2010 Colonie Elks

Team Manager:

   Ed Pfaff

Coaches:

   Garry Hearst

   Ken Szesnat

   Dave Grandeau

Team Mom:

   JoAnn Pfaff

Players:

  Ben Cerone
  Kyle Lambert
  Ryan Lambert
  Jason Grandeau
  Carson Hearst
  Will McCann
  Robert Mengel
  Jared Neet
  Nicholas Pfaff
  Taylor Pfaff
  TJ Szesnat
  Ken Szesnat

5/21: We're two-thirds done!  Time to catch up!

When we last left off we had finished week 2 and Colonie Elks were 3-1.  A lot has happened since then.  Eight games played, seven wins and Elks have put themselves in sole possession of first place in the league.  Let's do some quick recaps to catch up.

 4/28 vs Vellano Brothers:

Elks dug themselves an early 4-0 hole but all that changed when they came up in bottom 4 and exploded for 10 runs. Carson singled Taylor singled Kenny walked to load the bases for Kyle who ripped a 2 rbi single. Elks then loaded the bases and TJ hit a 2 RBI double. Will added another run with an RBI groundout to make it 10-4.
VB tacked on a late run to make it 10-5 on a long double by [Opposing Player].

Hightlights:
Carson single
Taylor single
Kyle single 2 RBI's
Jason single
TJ double 2 RBI's

 5/1 vs JT Garry:

Elks bats were hot this Saturday.  Ryan doubled and scored. Carson singled and came home on a sac fly by Kenny Szesnat (the Kenny Szesnat who can pitch - not to be confused with the other one). In the second TJ doubled followed by three walks and then Ryan had an RBU single.  Carson doubled with 2 RBIs and Taylor had an RBI single of his own.  In the sixth Kenny singled, Carson doubled and drove in a run.  Ben and Jason both added RDI singles.

Highlights:

Carson started went 2 innings 1 run 1 k
TJ finished with 4 innings no runs 4 ks and 0 walks
Ryan single and a double 1 rbi 2 runs scored
Carson 2 singles 2 doubles 3 rbi's 3 runs scored
Taylor 2 singles 1 rbi run scored
Kenny single rbi and run scored
Ben 2 singles rbi run scored
Jason 2 singles 2 rbis
Will single and double
TJ double run scored
Jared single run scored

 5/5 vs Daily Gazette:

A rematch of the first game of the season:
The game was scoreless through two when Carson tripled and came home on a single by Taylor.  The Will ripped a triple of his own to drive in two more and make the score 3-0 at the end of 3.
Gazette came back with 1 in the top of the 4th when [Opposing Player] tripled to drive in [Opposing Player] giving Gazette their only run of the night.  Elks answered with 4 more of their own.
TJ walked, Ryan got on base and Carson singled.  Then with bases loaded Kenny hit a 2 run single.  Will singled  and Jason had an rbi single to make the score 7-1 at the end of 4.
In the bottom of the 5th TJ singled, Ryan doubled, Carson singled to drive in one and Taylor singled to knock in two more leading to the 10 - 1 final.

Hightlights:
Ryan started and went 4 innings with 5 k's, 1 walk, 1 run and the win
Carson finsihed up last 2 2 k's no walks.
Ryan double 2 runs scored
Carson 3 singles and a triple 3 runs 1 rbi
Taylor 2 singles 1 run 3 rbi's
Kenny single 2 runs 2 rbis
Will single and a triple 2 rbis
Jason single and rbi
TJ single 2 runs

 5/8 vs 99 Restaurant:

Again Elks started slow and the game was scoreless throught 2.   In the top of the 3rd Ryan singled, Carson singled, taylor walked and Kenny singled driving in 2.  Will walked and then TJ singled home arun to make it 4 - 0 after 3.
In the top of the 5th  TJ  homered to make it 5-0 and that's the way it remained.

Hightlights:

Kenny started went 3 3k's no walks 0 runs and win.
TJ finished final 3 4 k's no walks 0 runs.
Ryan single and a double run scored
Carson 2 singles run scored
Kenny single 2 rbis
Will single run scored
TJ single and HR
Jason single

 5/14 vs EHC:

A huge game and the first of four games in four days that would tell a lot about how the season would go in CLL.  First up was EHC who went into the night in second place only one game back of Elks.

