15-year veteran, T. Ragusa.  Ragusa got his 1,000th hit and issued his 500th walk in the game, all the while pitching two scoreless innings in relief.


NFL           10 -  0
BARB          8 -  2
GULLS        4 - 2
GEA             5 - 4
KNIGHTS   3  - 5
BRICK        2  - 5
GALAXY    1  - 8
OB LAND   0  - 6

Still Going

NFL, built up of a generation of Nahanters.  These generations come around once every decade, when it just so happens that mothers on the island decided they were going to conceive a bunch of beer drinking, blue-collar, softball players.  This team is all of that, conceived in the late eighties, with one goal in mind, a NSL Championship.

Facing another similar generation (much like NFL, supplemented by some Swampscottians and Lynnards who have spent enough time on the island to be fathered in), of players conceived in the early seventies.

Galaxy continues to snooze on the defensive side, behind their hall of fame pitcher, to drop another, five to zip.

NFL is a sizzler in the summer heat, holding an 8-0 record and the league lead for runs scored and runs against.  A workhorse of a team, who is a mere games away from clinching a top three playoff birth, looks poised and polished, after years of alcohol abuse.

In a game that wasn't supposed to happen due to a tornado, two middle-of-the-pack teams met up in a barn burner.  The Gulls, always competitive, looked to continue a brief win streak and start to make some real noise.  The Brickyard, sorry, Lynn, at this point looks more like a squeaky wheel than the bass drum they were a few years back.  D. "El Rojo Tortuga" Barile had ice water in his veins in a close matchup that was very important for both clubs.  Brickyard threatened to come back in the bottom half  of the seventh, but were stymied by some good Gulls Defense.  Gulls take the game and move up, nine to seven.

Standings
1. NFL               8   -   0
2. BARB            5   -   2
3. GULLS          3   -   2
4.  GEA              3   -   3
5.  KNIGHTS    3   -   3
6. BRICK          2   -   4
8. GALAXY      1   -   6
8. OB LAND    0   -    5

Cy Young you ask, P. O'Leary, a front runner at the jump, is metsa, metsa after the first half. J. Moleti, looking to put the Moleti name on the brass again, is currently a runaway favorite.  B. Serino with four wins is in the mix, and D. Barile with one of only three winning records garners mention.

"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer."   - Ted Williams

Reality

Softball? Really? Softball is for Girls.

I went up to the Middleton, MA batting cages last week to hone my already picturesque swing.  The same picturesque swing that is currently producing a zero game hit streak and a batting average that looks more like a bar tab.  Had my own bat in hand, took my wallet, cell phone, keys, pack of gum, business card, and straw wrapper and placed them on the token collector.  I was ready to mash.  "Dad, isn't softball for girls?"  I overheard a young boy say to his father in between my 3rd and 4th token.  "Come over here Timmy".  "Come over here Timmy?!" That is how you answer? C'mon Dad.  Tell Timmy how awesome I am.

I was literally tearing the yellow, potted, rubber covers off of those cantaloupes.  Peas, bombs, laser beams.  If only there were some Major League Softball scouts there.  As I finished my final token, and put my life back into my Khaki pockets, covered in sweat, dressed in a button down and loafers, I realize how big of a douche I am.

As I walk gingerly from the cage I hoped that, after putting Timmy in the baseball fast pitch as a twelve-year old, his father told him, "Yes Timmy, softball is for girls."

I WANT TO GO TO OB LAND!

June 16 OB Land vs. Nahant Knights

OB Land and The Nahant Knights faced off in an American League contest which was a battle of arguably the favorites to win the division vs. the favorites to tank the division.  P. O'leary got into mid-season form in the bottom half of the first inning.  O'Leary was the big story here fanning two en route to a big win.  The Knights played good defense against another subpar team, and their bats came alive, putting up multiple runs in each inning. OB Land mustered only two runs courtesy of a looping flare. A flare off the end of B. Bennet's wood, that cleared D. Walsh's outstretched, and then thrown glove, leading to an inside the park homer.  The homerun was very fitting so shortly after Father's Day,  for a guy who recently became the father of two, or as the man himself would call them, "seeds".  Knights in a blowout.


