Notes for Game P1
By Andrew Wolan / WRCS
Game date: Aug 29, 2011

Score Box
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7   R H HR
Racepoint
 X X X X X X X   L X X
Verdasys
 X X X X X X X   W X X
  Links
Game Media
Stats from the Game

Wide-spread flooding and power outages caused by Hurricane Irene were not enough to derail today’s game. (TerraMetrics)
Coach’s Game Analysis:

Recap:
Usually a game is won through skill and strategy. But sometimes a game can be decided on a single fluke event, such as the way in which the ball bounces.

The only team in the league that Verdasys Softball had a chance at beating in the playoffs was Mass Medical. Odds were that M&M would be Verdasys’s opening round opponent of the playoffs, which meant the Verdasys team had a realistic chance of earning their first playoff win ever.

But when the playoff schedule was released, it was learned that the opponent would instead be Racepoint Group. Since RPG has a good team with solid hitting, many felt there was no chance Verdasys could win the contest unless something “dramatic” happened.

Well, between the announcement and game day, the area was inundated by hurricane Irene, who wreaked havoc across the North East. And despite all the trouble caused by the hurricane, the league did not postpone Monday’s game, which meant that Monday’s playoff game was on, regardless!

Due to damage and power outages caused by the storm, both teams struggled to assemble enough players for the game. But as luck would have it, Verdasys was able to assemble 10 players at game time. RPG on the other hand was only able to round-up 8. Since the RPG team did not have a full team as spelled in the rules, their team was forced to forfeit, yielding Verdasys the win.

The playoff win is the first in Verdasys Softball history, and is the first for Coach Wolan as a coach of a softball team since the 2004 playoffs. It’s also the team’s second consecutive win, the first such win streak in club history.

Since both teams were at the field, a non-binding 10-on-8 scrimmage game between the two teams was played. RPG won that contest 13-6.

For more information about that scrimmage game, please view the game notes for “Game P1s: Scrimmage Game”.

End of the Line:
As for the championship game, Verdasys Softball will be skipping the game and will allow RPG to advance to the finals instead. According to Coach Wolan, this unusual move was made for two reasons:
  1. Verdasys is not likely to have enough people to play Wednesday’s championship game. (Ryan G, Elliott, Karina and Naren are unable to play, with Kaveesh and Ajeet a “maybe”. )
  2. Racepoint Group is expected to have enough players for the contest.
“It’s one thing to win a game by a technicality and play the championship round,” said Coach Wolan. “It’s another thing if we claim the forfeit win and then lose the championship round because we don’t have enough people. If that happened, then we would look really bad. I’d rather avoid that and just end the season on a good note.”

So with that, Verdasys Softball’s 2011 season is over.

As for the future of the team, the team will be disbanding due to lack of participation. (The website will remain active because both A-WOOF and Bob Safner enjoys it so much.) For those interested in playing next season, the commissioner has agreed to allow teams to merge, meaning teams with roster issues could join to become a more viable team. We’ll worry about that in June 2012.

If someone really wants to continue playing, there are fall and winter (indoor) leagues around the area. bssc.com has some decent leagues worth checking out.


A-WOL Watch:

See notes for Game P1s.

Andy Wolan is a reporter and photographer for Verdasys Softball. This story was not subject to the approval of the league or its clubs.