JUNE 26 -- The Carolina Colts captured their second consecutive Men's League Softball championship, the team's third straight league title including City of Raleigh league play, and the team's eleventh overall championship Thursday night by sweeping the MLS Championship Series two games to none against the Capital City 95'ers by 8-7 and 10-9 scores, respectively.
In the first game of the evening the Colts quickly jumped out to a lead in the top of the first, but the 95'ers chipped away throughout, with league MVP Brandon Davis providing some offensive spark to bring the game to 7-6 after six innings. In the seventh the Colts would add a run, then hold on for dear life to record the game's final out with a run scored (making the score 8-7) and runners on first and second.
For the first 5 1/2 innings of the second game, it appeared as if the 95'ers (who led 9-3) were going to even the score at 1-1 and send the series into a third and decisive game. But in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Colts put together their biggest single inning of the series, posting six runs to tie the game at 9-9. After retiring the 95'ers without a score in the top of the seventh, Colts second baseman turned to leadoff hitter Marty Lyon and said "We're going to get a shot to be the heroes!"
Lyon then proceeded to hit a line drive down the left field line, rolling past the defense and allowing Lyon to reach third base. Tony Cappelletti then immediately followed with a fly ball, just deep enough to allow Lyon to score the winning run and secure another title for the double blue. "The Carolina Colts and Capital City 95'ers played an epic pair of games Thursday evening. Games that will be talked about by their participants for years to come," Colts manager D.P. McIntire said during the post-game celebration. "We keep the Dixie Cup for another season, but the 95'ers deserve it every bit as much as we do."
MAY 30 -- The fifteenth season of Capital Area Team Sports' Independent Flag Football League came to a surprising conclusion, as three playoff upsets in succession resulted in a surprising victor ending their day by hoisting the Grand Bowl championship cup.
The day began at 10 a.m. with the Stingrays defeating the Gunslingers in the first of two Divisional Playoff games, 36-34. Frankie Evers and Jonah Turner connected on three touchdown passes, part of a 6 TD game by Evers, who also would find Jay Story twice. For the second consecutive season, the Gunslingers Grand Bowl hopes were dashed in a playoff game's final minute, as the Stingrays successfully recovered an onside kick, drove downfield for what would be the final score of the game, then picked off a John Robertson pass (interception by Ray Parrish, who later in the day would earn Grand Bowl XV MVP honors) as time expired, giving them an upset victory.
The second playoff game of the day would prove equally dramatic, with the Dragons rebounding from a 14-6 deficit, capped by a Ryan Shands touchdown run with :08 remaining to upset the two-time defending Grand Bowl champion Rocky Mount Raiders, 36-35. Shands would throw for three touchdowns in the game (including strikes to D'Angelo McKinnon and Bakari Lodge) and rushed for two others, including the game winner which propelled the Dragons to their fifth Grand Bowl appearance in eight seasons.
To learn what happened in Grand Bowl XV, click here.
We'd like to take a moment to welcome you to the all-new look of CapitalAreaTeamSports.com!
Five months in the making, our web site has been relaunched with an all-new look and feel, complete with new graphics, a more streamlined and modernized navigation system, incorporation of Flash elements in some areas, and a new "Members Only" section for those who participate in our programs to get special information and take part in various online activities.
While as with any new web site launch there may be some kinks to be worked out, rest assured that these are being worked on - we just couldn't wait any longer to debut our new web presence!
We'd like to thank Clark Rasmussen of O6 Web Services, who once again has taken our initial vision for the project and made it reality. If for whatever reason you're looking to have a web site developed, we can't recommend Clark and the team at O6 highly enough.
Anyway, we encourage you to take a look around, kick the tires, and let us know what you think!