NFL vs. GEA
In interleague play, the "starting to slowly warm to room temperature"-GEA squad, battled their bitter rival, the undefeated NFL.  NFL couldn't be playing better ball, NFL-ball, the kind that has an undefeated season.  Even fringe guys are playing out-of-their-minds softball.  This team was looking to steam-roll GEA.  C. Pantano had a gutsy effort on the mound, alah Kanye, "though the wire".  The end result was another yawner, and another win for the League leading NFL.


GALAXY VS. LYNN
Lynn you ask?  Lynn is the team formerly known as Brickyard, the team formerly known as Champion, and the team formerly known as a contender.  Brickyard recently became Lynn and has since dawned prison orange and black as their colors.  One player on Brickyard, sorry, Lynn,  claimed it would make it easier for the Nahant cops to pick them out of a crowd.  Galaxy and Lynn battled in what was a must win for both teams, for both standings position and confidence.  Galaxy built an early lead, but horrendous defense led to Lynn creeping back into the game and eventually back out in front where they stayed for the win.

OB LAND VS. THE GULLS
OB Land.  It sounds like a traveling circus, slash carnival, that is based out of the Midwest. Nope, that's not it at all.  However; when you play OB Land things get a little weird.  M. O'Brien, like a character out of an M. Knight Shyalaman movie will warp your mind as if actually were  in, "OB Land".  OB Land was actually short for O'Brien's Landscaping, pitcher M. O'Briens new business venture, on the League produced schedule.  Coincidence, I think not.  OB Land was manufacturing, and D. Barile was all over the map, leading to a tight game right up until the final bell.  A discrepancy by the umpires and the Gulls coaching staff led to a four run inning, an inning that very well may have been a five run inning.  Unfortunately the Gulls didn't record the box score and could have possibly cost themselves a run.  With two on and two out, Barile settled in and got J. "Poodin" Bennet to ground out to short.

KNIGHTS VS. BARBARIANS
The Knights and the Barbarians faced off in interleague play in a highly anticipated game one of their two-game season series.  P. O'Leary aided by his Bee Eff Eff, liquid Jamison, was maxing and relaxing, chillaxing if you will.   But what is cooler than ice cold? J. Capinigro.  Capinigro stepped in for B. Serino who went on the DL with "tired and needed a nap", to pitch seven stone-cold innings against a stacked Knights lineup.  The Knights carried a two-run league into the fifth when the wheels came off.  With one out, a line drive squeaked by the Knights P. Stubblefield, and into the fescue, for a 2-run homerun.  A bad throwing error, and an equally bad three-base error call, led to a three run inning and the lead for the National League powerhouse.  O'Leary continued to mow down the Barbarians, but J. Capinigro would not go to bed, closing out the win for the defending champs.

Standings
1.  NFL                      7      -      0
2.  BARB                    5      -      2
3.  GEA                      3      -      3
4.  KNIGHTS            3      -      3
5.  GULLS                 2     -      2
6.  BRICK                 2     -      3
7.  GALAXY             1      -      5
8.  OB LAND            0      -      5

I WANT TO GO TO OB LAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Certified Angus

The former two-time champion Brickyard, now only known as "Lynn" faced off against their bitter rival, the defending champion Barbarians in a blow-out.

The Barbarians made short work of J. Peterson in the first two innings, putting up a plethora of runs courtesy of the long ball.  One inning saw five balls leave the yard off of Barbarians bats.

The Brickyard failed to get any type of a rally going on offense, and was stymied on each and every run by a stout Barbarian defense.

The Brickyard outfield got beat deep on a number of deep fly balls, resulting in inside the park round-trippers  leading to the lopsided score.  After a ball that was fisted by one of the Barbarians batsmen out to deep left, the bat was called in to question.  A Miken Viscous, highly toxic, yet legal. 

