Spring 2016 Semifinals Action!

19+ Division
The #1 seeded Flying Squirrels advanced to the finals with a 14-3 win over the Dodgers where they will face #3 seeded Outlaws, who defeated the Hurricanes 14-7 in their semifinal contest on Father's Day, June 19th.

30+ Division
The Nationals continued their winning ways with an 8-6 win over top-seeded Thunder South to earn a championship birth against the #2 seeded Padres, who won their semifinal game with the Lollygaggers, 17-16.

40+/30+B Division
The Generals defeated the Brewers 19-10 and will earn the honor of playing for the 40+ Division Championship against the Pirates, who defeated Gashouse Gang 14-12 in their semifinal matchup.

Flying Squirrels slug their way to the final round

By Curtis Nadeau

The Flying Squirrels won their semifinal match over the Dodgers for the right to face the Outlaws in the Division 19+ Spring Championship game.

The top seeded Flying Squirrels went up against the fourth seeded Dodgers in Sunday's Semi-Final, with a spot in the Championship game on the line. It was a slow start to the contest, as the Squirrels had to knock off a little rust from a week off.

After surrendering the opening run in the top of the 2nd inning, Flying Squirrels veteran outfielder Kevin B. blasted a solo shot over the left field fence to tie the game. The hit seemed to wake the the Squirrels offense, as they then scored four runs in a rule shortened bottom of the 3rd. Squirrels starting pitcher Dustin B. worked in and out of jams for the better part of his four frames, but managed to limit the damage, giving up three runs on 4 hits.

The Flying Squirrels held a 5-3 advantage in the bottom of the 4th when the aforementioned Kevin B. came up and smacked his second home run of the game, this time a three run shot, earning himself Legend of the Week honors. The Squirrels then added one more run in the 4th, and four more in the 6th to take a 13-3 advantage.

J. Britt, the Flying Squirrels' back-end pitcher, had a nice day on the mound, going four innings and only surrendering 3 hits while striking out 6 Dodgers hitters.

With the win, the Flying Squirrels achieve their second of three goals for the season by getting back into the championship game. Their re-match vs. the Outlaws for the 2016 19+ crown is sure be be can't-miss baseball.

Pirates advance to 40+ Championship game

by John Campbell

The Pirates beat the tough Gashouse Gang 14-12 Sunday morning at Veterans Park in Woodbridge. The Pirates were without their cleanup hitter and top lefty out of the bullpen but were able to stay close to the Gashouse Gang all game.

Despite those key missing players, the Pirates got a quick three runs in the top of the inning. In the bottom half of the inning the 3-0 lead turned into a 4-3 deficit. But the Pirates came right back in the 2nd and scored 4, while limiting the Gashouse Gang to 3, leaving things knotted up at 7 after 2 innings. "El Capitan" (Luis Feliciano) exited after 2 innings as the emergency starter.

Lewis Hardy stepped to the hill for the next 2 innings and kept the Gashouse Gang off balance. However, some Pirate miscues in the field led to a few unearned Gashouse runs.

Pat "Skip" McCane took the ball in the 5th and after getting into a little bit of a jam, shutdown the Gashouse Gang in his 4 innings, allowing only 1 run.

In the 5th inning, the Pirates drew 3 straight walks and were able to take advantage of some Gashouse Gang errors and score 3 runs before even getting a hit, and ultimately getting the 4th run across the plate. Some timely hitting by Fred Lewis and Lewis Hardy in later innings put some more runs on the board for the Pirates.

The umpires determined that the game would only go 8 innings. After the 7th inning, the Pirates were leading by 1 run. "Skip" McCane was not happy with just a 1 run lead and was able to sacrifice to extend the Pirates lead to 2 runs and give himself more of a cushion with the Gashouse Gangs 3-4-5 hitters coming up.

In the bottom of the 8th, McCane induced a ground ball to 3rd base that was scooped up, and a great catch was made by first baseman Demian Dominquez to get the out on the throw from deep at 3B. The next pitch was a ground ball to short stop and the Pirates had 2 quick outs. McCane decided to make it interesting by walking the next batter before finally retiring the next batter and advancing the Pirates to the finals of the 40+ Division. 

Spring 2016 Quarterfinals

19+ Division
The 4th seeded Dodgers and 5th seeded Knights kicked off the Spring 2016 Legends Baseball Playoffs with an early 8:00am start at South County Secondary, which saw the Dodgers advance to the semifinal round with a convincing 13-5 win. Number 1 seeded Squirrels and number 2 seeded Hurricanes advanced to the semifinals by virtue of the bye-in.


30+ Division
The Nationals made it to the Final Four of the 30+ Division with a narrow 7-6 win over the Isotopes at Lee High School. In the last game of the day, Lollygaggers had an easier time of it as they advanced to the semis by defeating the Rebels 15-4. Thunder South (#1 seed) and Padres (#2 seed) advanced to the semifinals via bye-ins.


