June 30 Games: On June 30 the OTHG, by using what was originally scheduled as an off week, made up one of their three rainouts. The schedule from the May 12 rainout had Synergy opening up against Mers Pub team on the 60' diamond with Synergy getting back on the winning track as they beat the ever-tough Mers crew 14-8. The game was close until Synergy was able to put together a rally that was started by second year man Bob Huebner's triple. Adding to the big hit barrage were Benny Macchia and Aldo Balducci who both smacked home runs. The Synergy defense backed a great performance that was turned in by veteran pitcher Richie Dargie. Also contributing key multi-hit nights were Billy Fitzpatrick (who played a great shortstop), Dave Rubino, Bruce Coonan, and Al Devine. Breaking out with singles when the team needed them most was Bob Ceriello. It was reported that later that night Tommy Vanasco was observed doing a lot of crying in his glass about going hitless. The early game on the 90 had the resurgent Bar Boy team pairing up against Singletons in a divisional match-up. Both teams started out playing tight as they went into the home half of the fourth tied at one that Singletons broke with three runs for a 4-1 lead but Bar Boy responded right away with two runs of their own in the fifth and one more in the sixth to tie the score. Now it was Red's turn to bounce back which they did with three in their half of the inning to go up 7-4. Bar Boy stayed tough as they banged out four in the eighth to go up 8-7 which Singletons immediately evened up in their half. After a scoreless ninth, the game moved into the tenth where Big Red pushed across the winner on rookie Larry Grieshaber's third hit of the game giving Singletons an exciting 9-8 victory. Besides Larry G, hitting stars with three hits were rookie Alan Rapfogel and Dennis Passaretti. Adding two hits each were Gary Saccaro (including a HR), Bob Davis and Benny Alberto, who did a fine job in relief.

The middle game on the small field had O'Shea's and Hampton Air East battling a hard, well-fought game. Air opened up with a one-run lead that O'Shea's Mickey Newbeck RBI tied. Bruce Kubart and Don Carlin then tacked on two more in the third to give Granny's a 3-1 lead. The balance of the game featured clutch hitting and fine fielding that carried through to the very end in this seasaw battle. Mitch Maghakian and Bob Thompson added RBI singles in the fourth but Hampton bounced right back in their half as they blasted a three-run homerun. Going into the sixth tied at five, both teams again went on the warpath. First O'Shea's Bob Thompson went over the fence for a two-run blast which Garry Innes later followed with an RBI single. But not to be outdone, Air scored three in the bottom half, again tying the score at eight. In the eighth the teams again traded two runs apiece, O'Shea's coming on Andy Cohen's two-run blast, leaving it up to the ninth to decide the winner. For Granny's, Mike Hadnagy delivered a two-out single and was promptly driven in by George Gamblin's double for the game winner as Hampton Air was unable answer in their half and O'Sheas held on for a 11-10 win. The result for the Moby-M&T contest on the big field wasn't reported.

The late game on the 60 had Barco getting back in the winning column as they jumped all over Changing Times 22-10. Barco's night started out great as they scored nine in the first, the last seven scoring with two out. CT closed, in getting it to 13-7, but Barco scored another nine in the fifth to take a commanding 22-7 lead. Offensively, every Barco player had a hit and RBI as the team was clutch up and down the entire lineup, which was led particularly by Dennis Ryan, Paul Voelker (three RBIs) and Phil Tripoli (all with four hits), Kevin Moloney (HR) and Rick Pedone (both with four RBIs). On the 90, Built-More Builders beat Bethpage PT 15-9 thanks to a combination of timely hitting and solid defense. After spotting Bethpage to a 4-0 lead, BMB responded in the third inning when Marc Fischer belted a monster three-run homer. After that, BMB stayed ahead with clutch RBI hits from Joe Manning, Ira Berger and especially Joe Algerio who was 4-4 for the night. Algerio also turned back the clock with a special guest appearance in left center field. On the mound, Kris Solberg kept Bethpage off balance all night. At the plate, Manning and Jerry Mazza had three hits while Berger, Pete Mendelson, Tom "T" Ball, John Defalco and Karl Dessel had two hits each.

July 7 Games: Highlights from this week aren't many, as the article will demonstrate. In the opening games, M&T continued their fine season with a win over a struggling Changing Times team while the same can be said for both teams in Moby's win over Mers. Synergy continues to post the league's best record as they defeated Bethpage PT while Granny O'Sheas dropped to a game behind Synergy in their 19-9 loss to Built-More-Builders that turned out to be BMB's best all-around game of the season. BMB came up big on defense especially Rich D'Amico who proved he can play any position. D'Amico had a pair of stellar putouts in right field, threw a guy out at the plate, and also had several tough chances at second. Not to be outdone in the outfield was Beno Reverberi who nailed a runner at home by 30 feet. At the plate, BMB jumped to an early lead and kept the runs coming until the lights went out. Tom "T" Ball and Joe Manning were 4-4. Right behind them were Bobby Schubert, D'Amico and Jerry Mazza with 3 hits each. Rounding out the offense, Tom Dittmeier, Brian Tinney, and Joe Cipolla pitched in with a pair of hits each. And speaking of pitching, Ira Berger had a solid game on the mound for BMB. Rumor has it, co-manager Pete Mendelson gets credit for this win even though he could not make the game. The middle game on the 90 paired two teams heading in opposite directions, a struggling Hampton Air East team and a steamrolling HR Singletons squad. The game started out quietly with Singletons scoring one run in each of the first two innings, but then unloaded five more in the bottom of the third for a 7-0 advantage. Six more unanswered runs were scored by Red to put the Hampton team in a 13-love disadvantage before they were able to push across a pair of runs in the eighth to break-up the shutout but fell far short as Singletons posted a 14-2 victory. Having big nights for Red at the plate were; Dennis Passaretti with a four hit performance. With three hits each were Bob Davis (5 RBIs), rookie Larry Grieshaber (including two triples) and Benny Alberto, who also pitched a masterful game. The late game on the 90 had Barco starting out fast for the second week in a row, this time posting seven runs in the first and another six in the second on their way to a 19-8 victory over Bar Boy. Veteran Phil Tripoli continued his hot hitting going 4-4. He also had help from Steve Jacobson (4-4) and Dave Ringer (3-4 with two RBIs). Not to be outdone, Terry McPartland added five RBIs including a grand slam HR, and Dennis Ryan (4-4 with three RBIs) to add to Barco's offense. Now if we can only find Dennis a "seeing-eye" dog out in the outfield.

American	National
Synergy 5-1	Moby 4-2
Barco 4-2	M&T 4-2
O'Sheas 4-2	Singletons 4-2
Hampton Air 1-4-1	Built-More 3-2-1
Changing Times 1-5	Bar Boy 3-3
Mers 1-5	Bethpage PT 1-5

For more information visit www.othgny.com. To contact Gary Jambor or the Over the Hill Gang email othg_gj@yahoo.com.