M a G a Z I N E M a G a Z I
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Cutting Edge Sports, Inc. M a g a z i n e Winter 2017 2016 Year In Review Opening Day - March 27, 2017 Statistics A Look Ahead to the Softball New Year The Fuel That Burns the Game’s Fire A very Happy and Healthy New Year to all! There are loads of statistics to follow in other sports. No- I can’t quite fathom the fact that we are moving into our where, however, are statistics more prevalent, more ana- 22nd year of Softball Amer- lyzed, or more pondered upon than in the great game of ica. That’s a lotta years, a baseball [softball]. lotta games, a lotta at-bats, and a lotta runs scored. Baseball [softball] is an island of activity amidst a sea of What’s does ‘a lotta’ mean? statistics. - Author Unknown Well, by my calculations as a league we’ve played over For The Record 1/2 million softball games Three yearly league records were broken in 2016, none of (532,857). In those games we’ve come to the plate more which were long standing. Iron man John Kiefer breaks the than a million and a half times (1,703,433), totaled almost all-time games-played record 800,000 hits and scored close to 600,000 runs. That’s ‘a with perfect attendance, ap- lotta’ softball. And just think... Nancy Razzi scored a very pearing in 96 men’s league large majority of those games. Without her passion for the games over the course of the league and dedication to the game, Softball America year - a record that can only wouldn’t be anywhere near where it is today. Thank you, be broken if we add more Nan! men’s leagues. The previous Running the league over all these years has given me record of 93 games was held some insight into what makes championship teams tick. I by Bill Shallcross who did it in can tell you without fear of contradiction, the teams that 2014. With 210 men’s league RBIs for the year, Brian Pene- win championships consistently are the teams that have cale topped his 2014 league best of 193. Knowing the differ- roster players showing up consistently. Teams using subs ence between a ball and a strike takes a good eye. Working or the teams that rarely have the same players from week the count to earn a base on balls takes a lot of patience. Both to week are at a serious disadvantage. Take a moment of which come naturally to Kris Smedley. Her 57 base on out this year and notice the names on the rosters of the winning teams. Rarely will you see a player’s name with (Continued on page 24) NR (non-roster) next to it in the team stats. Most of the Players of the Year players on the winning squads have 7 and 8 regular sea- Regular & Post-Season Standouts son games played. If you want to increase your chance of winning a title, dump the deadbeats. For the 3rd time in 4 years, Matt Schaub takes home You say you’re having trouble finding players? The men's league Player of the Year honors. Matt was at or near league Free Agent Wire is home to literally hundreds of the top in almost every significant offensive category. Matt area ball players looking to find a team to play with. batted a whopping 715 and slugged 1465 over the course of Granted, free agents are somewhat of a hit or miss deal 69 games and 228 ABs. Perennial superstar Brian Penecale (Continued on page 5) finished 2nd in the point totals, 25 behind Matt. Rounding out the top 5 POTY candidates are Scott Carroll, Joe Knight, and Frequently Asked Questions Mike Kuhn. …and their answers On the coed side of things, Dan Vescovi will take home his first Player of the Year title while Jarred Gardner will take When can I expect to see the weekly stats posted? home his 4th. Dan batted a gaudy 782 while slugging 1692. The processing and posting of weekly stats are prom- Jarred pounded in 195 runs while hitting 50 dingers. Carl ised within 1 week of when the games are played. Almost Motts, III, Alex Freeman, and Mike Bitterlich rounded out the without exception, the weekly stats are posted well before top 5. then, usually within 3 or 4 days of the games. It’s kind of The Female Eddie Player of the Year in 2016 is a player hard to produce them much before then as it is quite an that’s been in the league for more than 15 years. She took involved process. Day 1: games are played. Day 2 or 3: POTY honors in 2002, 2003, and again in 2008. Back in the sheets are gathered and uploaded to the website. Day 2 winner’s circle is Joan Glass. Joan batted 525 and took a or 3: stats