By: Bruce Hackett

Just one game for me this weekend and here is the update…

Sunday- I journeyed to Vestal, NY yesterday to play for the Troy Storm in their final game of the 2008 STABL Wood Bat fall league regular season. The Storm would play the Rattlers, an undefeated team in the fall league. The game would turn out to be a 5-2 loss for the Storm; though it is notable the team played the entire game with just 7 players and at one point held a 2-1 lead through the first three innings of the game. John Morgan would take the loss on the mound for the Storm, though he pitched very well against the younger Rattlers team.

I hit well in the game, finishing 3-4, with a double and 1 RBI. Combined this season I have now went 7-9 (.777) with Troy in the fall league, and 10-19 (.526) overall for the season batting.

Notes – There is a rumor the STABL may be changing format next season, starting the season early, and playing only on Saturdays, as well as expanding the league games to 22-23 for the season. A change in the league would be great for me as I could make more games with Troy for 2009. Stay tuned….

By: Bruce Hackett

Only one game for me this week, a 2-1 heartbreaker loss, here is the recap:

Sunday – The lone game for the week for me was the 2008 NABA 28+ Wood Bat League Championship game which had the Rochester Red Stockings (8-10), taking on the Rochester Rockies (14-4). The game was played at Fairport High Acres Field Complex in Fairport, NY on a cold, rainy, and foggy morning.

Not much offense and some very good pitching were featured in the game: The Stox Dan Herman vs. the Rocks Even Bickel. Herman would come out on the short end of the stick, in a 2-1 loss. In three playoff pitching starts this season Herman allowed just 4 total runs in 22.2 innings. In the game I went 0-3 with all three plate appearances being ground balls to the third baseman.

The Rockies finish with a 15-5 record overall, while the Red Stockings finish at 8-11.

Upcoming – With the Rochester leagues now complete I have a possibility of two more games in the Binghamton area wood bat fall league with the Troy Storm and my 2008 season is complete. I have now notched 74 total games played this season, and though I am sad to the season draw to a close, I am thankful at remaining healthy enough to reach my goal of games for the season.

By: Bruce Hackett

It was a four day piece of heaven for me, as I played 5 games with 3 different teams in 3 different locations, here is a recap:

Saturday (Game 1 & 2) – I went with the Troy Storm to Kirkwood, NY for a double header vs. the Binghamton Black Sox in the 2008 Fall STABL Wood Bat league. The first game I went 3-4, with 2 RBI’s, as we lost 4-3 in the game.

For game #2 Iron Man Troy manager John Morgan started the second game on the mound after throwing a complete game in the first game. Morgan last 5 innings in the second game, giving him 12 innings pitched for the day. I relieved Morgan and threw three innings, striking out 5 batters. At the plate I was 1-1, with 2 walks. The Storm would fall 4-1 in the game, and would drop to 1-5 on the fall season.

Sunday (Game #3) – I headed back to Rochester for the third straight week to play in the semi final of the 2008 NABA 28+ Wood Bat League playoffs. My team, the Red Stockings would square off against the Phillies in a National League division final, with the winner heading to the championship game of the league. From the very start of the game things went the right way for the Stox, as we posted a 12-0 victory. The game was closer than you might realize. After scoring 6 runs in the opening inning, the next 5 innings saw both teams go scoreless, before the Stox battled back with 6 runs in the 7^th innings to preserve a 12-0 win. Lost in the shuffle was a fine pitching performance by Dan Herman for the second straight weekend in a row. Dan “Schilling” Herman tossed a 2-hit shutout, and had a handful of strikeouts in the game. At the plate I went 1-4 with an RBI and a stolen base, my 10^th of the season, a personal best for me since it has been 18 years since I registered double digits in the stolen base column.

The Red Stockings will try and play the part of the spoiler in the championship game. The Stox (8-10) will play the Rockies (14-4) in the final next Sunday at 10 AM at Fairport High Acres Field.

Monday (Game #4) – A nights sleep at home and I was back on the road at 8 AM, headed to the birthplace of baseball, Cooperstown, NY for a double header with the Erie-Buffalo Team. This was a new team for me, and I have to say an absolute pleasure. The team run by Ralph Proulx, was a team after my own heart, a squad that wants to play the game the right way and enjoys every single second on the diamond. And speaking of Diamonds, it is hard to top playing at Double Day Field in Cooperstown, from the tourists stopping by for a few innings, to the umpires and grounds crew that have been there for years. It truly was a great game.

