2015 Black Sox Top Patriots to Win 35+ American Division at South Jersey
Hammonton Black Sox 17, Bordentown Patriots 13
Front Row L to R: Ron “Mash” Rossi, Frank Levin, Mike Martino, Lou Rios, Andrew “Squid” Calenero. Back Row L to R: Bob Cooper, Chris Caprio, Gregg Balin, Pete Scoritto, Gary Fischer, Chris Mento
‘Levin and Fischer Lead the Way on the Hill’Contributed by Gregg Balin, South Jersey league president
The Hammonton Black Sox played the Philly Old Timers in the first game of the 35-over division playoffs and won to advance to the next round in the single elimination format.
In the Semi-Finals the Black Sox played the division winning Riverton Rangers and defeated the Rangers two games to one with momentum clearly on their side.
In the championship round game one against the Bordentown Patriots, the Black Sox rode the strong pitching arm of Frank Levin with 14 strikeouts while facing only 31 batters on the day. After giving up two hits and one run in the first inning he gave up only two hits over the next eight innings. The Sox played error free defense all day holding down a strong Bordentown lineup making the final score 6-1.
In game two a rocky start allowed the Patriots to jump out to a seven run lead. The Black Sox battled back and worked walks, moved runners and had many clutch hits with men on base. Gary Fischer went the distance on the mound and battled all nine innings for the win. The Patriots were down eight runs in the ninth inning and fought back strong, scoring four runs, but it wasn’t quite enough with the final score 17-13 in favor of the Hammonton Black Sox, capturing the 2015 35-over championship!