Standing (l to r) Fred Veith Sr., Lee Rohan, Brian King, Randy Norman, Jorge Melendez, Matt Palisin, Dave Lanagan & Ryan Frederick
Kneeling (l to r) John Fette, Dave Meyner, Corey Walters, Fred Vieth & Chris Hay
2006
TESCO Defends the Glenwood Title
Once again the Glenwood hurlers set the pace as the 2006 season was characterized by strong pitching and close games. The eight team circuit split into two divisions - the Pontiac Division in honor of the great Pontiac Teams from the 50s and 60s, and the Ferraro Division in honor of Al Ferraro's dominating teams from the 1960s and 70s. A Wild Card series was introduced to expand the post-season and after a hard fought Championship Series TESCO emerged victorious in defending the Championship Title.
The Ferraro Division was dominated by five time Champions Harrington Industrial Laundry with a convincing 18-3 regular season record. The Laundrymen clinched the division in early July earning a first round playoff bye, only to lose in the Divisional Series to TESCO. Third year entrants the Mad Scoops earned 2nd place with a 8-12 record but lost in the Wild Card Series to ECCA ending their season three games into August. The Bisons earned a 5-16 record in their inaugural season hitting the wall in the last few weeks of the season to narrowly miss the last Wild Card slot. Knox Law finished the season with a 4-17 mark to complete the Ferraro Division.
The Pontiac Division Pennant was won by forth year squad Nagy's Tree Farm with a 14-7 regular season record. The pennant winners earned the first round bye only to lose in the Divisional Series to ECCA. TESCO captured second place with a 14-7 mark, losing the pennant to Nagy's Bulls by a 2-1 head to head record. The 2005 champs endured a rocky start only to get hot down the stretch en route to the squad's third title. Second year squad ECCA secured the first Wild Card Spot with an 11-9 regular Season Mark only to put together a terrific post season run advancing all the way to Game 5 of the Championship Series. Last season Miller's Erie Hardinger dwelt in last place only to improve by 5 wins and earn the final Wild Card spot with a 9-12 mark in 06.
The Wild Card Playoff Round pit the 2nd place divisional squads against the Wild Card teams as the pennant winners enjoyed a 1st round bye. The Mad Scoops drew first blood in their series against ECCA 2-0 only to lose the next two games 9-2 and 6-5. ECCA Payroll Services got solid pitching performances in games 2 & 3 from Ryan Starr and Jeff Ernst while teammates Mike Freeman swung the lumber in game two with four knocks including a three run homer, and Dave Gnacinski in the third game knocking a pair of RBI doubles and a single.
TESCO only needed two games to eliminate Miller's Erie Hardinger behind the right arms of Matt Palisin and Randy Norman. TESCO's Dave Meyner and Brian King slammed back to back doubles in game one to earn the contest's lone run, while Dave Lanagan and John Fette knocked 3 hits each in the 9-1 game 2 victory.
In the Ferraro Divisional Series Harrington Industrial Laundry fell in two games to TESCO. TESCO held on in Game one to emerge victorious 7-5 behind starter Matt Palisin and Jorge Melendez's bat with 3 hits and three RBIs. In game 2 TESCO Starter Ryan Frederick limited the Laundrymen to one run in the 5-1 victory. In the Pontiac Divisional Series ECCA fought their way back from a one run deficit to Nagy's Bulls to win the 2nd and 3rd game 11-1 and 7-0 and advance to the finals for the first time. Ryan Starr and Jeff Ernst picked up the victories on the hill.
ECCA drew first blood in the Championship Series against TESCO 3-2 behind starter Dave Gnacinski's complete game performance. TESCO evened the series in game two with a 17 hit attack in the 12-0 victory, and pulled a game ahead with a 6-2 victory in game three. ECCA forced a final game by defeating TESCO 3-0 in game 4 behind Dave Gnacinski's 2nd start and 2nd win of the series. In the deciding game TESCO emerged victorious 5-1 behind Ryan Frederick's 2nd win of the series to earn the third championship title in the team's fourteen year tenure.
Standing (l to r) Fred Veith Sr., Lee
Rohan, Brian King, Randy Norman, Jorge Melendez, Matt Palisin, Dave Lanagan &
Ryan Frederick
Kneeling (l to r) John Fette, Dave Meyner, Corey Walters, Fred Vieth & Chris Hay
Lee Rohan (TESCO) was voted Most Valuable Player
Travis Butcher (Nagy's Tree Farm) earned the Ed Smrekar Award for Pitcher of the Year
Brad Blood (SS - Mad Scoops) was voted Gold Glove
Ford Eisenman (2B - Nagy's Tree Farm) was voted Rookie of the Year
Greg Nagy (Nagy's Tree Farm) was voted Coach of the Year