The game turned out to be a loss for me though, taking the loss in a relief outing after just one day of rest on the mound. But I had a decent fastball against my opponent the Welland Chiefs (Ontario, Canada). Our team battled but could scratch out only a handful of hits in a 7-4 loss against a palm ball pitcher. At the plate I went 0-3 with a sacrifice bunt. I swear I got just under a couple of pitches, lured by the short porch in right field.

Tuesday (Game #5) – The final day of ball for me so me again playing back on Double Day Field with the Erie-Buffalo team vs. the Welland Chiefs in Game #5 of the 2008 Peace Bridge Series. The game would be a pitchers duel, with the Chiefs pulling out a 4-3 win in the bottom of the 9^th inning. During the game I went 0-1, with 2 walks, and played left field. Probably the most notable note of the game was that I batted in front of former major leaguer Rick Lancellotti. Rick was a pleasure to play with and I wouldn’t have known of his former major league status aside from the Coach Proulx telling me before the game. He was a soft spoken guy and told us some amusing stories on the bench during the game. Welland now leads the series 3 to 2, and will next play on Monday in Buffalo for Game #6 of the series.

Recap - All in all I didn’t do too badly, 5-13 (.384) on the long weekend with a couple of pitching appearances. My elbow is hanging and I don’t have the pop on my fastball that I normally do, but I still managed to strike out 6 batters total in 4.66 innings on the weekend.

By: Bruce Hackett

So sorry for waiting on the weekend update, but life has been hectic around the office and am trying to start home projects, etc, etc….Anyways here is the update from playoff action this past weekend:

Sunday (AM) – I headed to Rochester for the first of two games in the Rochester area league playoffs. The first game saw the #4 seed Red Stockings(6-10) take on the #1 seed Bulldogs(15-1) in the first game of the 2008 28+ NABA Wood Bat League Playoffs. The Red Stox pulled out to an early lead and never relinquished the lead, scoring a huge 8-2 upset win.

Dan Herman started for the Red Stox and held the Bulldogs down before running into problems in the 8^th inning. Herman was relieved by Mark Faulkner who dashed a 1 out, base loaded effort by the Bulldogs by striking out two batters.

Offensively I went 2-3 in the game with a walk, triple, RBI, stolen base, and 2 runs scored. This was probably one of the bigger wins in Red Stox history. On a sad note the Bulldogs who punished everyone in the league for the entire regular season had only 8 players show for the playoff game. Just as a 9^th player finally showed another Bulldogs player had to leave for a family function. It was a misfortunate way to end the season for a team who had performed so well all year.

The Red Stox (7-10) will now advance to play the Phillies on Sunday at the FHA complex. The Phillies (8-9) defeated the Cubs in their first playoff game.

Sunday (PM) – My second game of the day was a playoff game in the RMSBL as my Royals (9-9) team played the Mets (11-7). I started on the mound and had another rough outing. I was line drive off my leg by the first batter of the game, and never really recovered on the mound, exiting in the 5^th inning with soreness in my left elbow.

Down 6-2 at one point, the Royals battled back to tie the game at 6-6 behind the hitting and pitching of Bobby Patt. Patt held the Mets offense down for 3 innings heading into the 9^th inning. The Mets however recovered scoring a run in the bottom of the 9^th to give them a 7-6 win. Patt suffered the loss in the game on the mound, but pitched very well in relief. For the game I went 1-3, with a walk.

The Royals finish the season with an overall record of 9-10, while the Mets improve to 12-7, and will now face the Orioles (14-6) in the second round of the RMSBL playoffs.

Notes – It will be four days of wood bat heaven for me starting on Saturday, as I will begin playing with 3 different teams, covering 3 different playing locations. On Saturday I will play a double header with the Troy Storm in the STABL Fall Wood Bat League in Binghamton, NY. On Sunday I will head back to Rochester to play with the Red Stockings in the NABA playoffs. Then on Monday and Tuesday I will head to Cooperstown, NY to play two games with the Erie-Buffalo team at Double Day Field vs. the Welland Chiefs.