40+/30+B Division
There were two minor upsets on the day: the Brewers (#6 seed) held off the Redlegs (#3 seed) in a 19-16 slugfest at Madison High School. And the Pirates (#5 seed) defeated the Blue Jays by a touch down and an extra point, 22-15 win. The Gashouse Gang (#1 seed) and Generals (#2 seed) both had a bye-in to the semifinals.

Lollygaggers win their quarter final game
by Jesse Bussey

Gags went 4 for 5 with a 3-run home run and 7 RBI in the Lollygaggers quarter final win over the Rebels.

Moonlight Graham gave up 1 run through 4 innings in helping Lollygaggers advance . 

The Lollygaggers advanced to the semifinals by defeating the Rebels 15-4 behind outstanding hitting, solid pitching, and sound defense.

Gags led the charge by going 4 for 5, including a 3-run homer in the 1st and 7 total RBI's. Moonlight Graham and New Mike each had 3 hits a piece. While Petro, Weaver, and Kerry contributed 2 hits a piece. Every Lollygagger reached base twice.

Moonlight Graham executed CP's calls with precision, giving up 1 run through 4 innings. Petro, New Mike and Weaver yielded a combined 3 runs in the final 5 frames, striking out 6.

Defensive highlights included a couple of outstanding plays from CF New Mike, including a sliding catch in between infielder traffic. Zach and Jesse formed a formidable wall on the left side of the infield, committing zero errors and combining for 11 put-outs, including 3 double plays with help from 1B Eric McNutt and 2B Petro.

Lollygaggers advance to face the Padres in a rematch of week one in which the two teams finished in a 12-12 tie.

Final Standings, Spring 2016

Here are the Legends Division Winners for the Spring 2016 Season: The Flying Squirrels (19+ Division); Thunder South (30+ Division); and Generals (40+/30+B Division). Each of the three division winners finished the regular season with a slim 1/2 game lead over the second place finishers in their respective leagues.

19+ Division

30+ Division

40+/30+B Division

Spring 2016 Week 5

The rain stopped long enough for the Legends of Spring to get in their full slate of makeup games on Memorial Day Weekend. In fact, the Flying Squirrels and the Outlaws took advantage of a break in the weather to play an additional game on the Thursday prior to their weekend games.

After five weeks of play the hotly contested 40+/30+B Division is locked in a three-way tie between the Gashouse Gang, Generals, and Redlegs, with the Blue Jays notching a big first win in their inaugural season.

In the 30+ Division, Thunder South maintains a slim one game lead over the Lollygaggers and Padres, with the Nationals right on their heels at two games back.

And in the 19+ Division, the Hurricanes and Outlaws are vying for first place with the Flying Squirrels, who hold a slim 1/2 game lead.

Flying Squirrels in first place despite loss to Canes
by Curtis Nadeau

It was a great day for baseball on Sunday at beautiful South County as the Flying Squirrels and Hurricanes got together for the second installment of this hotly contested rivalry. It was a classic back and forth game, and the Squirrels and their short-handed pitching staff came up a little short.

The Hurricanes struck first in the bottom of the first with one run, but that was quickly erased in the top of the 2nd as the first batter of the inning, Kevin C. hit a monster home run to left center field. Fill-in Squirrels starting pitcher Bill R. was excellent for his five innings of work, limiting the strong Hurricanes offense to just two runs on five hits.

After five innings, the Squirrels held a 5-2 advantage, but the Hurricanes would battle throughout the next four innings, scoring three in the 6th to tie the score 5-5. Then matching the Squirrels with two in the 7th to tie the score 7-7, and scoring 2 in the 8th to go into the 9th trailing by one.

The Flying Squirrels were unable to add any insurance runs in the top of the 9th, so they took a one run lead into the final frame. Squirrels pitcher Dustin B. gave it all he had after hurling four innings of one-run ball against the Outlaws three days earlier, but it wasn't enough. The Hurricanes were able to plate two runs on a misplayed ball in the infield and the Hurricanes walked-off with the 11-10 victory.

These matchups against the Hurricanes are the only ones the Squirrels can't seem to get into the win column, as their record now moves to 4-1-1, with both "1s" coming against the Canes.

Squirrels top Outlaws in weeknight game
by Curtis Nadeau

The Flying Squirrels and Outlaws play under the lights at Veterans Park with Squirrels batting.

After over a month off, the Flying Squirrels and the Outlaws met up on Thursday night at Veterans Park for round two of their season series. This one was a pitchers duel from the start, and after 5 innings the Outlaws held a 1-0 advantage.

In the top of the 6th, the Squirrels' bats woke up and they plated three runs off two walks and two hits including a huge double by Kevin C. with two outs.

