VFW Ends Hammers Season In Shocking First Round Upset

LeBREQUE FIELD, HN - The McInnis Carpentry Softball Team was sent home this week with a shocking first round collapse against the VFW. The Hammers came into the best of three series owning a 11-1 career record over the Germantown based club. The one loss was a game that was forfeited due to a scheduling error.

The Hammers were sent reeling after a 30-19 loss to open the series. They never recovered and were eliminated in game two 12-11. It is the second time in four years the Hammers have lost to the 7th seed in the playoffs.

"Well, we never really got going this year", said GM Tom Fratolillo "We had a good run, making it to the championship two years in a row. We had an off year, this stings a little bit... no one on this team likes to lose, but we'll regroup and be back at next year."

With the losses the Hammers finished their season at 14-8, their lowest win total ever.

Hammers Wrap Up Season WIth Double-Header Sweep

LeBREQUE FIELD, HN - The McInnis Carpentry Softball Club wrapped up the 2007 regular season by winning two against the Hofbrau last night in Houghs Neck.

With the win, coupled with the Morrell Club's loss to Flanagan's on Wednesday, the Carpenters finish at 14-6 to claim the #2 seed in the upcoming post-season tournament.

In game one against the Hofbrau the Hammers came out of the gate blazing. Greg Harper (3-4) led off with a double and scored on a two-run double from Scott Logan (3-4, 3 RBI). A misplay by the Hofbrau on a hard hit ball by Steve McInnis plated two more to give the M.C. club a 6-0 lead after half an inning.

Many believed the Hammers would have little trouble with a 4-win Hofbrau team having a roster full of young and inexperienced players. But the first year team put up a fight. After a 5-run 2nd the Hoffy tied it in the 4th behind some good hitting from the middle of their order.

"I was impressed," said Hammers outfielder Greg Harper "They have a good group of players. They're another one of those young teams we've seen this year thats played us well. If they can keep it together, they'll be a good squad in the near future."

Bill Wysocki's one-out home run in the 5th broke the tie. Two batters later Mike Aupperlee went deep to put the black & orange up 11-8. The Hammers went on to outscore the opposition 4-1 for the 15-9 win.

In the nightcap the Hammers again raced out to a big 10-1 lead after 3 innings. The Hofbrau never gave up though, cutting the lead to 5 after four and tying it in the 5th. The Carpenters erased any hopes of an upset by answering with 6 straight hits in the bottom of the inning. Sal Buonopane (3-4, 2 RBI, HR), Steve McInnis, John Southern and Mike Berry all delivered hits to push the lead to 7.

There was no more scoring in the last two frames and the Hammers found themselves with a pair wins and second place going into the tournament.

"It was a good season", said Hammers GM/OF/C/DH Tom Fratolillo "We had some struggles this year. The expectations are high in this organization. A 14-6 campaign might be a little dissapointing to some but there's nine other teams that wish they had the season we had. I dont think the club has hit on all cylinders this year... we're capable of doing so much more and I think you're going to see it in the tournament."

Morrell Club Does It Again, Beat Hammers 9-8

LeBREQUE FIELD, HN - Another game against the Morrell Club, another tight loss in which the Hammers bats go quiet.

The Morrell Club continued it's dominance over the Hammers with a 9-8 win last night in Houghs Neck League action. In almost a carbon copy of their first meeting, last years regular season champs came from behind with a 5 run sixth to steal the win.

The Hammers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first behind hits from Greg Harper, Steve Yocco, Scott Logan, Bill Wysocki and John Gray.

In the third the Morrell Club capitalized on a pop-up that bounced out of outfielder Tom Fratolillo's glove. After the misplay Steve Loud delivered a 2-run double, tying the game at 4-4.

The Hammers bounced right back though, getting RBI hits from Gray (3-3) and Mark Free to push ahead 7-4.

There was no more scoring until the sixth. The Morrell club banged out 5 straight hits, including a big three run HR from Brian Nolan to retake the lead at 8-7. Loud and Matt Fratolillo (3-4) also had run scoring hits in the 5-run inning.

Trailing 9-7 going into their final at-bat, things looked good for the black & orange as Sal Buonopane (2-3) led off with a triple. After a fly-out, SS Brian Nolan, in the new re-vamped Morrell Club defense, made the play of the game with a sensational play on a hard line drive off the bat of Greg Harper. After a hit by Yocco, Joe Dorsey snared another liner off the bat of Scott Logan to end the threat and seal the win.

