Merrimack Valley Senior Softball Association

Citywide Designs took the 1st two games of the best-of-five series of the MVSSA finals today, 8-6 and 15-11. In a low-scoring game 1, the score was 5-5 after 7 innings. Cornerstone Services scored 1 run in the top of the 8th to go up 6-5, setting up an exciting finish to game 1. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and 2 out, Mike Bergeron hit a 3 run HR to centerfield to win it for Citywide. Pat Collins had 3 hits for Citywide, including a double and a triple, and Bergeron, Brian McCormack, Chris Souza, and Mike Perrone all had 2 hits. On the Cornerstone side, there were plenty of missed opportunities to score runs. Cornerstone had 14 baserunners, but could only plate 6 of them. Hitting into two double plays didn't help. The top hitting contributors for Cornerstone were Pat Lavanga, who went 3-3 (single, double, triple), and Denis Higgins, with 2 RBI.

In game 2, Citywide moved one step closer to the championship with a 15-11 win. Cornerstone took a 8-5 lead after 4 innings, but Citywide put up 5 runs in the top of the 5th, powered by doubles from Brian McCormack, Pat Collins, and Mike Simard. Citywide scored 2 more runs in the 6th on a opposite field single by septuagenarian Jack Gilhooly, then 3 more in the 7th on a Mike Simard single and a sac fly by Chris Souza. Left-fielder Mike Perrone made an amazing catch on a long fly ball up against the fence to end the game. Cornerstone hit better this game, but squandered a late inning lead. Dan Downs was 4-4 with 3 RBI, Pat Lavanga was 2-4 with 2 RBI, and Mike Morgan was 2-3 with 2 RBI.

The series will continue next Sunday at 9 AM on Field 1.