The View From The Cheap Seats by Ed Merritt

Dave Belanger and Crew Sail to Victory

Under what has to be some of the toughest weather conditions any softball player (or, for that matter, spectator) has to face - stiff winds and biting cold - the Raynham Red Sox, coming into the playoffs with a 7-8 record, took two games from Easton's Forever Young at Oliver Ames High School softball field to claim the Sunday Morning Softball League Championship for 2008.

Neil Mohan's batsmen went 15-0 this year, but couldn't stop the onslaught of long balls flying over the fence at OA. Undoubtedly helped by the gusty winds, the two games began to resemble a home run derby. I hope someone was keeping the stats, because I lost count of the homers, but I personally saw more than eight balls disappear into the swamplands behind the field. One homer, blasted by a Forever Young player over the right field fence, landed on the new soccer field. With the number of new balls in the possesion of the umpire available for play dwindling, a young soccer player retrieved the valuable leather orb and returned it to its rightful place.

I'd be remiss to not give Forever Young their due. The games were by no means blowouts. The defensive play of FY was right there, but the Sox bats were overpowering.

So here it is - my video tribute to all the teams of the Sunday Morning Softball League. Video of the championship game may be on here late this week.