SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH -- HOBOKEN, NJ -- Playoff softball was in the air at Mama Johnson Field as two heavyweights took the field Sunday night for the latest chapter in their storied rivalry.

McSwiggans got off to an early 1-0 lead in the top half of the first after Rob Lennon advanced Corey Brown to third on a single and Brown alertly took home on the lazy throw in from the outfield. After a scoreless second inning, the McSwiggans bats fired back up in the 3rd.  They tacked on an additional 2 runs courtesy of Rob Lennon yet again. Their offense stayed hot in the next 2 innings, putting up 1 run in both the 4th and the 5th. The 4th inning run came courtesy of a Vinny Menechino moonshot solo homerun, while the 5th inning run was delivered by a sac fly off the bat of team captain Corey Brown.

Speaking of Mr. Brown, he was on the hill for McSwiggans and was spinning a gem through 4 innings. McSwiggans held a 5-0 lead as they trotted onto the field for the bottom of the 5th. Unfortunately for them, this is precisely where the wheels would begin to come off. Tony Muccioli led off the 5th for Louise & Jerry’s and promptly blasted a solo shot to cut the deficit to 5-1. Two walks issued by Brown and a single by Monique Berisha would set the stage for Chris “Cutty” Lyons, who strolled to the plate with the bases juiced and one out. Cutty didn’t waste much time as he jumped on the first pitch and launched a grand slam toward the apartment buildings in left. Brown was able to get out of a jam after the Cutty dinger, but the damage had already been down as Louise & Jerry’s knotted it up at 5 apiece.

Louise & Jerry’s added another 2 runs to their total in the Bottom of the 6th courtesy of RBI singles by the usual suspects, Tony Muccioli and Cutty Lyons.The offense kept rolling through the 7th for Louise & Jerry’s, as they put up 2 runs yet again in this frame. This time, it was Rob Delfino who delivered the hammer with a 2 run bomb.

Heading into the Top of the 8th McSwiggans trailed 9-5 and desperately needed to find their offense. Rob Lennon led off the Top of the 8th with a double and like clockwork, power hitting Vinny Menechino nailed his 2nd homerun of the game to drive him in.  McSwiggans would add one more run before the inning concluded to cut the Louise & Jerry’s lead to just 1 run.

Randy Williams did his job in the Bottom of the 8th and held Louise & Jerry’s scoreless, providing McSwiggans with one last chance in the Top of the 9th. However, that is exactly where the McSwiggans comeback would fall short, as Rob Delfino slammed the door and mowed down McSwiggans 1-2-3 in the Top of the 9th.