B North Spring Finals- 6/8/25

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Spring Finals: Dark Horse vs One Hit Wonders

Well, here we are on championship Sunday. A battle of the top two seeds between #1 seed Dark Horse and #2 seed One Hit Wonders for all the marbles.

Game 1:

One Hit Wonders got off to a slow start scoring zero runs in the top of the 1st. Dark Horse took advantage and scored three runs on RBI sac flies by Nick Mariana and Dave Ketterlinus as well as an RBI double by Adam Quaranta to take an early 3-0 lead after one. In the top of the 2nd, Jack Stepnowski got One Hit Wonders on the scoreboard with an RBI single as they trailed 3-1 heading into the bottom of the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, Dark Horse's offense would erupt for eight runs on RBI singles by Jason Hudachek, Bill Jones, Ryan Schock, Mariana and Quaranta to take a commanding 11-1 lead. They would add four more runs in the bottom of the 3rd on an RBI single by Pete Burns and RBI doubles by Schock and Paul Ferruzzi. Meanwhile, the bats went cold for One Hit Wonders as they were only able to get two hits combined in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings with no runs giving Dark Horse a huge cushion as they led 15-1 after the fifth. In the top of the 6th, One Hit Wonders finally got the offense going as they scored six runs on RBI singles by Jesse Grasso, Rob Gisondi and Bill Groff with a bases clearing triple by Andy Springer to cut the deficit to 15-7. Dark Horse would quickly answer in the bottom of the 6th as they scored five runs of their own on an RBI double by Jordan Moffett, RBI triple by Ferruzzi and back-to-back homers by Mariana and Quaranta to stretch the lead to 20-7 with only three outs left for One Hit Wonders. After a leadoff single by Joey Povlosky, One Hit Wonders would go down 1-2-3 ending the game and securing a game 1 victory for Dark Horse over One Hit Wonders 20-7.

Game 2:

Dark Horse dominated with their bats in Game 1 and if One Hit Wonders was going to tie this series up and force a Game 3, they were going to need to swing the bats a lot better and limit the damage on defense. Dark Horse would get first at bats this game and they picked up right where they left off in Game 1 as they scored five runs on RBI singles by Ferruzzi, Ketterlinus and Paul Harding and an RBI double by Quaranta to take an early 5-0 lead. After a leadoff double by Grasso for One Hit Wonders in the bottom of the 1st, the offense went cold as they could not push any runs across. Dark Horse as they did in Game 1 added on in the top of the 2nd, this time scoring eight runs on RBI singles by Quaranta and Mike Suda, RBI double by Ferruzzi, a two-run homer by Ketterlinus and a sac fly by Moffett to put them up 13-0. One Hit Wonders would get two guys on in the bottom of the 2nd on singles by Jack Stepnowski and Povlosky, but again they could not get them across the plate as we stood at 13-0 Dark Horse after two. In the top of the 3rd, Dark Horse scored three more runs on an RBI Triple by Jones, RBI single by Schock and a fielder's choice by Mariana as One Hit Wonders could not get the goose egg they were looking for. One Hit Wonders would get on the board in the bottom of the 3rd as they scored three runs on an RBI sac fly by Groff, RBI single by Springer and an RBI double by Gisondi to put the score at 16-3 after the third. Dark Horse was able to get one run back in the top of the 4th on a sac fly by Harding. In the bottom of the 4th, One Hit Wonders woke the bats up as they loaded the bases up with 0 outs to start the inning. Walt Zolan would hit an RBI single to score two runs followed by a two-run RBI triple by CC Witt and an RBI double by Grasso to put up five runs. Dark Horse was able to limit the damage as they got the next two batters out followed by a walk and a flyout to end the inning as Dark Horse still led big over One Hit Wonders 17-8. In the top of the 5th, Dark Horse would get all the runs back they gave up the previous inning as they scored five runs on an RBI single by Schock and RBI doubles by Mariana and Quaranta. This was an arrow in the heart for One Hit Wonders just when they got into a rhythm and got back in the game. One Hit Wonders would go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 5th and 6th to put them almost in an impossible situation to come back from as they now trailed 22-8 heading into the last inning. Fortunately, One Hit Wonders was able to escape a two-runner jam in the top of the 7th leave the score at 22-8, but they were going to need a miracle to win this game and force a Game 3. Two quick outs put One Hit Wonders down to their last out with a lot of ground to cover. Groff got something going with a single followed by another single by Springer to get some action on the bases. A two-run RBI triple by Gisondi cut the deficit to 22-10. Trivino would then hit an RBI double to make it 22-11 followed by an RBI triple by Stepnowski to bring the score to 22-12 as a possible comeback was alive. Unfortunately, the comeback was short lived as Dark Horse was able to get the next batter to flyout for the third out which ended the game and secured a championship for Dark Horse as they won Game 2 22-12.

Dark Horse played out of their minds, and their offense was unstoppable. Leading the way was Nick Mariana and Adam Quaranta as they combined to go 11 for 16 with 14 RBIs. Congrats on a great year and a championship! One Hit Wonders, you gave it your all, but it was not your day, congrats on a great year and the runner up for B North. Who is going to dethrone Dark Horse in the summer, or will they repeat? Stay tuned to find out.