"It was a great game," said Hammers SS Bill Wysocki "Frustrating for us, but a good game from two good teams. I have a feeling we're going to meet again."

With the loss the Hammers have dropped 4 straight to their rivals, not beating them since the '05 playoffs. The Morrell Club also leap-frogged McInnis Carpentry (12-6) in the standings, moving to 2nd place with a 13-6 record.

The Morrell Club closes out against Flanagans while the Hammers wrap up their season with a double-header against the Hofbrau.

Friday The 13th Nightmare, Local Rips M.C. 27-15

O'ROURKE FIELD, W. QUINCY - For the Local 103 softball team, playing the Hammers has been nothing short of a nightmare for the past six seasons. Since 2002 the Carpenters have owned Local, losing only once in 16 games and eliminating them in the playoffs the past two.

For one night they turned the tables.

In one of the finest displays of hitting the Hammers have seen all season, the Electricians opened the first on fire, scoring 8 runs before making an out. When the dust settled it was 11-0 after half an inning.

It was the 2nd most runs given up by the Hammers to start a game since a 17 run first inning by the Chefs last season.

"They've always been a good hitting club," said GM/C/OF Tom Fratolillo "But that was insane. What happened against the Chefs last season was understandable... we made a ton of errors. Tonight, every ball was crushed. The entire lineup hit. This was the best we've seen them play, it was their night."

The Hammers made a gallant effort to catch up but could only match Local for 13 runs the rest of the way en route to the 27-15 set back.

It was a night in which the M.C. Club found themselves in unfamiliar surroundings on several fronts. The team was staring at a run-rule shortened game before rallying for three runs in the fith to continue play. The club has been run-ruled twice (Flanagans's 22-7 in '03 & the Chefs 19-4 in '06) and were under the rule only one other time as well (Crabby D's 34-22 loss in '04).

The loss was the first ever at O'Rourke for the Black & Orange and gave them 5 losses on the season for the first time in team history.

Recap on the game to come.

Carpentry Hammers Cagney's 18-3

LeBREQUE FIELD, HN - Many critics had this as a "trap game" for the McInnis Carpentry Softball Club.

Those critics appeared to have it right... for half an inning anyway.

Involved in a tight race against the Morrell Club for the number two seed in the upcoming post-season tournament, the Hammers found themselves down 3-0 to a Cagneys team they pounded 31-3 in April.

Unfortunately for the young team from Quincy Center, it was the only lead they would enjoy and the last runs they would score for the rest of the night. The Hammers responded immediately with a 7 run first and steadily increased their lead until Scott Logan's three-run homer in the sixth ended the game due to the run-rule.

"People out there were saying this was a trap game?!", said Hammers outfielder Mike Aupperlee "That's complete horse-@#$*! We're a great team when we're not @#%$-up. Cagney's? Come on. They can't hang with us. We put up 31 runs on these guys and some jack-@$$ out there says they're gonna beat us 'cause we're looking past them. Give me a break!. This game was over when they put the schedule out."

The Hammers received big nights from Logan (3-4, 3 RBI, HR), Mark Free, Aupperlee, John Martin (4th HR of the season) and Steve Yocco (3 hits). Sal Buonopane was solid on the mound again, picking up his 5th win of the season to improve to 5-2.

With the win the Hammers improve to 12-4 while the Morrell Club were throttled 21-4 by the Chefs (10-7) in the nightcap and dropped to 12-6. The two clubs meet on Monday night.

"I don't care how bad they lost tonight. They were missing three starters... I'm sure they will all be there when we play them," said GM Tom Fratolillo "They play their best ball against us no matter who they put on the field... our bats seem to go to sleep. It's gonna be tough, but we can't afford to look past Local on Friday. We have to stay focused and take care of things one game at a time. We'll see where we stand on Monday and just go from there."


Greg Harper and Bill Wysocki were out of last night's lineup... Steve Yocco led off for the first time this year.... Steve McInnis is batting .643 in the last 10 games.... Mike Cedrone, failing to get his first hit of the year, went directly home & took 25 vicious cuts, naked infront of a mirror last night and yelled "Mikey's going deep Friday!!".... rumors were circulating after the game that the Hammers were using an illegal bat.... Tom Fratolillo got his second career start at catcher and botched a 1st inning pop-up.

Hammers Nemisis Back In The Race

HOUGHS NECK, QUINCY, MA - Just when the Hammers thought they had 2nd place all wrapped up along came who else but old rival the Morrell Club.

