Bouncing back from their only loss of the season, the Infinity Plus Business Services Royals defeated the M-E Inc. Mets for the second time this season. The win last Saturday moved the Royals into sole possession of first place with a 4-1 mark.

The Royals jumped out to an early lead with four runs in the bottom of the first inning taking advantage of four walks, long doubles by Max Shapiro and Jonathan Andre and a clutch two-run single by Matthew Weiss. Andre was again the hitting star, collecting a single, double, triple and three RBIs for the afternoon. Nick Santoro added a base hit and two bases-loaded walks in three plate appearances. Out of a show of respect to Santoro's power, the outfielders seemed to be playing in another zip code on his last at bat.

Brendan Russell pitched another fine game striking out 9 over 4 innings. The story of this hotly contested game was the Royals' defense. Matthew Weiss made a beautiful catch of a long fly ball to stop a Mets rally in the third. Shapiro, who entered the game to pitch in the fifth, had a hand in all three outs that inning, recording two assists and a putout. With the game on the line in the sixth, Russell made a spectacular diving catch of a line drive to short for the first out. Then, with the tying run at the plate, Shapiro snared a hot line drive to the mound to end the ball game.

This was one of the best defensive games played all year. The game featured two unassisted double plays, one from each team. AJ Ramson, the Yankee first baseman, caught a line drive in the hole and stepped on first for the first double play. Jake Friedberg, playing shortstop for the Phillies, caught a line drive up the middle and stepped on second to complete the other double play.

Both catchers also played great games. The Yankees' Brandon Podbielak caught a high popup at the last second with an incredible backhand stab. Harris Tils, the Phillies' catcher, threw a runner out at third and tagged out a sliding Nikko Price after an errant throw to the plate.

Nikko Price, the winning pitcher, went the distance for the Yankees. He pitched himself out of several jams as well as helped himself by making key defensive plays. Bryan Joachim was the relief pitcher for the Phillies. He pitched 4 2/3 innings giving up only two runs while striking out seven.

The game ended in dramatic fashion. The score was 7-5 in the top of the sixth inning. The Phils had the bases loaded and two out, but were unable to tie the game. Spencer Moore had the hit of the game with a 3-run home run in the first inning.

In a very exciting game on May 9 the Yankees defeated the Orioles 4-3. After allowing 2 unearned runs in the top of the first inning, the game settled into a real pitchers' duel between Ben Rechler of the Orioles and Danny Shorr of the Yankees.

There were many great defensive plays by both teams with the Yankees recording 3 double plays. The score remained at 2-0 until the bottom of the fifth when the Yankees broke through and took the lead 3-2. The first run was driven in by Randy Liebowitz on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded as the other runners moved up a base. Aggressive base running followed as Danny Shorr and Daniel Greenstein both scored on an infield grounder to take the lead. The Orioles, however, would not lie down. In the top of the sixth, Shorr, who did not allow a single walk the entire game, had given up the tying run and men at second and third. Corey Krantz then hit a fly ball to centerfield that looked like it would drop in, but Randy Liebowitz made a great catch and threw to second to complete the double play, ending the inning.

The Yankees failed to score in the bottom of the inning and then moved to extra innings. Randy Liebowitz came in to pitch and after walking the first man he faced was helped out by an unassisted double play on a line drive to Nikko Price. The inning ended as he struck out the next batter. In the bottom of the seventh, Price singled and advanced to second on a wild throw. After moving to third with 2 out in a bang play Price scored the winning run on a grounder back to the pitcher where he beat the throw with a great slide. Both teams should be proud of the way they played with many defensive gems in the game.

In a thrilling baseball game, the Lowitt Alarm Angels were able to defeat the MR Inc. Mets 11-9. Brandon Dorman got the win for the Angels, striking out six Mets in the process. The Mets took an early lead in the top of the fourth on a triple by Matthew Adler (1 for 3, 2 RBIs), which scored Ian Wert (2 for 4, 2 RBIs).

The Angels matched the Mets in the bottom of the inning with a homerun by Andrew Kamhi (2 for 3, 1 RBI). After the Mets had increased their lead 4-1, by RBI hits by Josh Mendelsohn, Robert Guber and Jason Gluck, the Angels finally were able to put together a string of hits to score 10 runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by hits by Jacobs Entel (2 for 2 3 RBIs), Brandon Dorman (2 for 3, 2 RBIs), Jonathan Davis (1 for 3), Jared Oxenberg (1 for 3, 2 RBIs), Dylan Kugler (2 for 2, 2 RBIs), Brandon Krieger (1 for 3, 1 RBI), Mike Smith (1 for 2), Nicholas Blaine (1 for 2) and Matthew Kim (1 for 2). The Mets, however, never gave up and scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning. Ian Wert hit a two-run double and David Saunders hit a two-run triple to cut the Angels' lead to 11-8. After the Mets loaded the bases with the potential tying run at first base, Jonathan Davis came in and struck out two Mets to preserve the victory for the Angels.

Jordan Kanzer retired the Angels in order in the top of the first. Commencing with a lead-off triple by Bryan Joachim in the bottom of the first, the Phillies loaded the bases with none out against Jonathan Davis. However, Davis got out of the jam thanks to some great defense by Jacob Entel at second base to keep the score 0-0.

Just after the Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, the Angels finally put some hits together. After loading the bases on a walk, hit by pitch and a single by Brandon Dorman, Andrew Kamhi's triple cleared the bases scoring Matthew Kim, Mike Smith and Dorman to give the Angels a 3-1 lead, a lead they never relinquished.

Jonathan Davis then singled in Kamhi for another run. The Phillies threatened in the bottom of the third, but the Angels escaped further damage, thanks to a somersault catch by Jared Oxenberg in left field off a shot by Jonathan Orr of the Phillies. The Angels increased their lead to 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth when the Phillies came to bat in their side of the fourth. Spencer Moore promptly cut the Angels lead to 6-2 by hitting a monster home run to lead off the inning. The Phillies were unable to score any further runs and Nicholas Blaine retired the side in the last of the fifth to preserve the win for the Angels. Jonathan Davis earned his second win of the season for the Angles, scattering four hits and striking out weight. In addition to sparkling defense by Entel and Oxenberg for the Angels, Matthew Kim had his best hitting day of his season. For the Phillies, Bryan Joachim played a solid shortstop and Ryan Silber was reliable at second base.