The season ending tourney was held last night. It was single elimination, so the pressure was on!

FOTS played a close game against the Rounders, but came up short 12-9 to get bounced out and finish their season over .500 with an 8-7 record. Apologies to FOTS guys for not having more detailed write-ups - in this new league we end up playing at the same time quite often so I don't really have the details of the games.

Goodfellas started the tournament great on the defensive side as the home team, but their offensive struggles cropped up early as the went 3-up and 3-down in the first inning. After another good defensive showing, Goodfellas got a little offense and led 3-0 after two innings. In the fourth, SE Young Adults busted out with 8 runs on some solid hitting. Goodfellas responded with 4 of their own and trailed by one 9-8 going into the fifth. Neither team scored in the fifth, which provided its own drama. With only 2 minutes left on the clock, if Goodfellas could bat for 2 minutes and get the lead they would win. Unfortunately, the first two batters got out. After a single, there were mere seconds left on the clock, fortunately the third out was made to extend the game.

Now Goodfellas had to keep the game within reach and not allow SEYA to score too many runs. They accomplished this mission, giving up only 3 runs to enter their final at-bat down 12-8. JP led off with a double and scored on Sumrall's follow up double. After an out that failed to advance the runner, Mike hammered one down the first base line. Sumrall rounded third and the right fielder tried to throw him out at home. Mike advanced to second on the throw and then advanced again to third as the infield couldn't get a handle on the ball. Taylor came up next and got a base hit to score Mike from third, the lead has been cut to 12-11.

Groux came up to the plate and smacked one hard at the second baseman, he could not field it cleanly and Groux reached, advancing Taylor to second base. With Taylor's speed, a base hit would likely score him, and Bruce came to the plate looking to tie the game. He hit a hard line drive right at the third baseman, it was too hard for him to handle cleanly, but he was able to recover in time to step on the base and get Taylor out, but Bruce made it safely to first and Groux was now at second with two outs. With the tourney on the line, Matthew came to the plate and wisely chose to bat from the right side where he has had he most success. He slammed a line drive into the outfield. Groux cruised around the bases and scored easily to tie the game. Bruce now represented the winning run at second base as David Charles came to the plate.

David Charles lined a single into left field. Bruce is scurrying from second as fast as he can. He gets the "GO" signal from Sumrall coaching third. As he rounds the bag his hat flies off, he momentarily attempts to catch it but quickly returns his focus to the task at hand. The outfielder has a play, he makes the throw. Bruce is flying down the third base line as if his life depended on it. The ball is in the air. From the dugout, everyone can see that the ball has a chance to get there on time. "GO BRUCE GO!" the shouts are almost deafening from the dugout. Pop! The ball hits the catcher's glove. SLAP! Bruce's foot hits the plate. The tag is late. "SAFE!" The bench erupts with joy! Both Bruce and David Charles are mobbed with congratulatory hugs and pats on the head. What a game! And now.....another.....

In game 2 Goodfellas had to face the team with the second best record in the league: Team Nike. Once again a slow offensive start threatened to derail the game before it even found a groove. After two innings, Team Nike led 5-0. Goodfellas finally put some runs up in the top half of the third, but Nike answered with 4 more of there own to take a 9-2 lead going into the fourth. Goodfellas bats finally woke up after a leadoff walk by Brett and three consecutive singles. They scored 4 runs and held Nike to zero, cutting the lead to 9-6. The fifth inning was very similar. Groux led off with a home run and Goodfellas scored 3 more runs and held Nike again to zero - the game was tied 9-9.

The sixth inning would be the last one, time ran out during Goodfellas at-bat. They found a nice groove, starting the inning with 4 consecutive singles. After a sacrifice fly, a walk, and another single, the inning ended prematurely with a smashed liner to 3rd that was caught and another well hit line drive to left center that was caught. Goodfellas had scored 3 runs through and now just had to hold on. Unfortunately, Team Nike pulled a page out of the Goodfellas previous game book and scored 4 runs to ice another "heart attack" game, winning 13-12.

Stats Highlights for Goodfellas
Best Batting Avg: Sumrall - .833
Best Slugging Pct: Groux - 2.250
Most RBIs: Taylor - 5
Home Runs: Groux - 2
Triples: Greg, Taylor - 1 each
Doubles: Sumrall, Mike, Brett, JP - 2 each
Most Runs Scored: Sumrall - 4
Walks: Bruce (2), Brett (1), Matthew (1), Warren (1), Ball (1)
Clutch Hits of the Night: The Young Guns - Matthew and DC
Clutch Score of the Night: Bruce "Wheels on Fire" Pavelka

Stats Highlights for FOTS
Best Batting Avg: Moe (1/1), Matt M (1/1), Lesco (3/3) - 1.000
Best Slugging Pct: Moe, Matt M, Lesco - 1.000
Most RBIs: Matt M, Quinton - 2 each
NO Home Runs
NO Triples
NO Doubles
Most Runs Scored: Matt M, Lesco - 2 each
Most Walks: Matt M - 2