Loyal Tire takes B' crown in Monroe Senior League playoffs
The Afterdeck square-off with defending champ Tommy D’s for Division A’ title Monroe - The boys of Loyal Tire captured the “B” Division title in their 24-6 victory against CB Trucking in which Jimmy Scully and Jimmy Hogankamp led a 28-hit performance against five pitchers. Hogankamp had a long homer and two doubles, Scully and Neil Winter added three hits apiece. Neil Hoyt held CB to just one run through six innings. Mike Gregory was splendid at shortstop, filling in for the injured Pete Pisacano, and showed his gold glove form while making a bid for defensive player of the year. Rob Winter, back from the disabled list, was a defensive replacement in the final inning and Frank Palmari had a strong bat. Scott Petillo proved to be an excellent lead off hitter, getting some timely hits along with first baseman Steve Smith. Jerry Ahearne was stellar in the outfield and also had a good day at the plate. John Sullivan and Pete Lanaro were solid defensively with each of them also adding a couple of hits. Ed O’Carroll and Manny Guella contributed at the plate. Manager Marty Diamond said he enjoyed managing a great bunch of guys who love the game and always have a good time. He would like to thank them for a great year and would also like to thank their sponsors, Loyal Tire & Auto, Apple Auto Body and Mike Hagopian for their support. In the first game, Scully hit two home runs to lead Loyal Tire to a 10-5 victory. Hogankamp homered in the first inning to give Loyal a 3-2 lead and they never looked back. Hoyt pitched a great game and Gregory was spectacular defensively at third base. In other playoff action: In the “C” Division final, Nebrasky Plumbing was a 7-5 winner in game one against Brazen Head Pub. After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, Nebrasky scored another come-from-behind victory, led by a two-run blast from the bat of John Garbacia to take a 5-4 lead in the fourth. After Brazen Head tied the game in the fifth inning, Nebrasky came back to take the lead for good on a two-run, inside-the-park home run to right field by Gary Cole. In game three of their best-of-three semi-final series, the Brazen Head defeated FGFP by a score of 9-5 and moved on to the championship round. The early offensive spark came from Mike Clavell who was 2-2 with two RBIs in the first two innings. Artie Flora continued to hit the ball hard as he did all series. The Brazen Head defense stepped up in a major way led by Len Froio. Jesse Blattstein pitched an outstanding game, giving up only three earned runs. Jesse was also 2-3. John Wetnik homered for an important insurance run in the sixth. Rob Raab made the heads-up play of the night to record the final out. The Afterdeck advanced to the “A” Division finals with an 11-6 victory over J.B. McMinnions. The Afterdeck was led by the red-hot James Rizzi, 2-3 double, home run and five RBIs, and three homers and 10 RBIs in the last two games. Dan Politoski also homered for the winners, and Anthony Rizzi and Rob Smith each contributed two hits and an RBI. John Degennaro was the defensive star with two diving stops to kill McMinnion rallies. Papo Rodriguez was solid for six and one-third innings; Dan Henderson got the final two outs to seal the win. The Afterdeck will square off with five-time defending champions Tommy D’s for this year’s title.