UCSSL 2016 PLAYOFF RESULTS
60’s Division
First Round for Week of August 1, 2016
Kilkenny House 6,  Awnings Galore II 1
Defense and the strong pitching of George Brokaw carried Kilkenny House to a 6-1 victory in the opening game of the A Division playoffs.  The Kilkenny infield turned 4 double plays, while their offense was led by Bill Hillyer who went 3 for 3 on the night.  AG2 managed only 10 hits -- 2 each by Bob Bykofsky (R), Tom Frierson (RBI), Bruce Crawford and Angelo Melillo.
Creative Industries I 13, The Decorating Store 11
In a see-saw battle in the opening game of A division playoffs, Creative Industries I pushed ahead of The Decorating Store in the fifth inning and held on for a 13-11 victory. Winning pitcher Joe DePierro (2H, 2R) was backed up offensively by Gary Pence (4 for 4, 3 RBIs), Dennis Watson (4 for 4), and Dana Kimmel with 3 hits.  Leading the D-Store at the plate were Gary Schaller (3H, R, RBI), Charlie Wischusen (3H, 2RBI), and Gerard McDermott (2H, 2R, 3RBI).  George Merlo, Bill Early, Brian McDermott, Tom McNulty and Lou Koehler had two hits apiece in the losing effort.
Creative Industries I 17, The Decorating Store 10
Creative Industries I completed a semifinal playoff sweep by defeating The Decorating Store 17-10.  The Creative offense was led by Gary Pence (4 for 4, 4R, 4RBI, HR), Dana Kimmel (3H, 3R), Tom Straniero ( 2 for 2, 4R) and winning pitcher Joe DePierro with (2H, 3RBI).  Leading the D-Store was Ken Murray (3H, 2B, R, 3RBI), Gary Schaller (2H, 3B, 2R, 2RBI), George Merlo (2H, 2B, 3RBI).  Bill Early, Mike Volpe, Tom McNulty and Tom Rutkowski had 2 hits each for the Decorating Store.
Awnings Galore II 4, Kilkenny House 3
Awnings knotted up this semi-final playoff series at 1-1 with yet another defense oriented game.  Bob Bykofsky, Bob Lorincz and Danny Mendoza each had 2 hits and a run scored.  Pitcher Tom Pasko held off a late Kilkenny rally and retired the final batter with the tying run on third base.
Avengers 9, DeBellis Associates 8
This one went down to the wire as the Avengers evened their playoff series at one game apiece with a 9-8 victory over DeBellis Associates.  The Avengers jumped out to a 9-1 lead but pitcher Alan Schachman and reliever Pat LoPiccolo needed to hold off a last minute DeBellis surge.  DeBellis had the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning before the fire was put out. Leading the Avenger on offense were Bill Moore, Anthony Abbaleo and Chris Black who were all 3 for 3. Doc Henley Black, Paul Brody and Ron Horinko added two hits apiece to the Avenger 19 hit attack.
American Legion 14,  Creative Industries Too 1
American Legion stormed into the B Division finals as they closed out their semifinal playoff series with a 14-1 win over Creative Industries Too. Pitcher Bill Daniel was stellar on the mound and added 2 hits to the offense. Ray Pelesko, John Amato and Walt Serafyn had 3 hits each, and Ed Kushner added a double and a triple in the victory.
DeBellis Associates 21, The Avengers 1
DeBellis Associates took the final game of this B Division semifinal playoff series with a 21-1 thumping of The Avengers.  Hitting for The Avengers were Anthony Abbaleo (3 for 3) and Doc Henley Black, Bill Moore and Pete Gelesky who had two hits each on the losing side.
Awnings Galore II 4, Kilkenny House 3
Defense was once again the deciding factor in the final game of this semi-final playoff series. Down 3-1 in the game, and faced with elimination, Awnings Galore II rallied in the 7th inning for 3 runs to defeat Kilkenny House 4-3 and move on to the championship series.  After a base on balls by Tom Colandro to open the final frame, Bruce Symon, Bob Bykofsky (RBI on the hit) and Bobby Lorincz hit consecutive singles to load the bases with the tying run on third base.  Steve Toth’s sharp single to centerfield with one out plated two runs to give AG2 the lead.  Only a spectacular diving catch by Ron Kulik on Tom Frierson’s liner to right center kept Awnings from scoring more runs.  Kilkenny put the tying run on base in the bottom of the 7th but winning pitcher Tom Pasko held off the attempted rally to secure the victory.  Leadoff hitter Bykofsky had 2 hits in the game, and was a combined 6 for 7 with two walks in the series, to again pace the struggling offense.  Gary Cuttler added two more hits for the winners in addition to playing stellar defense all series at shortstop. Awnings Galore II now advances to the A Division Finals where they will play regular season winners Creative Industries I.
Final Rounds for Week of August 21, 2016
Creative Industries I 8, Awnings Galore II 7
Awnings Galore II held Creative Industries I to fewer runs than in any of their six regular season games, but Creative squeaked out a win in the first game of the best of three A Division finals series beating Awnings 8-7. Awnings' Steve Toth blasted a long two run HR in the 6th inning to give AG2 a brief 7-5 lead, but Creative stormed back to knot the game at 7-7.  In the bottom of the last inning, Creative's Joe DePierro singled and Geoff Polston doubled to put runners on second and third.  Awnings decided to intentionally walk the hard hitting Dennis Watson to load the bases.  Rookie Willie Jackson then roped a single over the center fielder's head for the walk off win.  Karl Grossman also contributed to the offense, going 2 for 2.  For Awnings, Gary Cuttler (R), Danny Mendoza (R, 2B), Angelo Melillo (2R, RBI), Tom Pasko (RBI, 3B) and Pete Osborn (RBI) each had two hits in defeat. Pitcher Al Betau picked up the win for Creative. 
American Legion 12, DeBellis Associates 3
American Legion took the first game of the B Division finals by beating DeBellis Associates 12-3.  George Vircik pitched for the win.  Ray Pelesko, Ed Kushner and Walt Serafyn had 3 hits each for American Legion in the victory.
Creative Industries I 9, Awnings Galore II 3
Creative Industries I completed a sweep of the A Division best of three finals by defeating Awnings Galore 9-3.  Al Betau was again the winning pitcher as Dana Kimmel, Gary Pence and Dennis Watson all had multiple hits for Creative.   Awnings once again put up a valiant defensive display but could not get the bats going to match Creative's firepower.  Bob Lorincz was 2 for 3, and Tom Frierson added a triple for Awnings in the loss.
DeBellis Associates 11, American Legion 10 
In a real nail biter, DeBellis Associates nipped American Legion on a walk off base hit by John Malone in game two of the B Division final series. Johnny Amato, Glenn Sytko and Steve Brownstein each had 3 hits in defeat.
American Legion 15, DeBellis Associates 10
American Legion out hit DeBellis Associates to win the final game of the B Division playoffs.  Chris Paterek was the winning pitcher and contributed 3 hits.  Jack Helfrich, Rich Pelesko and John Symczak also had 3 hits each.