The second week of the OTH Tournament was played on Sept.19 except for the M&T/Mers match up that was played on Tuesday. Mers awoke from their yearlong doldrums in time for a 22-15 victory over M&T. It seemed like déjà vu for Mers with M&T jumping out to a 9-0 lead after 2 innings however this time Mers fought back with a 6 run third led by George Cohen's 2-run double and Kevin Brosnan's 3 bagger. M&T still held a 13-7 lead after four but a 9 run explosion by Mers in the 5th; again led by George Cohen this time with a monster HR, put Mers in the lead for good. Cohen was Mers big gun with a 3-5, 2 HR and 7 RBI night but had plenty of help. Byron Bodine (5-5) and Tom Fitzpatrick (3-5) kept the table set Cohen all night, who cemented the win in the 8th with another tremendous 3-run HR. Others with hot bats for Mers were Ed Healy, Kevin Brosnan and Bill Sutherland, each going 3-5 and Bob Rozakis who was 2-2 and 3 RBIs. Pitcher Joe Fanning (who was 3-4) along with some real solid fielding held M&T to just 3 runs over the final five innings to seal the win. In another game between teams in this bracket, Singletons handed Bar Boy a 19-2 loss. Led by their defense and the flawless pitching of Frank (Grandpa) Gordon, Singletons dominated the game, starting with an 8 run first. Then the defense took over with the outfield initiating 3 DPS, two by Tommy Sorrentino and one by Gary Saccaro. The offensive stars on the evening were Rich Cirillo, with 4 hits, and Richie Smindak, Al Venaziano, and Dennis Passeretti adding 3 more. Also adding to the mix with key hits were Tommy Sorrentino, Steve Buchter and Benny Alberto. The next bracket had J-2 pulling out a 15-11 come-from-behind victory over Synergy. Synergy's Bob Joyce pitched a great game, facing J-2's powerful group over and over, keeping his team in the game till the end. Tom Vanasco hit yet another booming HR that landed past the centerfield lights on the 90' field and Rich Dargie and a limping Tom Vanasco made several terrific defensive plays to help keep the score close. In the Bethpage PT/Moby game, Bethpage came from an 8-2 deficit after seven to score three each in the 8th and 9th innings to tie Moby 8-8 in 10. John Leone pitched a great game for Bethpage and had help from Steve Pares who was 4-4. The final bracket had Darien spanking Changing Times 24-12. Darien's sleeping offense woke up for this game and was led by Jerry "Alfonso" Mazza (4 hits, leadoff HR), Rich D'Amico (4-6), Albino Reverberi (4-6, 5 RBIs), Tom Bailey (3 hits) and Bobby Nicolosi (4-5) who also played great "D" at short. Brian Tinney was big as well (5-5, 6 RBIs) but made the highlight of the night with his 30' crawl and roll home after falling halfway down the line. The umpire, with a big smile, mercifully called him safe. The final game had Barco squeaking out an 11-10 win over O'Sheas, scoring the winning run in their last at bat. O'Sheas jumped out to a 5 run lead before Barco was able to mount any offense and won when Terry "Speedy Gonzalez" McPartland scored from 2nd on Dave Ringer's long sac fly. Defensively for Barco, OF Dave Ringer continued his terrific play and who also had two clutch plays by 3b Bill White, who demonstrated his short game with a strategically placed wedge shot (aka a 2 RBI double). Offensively Barco was powered by Tony Falcone, who was 3-3 with a triple, and "Speedy Gonzalez" (aka Terry McPartland), who was 3-3, a double and some daring (?) base running.

This Friday will be the end of the season for most teams, as only four will go into the next round. We at Barco have a dedicated group of wives, who show up for every game no matter the time or weather conditions, as I'm sure other teams have as well, so I would like to take the opportunity to thank all who come out and support us during the season.

Regarding this year's charity, Nicole's Hope, for those who are interested in sending a contribution directly, the info is Nicole Caputo Foundation LTD, PO Box 517, Centereach NY 11720.

Barco	2-0-0	Moby	1-0-1	Singletons	2-0-0
Darien	2-0-0	Synergy	1-1-0	M&T	1-1-0
O'Sheas	0-2-0	J-2	1-1-0	Mers	1-1-0
Chgng T	0-2-0	Bethpage PT	0-1-1	Bar Boy	0-2-0