Thoughts – It has now been three seasons that I have played both metal and wood bat league games. Over the past two seasons I have been hit now four times on the mound in metal bat league games, while only once in wood bat league games as a pitcher. My thoughts as a pitcher are that it is getting too dangerous anymore to keep pitching in the metal bat leagues. The line drive on Sunday has made it obvious that my time as a pitcher in metal bat leagues may be numbered. I thought it was interesting to see a comparison of both my hitting and pitching statistics between the two types of leagues over the last three seasons, and here they are:

 Though the offensive statistics do show an improvement, the pitching stats are quite different, mostly when you see a jump of almost 1.5 runs per game in ERA. The interesting thing about the pitching stats is that the two main teams I play with, the Royals (Metal Bat League) and the Red Stockings (Wood Bat League), have many of the same players on each team, so the defenses of both teams are almost identical.

9-11-08 - Effective immediately, I will no longer be posting news on Twin Tiers area baseball players.

I have decided to use this website as a blog of my playing career and the playing careers of my family members. The cost at maintaining more pages and room on the server is not worth it to me to continue. For several years I have kept tabs on players from the area who have played college baseball, as well as the pros. For the players who have "Player Files" pages here, I will continue to update them until their playing careers are over. But it is too much to maintain any longer.

I am hopeful to take the photos of area players that are on this website and transfer them to a webshots album for public view. Once I have this completed I will post another update to let the public know where these photos can be found.

Thanks,

Bruce Hackett (brucehackett61@hotmail.com)

By: Bruce Hackett

It was an all around poor weekend for me; here is the recap of games:

(Saturday) – I was on my way to Rochester to play with the Rochester Red Stockings in the Rochester NABA league on Saturday morning. Rough weather on the trip to Rochester made me wonder whether or not the game would be played. I called the NABA game line to check to see if the game had been called or not. The message relayed the game was called, as well as all games at Fairport High Acres complex for the day. So about half way up to the game I turned around and headed home. Only later to find out the game line had not been updated from the week before and the Red Stockings had actually played the game with 8 players, losing to the Phillies 7-5.  The loss dropped the Red Stockings to 6-10 on the season, while the Phillies improved to 7-9.

The playoffs now await the Red Stockings, and it looks as though they will enter the playoffs as the #4 seed in the 28+ American League division.

(Sunday, Game #1) – Saturday was my 500^th career baseball game that I have played in since I was 15 years old. The game was in the Rochester MSBL league and showcased the Royals vs. the MSBL Red Wings. It also was a short one as I was ejected from the game in the 5^th inning. This was my first ejection in 15 years. On a play at the plate on a passed ball I covered the plate and thought I had the guy tagged out before he reached the plate. The umpire ruled him safe and after questioning the play he tossed me from the game. (My reaction that drew the ejection was “What??? You have got to be kidding me”, adding that I had a good deal of volume to my voice in those phrases) The Royals were again shorthanded with 8 players, giving our squad a forfeit since with me being removed from the game we only had 7 players. I suffered my 5^th pitching loss of the season, striking out 5 batters in 4.66 innings.

I don’t think my reaction warranted an ejection, but after the ejection I aired my grievance about the strike zone the umpire had, figuring I might as well get my moneys worth since I had already been tossed. Playing with only 8 players in an aluminum bat league, with a strike zone the size of a license plate can take its toll on your nerves.

(Sunday, Game #2) – Believe it or not the Royals regrouped for the 2^nd game vs. the MSBL Red Wings and pulled put a win. Bobby Patt and Dan Herman combined to pitch a good game for the Royals, who finish the regular season with a record of 9-9. Al Lanni had a good overall day, reaching base several times with hits and walks out of the leadoff spot for the Royals. I went 1-3 in the game with a walk and a solo homerun, my 10^th combined long ball of the year. Paul Bernstein was able to show for the second game, giving the Royals nine players for the game. This was a big shot in the arm, having nine players for the first time all weekend between both the Royals and Red Stox teams.

The Royals will now enter the playoffs in the Rochester MSBL, though it is not known who they will play the first round.

(Notes) – I honestly doubt either the Royals or the Red Stockings will continue next season. Both teams have had a great deal of trouble getting players to games, and it was a general consensus on Sunday that probably both teams will be absorbed into other league teams for next season. You hate to see teams fold, but when you spend the majority of the summer waiting for your 9^th guy to show so you can play, well it makes a manager wonder about continuing and I believe manager Hebert has had enough.

