May 9

Harry Katz 9, Knights of Columbus 8

Harry Katz started the game by sending nine batters to the plate. Anthony Morias walked as did Daniel Fitzgerald. Fred Usma then delivered a double, scoring a run. A walk loaded the bases for Ryan Pratt, whose double scored two runs. Katz closed out the inning, scoring five times.

K of C came back with five in the bottom of the first. Doubles by Jameson Canning and Chris Orlando led the way.

With the score tied at five, Katz came up with four more runs in the second. Morias started the inning off with a single. Fitzgerald walked and Usma again doubled, scoring two runs.

Katz then played solid in the field with steady play from Fitzgerald at second, John Englis at second and Terry Mooney at short.

K of C tried to rally late in the game as Mike Sorgie singled and George Chang doubled but Morias struck out the final three batters to preserve the 9-8 win for Harry Katz.

May 12

Mineola Chamber of Commerce 2, Harry Katz 1

With a spring thunderstorm looming overhead, the game between Chamber of Commerce and Harry Katz was delayed for 20 minutes or so on Saturday evening. While the late start and cool night air seemed to chill off the bats of both teams, Daniel Vojvodic was hot at the right time.

Pitching for the Chambers, Robert Maloney threw three scoreless innings with 4 strikeouts only to be matched by the Katz's Ryan Pratt who pitched 4 innings, striking out 8.

It was the Harry Katz team that would get on the board first. In the top of the fourth, with two outs and no one on, Joe Spollen stepped to the plate. With the wind blowing in and the temperature dropping, Spollen hit a monster shot deep into the night. The ball traveled high and long landing well over the center field fence giving the Katzs a 1 -0 lead.

In the bottom half of the fourth, the Chambers came back and knotted the score at one. Robert Maloney led off the inning with a towering fly into left center on what looked to be an easy double when out of right center field, Anthony Morias, made a spectacular running catch. Next up, Mick Oswald singled and moved to second as Matt Faiz walked. Both Oswald and Faiz moved over on a passed ball and Michael Granath drove in Oswald with the tying run with a single to right. Katz right fielder Fred Usma, ended the Chambers, little rally when he made a sliding catch on a ball hit off the bat of Chambers Greg Klein to end the inning.

The Chamber of Commerce team slipped past the Katz in the bottom of the sixth. Robert Maloney's lead off double to left set the table for the Chambers. Mick Oswald walked and moved to second as ball four eluded the Katz catcher and Maloney moved to third on the play. Up to the plate came Daniel Vojvodic, who laced the next pitch over the outstretched glove of the Katz second basemen and Maloney crossed the plate for the winning run.

Total Security 5, Tsontos Furs 2

In a nailbitting game that saw Total Security hammer a 5-2 win against Tsontos Furs the player of the game was Johnathan Hock. He pitched three innings with seven strikeouts, hit a single and double and scored a run. Rob Cabo and Frankie Lao reached base on every at bat. Doubles by Matt Siwinski, Kirt Hetzer,and Pete Dwyer ensured the win. Andrew Shear shined as catcher while Paul Tapias and Chris Valente reached base at crucial points of the game. Stars for the Furbies were Mike Vasconcelos, who reached base twice with two runs scored and T.J. Gessner, who singled and was thrown out at home in a play so close that the dust had to settle before the play was called. The Furs were shut down in the last inning when Siwinski made a dynamite play on a line drive off the bat of T.J. Gessner.

Barron's Body Works 17, Tsontos Furs 5

Starting pitcher Kevin Tiseo was on fire with five strikeouts while only giving up three runs until the fifth. This was all possible due to the strong defensive plays made by Dominick Campagna who caught a towering fly ball to right field, and Chris Granath who caught a hard hit fly ball to left field. Strong defensive was also played by catcher Eddie Proctor, who stopped a few runs from scoring at the plate. Steven Keeler was brought in midway through the fifth when Tiseo seemed to be tiring. Keeler struck out four and held the Furs to only two more runs, which was not enough to catch the hot bats of Barron Body Works. Offensively, Carmine Sarno started the night with a lead off double. From there, Barron Body Works' hitting could not be stopped. Jimmy Murtha was 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, Kevin Tiseo was 4 four 4, Steven Keeler was 3 for 3 and Danny Campos was 3 for 4. There were also hard hit singles by Allen Silit and Chris Granath. Great team work allowed Barron Body Works to a 17-5 win over the Furs. Also worth mentioning were hits by Peter Clark, Paul Easton ,T.J Gessner and Brian Greene for Tsontos Furs.

K's Auto Repair took first place in the MAA Minors division with two hard

-fought victories over previously undefeated Install-A-Lock and second place Willis Hobbies in the past week. These were competitive and well played games suggesting all three teams will leap frog in the league standings before the playoffs begin June 12.

In the rematch of a one run game earlier this season, Install-A- Lock and K's marched through a scoreless first three innings. Aces Mike Diglio (K's) and Robert Sallie (Locks) notched zeroes behind 11 strikeouts. The Car Boys scored the only runs of the game in the fourth. Nifty Nicky Franzini led off with a walk and stole his way to third. John Sullivan settled in for the Installers retiring the next two Repairmen on strikeouts before walking Brandon Hoffman. Brendan O' "Hear Me Holler" Halloran then picked the perfect time for his first hit and RBI of the year. The sparkplugs of the K-Cars, TJ Winters and Vinnie Ruggiero, doubled and singled respectively to close out the scoring. If his offense wasn't enough, Ruggiero proceeded to shut down the Locksmiths with three consecutive 1-2-3 innings and preserve the 4-0 shutout. The game did not end before a pleasant omen appeared. As if on Key, the new Install-A-Lock van pulled into the Willis Avenue parking lot to see their charges live. Although the magic was not meant to be, the sponsor should be praised for showing up to cheer on their local heroes.

