The following was submitted by the Westford Over-30 Softball League. To submit your own content, e-mail asylvia@westfordcat.org
With most of the regular season behind them, the Nashoba Valley Mustangs remain undefeated at 18-0 and 6.5 games up on the second place Short Cut Landscaping the Mustangs now have 400 runs scored on the year. Third, fourth and fifth place all have nine wins and include Floral Arts, Willis Tent and Burton’s Grill in that order. Six places earn a playoff spot and the race is still far from over. Pro Sports Therapy currently has the sixth spot with eight wins followed by Drew Farms with six. In the upcoming week’s games, Drews faces a tough Short Cut team and then two days later PST. Floral Arts has two tough opponents having to face off against both Willis and the Mustangs. Highlight of the week was a Floral Arts comeback being down 16-0 in the bottom of the first versus Shortcut and pulling out the win.
Floral Arts 31 – Shortcut Landscaping 27
On Sunday night, Short Cut Landscaping hit four home runs and scored 16 runs in the top of the first inning, but then Floral Arts clawed their way back and claimed the victory, 31-27! The game, which last nearly two hours, was a slug fest. Floral hit seven home runs, Short Cuts blasted nine. Simon Tripp hit two 3-run homers for Floral, which also got home runs from Larry Mardany, Frank Lancelotta, Rob Beaudette, Jeff Moore, and Mike Donaruma. Tom “Tank” Lester went 4-for-5 and made several nice plays in the field, including starting a 5-3 double play at third. Chad Kirby was 5-for-5 hitting from the lead off position. Ken Delaney, in his first game since knee surgery, went 3-for-4 and played well at short.
Burton’s Grill 20 – CSA Graphics 7
In an important playoff race game, Burton’s beat CSA by 13 and kept their lead in the standings. Burton’s hit the ball well and played strong defense in marching to the convincing run rule win.  CSA simply left too many men on base and committed costly errors. Burtons posted six, four, and nine run innings over the first four of the game and CSA could not keep pace. Dave Batchelder continued his torrid hitting blasting a grand slam , Murph McKeon 3-3 with a two run homerun and 3 RBI, Tim Scott 3-4, three runs scored and threw out a runner at home plate to Jason Lenicheck. Eric Cataline 3-4, another two doubles and game winning RBI in the fifth, Luke Boulanger 2-2, a double and three RBI, and Greg Fitzgerald, 2-3 and a pair of doubles. Fitzgerald also played great D at third. Chris Brooks led the team by stepping in as the starting pitcher and put in a Cy Young performance. For CSA Graphics, Thanh Nguyen (playing in his second game of the year) had a solo homerun, and Mike Cioffi was 3-for-3.
Pro Sports Therapy 14 – Healy Oil 4
PST jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first and cruised to a 14-4 win over Healy Oil. The middle of the PST order exploded, with Donald Slate once again led the way for the surging PST squad. Slate hit a three run bomb in the opening inning and another two run shot in the third on his way to a 3-3, five RBI night. He also proved his value to the PST defense, making an outstanding over-the-shoulder catch on a blooper and then taking a relay throw from the outfield and gunning down a Healy runner at the plate. Steve Sawyer was 3-3 with a homerun and Ryan Steele drove in three with two homeruns.
Nashoba Valley Mustangs 22 – Willis Tent 9
The Mustangs again won convincingly and this time over a top tier squad in Willis Tent. Strong hitting across the board as usual an included Mike Kennedy with two homeruns and six RBI, Mark Cusano two homeruns, four RBI and four runs scored, Jack Erickson, a homerun and three runs scored. Leadoff hitter Paul Selfrige, two hits and a homerun, lefty Bill Knute a homerun and three RBI and Cormac Bordes, four hit, three runs scored and a homerun…that counted as a single. Knute also contributed with the glove making a nice diving catch in left field. Player highlights for Willis included Dennis Kane, 3-3 with three homeruns and Brian Gallardo, 2-3 and two homeruns.
Pro Sports Therapy 16 – Healy Oil 13
In one of the sloppier games of the year, Pro Sports Therapy and Healy Oil went back and forth in a tilt more reminiscent of many of their games circa 2004. The Oilers put up crooked numbers in the 2nd, 4th, and 6th to take a 13-8 lead, but PST exploded for eight in the bottom of the sixth, keyed by a hustle single by the Governor Al Nudler to go ahead 16-13 and ultimately close it out. PST had contributions up and down the lineup including a triple from Ben Armstrong to start a three run outburst in the first, two-hitter John Bodi on base four times, Jerry Cressman with two doubles and three RBI, Derek Donegan, two hits and three RBI, Ryan Steele, three hits with two doubles, Brian Dubey, three hits including a double and a homerun, and the aforementioned Governor, who had two hits in the critical sixth inning and whose hustle sparked the PST squad all night.