Final Tally, Barbarians 17 - Brickyard 3

Standings
1.  NFL                       6      -      0
2.  BARB                    4      -      2
3.  GEA                      3      -      2
4.  KNIGHTS            2      -      2
5.  GULLS                 1      -      2
6.  BRICK                 1      -      3
7.  GALAXY             1      -      4
8.  OB LAND            0      -      3

First Quarter Blurbs

A 223.5 pound deer was seen drinking from empty beer cans and wine bottles on shirt beach while fondeling itself.  Upon sighting the deer lept over the rocks in a single bound towards and past the softball field shortly after a game.  It appeared to go unoticed as players and fans alike chaulked the odd sight up to years of alcohol consumption.

Two players from OB Land were caught making love in the bushes and were immediately tossed from the game.

All bats have been approved and the new league rule has been a huge success thus far.  The new balls are also a great success, as run production and home run totals have remained equal to last years totals to this point.

D.U.I.'s are being given out like ectasy pills at a rave leaving the island after 11 p.m.  Watch your ass, seabass.

$800 worth of clay remains under a tarp behind the backstop, sweet!

The left field fence looks like an eightees porno.  Yep, you could rest a tea cup on it.

The last two items will need to be addressed over the all-star break.  A crew will be organized to revamp the aging field and bring it back to its pre-apocolypse glory.

NFL has come out on fire as usual, stemming from off season practice and the fear of being shut out of the in-crowd due to a slump or a bad error.  Very talented, these youngsters haven't lost much of their speed or ability to revover from an alcohol-induced coma with another year under their belt.

Galaxy has had early season problems with attendance and defense just like every year.  Much of their talent remains M.I.A.  The only thing lower than them right now (besides OB Land) is whale shit, whale shit sinks to the bottom.

The Barbarians have looked good, but not great, and are still working out some kinks.  They should be a contender once they load all their guns.

The Knights are as good as anyone on paper, but intensity and focus remain issues with this talented franchise.  Also the best looking team in the league.

The Brickyard has been woeful in the early going.  Much of their championship core remains, but much of the top-tier talent has been lost inside a bottle of Budweiser.  This team could make some noise if they can ever round into shape.

GEA is the biggest surprise of the first quarter and finally look like they have the talent to win a title.  Their ace, C. Pantano went down last week in one of the more gruesome injuries in the history of the NSL.  A broken jaw resulting from a collision with his catcher.  Still alot of "ifs" surrounding this team going forward.

The Gulls remain a "middle of the pack" squad as they look get on a win streak to make up some ground in the standings.  A winning season rests on their shortstops ailing hamstring.

OB Land is as advertised, winless and shameless.  Their coach and star infielder were caught touching private parts in just their second game of the year and were ejaculated from the game.

Standings

NFL                   6    -       0
BARB                3    -       2
GEA                  3    -       2
KNIGHTS         2    -       2
GULLS              1     -      2
BRICK              1     -      2
GALAXY          1     -      4
OB LAND         0     -      3

Barbarians vs. Brickyard tonight.

"Wait this is Bullshit"

The Nahant Men's Softball League graced the cover of Sports Illustrated late in the 1970's with the men of Frank and Sam's becoming celebrities literally overnight. The league fell on hard times until early 2K with the team formerly known as COD, formerly known as Collins, formerly known as Precision Motor Works, formerly known as PMW, formerly known as Piss Moan and Wine finally became the heel that the league needed to thrive. College and high school standouts, Three-sport athletes, Little League phenoms, professional athletes, convicts, alcoholics, schizophrenics, and government officials have all graced the Lowlands Diamond. A vehicle was driven through a roof, countless on and off the field incidents with local officials and law enforcement and at start of new decade we are at a crescendo, the league has expanded to 8 teams, these are their stories.