Elks put up 2 in the first when Ryan scored on Carson's rbi single.  Kenny then hit into a FC to score Carson making it 2-0.  In the top of the second Ram and Jared walked and then Kyle drove in RAM on an RBI single to left. Carson hit a 2 RBI double and Taylor followed with an RBI single.
EHC was disciplined at the plate and came back with 4 in the bottom of the 2nd to make it 6 - 4.
In the top of the 3rd Elks put up 3 more when Jared walked, Ryan hit an RBI double to left-center and Carson hit an RBI double of his own.  Taylor then drove Carson in with a groundout.
EHC was tought and answered with 3 of their own to make it 9 - 7 at the end of 3.  After that however it was all Elks.
In the top of the 4th TJ hit a lead off HR (his 3rd of the season) and then Nick and Ryan walked before  Carson and Taylor came through with back to back RBI singles for a four spot and the final score 13 - 7.

Highlights:

Kenny pitched 1 and 1/3 innings with 2k's
TJ finished up 2 innings no walks no runs.
Ryan double 3 runs and an RBI.
Carson had a huge game with 2 singles, 2 doubles, 4 runs and 4 RBIs!

Taylor had 2 singles, a double and 3 RBIs

Kenny double and an rbi
TJ home run
Jared 2 runs scored
Kyle single, run scored and an RBI

 5/15 vs  VFW

Another game against an opponent right in the rear-view mirror in the standings.  Except this time the team was looking to avenge it's only loss of the season.  As in the first game defensive miscues were the main culprit as Elks fell behind 3 - 0.   Then in the top of the 3rd Carson got on on a FC and came all the way round to score as VFW made a few mistakes of their own.  However VFW quickly put that behind them and got 2 runs right back in the bottom of the frame to go up 5-1.  It stayed that way until the top of the sixth and things looked grim as Elks came up for their last at bat in regulation.  However Elks showed some mental toughness and took advantage of a few breaks VFW gave them in the inning.  It started with three straight singles by Carson, Kenny and Taylor.   Then Nick and they all came around to score to tie the game 5 -5. 

Jason came in relief and went 3 up 3 down to send us in to extra innings.
In the top of the 7th Carson singled and got to thrid and then Taylor hit a sac fly to deep center to score what would become the winning run. Jason went back out to close it out another 3 up and 3 down ending with a fly out to Kyle in left who then threw to Jared at second to double the VFW base runner who went from first on the crack of the bat.  A great come from behind victory for Elks!

Hightlights:

Carson started and went 5 innings 5 k's 2 walks
Jason closed with 2 innings no walks no runs and the Win
Carson 2 singles and 2 runs scored
Taylor single run and rbi
Kenny single run scored

 5/16 vs J&M Schwarz

Third game in 3 days and unfortunately the Elks bats took the day off.  JMS jumped out to a 2 nothing lead going into the bottom of the fourth when Elks were able to scrape out 1 run.
2 to 1 going into the bottom of the 5th when Ryan tripled and came home on an errant throw to tie the score and then Carson hit his first HR of the season, a 2 run blast in straight away center field, to give us a 3 to 2 lead.  JMS loaded the bases with one out when Kenny came in to try and close it out and got the second out but Kris Scarano (who pitched a great game as well) got an 2 RBI single to give JMS the go-ahead run and the held on to win to hand Elks only their second loss of the season.

 5/17 vs Vellano Brothers:

The last of Elks 4 in 4 on a Monday night.  The bats returned and Elks played a solid game in all phases to post a 12-4 victory (run number 12 was the 100th run scored by Elks this season against only 43 allowed!).

Twelve games down and only six remaining in the regular season and as of today Elks hold a 1 1/2 game lead over EHC.  The competition will become more intense and the season winds down and teams fight for spots in the playoffs.  It should be an exciting final few weeks of baseball!

Note:  More pictures from Jo Ann will be posted soon.  Also, the recaps and stats in this blog were done all from memory and completely without any assistance from Ken Szesnat.

Week 2 (4/19 - 4/25): It's a beautiful week for a ballgame... Let's play three!

After a great opening win the season really began for Colonie Elks with three games in the second week of play.  First up, on Wednesday, was a strong EHC team.  Elks scored a first inning run when Carson doubled and Taylor knocked him in on the next at bat but after 2 innings it was EHC who was ahead 6-1.  The team kept fighting and finally in the 4th took advantage of some EHC walks and a triple by Taylor to clear the bases and tie the score 6-6.  The next inning Elks pushed across what ended up being the winning run for a great 7-6 come from behind victory.  Taylor threw the first 1 1/3 and had 2 Ks.  Kenny then came in and kept EHC in check with 3 1/3 strong innings and 3 Ks.  Finally Ryan came in for the last 1 1/3 with 1 K to end it and pick up his second win.

