Coney Island claims crown, 19-11

BROOKSVILLE - Coney Island's Willie Vance went 3-for-3, while teammates Randy Sikes, who hit two home runs, and Billy Shiver added two hits to pace the top seed past Mark's Landscaping, 19-11.

With the win, Coney Island (12-1) captured the City of Brooksville Recreation Department's men's softball crown at the Jerome Brown Community Center late Monday evening.

Both teams came out hitting to start the game, with Coney Island holding a 4-3 lead after one inning, 6-4 after two, and then, a rested Coney Island team began to wear down Mark's Landscaping.

Leading 12-4, after four innings, it was evident; the toll of playing its third straight game that evening was affecting Mark's Landscaping.

The power numbers were not there from the previous game, and went down considerably in the finale.

Coney Island banged out five more runs on five hits in the fifth mushrooming the lead to 17-8 against Mark's Landscaping (6-7).

"Three games. We were just tired, ran out of gas," summed up Charles Davis. "Some games you just can't do nothing."

"We had a good time, we have fun, whether we win or lose," said Coney Island captain Chris Parrish. "We've been playing together 15 years. We don't try to hit for the fence every time. They're a power ball team. They try to hit for the fence every time. We get the base hits, and if we get some guys on, we got some that can hit home runs, and we try to take advantage of it."

Trevor Coleman paced Mark's Landscaping going 4-for-4 with a double while teammates Matt Reeves and Rick Coleman each collected two hits.