Two days later, Willis Hobbies and K's took the field for a real nail-biter. The Model Kits struck first with two early runs. Nicky Santos, Patrick Delventhal and John Carlo Clancy all reached base with solidly stroked swings. K's matched wits by plating a pair to tie in their half of the frame. Winters and Ruggiero set the table for RBI singles by Diglio and Tommy "Pain In The" Bayne. Single runs by each squad in the third also led to a standoff. Matt Grieco was the Hobbits glue with a walk, two stolen bases and scored on an infield out to shortstop by Frankie Texiera of Texarkana. Diglio walked for the Mechanics with two outs advanced to third on thefts before the intense Mike Castellana brought him home.

Willis built another run in the fourth with station to station baseball. Bruce Delfino singled and swiped a pair. Delfino scored on a heads up dash to home behind a grounder to first by Delventhal. The Cardiac K's forced the issue and decided the game in the fifth. Winters and Ruggiero again created havoc for the opposition. Mike Diglio hit a smash to score the tying run. Nicky Fusilli Franzini then seized on the opportunity to win the game. His timely single with two outs brought home insurance to seal the 6-4 victory for the Engineers.

At this stage, the standings show K's Auto Repair (6-1) in the lead with Install-A-Lock (5-1) second and Willis Hobbies (3-2) a tight third. Games to watch as the season progresses are back to back fetes between Hobbies and Install-A-Lock, a reprise of the great 1-0 game between K's and Mineola Bicycle and a season ending meeting between the Lockers and the Autos. A master schedule of all games can be viewed at the official baseball website by logging on to www.myteam.com/go/mineolaaa.

Koeppel Ford hit the midway point of the Farms season in great form as the team is hitting and fielding like they have been playing the game for three years. Management and coaches are thrilled with the progress, attitude and sportsmanship the boys and girls show on a weekly basis.

Koeppel is led by veteran tri-captains Emily Mooney, Eric Gettler and Luke Ruzek. These three provide the leadership and example this young team needs. Gettler has blasted three home runs already this year while Ruzek is the ultimate utility man for defensive purposes refusing no assignment. Mooney is a stalwart next to the mound and a demoness at the plate. The rookies are dominated by best friends Ryan Mackenzie Winters, Vincent Spinelli, and Joseph Nunziata in a spirited lineup. Winters provides the spark, Spinelli the determination and Nunziata the chutzpah. Each team has its chatter and this team is no exception. The Saketos brothers, Matt and Dean, are always supporting their mates while Patrick Murphy chimes in from bench and field. Rounding out this squad is the ever-smiling Christine Biitner, William Luca and Chance Harrison. Biitner is the team's stolen base leader while Luca merits attention as the quiet and settling influence on the team. Harrison, one of the regular catchers, is one of the toughest players to keep off the baselines.

Koeppel Ford has been knocking the cover off the ball since game 1 and the fielding improves each and every week. The team is looking forward to playing real baseball games in the latter half of the season and the anticipation grows for eliminating the pitching machines by season's end. Koeppel leads the division in coaching support with no less than seven parents in uniform for each contest. This team seems to enjoy each succeeding week with enthusiasm and effort second to none. If the real Koeppel Ford could bottle this energy for their automobiles, customers would go home as pleased as all the coaches, parents, siblings, relatives, friends and acquaintances do.

May 5

Mineola Foot Care and Century 21 Laffey came to play on a nice Saturday afternoon. Bobby Kelly played well for Century 21 and Foot Care's Jason Witt hit a long fly ball to right field. Tyler Kapela keeps hitting the ball well. Robby Clarkin, Victoria Wresch and Nico Pantelides had good at-bats. Steve Magavero, Zachary Englis and Matthew Stephen each ran the bases well.

May 7

Mineola Foot Care's batters had their hitting shoes on against Little Doc's. Michael Cerquiera hit well and did a good job catching. Timmy Bracco, Robby Clarkin and Zachary Englis all had solid hits. Mineola Foot Care's fielding of Stevie Magavero, Nico Pantelides, Matthew Stephen and Victoria Wresch kept the ball from going into the outfield.

May 11

Mineola Foot Care and Koeppel Ford put on a hitting clinic. Mineola Foot Care's Jason Witt hit two monster shots that went to deep left field, the first with bases loaded. That was Jason's first Little League homerun. Zachary Englis had three solid hits along with Nico Pantelides and Robby Clarkin, who showed some power. Tyler Kapela had two solid hits and kept up his good fielding at first.

Timmy Braco, Victor Wresch, Stevie Magavero, Kevin Hardiman all played well in the field and ran the bases well. Making his catching debut was Matthew Stephens. Along with Tyler Kapela for Mineola Foot Care, he did a nice job behind the plate. Hitting the ball well for Koeppel Ford were Chance Harrison, Ryan Winters and Vincent Spinelli.

May 5

Mineola lost 10-4 to Elmont. Elmont opened the first inning with four runs and added two more in the top of the third, but Mineola closed the gap when Max Bankin hit a bases loaded double, bringing home Nelson Lopes and John Rouegno. Joe Bittner and Bankin would also come around to score for Mineola.