are totaled, entered into the stat program, and walked almost 1 in every 5 times to the plate. Linda Lus- exported as Excel files. Day 3 or 4: Excel files are sent to combe edged out Brittany Ullman for 2nd in the point totals. (Continued on page 22) (Continued on page 24) PO Box 101, Fountainville, PA 18923 215-822-8777 www.cuttingedgesports.net ~ Page 1 Monday Evening Coed Wednesday Evening Coed Car Bombs Tops in Spring and Fall. Andy’s Takes TGI Fridays and JH Elite Each Claim 2 Titles. New Middle Jewel. Dugout Demons, Blue Dog Tavern, Britain Inn, Titans, Casey’s Saloon and Eatery, and and Carroll’s Jewelers Share National Crown. Blue Wackers Win Dog, New Age, and Wackers Patriot Best. 2016 was a year of evolution for Softball America’s Monday's the night that starts it off every year. All the Wednesday Evening Coed league, as we witnessed more antsy players ready to get out of the house and get back in teams enter and leave the league than in recent years past the dirt and grass. Mondays we kick off with Andy's snack as well as increased movement of players from one team to bar showing no signs of rust as they kick off at 8-0 Warren another. Grant still has it hitting 1hr 25rbi .733 and he got some help The league began the year with the three-conference for- from Derek Ludlow 17rbi .690. Car Bombs were 2nd at 5-3 mat; 5-team American and National Conferences for estab- Mandy Sheehan 5rbi .619 and John Erb 13rbi .625 looked lished teams and a 4-team Patriot Conference for teams in ready to go. Sharks were also 5-3 this vet team were lead a building phase. This format had the advantage of foster- by Adam Kopfinger 3hr 19rbi .625. and Lisa Silvestri ing rivalries, as the seasonal schedules featured more intra- (Continued on page 7) conference games between teams of similar ability and inter -conference games that balanced schedules and led to ex- Tuesday Evening Men’s citingly close finishes to each regular season. Doylestown Gold Exchange Nails Spring Title. Irish SPRING Car Bombs Take Summer and Fall (Continued on page 14) Tuesday Evening Men’s went through another year of Thursday Evening Men’s fireworks and they were on display every week. A couple of Jamison Pour House Spring, Summer American Champs. new teams were added to the mix and the veterans wel- Irish Car Bombs Take Fall. Hemlock Grabs Spring National, comed them to the league like a batter shooting box. The Commission Nails Summer & Fall. Brew Crew, Sex In the spring season, Porsche of the Main Line and Irish Panthers, Callahan Auto each Take Patriot Titles. Car Bombs tied for first place with 7-1 records. There was With Thursday Men’s divided into 3 divisions, there were no shortage of offense as Doylestown Gold Exchange, Irish plenty of championships to be won. The shift of teams into Car Bombs, and Porsche of the Main Line scored 156, 149 divisional play also allowed for some very competitive and 148 runs, respectively. Matt Schaub of Vertex captured games. the batting title with an average of .783. Brian Penecale and The American Conference led the way in the spring with Scott Carroll were the Bash Brothers for Doylestown Gold Jamison Pour House and Outback Steakhouse tied for first, (Continued on page 8) both finishing with 6-2 records. Outback Steakhouse was a run scoring machine, putting up 164. Jamison Pour House Tuesday Women’s/True Coed shot teams down with their defense, only yielding 77 runs. SHL Captures Spring Women’s Title. Long Shots James Rundatz of Mayhem captured the batting title, hitting Take Summer True Coed Title. Dragons Top True Coed in the Fall. (Continued on page 22) Tuesday night was the night for the girls up at Hatfield. Friday Evening Coed They went up there and competed against each other every Hagan’s Heroes Takes Spring and Fall Titles. DaBeers week. Rec N Ballz was the top of the division. Helping them Captures Middle Jewel to the top were Marguerite Delucas who drove in 13 rbi and Friday Evening Coed is the most laid back night of the week batted .767. Also helping her was Tonya Miller who drove in - everyone relaxing and getting ready to let go for the weekend. 14 runs of her own. Second place was SHL at 5-3 Nicole Then they show up to the field to rage war or play softball Bangert hit a homerun while driving in 15 runs. Wiley vet whatever your in the mood for! Spring kicked off with Hagan's Christen Flaherty drove in 12 runs while batting a Hero's taking first place 7-1.