After two weeks of rainouts, the Over The Hill Gang finally kicked off its 24th season last Friday night. The league extended thanks to the Town of Oyster Bay and its workers for the outstanding job refurbishing the Allen Park fields which are now in great shape.

In the early games, two new sponsors opened the season with big wins. Lembo Chiropractic defeated Changing Times Pub by the score of 20-10 behind the outstanding defense of rookie third baseman Dave Rubino. Lembo's cracked three home runs, as Dom Bella, Joe Lutz and Larry Lembo all went deep for the winners. The other early game had Mer's Pub open the season by defeating Taormina Pizza 16-8. Mer's pounded out 23 hits as George Cohan, Tony Scoca and Tom Vella all contributed three hits each. Barry Booth, Joe Fanning and Jim Johnson rounded out the "O" with two hits and several key RBI's. Gary D'Apice broke open the game with a bases loaded double in the eighth inning.

Moby Drugs outlasted Barco Construction 18-17 with some timely hitting by rookies Chuck Isleman, John Kennedy and Joe Zarcone. Barco's Bill White (4 for 4), Artie Gotzmer (3 for 3, triple) and Gary Jambor (3 for 3, HR) led the offense with perfect nights at the plate. The night belonged to Tony Falcone, who ended it with three hits, including a grand slam. Granny O'Shea's posted a 16-9 victory over J-Two Lounge. No highlights were provided.

In the late games, Thirsty Beverage beat Barboy 23-15. Barboy's number one draft pick John Tuttle had an impressive debut both offensively (2 for 3) and defensively. The other late game had Darien Press defeat McCourt & Trudden by the score of 39-8. Darien was led by Tom Bailey, whose first swing of 1999 was a home run. Tom's perfect night at the plate led the team, which pounded out over 40 hits. After missing the second half of last year due to injury, "Big" John DeFalco returned to form with a four hit night. Jerry Murtha, Dan Arenhotz, Kris Solberg, Joe Traina and Brian Tinney all had 4 for 5 nights as Darien coasted to victory. M & T had multiple hit nights from Sal Ditroia, Bernie Doherty and Mark Lubowsky.

The league sends its condolences to Darien's manager Sal Gioeli on the passing of his brother-in-law, Edward. Congratulations are in order for league President Jim Reilly on the birth of his granddaughter Nicole Joanna.

Tonight's Games (May 7)