Game 4 - Champs

Leading two games to none, the Barbarians had the Galaxy's backs against the wall. In the case of the Nahant Softball the wall is orange construction fencing with lopped off chain link fence posts and noodles as top-padding. The Galaxy squad was looking to swing the momentum back, but were bombarded in the top of the first inning by some power heating from the visiting squad. The Barbarians erupted for eight runs on eight hits in the top of the first inning with the help of a three run shot by C. Capinigro. W. Geraci also went yard, putting the Galaxy in a deep hole.

The veteran Galaxy ball club came out in the bottom half of the frame looking to chip away and try to avoid the hole that the Barbarians dug for them becoming their grave. The top of the order broke out there cold chisel and mini sledge to put up two tallies with a solo home-run from N. Liston and a triple from K. Howard. Howard's blast bounced off the steel gate in right field and caromed back toward right center field. C. Lablanc the veteran umpire ruled the hit a triple. Howard would later score to bring the score to 8-2 after an inning of play. An uncharacteristic throwing error by Galaxy led to a three run top of two. Galaxy was blanked in the bottom with a one-two-three inning and looked gassed.

Galaxy dug deep, summoning the souls of past NSL greats on there way to blanking the Barbarians in the third and fourth innings with some stifling defense. Galaxy rattled off three runs in the third and two in the fourth, tightening up this battle at 10-7 at the end of the fourth inning.

The Barbarians, knowing they had to put the nail in the coffin took some time before the fifth inning for a trade-mark Barbarian battle cry to fire up the troops. A three run tater by C. Capanigro, his second of the game, and a two-run shot by T. Nacosia created some insurance for the Barbarians. Galaxy could only muster a single run in the bottom of the fifth due to some superb defense by the Barbarians infield, leaving the score at 16-8 with two to play.

Both teams failed to score in the sixth inning, although Galaxy once again threatened, only to be shut down again by key double plays by the veteran middle infielders from the Barbarians who were playing like they were half their age.

The Barbarians, amped up from the double plays erupted again in the top half of the seventh. A M. Pressman round tripper and a costly error by Galaxy left fielder N. Carmelingo left a five spot on the score board and a sour spot in the hearts of local fans.

Galaxy had the top of their order due up in the bottom of the final frame to try and put together one of the most monumental come-backs in sports history and extend the series. R. Madden started things off with a solo home-run to right that hugged the right field foul pole. Both Madden and the fans at the park were amazed at the 20-year veteran's opposite field pop.

Galaxy continued to threaten and had two on with two out. After a base hit to right, M. Muser decided to try and score from second. The veteran, nicknamed the mule, looked sluggish as he rounded third. A good throw to the plate resulted in a run down, which eventually ended in Muser being tagged out, ending the series.

The Barbarians, formerly known as the Italian Club finally captured the post season crown they had built their roster to get.

Game 3 - Blood Bath

Alcohol is an acquired taste, eventually the stronger more potent stuff ends up tasting the best. I can remember as a kid thinking how disgusting beer tasted, only to crave a cold sudsy just about every day of the week that ends in day. Bloody Marys were at one time beyond my realm of thought. There is a time when putting horse radish on food is a stretch for some people, but to drink it may seem ludicrous. However, just like with beer, most people come around. The whole frame of thought that believes drinking shouldn’t be done before noon is thrown out the window in the Bloody Mary world. Not only does the mixture of tomato juice, Worcester shire sauce, a ton of vodka, horse radish, salt and pepper, and a hint of lime taste great, it gives the common man a perfectly good, mainstream society-acceptable reason to consume copious amounts of alcohol before the noon church bells.

