Mers Ale House concluded the 2002 Over The Hill Gang softball league regular season as the champion of the top rated American League with a 10-2-1 record. This earned Mers the number one seeding in the annual end of the season league tournament.

Mers first tournament opponent was against Moby Drugs and they won this game 10-9 with a dramatic four run last inning. Mers had trailed the entire game, but in the last inning Tom Fitzpatrick had led off with a single. Joe Fanning followed with a triple driving Fitzpatrick in. Glen Olsen then hit a sacrifice fly to get Mers within one. Then with two outs and Mers facing defeat, Barry Booth and Gary DiApice both singled to set up a first and third situation. Kevin Brosnan, who had already gone 2 for 2, was then intentionally walked to load the bases. Rich Lewis came up next and drove a hard shot up the middle, which hit off of the Moby pitcher. As the tying run crossed home plate, the ball was thrown past first base into the outfield in an attempt to get Lewis, who had already reached first safely allowing the winning run to score on the error.

Mers won their second tournament game again by one run against J-2 by the score of 22 to 21. This time Mers led by 4 in the last inning, but a J-2 rally fell one run short. The Mers hitting stars of this game were Joe Girimonte, who was 4 for 4 with 2 RBIs, and Kevin Brosnan, who was 3 for 3 RBIs with 4 RBIs and a huge 2 run homerun. Byron Bodine was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs, Ed Healy 3 for 4, Bob Rozakis 2 for 2, and Bill Sutherland and Gary DiApice were both 2 for 3.

Mers third tournament victory, which allowed them to finish at the top of their bracket, came against Granny O'Shea's with their third one run victory in a row by the score of 12 to 11. The cardiac team once again earned this victory in the last inning when Ed Obloj hit a one single to drive in Joe Fanning, who had gone 3 for 3. Byron Bodine and team MVP, George Cohan, each went 2 for 3. The biggest blow of the game came in the second inning when Glen Olsen slammed a three run homer.

Mers then faced McCourt and Trudden in the semi-final of the tournament championship round and moved into the championship game with a 23-20 victory. Tom Fitzpatrick (3 RBIs), George Cohan (2 RBIs), and Barry Booth (2 RBIs) were the game's hitting stars for Mers each going 4 for 4. Jim Fileccia was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs, Glen Olsen 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs, Rich Lewis 3 for 4 and 1 RBI, and Joe Fanning 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Mers scored 6 runs in the fifth inning led by back to back Fanning and Fitzpatrick homeruns.

The tournament championship charity night, which was run this year for the Leukemia Society in memory of league President Jim Reilly's granddaughter, was again the highlight of the Over The Hill Gang season. The league ran its annual homerun hitting contest prior to the championship game. After two rounds of monstrous blasts by all ten participants, Moby's Paul Nardone and Mers George Cohan were tied. These two Ruthian players then faced off in a head to head competition which Nardone won.

The league tournament championship game was the perfect match this year with number one seed, Mers, facing number two seed, Barco Construction, who had finished second in the American league with a regular season record of 12-3. First blood was drawn by Barco with two runs in the first inning. Mers then came back with three in the second off a Joe Fanning double, which drove in two runs, and then a Tom Fitzpatrick RBI single. The fourth inning was an explosive one with both teams pushing 11 runs across the plate. Barco led off the inning by driving in three runs to briefly retake the lead. Mers however had their biggest inning of the game scoring eight runs. George Cohan, who led Mers this year again in the homerun category, hit one of his farthest blasts of the year to drive in three runs. The last two runs of the inning were driven in by a Tom Fitzpatrick homerun. This gave Mers a 12-5 lead, but Barco was, and is, a team that can score runs in bunches and who will not quit. In the next four innings Barco outscored Mers 10 to 5 to pull within 2 at 17 to 15. Barco came to bat in the ninth with their last chance to even the score and they did so with a dramatic two out two run homerun before Mers could get the final out. Mers had a chance to pull out one of their patented last inning victories, but left the winning run on third in the bottom of the ninth. The tenth inning saw both teams go scoreless for only the first time in the game. Barco failed to score again in their half of the eleventh inning once again setting Mers up for a dramatic win. They did not disappoint. With one out and Kevin Brosnan on third, put there by a Bill Sutherland single, Ed Obloj came to bat needing to drive the ball. Obloj came through with a deep sacrifice fly to left scoring Brosnan and giving Mers the rare double of league champion and tournament champion.

Against Barco, George Cohan again led his team to victory going 2 for 3 and driving in 5 runs. Tom Fitzpatrick (3 RBIs) and Tom Vella were both 3 for 4. Rich Lewis was 2 for 3 with 1 RBI while Joe Fanning was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. Joe Girimonte, Byron Bodine, Glen Olsen, Ed Healy, Jim Fileccia, Kevin Brosnan, and Bill Sutherland were all 2 for 4. The other championship Mers players were Barry Booth, Ed Obloj, Gary DiApice and Bob Rozakis.

It was a fitting end to a great season for the champion players from Mers, who all thank their sponsor, Mers Ale House on Conklin Street in Farmingdale, for its support and its fabulous cold refreshments during the long season. The champions, who finished with a record of 15-2-1, along with the other 11 Over The Hill League Gang teams, look forward to another successful season in 2003 after a winter of relaxation and for some, rehabilitation.