By: Bruce Hackett

Well, another weekend of Fastpitch softball in the books, bringing the end to my 7^th consecutive season of playing Fastpitch tournaments, and 10th overall. Here is a recap of my week playing ball…

Thursday (8-28-08) – Traveled to Rochester to play with the Royals and had a very rough game on the mound, suffering my 4^th loss of the season at the hands of the Orioles. The Orioles have come a long way in the last 3 years, and are now a top of the heap team in the RMSBL. At the plate I went 1-3, with a double.

(Weekend) – I did a first in my playing career over the weekend. For the first time ever, I wore the Canadian flag on my sleeve, playing for the Ottawa based I4C Victory team in the 56^th Annual Elkland Labor Day Open Fastpitch Tournament. I had a rough start to the weekend, striking out in my first 5 at-bats of the tournament, but rebounded to go 4-8 on the final day in two games, and finished the tournament with a .307 batting average (4-13). The I4C Victory team was a great bunch of guys and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with them. Our team finished 4^th in the 4 day event out of 14 teams, finishing with a 3-2 record.

Playing for I4C Victory was also another personal milestone for me, as I played with 7^th different team of the season, a personal best for me. In Fastpitch there were four teams (NY Bombers, Hackett’s Cubs, Ricola, and I4C Victory), while in baseball there were 3 teams (Red Stockings, Royals, and Troy Storm). I honestly don’t know how I kept them all straight for the season, but it was very fun to meet so many new players and experience new teammates.

A low year for Fastpitch tournaments and games for me this year, as I played in only 7 tournaments, and just 29 tournament games for the season. Still overall I managed to hit .350 (27-77) overall in tournament play. For next season I look to rebound and play in more tournaments, with my goal to attend the ISC II’s with someone. The idea of who I might play with is still rumbling around in my mind, but I want to play more Fastpitch softball while I still can, and I am looking at options of how to get that done.

Looking Ahead – This weekend is a weekend of makeup baseball in the Flower City of Rochester, NY, with possibly 3 games of baseball to be played for me. I am just 11 strikeouts away from 100 on the year pitching, so I am hopeful my arm can hold out to hit the triple digits for the 3^rd time in my career.

By: Bruce Hackett

Finally, a tournament played with great sunshine for the entire two day work break, this was my weekend. Here is a recap of last week playing ball:

1. (Thursday) – I journeyed to Rochester for a very late game (9:00 PM) with the Rochester Royals at Genesee Valley Park in Rochester, NY. The Royals took on the RMSBL Tigers for the match up and it was a good one with the Royals coming out on top 9-8.

I pitched the first six innings for the Royals and got my 6^th combined pitching victory of the year. This was no small task, since the Tigers are both a good hitting team and can steal bases with no let down. I was able to give the Royals a 2-run lead before giving way to Paul Bernstein, who came in to pick up the save in the 7^th inning before the time limit reached the 2.5 hour mark. At the plate I went 3-5, my second straight game with 3 hits, and fourth 3-hit game in the last 4.

Armed with not an entire roster, our team hung together and though I didn’t get home until 1:30 AM it was a game that made the late ride home well worth the trip. The Royals are now 6-7 on the season, while the Tigers maintain a 8-7 record. The Royals started the season with a 1-5, record, and since then have now racked up 6 wins in their last 8 games.

2. (The Elkland First Weekend Tournament) – After a one year layoff, I was able to play in the Elkland First Weekend Tournament in my hometown of Elkland, PA. I played in the event with the Ricola Cough Drops (13-7), their final tournament of the season. Ricola finished the tournament with a 2-2 record, good for 4^th place in the 16 team tournament.

I had a very strange weekend, laying down several sacrifice bunts. It seemed whenever I came to the plate a runner needed to be moved into scoring position. I did my job, but still managed to hit .333 for the weekend (3-9) and also scored 4 runs. I played right field on the weekend in all four games and the past couple of years it has become my home on the field as I get away from manning first base in games for much of the last 6 years.

Looking Ahead – I have a “Ground Hog Day” type of schedule again, playing a weeknight game in Rochester this week for the Royals followed by another tournament in Elkland over the weekend. It should be a good week without a lot of rain….Finally!

