Greenville Clinches First Ever Playoff Birth!!!

For the first time in the history of the Greenville Oaks Church of Christ Young Married Mens' Softball Franchise, the team is going to the playoffs. Greenville took care of business on Monday night against FBC Carpenter with a score of 13 - 10. It has been an up and down Spring season for the ball club, but they fought back to win 4 of their last 5 games to finish the season 4-4 with sole possession of the fourth and final playoff spot.

"It was a great night four our team and our fans," mentioned Coach Bryan Brokaw after being pulled out of an infield celebratory pile (pictured above). "We have been met with a lot of adversity this year, but we have fought through a lot, and I credit our guys for fighting through a rough start and bringing us to where we are tonight," Brokaw added. "Those guys in that locker room are special, they are softball players, they are professionals. You can't ask for a better group, and I am just so proud of the way they played."

Brokaw clearly seemed overcome with emotion as the realization of being the youngest coach in the history of the DII Monday night Church league to take his team to the playoffs. In the early going of Monday night's contest, it looked like Greenville may have missed their opportunity.

In fact, after scoring 2 runs in the first, Greenville surrendered three runs and the lead in the bottom half of the inning. The Greenville bats looked like they might not show up as FBC Carpenter carried a 5 to 3 lead going into the top of the fourth, but Greenville batted around in the fourth and the team staked themselves to a 5 run lead. They would tack on 3 more crucial insurance runs in the last two innings, and the team held on in the final inning to win 13 to 10.

"It wasn't pretty," said the team captain and catcher Brian Edwards. "We made some mistakes in the field, but we always overcame those mistakes to get the outs."

The playoff schedule is set for next week, May 3rd. Greenville will take on the number one seed at 6:30 pm next Monday night on Field two at Ford Field. Tickets go on sale Tuesday morning at 8 am, and they are expecting tickets to sell out quickly.

Some quick end of the season awards...

Best Warning Track Power: Michael Shivers

Most Confused: Kurt Wasemiller

Best Eye at the Plate: Shane Spencer

Rookie of the Year : Tucker Pierson

Defensive Player of the Year: David Strickland

Best Base Runner: Dustin Swart

Nicest Wind Pants: Mike Mabry

Player of the Year: Tall Dr. Kellum

Best Mustache: Brian Edwards

Best Immitation Baseball Stance: Clay Platt

Healthiest Player: Cade Thompson

Best Spectator: Randy Way

Best Scholar: James Manley

Best One Hit Wonder: Shane Collins

Best Dives Without Making the Catch: John Garrett

Best Team at losing in the 9th inning: Texas Rangers

Most Well Rested: Blake Wattenburger

Best Rookie Pitcher: Grant Glover

And of Course...

Coach of the Year: Bryan Brokaw

Greenville Oaks Bounces Back to Take Late Game Part II

For the second straight week, the Greenville Oaks softball team had the 9:30 late game, and the script couldn't have been any different. After suffering a tough loss last week where the bats just didn't show up, the Greenville bats woke up on Monday night to post 17 runs on the scoreboard in just 4 innings, leading the team to their third victory of the season 17 - 5 over First United Methodist.

Greenville also flashed some stellar defense holding FUMC to only 5 runs, 5 of which were unearned. Brokaw took the flat mound for the Oakies, and the team gave up the fewest number of runs of the season.

Leading the charge for the offense was Dustin Swart who really got the bats going by hitting a ball in the top of the first that would have been a real homerun on our normal field two, but due to recent rains the game was moved to the more pitcher friendly field 3. Instead he had to settle for a really long double, but it set the tone for the evening's offensive effort by the rest of the team. Tucker Pierson added a 3 for 3 night as well keep the bats rolling.

Randy Way made his return from the Disabled List(paternity leave...fyi Strickland never missed a game), and he promptly tried to take the first 3 ball walk this season. Blake Wattenburger also made his return from the disabled list, after taking a couple of weeks off due to a freak roller blading accident.

Grant Glover provided the cheering section for the game, as he had relatives that drove all the way from Nashville to come to the game. Greenville fans actually outnumbered our oponents fans 3 to 1 so it was a big night for Greenville all around.

Greenville will get set for their last regular season game of the spring next week. Greenville will play at 7:30 next Monday night.