It was reported last week that the McInnis Carpentry Softball Team had a comfortable lead for the number two seed in the upcoming post-season tournament.

That information was wrong.

It was previously believed that teams vieing for the third seed (Local, Chefs, Morrell Club) all had 9-7 records. The Morrell Club's true record is 11-5, just a half game behind the 11-4 Hammers. The Chefs are 9-7 while Local's record is still unknown.

"The information we released was incorrect", said Hammers public realtions co-ordinator Bobby Miller "We regret posting any misleading information to our fans, players and the general public."

One league official who remained anonymous said the Hammers were getting their information from the streets, possibly the kids from Bernies corner or Houghs Neck icon and Quincy Police informant Anthony Fratolillo.

"This is not true", said Miller "The standings have always been difficult to track since this league was formed in 1967. We do our best to gather info for the team. Obviously we made a mistake and have to review the process in how we gather intelligence."

The Morrell Club (formerly Louies, Bibbs & the Hofbrau) are last years regular season champions, finishing with a 17-3 mark. They currently own a three game winning streak over the black & orange dating back to last years two game regular season sweep.

Over the years the Morrell Club has finished regularly in the middle to the bottom of the pack. Notoriously known for their nightmarishly slow starts and strong, whirlwind finishes. For the Hammers (who have never finished with more than four losses in a season) they are always trouble, no matter what their record.

In 2004 the Morrell Club, a #7 seed , upended the #2 Hammers in a stunning 1st round upset. The two squads met again the following year under the exact same circumstances. McInnis Carpentry prevailed this time (barely), in a wild shootout (20-19 & 22-20 in 8 innings) to advance to the semifinals.

The Morrell Club is one of only 3 teams in the League McInnis Carpentry does not have a winning record against. The all-time series between the two clubs stands at 8-8.

The two teams meet in the last week of the season in what will most likely determine the second seed. The Hammers have the Hofbrau twice, Cagneys and Local. The Morrell Club finishes with the Hofbrau, Chefs and Flanagans.

M.C. Affilitate Tru-Wheels Launches Site

QUINCY, MA - McInnis Carpentry affiliate Tru-Wheels has announced the launch of their new web site. The site will allow fans to track their favorite players stats, team news and have a complete schedule available. Please visit the site at www.truwheels.blogspot.com or click on the link in the links area on this page.

Stats

Click on image to enlarge.

Flanagan's Rallies Behind M.C. Meltdown

LeBREQUE FIELD, HN - It was the tale of two games last night as the McInnis Carpentry softball team took on powerhouse Flanagan's at LeBreque Field.
For the first four innings the Hammers were in complete command, seemingly well on their way to a third straight regular season sweep of the champs.

The M.C. club built a 12-4 lead through the first four innings, getting big hits from Scott Logan, Steve McInnis, Mark Free and Sal Buonopane.

But the black & orange unraveled in a nightmarish 5th inning. Flanagan's took advantage of four walks and five big errors to tie the game with a 8 run inning.

"We just came unglued there", said Hammers outfielder Tom Fratolillo, who gambled and lost on a low line drive which helped fuel Flanny's big inning. "Against Flanagan's you really do need to be perfect... as we were in our first meeting. (a 10-6 M.C. win) Their offense is incredible, when they give you outs you have to make them. To make as many mistakes as we made tonight and still be in the game going into the last inning was a miracle."

Leading 16-13 Flanagan's put the game away in 7th by having another big inning. Capitalizing yet again on walks and errors to plate 7 and go up 23-13.

After the Hammers chased starter Steve Tuoma Flanagan's turned to their bullpen . The M.C. club was shut down the rest of the way , outscored 19-1 through the final three innings.

"They're a good club," said Flanagan's manager John Cascarano "I thought they had us there in the beginning... but fortunately we caught some breaks and the bats came alive."

With the loss the Hammers drop to 11-4 while Flanagan's improves to a league best 15-2.


NOTES:

The June rainout against the Hofbrau will be made up as double-header to wrap up the season.... Mike Aupperlee's solo walk off home run Sunday gave M.C. affiliate Tru-Wheels a double-header sweep over the Red Rose Cafe... there will be Beer & Food at the M.C. Compound on the 3rd of July to celebrate our independence.... barring a losing streak the Hammers appear to have the #2 seed wrapped up. Three other clubs are battling for 3rd with 9-7 records.