By: Bruce Hackett

I had the good fortune of finally playing in some good weather over the weekend, with no rainouts for a change. I played three games over the weekend in baseball, and here is a recap:

Saturday (AM) – The Rochester Red Stockings played the Lugnuts on Saturday in a regular schedule NABA wood bat league game. The Stox bats came alive in the game for the first time all season. The Stox were able to generate 16 runs after being down 2-0 heading into the second inning. The game ended with the score 16-2 in favor of the Stox. Dan Herman picked up the win on the mound for the Stox (4-8 overall). The Lugnuts dropped to 4-7 on the season. For myself, I finally started hitting the ball for the Stox for the first time all season. I went 3-5 in the game with 4 RBI’s, while playing all three outfield positions.

Saturday (PM) – The Stox played their second game of the day, a makeup game vs. the Red Wings. The game was fairly quick as the Stox batters took up where they left off in the morning game, scoring 15 runs enroute to a 15-0 win. I started on the mound and pitched 7 innings, striking out 5, allowing 5 hits, no walks or runs. It was my second shutout of the season pitching and just my third shutout in the last 9 seasons. I went 1-3 in the game with a 3-run homerun in my last at-bat of the game. Mickey Hebert and Ronny Scott were on fire at the plate, both with multi hit games. The Stox upped their record to 5-8 on the season, while the Red Wings are now 1-13.

Sunday – I journeyed back up to Rochester for the second time over the weekend to play with the Rochester Royals in the RMSBL. The Royals took on the Astros and the game looked more like a football score than a baseball score as the Royals finished the game winning 22-12. Bobby Patt earned the complete game win for the Royals in 7 innings. At the plate Patt also hit a homerun. I had a game for the ages, finishing with 3-5, with a grand slam homerun and 6 RBI’s. I also scored 5 runs and stole 3 bases, both career single game highs for myself. The Royals improve to 5-7 on the season, while the Astros fall to 2-14.

For the weekend in 3 games, I went 7-13, with 9 runs scored, 4 stolen bases, 2 HR’s, and 13 RBI’s. In a month I usually don’t get that much luck at driving in runs, but all in all our entire team in both leagues played very well, and we finally started clicking offensively. The good weekend at the plate made the 400 plus miles I travelled well worth it on the weekend.

Notes- Up next for me is some Fastpitch softball over the next two weekends. This coming weekend I will be in my hometown of Elkland, PA playing with the Ricola Cough Drops in the Elkland First Weekend Tournament. I missed last years tournament due to being an open class player, but back in the ISC II level this year I will be eligible to play.

Finally for Labor Day weekend, I have the good fortune of playing for the Ottawa (Canada) based I4C Victory team for the 2008 56^th Annual Elkland Labor Day Tournament. Both of the teams I have played with this year in tournaments are not going to the tournament, so it was some work to find a team to play on.

It was important for me to play in this tournament this year. On Monday, the ESA organization will honor the Elkland Merchants Team for their 1962 tournament championship team. My Dad will be among the players honored. In 1962 the team won the Elkland tournament, with my Dad bringing home the tournament MVP trophy. The legend goes that Dad hit a homerun in the championship game that went out into the fog that had rolled in on late Monday night. They waited for the ball to land and it disappeared into the fog for a homerun, earning him the MVP honors. While I don’t know if it is true or not, I do know growing up I always looked at the MVP trophy and wondered what it must have felt like to earn it. 46 years later, I will be on the same field, as well as my nephew Justin (playing with Hoffman’s Rise), carrying on the family tradition of playing in this event.

Well, rain has again caused problems for my schedule this past week, but I was able to play in several games and to get one of my team’s season schedules over and done with. Here is the week recap:

The Cubs - The Cubs finished their 2008 season, falling in the championship of the ESA League playoffs to the Morgan & Margraff Lumber 8-1. I finished the game 0-3 with a walk, and the previous night we beat the Steve’s Beverage team to advance to the championship game. Overall, we went 10-7 on the season, not bad at all for a team with several players new to the game, and for a rookie pitcher in the league in right hander Sherri Thompson.

Overall in 15 games with the Cubs I batted .432, with 11 extra base hits and 18 RBI’s. The team will very much continue next season, and look forward to adding a few more players to the team next season in the hopes of winning the league and/or playoff championship.

