Once our weekly Friday night rainstorm ended, Mers and Singletons began the 7 p.m. opener. Some, thinking the game would be rained out, caused Singletons to begin the game with 8 1/2 players (Benny was on one good leg!) Oddly enough, after five innings Singletons led 6-4. Then in th e sixth inning Singletons 10th man shows up and is promptly greeted hello by Mers with nine quick runs. The ninth inning arrives with Singletons down by 10, 18-8, they respond with 10 runs to tie the game at 18 apiece. The heartbreak came in the bottom of the ninth when Mers scored all the way from first base on a sacrifice fly to win 19-18 ...whew ... an odd game from beginning to end. Hitting stars were (one-legged) Benny Alberto and Bob Davis with four hits and Paul Canalattos and Tommy (Tino ) Sorrentino with three hits each.

Mers Ale House took the lead again in the top-rated American League with a dramatic 19-18 victory over Singleton's to push the Mers record to 10-1-1. The first five innings were back and forth. After three, the score was tied at four and Singletons led by two after five innings. Mers then put nine across in the sixth and then five more in the next two innings to take a commanding 18-10 lead. It looked like it was over until the Singleton bats woke up big time and pushed 10 runs across home plate in the top of the ninth to tie the score. Mers then won it in the bottom of the ninth when Byron Bodine tagged from first on the second out and then was able to score from second when Singletons threw the ball away. Bodine led the Mers attack going 5-5 with one home run and six RBIs. George Cohan had two homers and five RBIs. Ed Healy, Joe Fanning and Bob Rozakis all went 3-4.

M&T beat Moby 19-2. Brian Sammut had three hits. Getting two hits were Mark Lubowsky (who also pitched a great game), Nat Corrao, Sal Ditroia, Frank Tiscione and Rich McClorey, which included a two-run homer and four RBIs. Nat Corrao drove in 5 runs and Frank Tiscione three.

Darien Press defeated Changing Times Pub 12-6 to improve their record to 9-4. John DeFalco had another great night at the plate with two hits, including a long two-run homer and Joe Manning had his second consecutive 3-4 night, including a triple. Rev "Bio" Albino, 3-4, Tom Bailey, 3-3 and Joe Algerio rounded out the offense as Kris Solberg was masterful on the mound once again.

Barco outlasted a stubborn Morgan B's team 11-8, improving their record to 11-3. Defense was the key to Barco's victory, led by 1b Phil Tripoli; pitcher Gary Jambor; but especially SS Steve Jacobson (Terry Who?) who turned in numerous sparkling plays. Offensively Steve, along with hot hitting Kevin Moloney, Dave Ringer and Bob "Special K" Diamond led the offense.

Granny O'Shea's kept pace with Dariens with a 24-10 win over Barboy in a game that saw Robert Thompson hit his first ball over the fence. The defense turned in a great game, while missing some regular fielders. It was a pleasant difference from last week's game.

Some game reports from last week.

In a thrilling game M&T defeated Mers 14-13. Mers scored eight runs in the eighth inning, but Mark Lubowsky held the top of the lineup scoreless in the ninth for the win. There were many hitting stars. Vin Cardulo was 5-5, including a homer and five RBIs and Tom Gomez was 4-5. Tony Lacorte had a homer and drove in four runs. Brian Sammut, Rich McClorey and Mark Lubowsky all had two hits. Defense was led by Vin Cardulo and John Cardile and the play of the game was turned in by Brian Sammut at second base.

Darien Press improved their record to 8-4 with a 23-10 victory over Granny O'Sheas. Darien backed up another strong pitching and hitting performance by Kris Solberg, 3-4 with two long three-run home runs by Joe Manning, three hits, four RBIs and Joe Cipolla. Dan "Hitman" Arenholz was 3-4, Rev "Bino" Albino added three hits and another outfield assist and Jerry Mazza returned with a three-hit night.