Saint's Take SNECAA's First Playoff Championship!

“Playoff Week” was full of excitement and tension that built on Saturday and climaxed on Monday night with a 25-17 victory by the Armenian Saints over Praise Tabernacle at Tucker Field in Cumberland.

The stage was set by two very tight games that concluded play on Saturday, when the Saints defeated Praise Tab 9-7, followed by a walk off 13-12 victory by North Providence over Faith Tabernacle in Saturday's final game.

So on Monday night, North Providence met Praise Tab in game 1 for the right to play the Saints in the finals. Praise Tab held a 13-12 lead going into a tension packed seventh inning, in which neither team scored... perhaps the only scoreless inning of the high scoring tournament... Praise Tab prevailed by that 13-12 score with the final out coming on a line drive caught by their second baseman with two runners on base.

This set the stage for the final, a grueling back and forth slug fest marathon that lasted over two hours (with a 1-1 count!). The Saints powered ahead with a 10 run third inning, but the way the weekend had gone, even a 5-10 run lead didn't put the game out of reach. I think most fans, and probably many players, were glad that a third game wasn't necessary, as it would have begun after 10:00 PM, and could have easily lasted until midnight.

Hats off to the Saints for a perfect 4-0 playoff record, and all the participants (including our faithful fans!) in making our inaugural playoffs a week to remember!

Against All Hope Wins Sportsmanship Award!

We are pleased to announce that our first annual Sportsmanship award will go to the team representing Against All Hope. The award will be given on Friday night at Tucker Field in Cumberland at appoximately 7:30 PM (between the first two games). As you probably know the Sportsmanship Award is given to the team that best exemplifies sportsmanship and a Christ-like attitude on the field, and as such, is considered SNECAA's highest award.

Voting as held during the final week of the season. A team named 1st on each player's ballot received three votes, with two votes for 2nd, and one vote for 3rd. Based on this formula, Against All Hope earned its first place finish with an incredible 181 votes. On Friday night, we will also honor Getsemani Church, which received a very competitive 124 votes, and third place finisher Faith Tabernacle, which had 66 votes.

Please join us on Friday to honor Against All Hope, which has truly set an example for all of us to follow in future seasons.

Playoff Tip: Bring Your Lawn Chairs!

We would like to remind everyone who plans to attend the playoff games this weekend to bring lawn chairs with them, as seating is limited at Tucker Field.

... The Way the Game Should be Played

As we gathered to pray at the beginning of our playoff game vs. Against All Hope, our umpire asked if he could say a few words. He said it had been a pleasure for him to have worked our league on Monday nights, and "you guys play the game the way it should be played."

We lost a tough one tonight, 16-15 to Against All Hope, but that comment made my season... I took it as confirmation from the Lord that our work is beginning to bear fruit. Congratulations and thanks to all of you unsung heroes who played in that umpire's games and contributed to his feeling that this league gets it right.