Topic: Front Page
AUGUST 9 - Less than a month ago, their record stood at 12-19 and the Massapequa Hitmen were in deep trouble. Mired in sixth place in the NYLISL, Owner/GM Jason Boland was on the brink of wholesale changes, a concession that the 2007 edition of this proud franchise simply could not compete with the big boys.
Today, after winning five out of six games against the West Side Stories, the Hitmen are 35-27 and very much alive in the playoff picture, just one game out of first place. It took an inexplicable 18-3 run in late July and early August to put Massapequa right back into the thick of things.
It started quietly enough - the Hitmen took four of five games from the Wellwood Scribes on July 17. Four days later, Massapequa went 4-1 again, this time against the expansion Gramercy Riffs. Suddenly, the Hitmen were just one game under .500 and, despite a public insistence that he was looking more at 2008, Boland's team were beginning to look very dangerous. A four-game sweep of the Oswego Lakers was then followed by a five-game shellacking of St. Jack's Demons on August 3 that left the Hitmen at 28-22 and Demons Owner/GM Jack Flynn reaching for the Xanax.
Jim Thome was the biggest contributor during the Demons series, setting an NYLISL record with six home runs in the first two games of the series. Incredibly, all six homeruns were hit on Thome's card - three straight rolls of 1-7 (HR 1-14, DO 15-20) in the first game and three straight rolls of 1-6 (HOMERUN) in the second game.
On August 5, the Hitmen won their first two games against the New Jersey Bandits and moved a half-game out of first place. Finally, however, the laws of probability briefly began to tilt away from the Hitmen and New Jersey took the final four games of the series. Still, the Hitmen bounced back nicely by hammering the Stories in five out of six games and moved right back into the playoff picture, something that was seemingly out of question after a 1-5 evening at the 2007 All-Star game classic in mid-July.
Demons Trade Schmidt After Acquiring Weaver: In an effort to pare down the number of starters on the 40-man roster, St. Jack's Demons traded Jason Schmidt to the Gramercy Riffs today in exchange for outfielder Jason Repko. Schmidt (33/24) will step into the Riffs' rotation as the #4 starter. He is signed for an additional two years, through 2009, but will not have an NYLISL card next season because of an arm injury. Repko (40/37) is a pending free agent and will not be eligible to play until the Demons reach the trade deadline. He will certainly be released in the off-season
The trade comes on the heels of an earlier deal with the Massapequa Hitmen that brought Jered Weaver and Trever Miller to the Demons in exchange for Mark Buerhle and Rafael Soriano. Weaver (24/9) will replace franchise icon Curt Schilling in the rotation and Miller (27/18) adds some flexibility to the St.Jack's bullpen. Buerhle (23/38) should fit nicely in the 2008 Hitmen rotation, behind Jake Peavy and Ben Sheets. Soriano (30/13), despite problems with the home run ball (10 HRs in 51 IP), will likely be the set-up man for Trevor Hoffman next season.
