This time they came from as far south as North Carolina. Ten men again doing battle to see who would win the 2018-2019 NYTHL 2nd league date. When all was said and done, The Legend Lou Marinoff was once again better than the rest. Let’s review the day.
The double round robin was won by defending champion Lou Marinoff. His 15-1-2 record and 32 points set the pace for the rest of the field. The Vinner (winner of league date one) was three points behind for the second straight month. Third place finisher Len Mecca really impressed with a 13-3-2 record. Mort finished 12-4-2 for 4th, while Bob D’addario finished well behind him with a 9-8-1 record. The Bob O did manage to hand Lou his only round robin loss of the day, a 4-1 defeat. Chris D’Andrea finished at 500 with a 7-7-4 record good for 6th and was the last to receive a first round bye. L.D. 7th, Phil 8th and new comer from North Carolina – Gary Nichols AKA GNick finished 9th, but did manage to earn his first three wins in the process. Relative new comer Tom McHugh finished 10th. On to the playoffs.
With the first six seeds receiving byes, the bottom four battled it out in a best of three series so that the two winners would join the top six to form the quarterfinals. The 7th seeded Larry Durham defeated Tom Mchugh by scores of 3-1 and 8-3. Eighth seeded Phil Lynch went the distance with 9 seed Gary Nichols in a thrilling three games. Lynch won game one 7-6, the dropped game two 4-3 in overtime. With a trip to the quarters on the line, Lynch rebounded and won the rubber game 4-3 in OT to take the series.
The quarterfinals had few surprises. One seed Lou Marinoff swept past Phil Lynch in three games outscoring him 16-1 in the process. Two seed Vinny Catania also swept his opponent beating Larry Durham in three by a combined score of 20-4. Third seed Len Mecca swept past 2017-2018 rookie of the year Chris D’andrea by scores of 3-0, 3-2 OT, and 2-1. The final quarterfinal series provided the only surprise. Fifth seed Bob D’addario upended fourth seeded Mort in four games. After the two exchanged two goal victories, D’Addario pulled away by winning the final two games by a goal – 2-1, 4-3. Now it was on to the Semi-Finals.
After dropping his only round robin game to D’Addario, Lou Marinoff dealt a lesson in reality to the Bob O. The Legend taught that there is a considerable difference between defeating the Legend in round Robin play and trying to do so with the money on the line. When the lesson was complete – Marinoff swept D’Addario by scores of 3-2, 9-2, and 5-1. The other Semi-Final albeit a sweep, was much more competitive. Second seed Catania battled tooth and nail with third seed Mecca. The Vinner won an exciting game one 4-3 in overtime. He then took game two with an impressive 4-0 shutout, then after falling behind by three – came all the way back to win another 4-3 game in Overtime. You guessed it, it’s another Marinoff –vs- Catania final to decide a winner.
Unlike last month, Marinoff left no doubt in anyone’s mind who would win November’s League Date II. The Legend wasn’t even challenged in games one and two, winning them respectively by scores of 4-1 and 8-3. Marinoff then capped things off by jumping out to a 5-2 lead, then holding on for a 5-4 victory and a three game sweep of Catania. The two now have one league date victory a piece. It looks like they have picked up right where last year left off as they continue to cat and mouse each other by exchanging victories. This however was much more convincing than last month’s 3-2 series win for Catania. The Legend Lou Marinoff once again reigned supreme. Len Mecca defeated Bob D’Addario in three for third place on the day. Mecca dropped game one 4-1, then regrouped to take the final two games convincingly by 7-3, and 6-3 scores. Mecca has owned Bob as of late, something that doesn’t sit well with Bob in their rivalry.
Whether or not you have a score to settle, or you just want to have fun, there are old and new rivalries that form every month as we do battle in the quest for the NYTHL CUP. Will we see you next month?