Rain – The Rochester Red Stockings (3-8) were rained out on Sunday morning. The Stox were due to play the Red Wings (1-12) team, but rains the previous night cancelled the game which had been a makeup game. No news on whether or not the game will be made up. The Stox are clinging to playoff hopes but will have to finish strong having a real chance at one of the final seeds.

The Royals – The RMSBL Royals dropped a game yesterday to the Jays 11-5. I suffered the loss on the mound. In 7 innings, I struck out 8 and allowed 1 walk and 11 hits. Some key defense blunders didn’t help our Royal cause, though the bats showed some early game signs of life. Chris Quinlan launched a solo homerun for the Royals. The Royals drop to 4-7 on the season, and are in next to last place in the 9 team league.

Notes- An odd feeling for me, for the first time in 3 years I am not at either the NAFA World Series or the ISC World Tournament for Fastpitch softball. I was getting used to the trip, and hopefully I might do it again next year…..Baseball is not going well this year in terms of wins and losses, even though I have somehow managed to strikeout 72 batters in 56.1 innings and have 4 wins on the season on the mound……There was a chance to be playing even more baseball this season with the emergence of a fall wood bat league in Binghamton, NY, but that has gone away since the games will be on Sundays, which coincides with my Rochester leagues…….Still trying to find a team to call home for the Labor Day tournament in Elkland, this might turn into an off weekend for me for the first time in 7 years.

Elkland, PA – The Hackett’s Cubs team fell in the championship game of the 2008 ESA League playoffs by the score of 8-1 vs. the Morgan and Margraff Lumber team. The Cubs, the #4 seed in the playoffs, never got on track offensively in the game, and accounted for their only run by a solo homerun from Justin Cevette, his 8^th HR of the season.

Sherri Thompson (7-5) suffered the loss for the Cubs on the mound. Thompson pitched 4 innings, striking out four batters during the game. Thompson was relieved by Grant Sherman who pitched the final 3 innings for the Cubs. Thompson finishes the season with a 7-5 pitching record and recorded 87 strikeouts in 85.66 innings on the season.

The Cubs finish the season with an overall record of 10-7, and a playoff record of 2-1.

Elkland, PA – The Hackett’s Cubs team has earned a spot in the 2008 ESA League Championship game with a 6-4 win over Steve’s Beverage (Addison, NY) last night. The Cubs jumped out to a 5-1 lead, before Steve’s rallied in the 7^th inning to cut the lead to only 2 runs.

Sherri Thompson made the start on the mound for the Cubs, and picked up her 7^th win of the season in the game, while Grant Sherman earned the save. Thompson (7-4) pitched 6.33 innings, striking out 5 batters before running into trouble in the 7^th inning. Sherman (3-2, 1 sv) pitched to the final 3 batters of the game, retiring two of them for the save. Thompson has now pitched 81.66 innings this season and has struck out 83 batters.

Bruce Hackett and Ben Geist each had two hits in the game for the Cubs, while Justin and Joe Cevette each had timely hits and runs scored for the Cubs. The Cubs are now 10-6 overall on the year, including 2-0 in the ESA playoffs. The Cubs will take on regular season champions Morgan & Margraff Lumber tonight at 6:30 PM, weather permitting.

This week was sort of a slow one, with only one league playoff game, followed by a tournament over the weekend since my last “Recap” post. Here is the latest:

ESA League – The Cubs finished the week surviving to play another day in the ESA League playoffs with a 10-2 win over the Miler’s Fastpitch team. During the game I went 3-3, with a pair of triples, 3 runs scored and had 1 RBI. The Cubs (9-6 overall, 1-0 in playoffs) will take on Steve’s Beverage in the 2^nd round of playoffs tonight. The winner moves on and the loser goes home in the single elimination style bracket.

Holland Patent, NY – The 12^th Annual Roberts Post Invitational went on in Holland Patent, NY this weekend with 10 teams in action in this Mens Fastpitch Double elimination event. I traveled up to play in my 3^rd tournament of the season with the Ricola team. Our teams battled the rain all weekend and were only able to get in 3 games before the rain washed us out. Overall we did manage to go 2-1 in the games and were ready to play the losers bracket semi final when one final storm washed out the tournament. At the plate I went 2-7 (.286) with a run scored while playing both right field and first base for the green and gold.