Greenville Rally Falls Just Short Against Christ the Servant

Greenville Oaks had the late game on Monday night, and their opponent Christ the Servant jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. In the fourth and final inning, it appeared that Greenville was going to rally when David Strickland worked a walk to lead off, Michael Shivers reached on a single down the left field line, and Clay Platt roped a "Bagwell Style" 3 run homerun out to left center. Unfortunately for Greenville, after Dusty Swart reached on a single, Shane Spencer hit into a fielders choice forcing Swart to be out at second. They threw to first base to try and get a double play on Spencer, but he successfully beat out the throw. In a terrible twist of fate, an unforseen hole jumped out and twisted Shane's ankle which forced him back into the field of play, and thus the first baseman applied the tag and gave Greenville their second out. With time running out and only one out to work with, Brokaw singled to the right side, but was out at second when Mike Mabry hit a scorcher that the short stop for Christ the Servant made an incredible play to complet the fielders choice at second. That third out ended the game, and thus the rally fell just short with the final score resting at...

Christ the Servant Lutheran - 29
Greenville Oaks Church of Christ - 4

One might think that this loss would be devestating inside the clubhouse, but thanks to recent lessons at church, spirits remained high as the teammates knew that when game is over, it all goes back in the box.

Player of the game: Jamie Manley
Thanks for being our only fan Jamie!

Greenville has the late game again next monday night.

Perfect Sweep for GO!!

Opening Day for the Texas Rangers has always been a sacred day in the Brokaw household. In fact, it happens to be a holiday every year at my office. My office administrator and I both take the day off to enjoy the sights and sounds of major league baseball. So you can imagine, when the Rangers came back from a 3-0 deficit this afternoon to win it in the ninth, I was a pretty happy camper. But when you throw in a sweep of a double header for the Greenville Oaks just hours follwoing the Rangers first vicotory......Heaven?

Yes it's true. The Greenville Oaks softabll team captured it's first and second win of the season on Monday night, and they were both down to the wire. Greenville captured their first win with a four inning slugfest with FUMC Blue, with the final score ending at 18-15. The second game shaped into a pitchers duel that left Greenville on the better end of a 9-7 score against Chase Oaks.

The wins push Greenville to 2 and 3 on the season, and it puts the team back in contention for a playoff run. The wins didn't come without some in game heroics from several members of the squad.

Just as the Rangers had Nelson Cruz, GO had...Michael Shivers. Shivers provided two offensive homeruns on the night. He had one for each game, and thus was named the night's MVP.

The team also welcomed some new faces to the team, as Kurt Wasemiller and Tucker Pierson joined the squad. Tucker not only provided a fresh face, but also became the first Greenville Oaks rookie pitcher to win his first start as he took the mound in the first game against FUMC. Kurt and Tucker now are undefeated in games in which they have played.

Shane Spencer made his first appearance of the spring. Spencer was coming of a 3 game stint on the D. L. suffering from some kind of disorder that causes your legs to swell and make your shorts look to small for you. Spencer got his first win of the season as he pitched a flawless game against Chase Oaks.

It was a team effort though, as the defense has begun to show some improvement over the last few weeks.

Randy Way and Brian Edwards held down the catching duties in platoon roles keeping the runners from steeling relentlessly. Edwards came into the game suffering from a terrible allergic reaction to an unknown substance. Way came into the game suffering from a pregnant wife. Both are listed day to day.

Grant Glover played the first game and contributed well, but a late game injury forced him to be on the 1 game D. L. and miss the second game. He is expected to be able to play next week.

David Stickland contributed some big time defense in the victory as they successfully completed a 6-4-3 double play in the second game to keep the defensive battle going.

Dustin Swart switched positions back over to 1st base, and fielded the position without error. Dusty continues to hit the ball really hard, and run really slow. He could probably lead the team on in-the-park-homeruns, but he usually only makes it to 2nd base.

Clay Platt continues to lock down the left field position making plays all over the field. He turned over a new leaf, however, as witnesses report that he did throw it to the cutoff man at least twice.

Cade Thompson came out and played a great third base for the club, despite the sun completely obscuring his vision. Third base was played well until Brokaw came in and messed it up. Cade continues his hot hitting spring, and he made a habit of going to the opposite field.

John Garrett and Mike Mabry continued to play solid outfield positions, and Mike Mabry continues to hit the ball very well. John added a great on base percentage and gives the team tremendous speed on the bases, and he also brings a healthy amount of panther pride to the squad.

Add all of that up, and you get a great night for the Greenville Oaks team. They get their first win, and they hand Chase Oaks their first loss of the season. GO will be back in action next Monday night and Christ the Servant, with the first pitch being thrown at 9:30 pm.