Carson had a double and run scored. Taylor was 2 for 3 with a single, a triple and 4 RBIs.  And congratulations to Nick Pfaff who was 1 for 1 with his first hit in majors!


Friday was a battle of the final two undefeated teams - Elks vs. VFW.  VFW jumped out to a 2-0 lead by taking advantage of a couple of Elks miscues in the field.  The team came right back in the bottom of the first though against All Star Kyle Ruth on the strength of the Carson/Taylor run producing duo when Carson singled and Taylor again knocked him in.  VFW went ahead again in the 4th with 2 runs but Elks fought back with a run of their won in the bottom of the frame with a run after TJ singled and Carson drove him in.  Unfortunately that was the way it stayed VFW was the least undefeated team standing with a hard-fought 4-3 win.

Taylor had single and a double.  Carson, Will, Ben, Kenny and TJ all had singles.  Congratulations to Kyle who had his first hit of the year off Kyle Ruth!  Carson threw 4 innings very strong innings with 7 Ks and deserved a better outcome for such a great effort.  Ryan finished with 3 Ks over 2 no hit innings.  Even though is was a loss the Elks showed the are in every game and fight to the end against any team in the league.


The team was back at it the next day on a beautiful Saturday afternoon against winless J&M Schwarz.  Schwarz played tough for two innnings and the contest was scoreless until Elks scored 2 in the top of the 3rd when Kyle singled, Carson doubled and Taylor continued to be an RBI machine with a single.  Elks added 5 in the 5th and 5 more in the 6th (which included the first Elks HR of the season - Congratulations TJ!!) to make the final 12-0.

Lots of offensive stars in this game.  Ryan had 2 doubles and a triple, Carson a double, Taylor had 2 singles and a double with 2 RBIs.  Kenny had 2 doubles and a single with 2 RBIs.  Jason had single and and RBI.  Will had 2 RBIs.  Kyle was 3 for 4.  TJ double and a HR with 3 RBI.

In addition to his HR shot over the right centerfield fence TJ was a star on the mound also throwing masterful complete game shutout with 5 Ks and, more importantly, no walks!  Great game TJ!!

It's not empty hype to say that 2010 is a very exciting season for Colonie Elks!  The team enters the season with seven veteran players: Ben Cerone, Will McCann, TJ Szesnat, Carson Hearst - who was helped lead Elks coach Garry Hearst's 2009 11 year old all-star team to a District championship and the final game of the Section championship, and a trio of 10 year old all-stars from last season: Taylor Pfaff, Jared Neet and Kenny Szesnat.  To complete an already strong roster Coach Pfaff had an outstanding draft, selecting 5 new players all of whom are award winners and/or all-stars.  The new players are: 2009 International division Outstanding 11 year old and runner-up for the International Division home run crown, Robert "Ram" Mengel, 2009 International division Outstanding 10 year old and Outstanding Pitcher Ryan Lambert - who also picked up a postseason award for throwing a perfect game last season. 2009 International Division Most Valuable Player Jason Grandeau.  Ryan and Jason were also key players on the 2009 District 13 International Division Champion team that was managed by new Elks coach Dave Grandeau.  Rounding out the team are the youngest Elks - two players who are were both all-stars and helped bring Colonie LL two more District 13 Championships.  Kyle Lambert was a member of the 2009 District 13 Champion 9 year old all-star team and Nick Pfaff was on the Champion 8 year old all-star team.  Elks supporter or not, you have to admit that is a lot of awards and honors for one draft class.

Already, the shrewd drafting and hard work at practice has paid off.  The 2010 Elks began their season with an opening game win against powerhouse Daily Gazette.  Gazette was the preseason pick by many to roll to a league championship this year on the strength of four 2009 11 year old all-star players from Coach Hearst's District championship team.  The coaching staff emphasized the importance being focused and playing hard in the opener and the Elks showed up to play.  Hits by Will McCann, Kenny Szesnat, Jared Neet, Carson Hearst (3B and 2 RBIs) and Ryan Lambert (4 for 4, 2 2B) helped get Elks out to a quick 7-1 lead.  Strong pitching and great fielding did the rest.  Taylor started in the hill and pitched 1 1/3 strong innings (2Ks) before having to go behind the plate.  Ryan (7Ks) took the ball and kept Gazette in check until the bottom of the 6th when they mounted a 3 run rally.  Carson came in and shut the door with a strike out to end the game and give Elks a 1-0 start.  It was a great night for a baseball game and a great game by the Elks!