There are two reasons why they call them Bloody Mary’s, first it looks a lot like blood, second, your percentage of blood to alcohol is usually ten times the legal limit after a couple of stiff Bloody Marys. Its like the blood of the beast, it makes your face get all hot and creates a feeling of numbness in your lower body. In game three, the once dominant Galaxy ball club looked numb, as the their long road to the final looked like it finally caught up with them in what was a one sided affair. B. Serino, the ace of the Barbarian staff, was back after missing the first two championship tilts while in Seattle throwing fish to take the hill. The Barbarians tried to gain a stronghold on the 2010 Championship with a game three win. Serino spends time in the Northwest as a fish thrower, one of only three men in the continental United States with the ability to underhand a swordfish twenty plus feet (in Seattle, WA his right arm is considered some what of a mythical creature due to its shear strength resulting from years of unlimited arc, slow pitch softball).

Behind their veteran knuckle ball pitcher, the Barbarians were on fire from the opening bell, never giving Galaxy even a sniff of a lead. Galaxy came out flat at the plate and it spewed on to the field of play as their solid defense lacked confidence. The Barbarians defense came up big again, and their outfield played to their potential, finally getting acclimated to the new bats and associated ball flight. With a sound defensive curtain behind him, Serino let his defense play by peppering the strike zone. Barbarians slaughtered the Galaxy in the most lopsided contest of the 2009 playoffs, 18-1.

Game 2 - Pendulum Addendum

Momentum is a funny thing, you can't smell, or taste it, but one thing is for certain, it exists, and it can be so powerful that an ordinary, unprepared human being can be run over by it in the blink of an eye. In the second game of the Nahant Softball Championship, one of the two teams found themselves on the wrong side of that momentum pendulum.

A day after getting drubbed by a confident Galaxy squad who were aided by a triple-walled, spaceship grade, titanium wrecking stick, the Barbarians, with a shiny new battle axe of their own, took the field looking to avoid the third championship series sweep in as many years with a game two win.

Barbarian Headquarters was the site of a pre-game meeting to fire up the once dominant ballclub. Prior to the all-important game two, a pair of Barbarians were spotted leaving the headquarters to find registered sex offenders to adequately break in their new weapon prior to the game. No sex offenders were located, so a little Barbarian soft toss and a trip to Hit Zone would have to suffice. The Barbarians use a store-front cover up, ala The Green Spot in Revere, MA and their repeat three peat Revere softball Dynasty, to cover up their home base of evil.

Galaxy came out en-fuego in game 1 and would try to carry the momentum into the early innings of game 2. The fans and local politicians rejoiced after the game 1 win, as it looked like a Nahant squad would finally re-capture the trophy that had spent the last two years in Lynn. Locals knew the only thing worse than Lynn holding the title would be for a Swampscott team to follow suit. Swampscott; a town that has held the islanders down since new fishing regulations limiting catch sizes in the fifties, forced teenagers from Nahant to get a high school diploma, rather than scour the ocean floor for lobsters and sell their catch for a modest living.

The Galaxy’s time on the right side of the pendulum would be short lived as the king Barbarian pulled a shiny new battle axe from his back mounted holster.

P. Mignone saw his second start in two games begin much like the first. Galaxy rode the local wave to a quick lead with some crisp hitting from their veteran lineup. R. Moleti looked good in the early going, but tired quickly as the playoff innings piled up on the “experienced” righty. The Barbarian lineup was stacked on paper but the top of the order couldn’t produce at the outset of game 2. The bottom of the lineup however, came up big yet again; much like it did in the Knights series and kept this game close.

Leading by two runs, Galaxy looked to shut the door on the Barbarians in game two and put the series to bed. Some costly errors and stranded runners allowed the Barbarians to creep back into the game. The Barbarians would finally sip on the fruits of momentum as the game was tied going into the bottom of the seventh and final inning. After a pre-inning chest-thumping session by the Barbarians the meat of their order was due up and looked to lay down a hurting on Galaxy. R. Moleti got a quick out and it looked like we would see extra innings as the 3-4-5 Barbarian batsmen continued to struggle. How quickly the tide can change as C. Capanigro, M. Pressman, and A. Stone went back to back to back, each one seeing their hits leave the pitcher friendly confines of Lowland Field. The Barbarians took the game in epic fashion 12-6 in a very interesting game two.