While still waiting for spring to arrive and make an appearance, OTH completed their third week of the season in Wrigley Field type blustery wind conditions. This week the hitter friendly gale force winds were blowing out, much to the dismay of outfielders and pitchers alike. It was also an early showdown for a couple of undefeated teams, Synergy vs. Mers and Barco vs. O'Sheas. As described by Synergy's Bob Cruickshank, their outcome with Mers, a 15-15 tie, was as satisfying as kissing your sister. Synergy (2-0-1) maintained a lead for most of the game, with Mers (1-0-1) lurking within reach until they erupted for 5 runs in the 8th to catch Synergy. In the bottom of the 9th, with the winning run on base, Mers came through with two straight clutch outs to salvage the tie. Synergy's Bill Fitzpatrick made some outstanding catches while Al Devine scooped everything that came near him at 3rd. Offensively for Synergy, the big bats were Joe (when will I ever play 1st ?) Lutz, Bob Cruickshank, Larry Lembo and Dave Rubino. In the other game between 2-0 teams, Barco outlasted O'Sheas 28-10. Aided by two rally deflating DPs and their ability to score in every inning, Barco was able to jump out to an early lead which O'Sheas was never able to overcome. Barco's Kevin (the Excavator) Moloney continued to crush the ball, going 3-3 & 4 RBIs, but had a lot of help from Terry () McPartland, 3-3 w/5 RBIs, and Dave Ringer, who was 5-5 w/8 RBIs. Setting the table for Barco were Steve Jacobson (5-6 5 runs scored), Dennis Ryan (4-5), and Gentleman Tony Falcone (3-4). This week's Barco's "Seeing Eye Dog" award goes to rookie Dave Sauer - it seems to be contagious with playing R/center. Also Kevin Maloney will be giving a base running demonstration before next week's game for all those interested. In the late game, Singleton's (3-0) continued their winning ways with a 24-10 victory over a struggling Changing Times. Powering the way for Singleton's with monster HRs were Jack Howlett (2 HRs) and Richie Smindak. Both also had 4 hits along with Paul Canalattos and Benny Alberto. Adding to the total team win with 3 hits apiece were Bob Davis and Tom (Satch) Camarda. No results were reported on the other 3 games.

Anyone interested in passing along game results/highlights, along with any noteworthy news can be e-mailed to "gtj707@yahoo.com". Please send no later than Sunday night for the following Friday's issue.