Tradesmen, FL Flooring Take 1-0 Series Leads

Just before Mother Nature showed off with a spectacular light show last night, the two teams squaring off in the night’s Falmouth Men’s Softball League semifinals were exploding for hits and runs. A total of 37 runners crossed the plate in an offensive outing that saw The Tradesmen pick up their eighth consecutive victory by out-slugging Gonsalves Construction 21-16.
The Tradesmen took a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series with Gonsalves. The two teams will be back in action, once again at the Route 151 field, tomorrow night at 6 PM.
There was absolutely no let-up in The Trademen’s offensive attack in the game. The team scored runs in each frame and was able to hang two zeroes on the board when GC was batting, which would ultimately prove to be the difference in the contest.
The biggest inning for the victors was the third when they were able to push across six runs. After having scored three in each of the first two innings, the big third gave them control as they held a commanding 12-3 lead. Gonsalves certainly made things interesting, though, as they battled back to score 13 runs over their next three trips to the plate, concluding their push with a seven-run sixth that saw them pull to within three.
Leading 6-2 when they came to the plate in the third, The Tradesmen went up 9-2 on a hit by Scott Warnicka. A key error by the Gonsalves infield then opened the doors for another run to score as TT went up 10-2. Dax Fountain drove in a run with a sac fly and then another error, two batters later, plated another run, making it 12-2.
To Gonsalves’ credit, the eventual losing team battled back to make things interesting despite trailing by double-digits. Down 13-3 in the fourth, GC pushed four across to make it a ballgame again as Mike Gonsalves drove in a run with a single, James Marks plated a run with a hit and then a Mike Silvia Texas Leaguer made it 13-6. Mark Texeira’s single up the middle cut the deficit to seven runs.
Each team scored twice in the fifth inning. The Tradesmen appeared to put the game away when they scored four more in the sixth, going up 19-9, but GC would battle back again. Dave Texeira had a two-run triple for TT in the sixth and then John Taylor drove in a run with a sac fly before EJ Smith plated a run with a single to give his team a 10-run cushion.
Gonsalves had the bats working in the bottom of the sixth as they put a seven spot and pulled to within three. Mike Silvia started the rally with an RBI hit and then Mark Texeira followed suit. Ken Stewart singled in a run to make it 19-12 and then a triple by GC made it a five-run game. A long two-run homer to right by Sunny Rapoza pulled Gonsalves to within three, but the rally ended there. TT added two in the top of the seventh to account for the final score.
On Thursday night the series between FL Flooring and The Conference Table got off to an exciting start. The Conference Table took the lead early on, but FL kept battling throughout the game and scored a big 16-14 win to earn a victory in the opening game of the best-of-three series.
FL Flooring used a six-run sixth inning to get the lead. The game was knotted up at 10-10 when the inning opened, but the bats came alive for FL, with Pete Muse leading the way. The big outfielder pounded a two-run homer deep over the center field fence to highlight the rally.
Bruce Hathaway had a big game for the victors as well. Hathaway pitched the whole way, picking up the victory on the hill. He also had three hits in the game. Jake Collins, Brian Ferreira and Mel Reine all had big hits in the game as well.
The Conference Table scored themselves the lead early, on the strength of a seven-run first, but weren’t able to hold off FL. Chris Potter had an inside-the-park home run in the first to highlight the big outburst. Conference Table led 7-4 after one, and 10-7 after two, but could not put away FL Flooring as they came back to score two in the third and then tied it up with another run in the fourth.
After taking the lead with the big six-run sixth, CT got one back in the bottom of the frame and then were able to hold FL scoreless in the bottom of the seventh. The Conference Table made it interesting with three in the bottom of the seventh, but came up short of a complete comeback and took the loss.
The two teams are back on the field today at 6 PM for game two of the series.