Wayne Nicholsen and Craig Miller took the mound for the Arachnids and Yankees respectively in the best of 3 series that was knotted at one game each last night at A Diamond. The Yankees took the opener 8-6 while the Spiders found a way to gut out a win in the second game 4-3. 5 days of rest since the last game meant there was plenty of gas in the tanks. Hot, hot, hot, and sweaty evening. Yankees up first and leadoff hitter Tony Nardacci lays into a Nicholsen fastball driving it over the head of John Reel in right for a clean triple. Nardacci scores the first run of the game on a hard to handle grounder to the right side by Kevin Carpenter , Carpenter out 3-6 in a complicated play. Peter Geannelis singles sharply to left with one out and Jim McQuade comes in as a courtesy runner for Geannelis. Off goes McQuade on the first pitch and is gunned down by Spiders catcher Darrel Duncan. Nicholsen strikes out Tim Brown swinging to end the inning, 1-0 visitors.

Bottom of the first the home team sends 4 batters to the plate, get a single by Kenny Wellington, but no runs as the inning ends with a 5-4-3 double play.

Top of 2nd Yankees go down 1-2-3 . Bottom of 2nd Jimmy Wing walks, Joe Parker singles, Mike Ruslander out 5-3, Tom King singles scoring Wing, Reel singles scoring Parker, Stefan Koutsakis is hit by a pitch. Bases loaded 1 out. Up comes Wellington who hit a true .631 during the regular season. Wellinto lines a scorcher to right that was caught and Reel was caught a little too far off 2nd by an excellent throw from the Yankees right fielder. Inning over, Arachnids up 2-1

Top of the 3rd Bob Holmes flies to left, McQuade walks, Nardacci grounds to 1st, and Carpenter is out 4-3. Bottom of the 3rd Duncan singles and steals 2nd. Scorsone, who pulled a groin muscle last game hits a shot over the left fielders head plating Duncan. Wing walks. Hes a walking Wing. Parker singles. Ruslander singles driving home Wellington who was running for Scorsone. Kings singles again plating Parker. Reel reaches on an E-6. Bases loaded 1 out. Koutsakis sends a dying quail into left which the left fielder made a great catch of on his knees. Ruslander on third was sent home on the catch as the throw was made from the fielders knees to 3rd who relayed wide home but Ruslander pulled a hammy bad and went down 10 feet in front of the playe and couldnt make the crawl to the plate before the tag. Inning over Spiders now up 5-1 after 3 full.

Although the Yankees loaded the bases in the 4th and 5the on 4 hits, an intentional walk, and an error, they came away with nothing as Nicholsen and the Arachnids stiffened their collective spines and kept the plate off limits. Although the Spiders loaded the bases again in the 4th and had Koutsakis in scoring position in the 5th, no runs were added against a determined but frustrated Yankees team.

At the end of 5 Nicholsen said he was toast but would see what he could do to start the top of the 6th. Ron Smaka hits Nicholsens 2nd pitch for a vicious line drive to Scorsone at short for the first out. 2 pitches later Paul Post is out 1-3 and 5 more pitches Steve Van Gelder also grounds out 1-3 to end the inning on 9 pitches. John Weber on in relief of Miller in the bottom of the 6th. Duncan walks and again steals 2nd. Hes quite the thief. Scorsone out 6-3. No advance by Duncan. Wings reaches on a line drive single to left sending Duncan to 3rd with one out. Parker lofts one to medium right and Duncan scores on the sac fly. Nicholsen out on a hard grounder 1-3. Spiders up 6-1 after 6 full. Its not done.

Nicholsen, the grizzled and weary warrior wants to finish the game on the mound and climbs the hill which suddenly seems more like a steep mountain. Bob Holmes leads off and walks on 4 pitches. Thats it. Theres only so much 71 year old legs can do on a hot night over the course of 2+ hours in extreme competition and emotion. Nicholsen goes to second on rubber legs, Wing moves behind the plate, and Duncan, who had caught all game, accepts the burden on the mound. 2nd batter McQuade is hit by a pitch. Runners at 1st and 2nd, no outs. Tom Maney nails a 1-1 line drive to Scorsone leaning to his left for the first out and underhands to Nicholsen at the bag to double up Holmes. 2 outs. McQuade steals 2nd. Weber walks. Nardacci singles home McQuade making it 6-2 with runners on 1st and 2nd , two outs and Kevin Carpenter up. After 6 pitches, 2 balls, 2 strikes, 2 fouls, the ball is popped way up to Scorsone at short who had it all the way under pressure. The catch is made and the 62s have a new champion with the Arachnids 6-2 victory over a very tough and talented Yankees team. Nicholsen earns both wins on the mound for the Arachnids pitching 13 of 14 innings over the final 2 games. The Arachnids conclude the 2023 season with an overall record of 17-2 while the Yankees finish at 15-4. All losses of both teams came from one another. Over the duration of the season the Spiders scored 157 runs and gave up 67 while the Yankees scored 156 runs and surrendered 72.

It was an emotional and bittersweet win for the Arachnids. As some of you may remember, we were heartbroken when we lost our teammate John Newman to pancreatic cancer in July. He was our ace and always our source of grace and reason under pressure. Last night was exactly 3 months to the day when John last took the field for us on June 5 at Watervliet. He had just learned that he had something not good show up on a scan. He quietly told me after the game that he knew it might be very bad but he wanted to be with the team one more time. He told me to let the guys know how much he loved knowing and playing with them if he didnt make it back. It happened so fast and he was gone in early July. We dedicated our season to John and he was our honorary captain. Wayne said through tears at games end that John was with us throughout the evening. He could feel it.

The Arachnids had 12 hits with King, Parker, and Duncan collecting 2 each. The Yankees had 8 hits with Nardacci going 3-4 and Geanellis 2-2. The Yankees took the loss with dignity and class. We salute them !

Missing from the picture are Captain John Newman, Ed Draves and Lee Madsen. Bottom left to right Don Wixon, Kenny Wellington, Wayne Nicholsen, Jimmy Wing, Darrell Duncan, Top Row left to right Mike Ruslander, Stefan Koutsakis, Jim Edelman, Jihn Reel, Joe Parker, Tom King, and TJ Scorsone



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