The Pei Cobb Freed/Hart Howerton softball team split its final two games of the regular season to finish in fifth place, good for their fourth-consecutive playoff appearance after years of troubled seasons that ended prematurely. They will face FxFowle in a best-of-three quarterfinal series — a formidable opponent who didn't see the full force of a shorthanded PCF/HH team when they met earlier this season. FxFowle won that game 10-3 and was also the team that bounced The Black and Red from the playoffs in the 2008 semifinals. FxFowle went on to lose to eventual back-to-back champions Gensler in the finals.
On August 10, PCF/HH won a very hard-fought 5-4 victory oer The Philips Group to bounce them from playoff contention. TPG took an early 2-0 lead on a 2-run home run, but PCF/HH knotted the game up in the second on a 2 RBI triple by Carlos Sagastume, who drove in Juan Monahan and Yusuke Okabayashi. Both teams exchanged a pair of runs again in the sixth, with J. Strong and Monahan coming across the plate. Entering the bottom of the seventh, small ball won the day as Carl Pearson singled to get on and advanced to second on a base hit by Mark Maljanian. Eron Ashley played the part of the willing sacrificial lamb, as he intentionally flew out to center field to advance Pearson to third. Strong singled Pearson in for the winning run.
Things weren't as pleasant for The Black and Red on August 17, their final regular-season game against Gensler. In all, the team was held to 5 hits as Pearson and Monahan scored the lone runs in a 13-2 mercy rout. Monahan and Sagastume were credited with the runs batted in.
The loss to Gensler should serve as a slice of humble pie for the team, as they prepare for what will undoubtedly be a very tough road in the playoffs. After the quarterfinal series against FxFowle, the winner will play first-place HMA/RAMSA, a 9-1 team that outscored their opponents 110-29 on the year. The winner of the other S.L.A.M. quarterfinal will face second-seed Gensler.
Today's playoff series opener is a double-header, meaning one team could pack it up for good in 2009 should they fail to perform. Game 1 begins at 5:30 p.m. on Central Park's Great Lawn, Field 3. Game 2 starts immediately after Game 1, with a 7 p.m. permit time.
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