Leo's Champions 2006 - Front row l-r:Ellen Salata, second row:Gerard Stigliano, Captain Scott Goodnough, Mike Derle, Dan Donnelly, third row:Frank Kiernan, Bobby Fiorvanti, Frank Diamond, Pete Kelly, Don Young, Mark Hyer top row: Ed Muller, Jerry Salata, Joe Moody, Ken Moody October 15, 2006 a beautiful Sunday in the Village of Garden City; the boys of summer had to win one more game to be crowned 35 and over Softball Champions. Leo's defeated a very strong contender, the Sopranos, for the championship in yet another spectacular softball duel as they did last year to win the championship in a slug fest 31-27. This year Leo's won another exciting championship game with a come from behind win 13-12 in extra innings, 9 in total.

No other team in the history of Garden City softball has gone to this many Octobers in succession having won 15 out of 19 Championships. Leo's has become the best and biggest ticket in softball, the greatest softball show in terms of expectation, the money spent and the talent on the field with the average age of most players being 50+, some 10 years older then most teams in the league.

During the opening ceremonies the coin toss took priority with team Captain Scott Goodnough and Jerry Salata calling heads on the winning toss. This home field advantage would come back to haunt the Sopranos in the extra innings. Dan Donnelly who was the starting pitcher of Leo's kept the powerful bats of the Sopranos in check with superior pitching especially in the extra innings. Outstanding plays came from possibly the best outfield in the league: rookie Pete Kelly, Gerard Stigliano, Joe Moody and Frank Diamond.

From the very first pitch of the game the Sopranos came out hitting with a triple and ended the first inning with 4 runs. The Sopranos scored another 3 runs in the second inning and at the end of the second inning it was 7-0 Sopranos. It would seem that the Sopranos were on there way to capturing their first championship especially with the new softball the league was now using. But the gutsy and talented play of Leo's would not allow this to happen.

Finally after 7 runs in just 2 innings Leo's holds the Sopranos in the top of the third. Now it was Leo's turn to score some runs with great hitting by Joe Moody and Dan Donnelly and a solo home run by Pete Kelly for a total of 3 runs. So at the end of three innings Leo's now trails by 4 runs.

With the Sopranos batting in the top of the fourth, they continue their hitting clinic with one more run making it 7-3 Sopranos. Leo's is now coming to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning with some great hitting by Ken Moody, Mike Derle, Bobby Fiorvanti and Mark Hyer who was batting DH giving Leo's 3 more runs. At the bottom of the fourth inning it was now 7-6 Sopranos.

Leo's defense now holds the Sopranos in the top of the fifth with some great defensive plays from infielders Bobby Fiorvanti, rookie Ken Moody, Don Young, Frank Kiernan and Mike Derle. It was the play of Frank Diamond which seemed to change the momentum for Leo's with a laser throw from right field to second base picking off the Sopranos runner trying to stretch a single into a double. This was a major turning point for Leo's. The Sopranos only scored 2 runs this inning making it a 9-6 game in the top of the fifth inning.

The explosive offense of Leo's had been kept in check up until now by the Sopranos pitcher Rich Mattone and the defensive plays by Johnny Wein and Bobby Hand. It was only a matter of time before the big bats would come alive for Leo's. So in the bottom of the fifth Leo's scores one run which makes the score 9-7 the Sopranos.

The Sopranos offense goes right back to work in the top of the sixth with one more run making it a 3 run lead with some great hitting by Billy Sollin.

Now with Leo's backs up against the wall and still chasing the lead the mighty offensive blast of Leo's starts with what looks like a monster home run by Bobby Fiovantio but a spectacular catch by the Sopranos left fielder Mark DiPierro silenced the standing room only crowd. Leo's did not manage to score any runs in the sixth inning making the score still 10-7. So as we head into the top of the 7 th inning Leo's is still trailing by 3 runs. The powerful bats of the Sopranos went right back to work scoring 2 more runs as Leo's dodged yet another bullet when Scott Goodnough, who shared the catching position with Ed Muller made a diving play to prevent a wild pitch to home plate from going out of bounds and saved 2 runs.

This was the MVP play of the game!

Now as Leo's heads to the bottom of the 7 th inning with the score 12-7, down by 5 runs you could see some congratulatory smiles on the Sopranos team but Leo's would have nothing to do with this at all. With all the pride and history in being a Leo's player it has now come down to the final 3 outs in a regulation game. Leo's now steps into the batters box still trailing as they did the entire game but this time down by 5 runs. The Sopranos retired the first batter so now with only 2 outs to go and still down by 5 runs Leo's offensive machine starts to make what will be the biggest come back in a championship game in the final inning in the history of this league. With timely clutch hitting from this veteran team Leo's has now scored 4 runs with hitting from Scott Goodnough, Pete Kelly, Dan Donnelly and Don Young leaving the score 12-11 with only one out to go for the Sopranos to win their first championship. Leo's with a man on third base and two outs, the steady Mike Derle came to bat and with a full count, Derle hits an opposite field fly ball which looked like a routine out. As the left fielder went to grab the ball he collided with the left center fielder and dropped the ball tying the game 12-12. Leo's shut down the hard hitting Sopranos in order in the top of the 8 th inning with great fielding again. It was now Leo's turn to win the game in the bottom of the 8 th inning; leading off was Gerard Stigliano who lined a base hit into center field but again the Sopranos prevented Leo's from scoring leaving one man on base. As the teams headed into the 9 th inning you could see in both teams' eyes the nervous look of a possible big hit or home run to win it all. The Sopranos only got one man on base in the top of the ninth as Leo's played great defense again in the field, with the score still tied 12-12.

It was now Leo's turn to try again to make this one of the best come back championship games in the history of this league. With Leo's now coming to bat leading off was the very dangerous Pete Kelly, batterwho drives a single into center field. Next up is Dan Donnelly one of the league's better hitters and who has been unstoppable this year. Donnelly gets himself set in the batters box and waits for his pitch; he lines the ball to deep right center field. Pete Kelly who is the winning run takes off like a rocket from first base and as he rounds third base Jerry Salata the third base coach gives Kelly the green light which now forces a throw at home plate. As Kelly slides under the throw you could hear a pin drop and when the dust settled you could hear the umpire make the call that was heard around the Village of Garden City SAFE SAFE! Leo's takes the lead for the first time and wins the 2006 Softball Championship.

We would like to thank some of the Leo's players who could not play due to injuries; Billy Graham, Brian Tully and Tony Sena.

At this time all the players of Leo's would like to express our congratulations to all the Sopranos for a great season and a great championship final. Later that evening the Sopranos came to Leo's to express their appreciation.

We would also like to thank the Village of Garden City and our softball commissioner Sandy Young. We would also like to thank everyone at Leo's who takes great care of us all the time especially Jack. At this time we would all like to thank the Faulk family for supporting us all these years.

Thanks to the Leo's Softball Gods!

May everyone have a great winter and we see all of you next summer god willing.

Leo's always welcomes young new players!