Adults battle in the playoffs at The Center

The Island kids are off playing in the sun and sand, attending summer camps, enjoying time away from school, while waiting for the next youth recreational sports season to start at The Center. The adults, on the other hand, are sweating it out on the basketball court and pitch finishing the spring seasons in the playoff games leading to the championship games in each sport.

Playing each Tuesday night, seven teams battled week after week until four teams go on to the semi-finals. Finishing with a perfect record, Team Jackson, lead by Antwan Jackson finished the season on the top of the leader board. With two losses each, Teams Sapanora and Team Calvary move on to the second round of the playoffs. Team Aaron had a winning regular season and captured the final spot in the semi-final round with a record of four wins and three losses.

The Center's reported statistics give high score credits to three players. Two of the players with 21 points, whose teams did not make it to the next round of playoffs, were Eric Gledhill, of Team Terman, lead by Andrew Terman and Neil Baumann, of Team Bekkerus, captained by Tyler Bekkerus. Captain Patrick Calvary had last week's scoring leader, Pedro Vega, with 25 points, who helped move his team one game closer to the championship game.

The adult basketball league championship game will be held at 7:30 p.m on Tuesday, July 12, at The Center.

In adult co-ed recreational soccer, the men and women of the nine teams fight it out on the grass to win a spot in the third Paul "Ace" Hayward Championship Cup game to be held at 7 p.m on Thursday, July 21. Last week's action broke up the middle of the pack, while three teams floated to the top of the record.

Team Slim's Place, that had a bye last week, rocks the top of the charts with its 6-2 season record finish. Teams Jiffy Lube and Wash Family Construction finish with the same record, but find themselves in the second and third rank, respectively.

In the middle of the pack, Eason Builders Group and Ross Built Construction will meet in the first playoff game of the season Thursday night at 6 p.m., both finishing the season with a winning record of 4-3-1.

The number two seed, Jiffy Lube, takes on Team Moss Builders that finished in the seventh position after losing to Ross Built Construction 5-3 on Thursday night. Moss Builders fought hard with Aaron Parkin, Josh Sato and Bing Robinson leading the charge, but the rare full squad of Team Ross Built answered back with the strong soccer skills of Eric Pullen and Mike Vitori. Both goalies, Ryan Moss and Richard Fosmore, recorded 10 saves in the game, keeping the score at bay against the formidable offenses of each team.

Team Island Pest Control, the sixth seed team, matches up against Wash Family Construction, without owner Darrin Wash, who was traded to the top seed team early in the season. Team Wash Family Construction captured the win against Blake Medical Team #2, finishing with a 7-1 score. Wash Family spread the scoring between five players. Sean Flynn, Murat Akay, Kyle Lessig, James Clifford and Jennifer Sayko each put up goals for their team. Jermais Gramajo, the lone scorer for Team Blake #2, showed why his team should not be dismissed despite their record.

Team Blake Medical #1 and Team Blake Medical #2 went head-to-head on Tuesday night for the second time in the season to capture the final playoff seat against the top seed Team Slim's Place. Both teams finished the regular season with a single win and tie with 1-6-1 records.

The Blake Medical teams' wins and ties once again shows that the playoffs are a new day in the season. The first seeded team has the daunting challenge of making it to the next round. The lowest seeded teams have been known to defeat the top seed in the playoffs. Any given Thursday the underdog can win. The spirit of friendly competition prevails.

Sun Scoreboard

Tuesday, June 14

Adult Basketball
Quarter Final Playoff Games

Team Aaron 48
Team Bekkerus 41

Team Sapanora 84
Team Bailey 31

Team Calvary 69
Team Terman 41

Thursday, June 16

Adult Co-Ed Soccer

Blake Medical #1 2
Eason Builders Group 1

Island Pest Control 4
Jiffy Lube 1

Ross Built Construction 5
Moss Builders 3

Wash Family Construction 7
Blake Medical #2 1