It was my first trip to this tournament in my career. The tournament ended with rains washing out all but two games on Sunday.  A nice tournament and a premiere location.  Aside from the rain I have no complaints and would very like much like to play again in this event.

Baseball – The Troy Storm beat the Sidewinders in the first playoff game on Saturday only to lose to the defending champs Nirchi’s Pizza yesterday. Hats off the Storm, they rebounded from a rough start to finish the year 11-9 overall. The Storm has been in the STABL Binghamton based league for 6 years, and in that time have a 52-54 overall record. Storm manager John Morgan does a great job assembling a team. I wasn’t eligible for playoffs this season with the Storm. I have helped them out with being a fill in player the last 3 years, and I enjoy playing with the younger guys and sharing some laughs. I hope they are able to return next season to the league.

No word on whether the Royals and Red Stockings were able to play this weekend. No updates on either website or on either game line of the two leagues.

Looking Ahead – We continue the ESA League playoffs tonight, and hopefully with another win we could be headed back to the championship playoff game for the first time in several years. In baseball, I am scheduled for two games next weekend in Rochester, but to my knowledge none during the week.

Fall Baseball League – There has been talk of a Saturday Fall baseball league in Binghamton, part of the STABL. It would be a smaller schedule, with only 1 Saturday game per week for 8 weeks, but could be a nice way to get in games. I am trying to latch on with a team for some more games, but haven’t heard anymore information regarding the league as of yet.

Elkland, PA- The Hackett’s Cubs won their first playoff game in team history by the score of 10-2 over Miller’s Fastpitch. Mike Wells and Bruce Hackett led Elkland at the plate. Wells drove in 3 runs with 2 base hits, while Hackett finished the game 3-3 with a pair of triples.

Sherri Thompson earned her 6^th win of the season. Thompson (6-4) pitched 5 innings, and struck out 7 batters. For the season Thompson has now pitched 75.33 innings and has struck out 78 batters.

The Cubs (9-6 overall, 1-0 in playoffs) will now play next Monday at 7:45 PM vs. an unknown opponent.

Elkland, PA – The Hackett’s Cubs Team posted a 7-4 win over Steve’s Beverage on Wednesday night to put and end to the regular season. The Cubs finish the regular season 8-6, good for a 4^th place finish in the ESA League.

Sherri Thompson made the start on the mound for the Cubs, but did not earn a decision. Thompson threw 3.0 innings and was relieved by Grant Sherman. Sherman (3-2) earned the win tossing 4 innings, allowing just 2 runs.

Ben Geist swung a heavy bat for the Cubs with 3 hits in the game. The Cubs will next take on Miller’s Fastpitch in the first round of the 2008 ESA Playoffs later this week.

By: Bruce Hackett

It was the week that wasn’t. During last week, I had two games cancelled, followed by a rainout. Luckily the rains held off for the weekend, here is a recap.

Saturday, July 26^th – I headed to Kirkwood, NY to play with the Troy Storm for the last time this season. The Storm took on a talented collegiate type team in the STABL Royals, and won the game by the score of 6-0. Storm pitcher Nate Jones was lights out, allowing only 2 hits and had 14 strikeouts in the shutout win. I played first base, and went 0-3, with a RBI and a walk. I played 3 games with Troy this season and went 3-10, with a homerun and 4 RBI’s.

Probably one of the better compliments a guy can get happened to me in this game. During the latter part of the game after one of the Royals singled. He stopped at first base and asked me, “What school do you play at”? I made him repeat the question, then answered “I’m 33 years old; my school days are a distant memory”. Years ago the question would have never been remembered, but after you cross the age of 30, those comments can do wonders for self esteem…

Sunday, July 27^th – Back on the road again, I headed up to the campus of St. John Fisher in Rochester, NY to play with the Rochester Red Stockings. The Stox took on the Cubs in a division showdown. The Stox are off to a rough start at 2-7 on the season, and decided to split the game pitching wise between myself and righty Dan Herman. The move proved to be a good one. I pitched 5 innings to start the game and left with a 3-1 lead. I struck out 7 and allowed 5 hits. Herman relieved and struck out 6 batters in 4 innings to seal the 5-2 victory.

Mickey Parker swung a heavy bat for the Stox, as did Jon Enthistle. Jon also was struck at home plate by a Cubs runner who didn’t slide and yet managed to hang onto the ball for the out. At the plate I went 1-4, with an RBI in the game.

