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VI Softball Wins 1st League title!!! Bababooey MVP!!!
The Village Iditos were founded back in 2000 when they were just an unknown group of guys that have known each other since grade school. In 2000 they formed the first ever basketball team and joined the LIFFL (flag football) and struggled early on. Since then, the Idiots flag football team has made a name for themselves making the playoffs almost every season and made a few championship appearances but failed to come away with a title. The VI basketball team is currently a powerhouse in the Town of Hempstead league and even expanded into the NYC Urban Pro league. The NYC team, in their 6th season together, won their first title this past summer. The Idiots are three-time champions in the Town of Hempstead league and finished in 2nd place this past summer (second runner-up finish) in their 10th season together. Then in 2007, the Idiots formed their first softball team and it wasn’t easy in the beginning. With little dedication from half the roster, a VI Summer Jam scheduled in the middle of season, and some inexperience on the diamond, the Idiots finished a dismal 4-12. The Village Idiots softball organization was the laughing stock of the VI franchise, but time has changed and its the softball squad taking over the headlines.
Wednesday night the Village Idiots softball team won their first ever league title by winning a best of three series over the #1 seed JBop in the Long Beach Recreation summer league. This past spring the Idiots also won their first tournament title making the 2010 softball season a GREAT SUCCESS and will go down as one of the best VI years to date.
On a perfect night for softball, the #2 seeded Idiots wasted little time showing that they belonged in the finals. In the top of the 1st inning the VI jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Tom Casal’s three-run homer and Matt Shiels’ solo shot highlighted the big inning for the Idiots. JBop got two runs in the bottom half to keep it close but after a scoreless second inning, the VI blew open the game in the third by rallying to score seven runs to take a 12-2 lead. Five different Idiots drove in a run in the inning, including manager/catcher/motivational speaker Pete Allocco’s two-run homer over the rightfield fence. The VI never looked back and went on to win game one 16-9. Pitcher Roy “Bababooey” Vaccaro was sharp all game and VI veteran Danny Hansen went 4 for 4 (including an infield single) in the victory.
After stealing game one, the Iditos were the home team for game two and had momentum on their side. All that momentum was taken away after JBop came out fired up scoring 11 runs in the first two innings to lead 11-2 after two. Joe Wesselhoft’s three-run homerun and Shiels’ RBI single cut the defecit to 11-6 after three innings. Each team traded 3 runs in the fourth inning and after scoring four more runs in the 6th inning, JBop cruised to a 18-10 win forcing the all decisive game 3.
Knowing they needed to come out of the gates fast, the Idiots did just that in game 3. The VI bats were hot and they reeled off five runs in the first inning, four in the second, and added one more in the third to go up 10-0 after the 3rd inning. After Wesselhoft drove in leadoff batter Tom Stanley to go up 1-0, Steve Esposito crushed a grand-slam in the first inning. Vaccaro Jr. also joined the homerun party after finally switching bats, Roy smoked a ball to left-center for a solo shot in the 3rd. Vaccaro was also red hot on the mound, limiting his mistakes and the defense behind him was very solid. Even though the bats cooled off for the VI, Vaccaro only gave up three runs through seven innings and the Idiots went on to win game three 10-3. Esposito drove in five runs to lead the Idiots and Stanley went 4 for 4 with two runs scored in the win. Vaccaro was named by his teammates as World Series MVP and the post-game celebration went on to early Thursday morning!!!
Congratulations to all the Idiots for their historic 2010 season and the organization will like to thank the special fans that came to support the VI throughout the season!
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