GMSL ROUNDUP
After scraping off rust, Skippers cleans up
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It took a while for Skippers to shake the rust off, but when it did, the team got what it was looking for.
Skippers, the second-seeded team in the Greenport Men's Softball League Tournament, showed the affect of an 11-day layoff last week. It not only lost the first game of the best-of-three semifinal series against Founders Tavern, but it also fell behind early in Game 2.
But midway through that second game, played last Wednesday night, Skippers kicked it up a notch and rallied for a 24-18 win to even the series.
Skippers, sparked by Pat Gagen's three home runs and six runs batted in, then beat Founders Tavern, 27-10, on Friday night at the Polo Grounds to advance to the championship series against the top seed, Marcello Masonry. The first two games of the best-of-five championship series were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Game 3 is scheduled for tonight, and Game 4, if necessary, would be tomorrow night. All games are tentatively slated to start at 7:30 p.m. A fifth would be played on Monday night.
"We've got a bunch of guys who have been here before," Skippers pitcher John Brush said. "We're not going to crack. We know we can win this time of the year."
While the final score of Game 3 was lopsided, it was a 15-10 game going into the sixth inning, when Skippers erupted for 12 runs and won the mercy-rule-shortened game. Gagen's three-run homer that inning sealed Skippers' victory.
But in the opening game of the series on Aug. 26, Founders Tavern, fresh off its dramatic series win over Reilly Pools, stormed to a 15-3 win. Skippers played like a team that hadn't played in 11 days.
It looked like Skippers had shaken off its lethargy in Game 2, when it scored seven runs in the top of the first inning.
But Founders answered right back with 12 runs of its own in the bottom of the inning. Founders held a 16-15 lead after four innings, but Hansen's two-run single in the fifth put Skippers in front for good.
Again, the long ball helped Skippers climb back into the game, as Berry hit a pair, while Verity, Gagen, and Hansen all went deep. Berry and Hansen each drove in five runs.
That set the stage for the third and deciding game.
Skippers' long-ball prowess and Brush's clutch pitching led the team to the finals. Skippers will face a Marcello Masonry team that outlasted Condon Engineering in the other semifinal series.
Marcello, after losing the opening game of the series, 21-14, rebounded to win the final two games by the scores of 27-7 and 17-10.
Jamie Sepenoski was the hitting star for Marcello in the third game, blasting three home runs. Bob Neese also hit one out for Marcello. Sam Smith, Clinton Mellas, Rocky Schwamborn and Justin Schwamborn all homered for Condon, but it wasn't enough.
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