Men’s softball playoffs underway

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John Swan of the Blazers and Taylor Ives of the Highlanders dove into second base. The tag was too late. — Photo by Ralph Stewart

The Men’s Summer Softball League has completed its appointed schedule of games and on Monday began its second season, the double eliminaton playoffs, in search of a champion.

Teams are matched according to their win-loss records.

The top-seeded Hurricanes hosted the Catboat Killers at 7:30 pm at Tisbury’s Veterans Park.

The second seeded Brewhas, despite the double-header losses to the SOP, were matched with the Treds at 6:00 pm.

At 8:45 it was the Blazers versus last year’s champions, the Highlanders.

(The Treds, Hghlanders and Blazers finished the season with the same W/L records. Their seeds are determined by other considerations including face to face results.)

The Wildcats went against the Sons of Pitches at Manter’s Memorial in West Tisbury beginning at 6:00 pm.

How they fared

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat nor gloom of night stays these (athletes) from the completion of their appointed rounds.”

Of course, there was no snow but there was rain aplenty and a bit of gloom Monday night in Tisbury’s War Veterans Memorial Park at the beginning of the Men’s Summer Softball League playoffs.

Players had manned their brooms sweeping water from the pitchers rubber, the batting boxes, and base paths to ready the field for play, even as more rain fell, thankfully in short bursts, during the opening innings.

The first game pitted the Brewhas and the Treds, familiar rivals, both teams as venerable as the league itself. The Brewhas won 11-4, featuring a home run by Matt Gebo in the bottom of the first inning. The Treds actually outscored the Brewhas from the fourth inning on but were unable to make much of a dent in the Brewhas eight run lead after three.

Game two was a slaughter rule shortened affair as the League leading Hurricanes blew away the Catboat Killers 16-1 in four and two thirds innings. Matt Goethals homered for the Canes with bases loaded in the third.The Highlanders scored eleven times in the bottom of the first of game three. The Blazers never really threatened. Final score: Highlanders 19, Blazers 4; another Slaughter Rule game halted in the sixth inning.

At Manters Memorial Field in West Tisbury, the Sons of Pitches held on to their lead, despite the Wildcats surge in the final inning scoring eight runs and coming within one of knotting the count but the SOP earned the win, 14-13.

The teams go back at it tonight. For some it should mean the end of a long season, for others a step toward a desired goal.