Softball

Awesome foursome

Fitness Factory’s dynasty continues

By RICHARD A. ROSS

MONTICELLO, NY — Next! That word is often heard in a barbershop as the chair becomes vacant and ready for the next client.

For the talented players of Styles Barber Shop, the Coney Division champions of the Monticello Men’s Softball League and the team that handed Fitness Factory its only regular-season loss this year, that famous barbershop word could well have been on their lips on August 14 as the league’s two best teams prepared to face each other in this year’s championship series.

The word might have been uttered by the men in blue and yellow of Styles to pronounce their readiness to supercede the three-time defending champions and declare themselves the next generation of titleholders.

But, by the time Fitness Factory had emphatically dispatched Styles Barber Shop 13-4 and 13-3 in this year’s title series, the word, which has long been a byword of Fitness Factory, continues to mean what it has for the past four years: namely, wait ’til next year to bring on the next team to try and unseat the juggernaut that seemingly cannot be beaten when push comes to shove.

Riding the stellar pitching of arguably the two best hurlers in the league in JoJo Van Keuren and Tim “Chopper” Ackermann, a steely defense, featuring a patented five-man infield and rover three-man outfield, down and hard hitting and an unquenchable desire to win, Fitness Factory consigned Styles to a second-place trophy, just like it did with Lewis Auto Parts, Sullivan Sports and All Ways Taxi from 2005 through 2007.

It may not have been a perfect season, like it was in 2007, but for Fitness Factory, which overcame its fair share of adversity, turmoil, a suspension of one its players and the loss of two of its biggest hitters, 2008 produced another championship for a group of players who have proven to be virtually unstoppable.

Both teams have played their fair share of fast-pitch softball this summer and both have gotten far better at it. Consequently, readjusting to the modified game, played in Monticello after nights of timing bats to lightning pitching, hasn’t been easy for either squad.

Truth be told, both Fitness Factory and Styles prefer the fast-pitch game.

Perhaps, Styles has become too used to the heated hurling of fast pitch, as they never seemed to get in synch with the rhythm of the Fitness Factory’s hurlers.

In game one, Van Keuren’s knuckler and changing speeds forced a multitude of pop ups and a couple of timely strike outs. His control was exceptional as he walked one batter and yielded seven hits.

By contrast, Styles’ pitcher, Mike Soboleski, issued 10 walks in the first four innings, populating the base paths with Fitness Factory runners who crossed the plate with regularity, as the champs put up crooked numbers in innings one through five on their way to a one-sided win.

In game two, Styles tried avoiding Chopper’s knuckler, which he wasn’t locating for first-pitch strikes, as they looked to tee off on his fastball. But the veteran hurler, who once pitched for Fitness Factory adversary Lewis Auto Parts, was being flawlessly guided by catcher Keith Shaddock, who set up inside to prevent Styles’ heavy hitters from extending their arms and getting powerful swings.

When they did, Fitness Factory outfielders often closed the gaps and tracked down flies. Alex Salazar’s sliding catch of a short-falling fly to right robbed J.D. Gallo of a sixth-inning hit and ended game two by virtue of the 10-run rule. As expected, Jay Falasca’s league-best play in centerfield denied Styles, as had Derwin Rivera’s fine guardianship of left field. Following the game-two win, Fitness Factory players first mobbed Chopper and then each other in a scene that has become a familiar one each August.

Playing without the services of super hitter Aaron Dinkel, who returned to Utah, and captain Edwin “Flaco” Rodriguez, who has been hampered by a wrist injury, Fitness Factory had to find new ways to win this year.

Defense and pitching have been key. Even without Dinkel’s 15 home runs, which he produced in 2007, and Rodriguez’s high-percentage hitting, the team, which is also known as D-Tech, still pulled off a record of 21-1.

Even in its 13-12 loss to Styles in the regular season, Fitness Factory roared all the way back from a big deficit to tie the game at 12 all before losing it on an errant throw that allowed the winning run to score.

In both title-series games, Fitness Factory got out to the early lead. They never trailed in either game.

Van Keuren retired the side in order in the first inning and his team responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame with RBI from Jay Falasca and Julian Dawson.

Van Keuren continued to keep Styles at bay through the third inning as Fitness Factory added three runs in the second and again in the third to vault ahead to an 8-0 lead.

A leadoff triple by Denny Rivera in the second started the upsurge. RBI would come from a passed ball, an E-2 and a single by Derwin Rivera. In the third, a two-run single by Mike Weiner and another RBI single by Derwin Rivera led to the eight-run lead.

Styles responded with three runs in the top of the fourth, getting RBI from Mike Talmadge, Lance Beecher and Vinnie Radesca.

Fitness got those three runs right back in the bottom of the frame on a booming homer to right center by Dawson to make it 11-3.

Styles got a run in the top of the fifth. A two-out double by J.D. Gallo was followed by an E-4 that scored him. Two subsequent errors by Fitness Factory represented a rare lapse in defense, which was not seen again the rest of the night.

Fitness Factory reached its winning tally of 13 runs with two in the fifth with a RBI by Shane Conner and an E-6 off the bat of Falasca.

The best-of-three series would have gone the distance had Styles won game two, but Fitness Factory had no such notion.

Fitness Factory rolls on in game two

Looking to continue the tone they set in the opener, Fitness Factory capitalized on two Styles errors and two passed balls to get out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning of game two. Denny Rivera’s RBI single and an earlier single by Falasca were the only base hits of the frame.

Styles got two runs back in the bottom of the inning by parlaying a walk, issued to Josh Card, into RBI from Brian Kowal and Talmadge.

Fitness Factory tacked on four more in the second, as walks, passed balls and errors continued to plague Styles. RBI from Shaddock, Dawson and Alex Salazar helped the champs extend their lead to 8-2 after two. Chopper would issue only one more walk in the game as he kept Styles’ batters off balance.

Fitness Factory pounced on replacement pitcher Card, just like they did with starter Soboleski. It was Card’s first-ever outing as a pitcher. That would explain the four walks he would issue by night’s end in his three and a third innings of work.

A three-run third inning made it an 11-2 game, with Fitness looking to shorten the evening by getting a 10-run lead by the end of five innings. Third-inning RBI came from Shaddock, Conner and Falasca.

Neither team scored in the fourth, but Fitness Factory got its needed two runs in the fifth to win in short order. A leadoff E-6 to Weiner and a walk to Serafin Rodriguez set the table. A passed ball moved the runners up and a sac fly by Rivera got in the first run. A fly out by Shaddock got Rivera to third and he scored on a fly out by Conner to make it 13-3.

Chopper worked around a two-out single by John Corrie to induce the series-ending fly to right skillfully snared by Salazar.

Following the celebration by the men in orange and blue, and the handshakes by the league’s two best teams, Styles players posed with their runner-up trophy before Fitness Factory and their suspended teammate, Jay Gallo, posed for yet another classic championship photo.

Family and friends joined the team for a photo.

As the team gathered around their captain, “Flaco” Rodriguez complimented them for their efforts. “We had our share of obstacles but we overcame them,” he said. “It’s been blood, sweat and tears but, as always, it was team, team, team.”

As for next year, who knows? But don’t be surprised to see Fitness Factory back intact and prepared to take on the next contender as they seek to make their dynasty a half a decade in duration.

Visit riverreportersports.com for an album of photos from the championship series.