Revived charity game pitted SALT vs. Sweet Tomato’s
Bang-bang play at first during the Over the Hill softball game Sunday. From left, Mike Goodleaf, Kevin Dunning and George Kneeland.
Powered by two home runs from Ken Lewis, and one each from Ian Weslek and Darrin Binder, plus the complete game pitching of right-hander Gunnar Wissemann on the SALT team, managed by Ed Brown and Skip Tuttle, manhandled the Sweet Tomato’s squad 22-14 at Fiske Field on Sunday.
This was the second game in the reincarnation of a series that Coecles Harbor Inn Owner Jack Cahill started in the 1970s as a Little League fund- raiser, pitting Cahill’s “Over the Hill Gang” against Dick Edward’s “Dory Degenerates.”
That game was put on ice for years, before last September’s contest when Sweet Tomato’s beat SALT on a walk-off game winner in the bottom of the 9th. All proceeds went to support the Shelter Island Booster Club.
Sunday’s game was another story altogether from last year. Wissemann kept Sweet Tomato’s bats at bay through his complete game win and was recognized as the 2014 MVP in an informal vote of players and spectators.
Many SALT hitters, including Kevin Dunning and Fred Marionfield, contributed to an 8-run 8th inning that blew the game open. Also in the middle of the action was Dave Clark, whose father Bob, played in the initial games almost 40 years ago.
Anthony Montella’s glove work at short and his homer kept Sweet Tomato’s in the game for a while, but the depth in the other dugout was too much to overcome.
Jack’s wife, Beverly, threw out the first pitch for the second year in a row, which was enjoyed by her two children and four of her grandchildren.
Played on a spectacular early autumn afternoon, the game was not without its share of controversy when home plate umpire Brian Springer called out Lewis on a fouled third strike in the bottom of the first.
Sweet Tomato’s pitchers Ken Kraus and School Board President Steven Gessner were able to hold down the big bats on the SALT side, until that decisive 8th inning.
Reporter sports columnist Bob DeStefano was the man in blue on the bases, while Kathy Lynch again did a great job on the public address system.
According to an interview with Manager Chuck Kraus, all the players are already excited for the 2015 game.
SCOTT CAHIL