The Squirrels kept the offense rolling in the 7th inning, scoring five more runs on six hits to take a commanding 8-1 lead over the battle-tested Outlaws.

Flying Squirrels get ready to square off against the Outlaws in their Thursday night game.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, the Outlaws would indeed battle back, scoring five runs of their own off two walks and three big hits. The Flying Squirrels stuck with the formula and put J. Britt back on the mound for the bottom of the 9th, and he was able to shut the door after a leadoff walk to make things interesting.

The Squirrels got the win 8-6 to improve to 4-0-1 on the season, knowing full-well that this is likely not the last of the Outlaws they will see.

The 19+ Division Flying Squirrels between innings at Veterans Park Thursday night.

Games Rained Out, but Legends of the Week Named!

Legends 4th year of Sponsoring Pitch, Hit, and Run Contest

Yes, and several Legends players were named Legend of the Week for volunteering - some at the last minute - to make the event a big success!  They include left to right in the picture: Me (Redlegs), Bob Korn (Redlegs), Alex Puhk (Biscuits), Drew Bachman (Knights), Chris Smith (Padres), Grant Sharp (Nationals), Mike (and son Richard) Michaud (Gashouse Gang) and Matt Gaugler (Redlegs-not pictured).  All will get 10% off their next season's Legends Registration - THANKS GUYS!

Legends Sports Leagues played host to the MLB Pitch, Hit, and Run Contest at Yoenas Park in Vienna on May 15. 

The Pitch portion of the contest was all about throwing strikes.

Running from second base, and touching third and home at Nance Field (Yoenas Park).

Hitting for distance and accuracy off a batting tee on Crabtree Field (Yoenas Park).

Legends 10 Year Anniversary Party and Inaugural Hall of Fame Induction!

Legends Sports Leagues reached it's 10-year anniversary (2006-2016) and had a bash to celebrate the big event! Legends also used this milestone to begin it's own Legends Hall of Fame, inducting 4 baseball Legends! The honored members include Mike Ternisky, Nelson Taveras, Adam Robinson, and RJ Lucciotti. Congratulations!

More than 60 members participated, and a raffle was held with the big prize being an autographed football donated by the Redskins with future hall of fame Matt Williams' signature.

See the pictures of the event here:

https://legends.smugmug.com/Legends-General/10-Year-Anniversary-Party/

We also have a permanent area on our website to honor our inductees. It's the "Hall of Fame" link under the information tab, or just click here:

http://playlegendsbaseball.com/Page.asp?n=100580&org=PlayLegendsBaseball.com

Spring 2016 Week 4

It was another perfect weekend for Legends Baseball with all scores reported for Sunday, April 24 and a lopsided game at Pfitzner Stadium between the Generals and Gashouse Gang in the 40+/30+ Division.

Redlegs hold on to win over Blue Jays
by Bob Korn

The Redlegs managed to fend off the tenacious Blue Jays in a game that went the full nine innings. It was deja vu all over again for the Reds pitching staff as they got strong performances from starter Matt Gaugler, middle relievers Commish Ron and Chris French, and closer Nelson Taveras.

For Nelson Taveras it was the second time in two weeks that he closed out a game for the Reds. The day before, Nelson received the first Hall of Fame award at the Legends 10th Anniversary Celebration at Glory Days Grill in Burke, VA. Congratulations Mr. T and all the other Legends Hall of Famers.

Flying Squirrels soar past Dodgers

by Curtis Nadeau

The Flying Squirrels take on the Dodgers in their 19+ Division contest at Edison High School.

The Flying Squirrels went up against a new looking Dodgers squad on a beautiful Sunday at Edison High School. Pitching dominated early as the first three and one half innings blew by with both teams being held scoreless.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, the Squirrels opened up the scoring with two runs on three hits, including a big leadoff double by veteran Kevin B. The Flying Squirrels' offense got on a roll and never looked back, tacking on two runs in the 5th, four runs in a rule-shortened 6th, one run in the 7th, and seven runs in a big 8th inning to seal the deal.

The Squirrels had their best offense effort to date, going 20 for 41, with seven extra base hits in week 4 of the spring season.

As usual, pitching and defense held firm for the Squirrels in this contest. Newly anointed starting pitcher Dustin B. dazzled, throwing four innings of one-hit ball while striking out seven, earning himself a Legend-of-the Week nomination.

Reliever J. Britt also had a nice day on the hill, throwing five innings and holding the Dodgers to two runs on seven hits.

The Flying squirrels' bats combined to go 20 for 41 at the dish including seven extra base hits in their best offensive effort to date. They hope to keep it rolling in the coming weeks as weather and holidays may play a role in spacing out the schedule and potentially throwing teams off their game.

Scores of April 24