My Team Notes – The Troy Storm made the playoffs, and finished 10-8 overall in the STABL. The Rochester Royals were not in action this past weekend and are 3-5 on the season with many many makeup games on slate. The Rochester Red Stockings are now 3-7 on the season, and in 4^th place in the American Division of the 28+ NABA Wood bat League.

Here is a list of former Elkland players now on other teams for the 2008 ISC and ISC II World Tournaments that will be in a few weeks in Wisconsin:

1. Gregg Garrity – Ashland Mets (ISC)
2. Bryan Miller – KMV Rise (ISC II)
3. Justin Cevette – KMV Rise (ISC II)
4. Joe Cevette – KMV Rise (ISC II)
5. Gord Scott – Palermo Athletics (ISC II)
6. Chris McColl – Palermo Athletics (ISC II)
7. Jason Whiteley – Ashland Stockpack (ISC II)
8. Dan Konkle – Team Easton (ISC II)
9. Bill Hillhouse – NY Knights (ISC II)
10. Jeff Murphy – Team Easton (ISC II)
11. Mike Sorzickas – CPI (ISC II)
12. Charlie Walseman – CPI (ISC II)
13. Jason Smith – CPI (ISC II)

Notes:

Here is a catch up of some other former Elkland players and what they are doing this season:

1. John Dry – Dry has spent most of the season with the NY Bombers (20-4) and has also played one weekend with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
2. Bruce Hackett- Hackett has spent time with both the NY Bombers and the Ricola Cough Drops this season.
3. Mike Makowiec – “Muck” has been playing the ESA Thunderbellys this summer.
4. Hugh Hillhouse – Hugh has pitched in one tournament this season with Erie Budweiser, and is also pitching in the Erie league.
5. Russ Cooley – Russ made a one game appearance in Dunkirk with Erie Budweiser, but has spent most of the season playing in the Erie League.
6. Kevin Brink – retired from the game, and is rumored to be playing baseball now in Olean, NY.

By: Bruce Hackett

I played in 5 games this past week, and here is the recap:

ESA Fastpitch League – I played one game in the ESA League last week, as our Cubs team pulled out an 8-1 victory over Miller’s Fastpitch. Sherri Thompson (5-4) pitched 3 innings, and struck out 4 batters earning the win. The Cubs are now 6-5 on the season, and have just two regular season games left before the playoffs. In the game I went 1-2, with an RBI double and a walk. The game ended in the 4^th inning with the Miller’s pitcher being ejected for arguing balls and strikes. The home plate umpire had enough and declared the game a victory for our team.

Rochester NABA – On Thursday, I went to Rochester to pitch for the Red Stockings in the 28+ NABA Wood Bat league. We suffered a 5-3 loss to the Storm. I pitched all 7 innings, and gave up 9 hits, 1 walk, 4 earned runs, while striking out 8 batters. At the plate it was a 0-2 day with one walk for me. The Red Stockings are now 2-7 on the season.

Dunkirk, NY Fastpitch Tournament – The 33^rd Annual Falcon Ward Fastpitch Tournament was this weekend in Dunkirk, NY. The winner of the tournament was Erie Budweiser of Erie, PA. My Team, Ricola, finished the weekend 1-2, dropping one game to the Woodstock Kelsey’s 2-1, and the other game to Dunkirk Fastpitch 3-1. Dunkirk had hired gun Tom Berube throwing and he was tossing the ball well. Our team struggled at the plate at times, and the breaks just never went our way. At the plate I too never caught the lucky break, and went 2-9 on the weekend. The “pumpkin” balls that are used there never seem to carry, no matter how hard you hit them. Ricola is now 9-4 on the season.

Hackett Ball Photo Update:  11 Ricola photos added to: 2008 Hackett Album

Mark Kuzma, who graduated from Waverly High School last month, has been named Class B baseball player of the year for the 2008 season by the New York State Sportswriters Association.

He was one of six players from the Twin Tiers named all-state, including three first-team picks. Kuzma, a senior, was named as a pitcher on the Class B all-state first team. Senior outfielder Charley Thurber of Elmira Free Academy was named to the Class A first team, and senior pitcher/outfielder Alek Brown of Edison was named to the Class C first team