The MV Men’s Summer Softball League has reached the semifinal round of the season-ending playoffs. The top-seeded Highlanders swept by the Catboat Killers in two games. The second-seeded Hurricanes did as well with the Land Sharks.
It took three games for the Wildcats to eliminate the Stampede. Likewise, the Treds and Brewhas went three.
The Treds won the first of the three in a slugfest, 20-18 at Manters Field in West Tisbury. The second game was another slugfest but the Brewhas did more of the slugging and evened the series with a 31-16 win, also at Manters.
Thursday’s deciding third game at Veterans Park was a cliffhanger.
The Treds served notice that they intended to reach the finals, scoring four times in the top of the first and adding two more in the second.
It took three innings for the Brewhas to catch up, but catch they did with three runs in the bottom of the second and three more in the third, two of which rode home on John Custer’s fence-clearing drive, another, a solo shot, propelled by Dewey Green’s big bat.
The teams remained deadlocked until the final inning.
Both were scoreless in the fourth. Both scored a run in the fifth. The Treds Richie Roy crossed the plate driven in by Asa. The Brewhas answered when Karl Kallinich’s ground rule double scored Custer from second base.
The sixth inning was scoreless.
The Treds went one up in the top of the seventh as Rippie Roy raced home from second on a Tony Perez single.
Mike led off the Brewhas seventh with a single to right.
He tagged and raced to second on Eric’s fly-out to left, then came home when Kevin Hatt followed with a triple.
Green and Custer were walked intentionally filling the bases with one out and Karl Kallinich coming to the plate.
“Big Karl” flied out to left field, deep enough for Green to tag and score the winning run.
Brewhas 9, Treds 8.
The Brewhas began a best two of three series with the Hurricanes last night and the Highlanders hosted the Wildcats.
