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09/13/2021 12:00 AMThe Deep River Horseshoe League (DRHL) crowned a new champion after the conclusion of the playoffs. The Angles shocked the league by taking the title as the No. 8 seed in the bracket. The Angels consist of Division A Player Tony Cutone, who is from Essex; Division B Player Damin Roberts of Cromwell; and Division C Player Joe Machado, who lives in Clinton. The championship matchup pit the No. 7 Yankees against the No. 8 Angels, and the Angels triumphed by a 4-2 margin over the Yankees to claim the title.
This marked the second season in a row that the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds of the league fell in the first round. The first round is a best-of-five-game series. The Angels battled the Reds in the first round and came away with a 3-1 win over the Reds. Despite the Reds’ dominance during the season, the Angels just threw cleaner games for the most part and grabbed the win. The Angels outscored the Reds 179-160 over the four games. The Reds’ roster consists of A player Gary Goodrich (Old Lyme), B player Andy Perna (Chester), and C player Jim Weselcouch (East Haddam).
In the No. 2 and No. 7 seed matchup, the Dodgers were downed by the Yankees by a score of 3-0. The Yankees outscored the Dodgers by a 166-134 total score over the three games. The Dodgers roster is A Player Frank Durinick, B player Butch Carotenuto (Hamden), and C player Scott Allen, Jr. (Deep River), while the Yankees are A player Brain Walsh (Deep River), B player Robert Cifaldi (Deep River), and Jason Augur (Clinton).
The No. 3 seed Marlins swept the No. 6 seed Tigers in a 3-0 win. The Marlins outscored the Tigers by a 172-118 tally when it was all said and done. The Marlins are A player Mark Goodale (Clinton), B player Gerry Hines (Higganum), and C Player Karen Perna (Chester). The Tigers’ roster is A Player Vinny Joynas (Ivoryton), B player Anthony Conkling (Marlborough), and C player Deb Scully (East Hartford).
The No. 4 seed Rangers took a 3-1 loss to the No. 5 seed Braves. The Braves outscored the Rangers by a 202-195 tally to edge ahead of the Rangers and head to the semifinals. The Rangers are A player Joe Heery (Old Lyme), B player Gary Stevens (Chester), and C player Jeremy Davis (Chester). The Braves are A player and league president Mike Zanelli, Sr. (Haddam), B player Paul Felie (Old Saybrook), and C player David Atkinson (Deep River).
In the semis, the No. 3 Marlins battled the No. 7 Yankees, and the Yankees triumphed over the formidable Marlins. The semis’ format is once again a best-of-five series, and the Yankees just eked out the 3-2 win. This series marked the first time that Goodale was beaten straight up in a head to head match up versus his A player counterpart in Walsh. Walsh scored 147 while Goodale scored 145. Overall the Marlins scored 320 points to the Yankees’ 276, but with the handicap, the Yankees came away with the win and a trip to the final.
The No. 5 Braves ended up meeting against the No. 8 Angels in the semis. The Angels secured a sweep against the Braves and headed to the final. The Angels outscored the Braves by a 137-114 margin.
The final round of the DRHL tournament is a best-of-seven series, and the Angels were able to claim the 4-2 win. Overall the Angels were able to outscore the Yanks 234-227.