September 7, 2008
White Plains, NY
by Chris Lima
Modsquad Blog Writer
Photos by Kristen Bladel

A year ago this month, Modsquad players were watching the Championship game from the sidelines, after watching their Cinderella comeback go up in smoke.

This year, the boys in purple are hours away from facing off against Reuters in the 2008 Championship Series, looking to claim the title and put a stamp on this story book season.

The team made some key acquisitions this season including two corporate sponsorships from Digital Edge and LPA. After losing Brendon Smith (second base) to Steiner Sports and pitching ace Mike Lima to grad school (John Jay, Criminal Justice), the squad looked to fill roster spots from within.

The Modsquad beefed up its roster by adding the remaining members of the award winning Audio Visual team (Vitale, Coletta), a financial guru (John Leahy), and none other than the Good Doctor (Dr. Scott Berns). OFT also contributed one of their own in Minnesota native Kyle Bobek.

One of the team's most underrated moves of the season was the switch from a five infielder/three outfielder set to a four outfielder/four infielder allaignment. This allowed for a speedier outfield which could cover more ground. It also allowed for the team to successfully transition from Mike Lima's style of pitching (induced more ground balls) to Coletta's propensity to get batters to fly out.

The team's offensive core remaind intact and continued to produce again this season. The combination of Todd Dias, Chris Iannantuoni, Chris Lima and Nick Difranza combined for 73 runs batted in (51% of the team's total) and scored 75 runs (50% of the team's total). Iannantuoni set a team record with 31 hits and a team high .674 batting average.

Just like last season, Rob Lucas played a huge part in the Modsquad's late season success. Lucas came on strong last season, igniting the 'Squad to a playoff run. Lucas' timely hitting helped the Modsquad clinch the first round of the playoffs and earn a spot in the Championship Series.

Bruce Lin has also been a spark plug in the middle of the order, having an excellent season offensively (.583, 4 2Bs, 1 HR 11 RBI, 14 Runs Scored) and defensively (Lin is part of the solidified Modsquad outfield).

Eric Klein playing every day at third and the addition of Leahy and Vitale at second help shore up a defensively tight infield. Klein's play at third (bases loaded, gunned out a runner at home) in the playoff game against Two Four was just another shining example of his solid play at the hot corner.

Alan Brogdon continued to pull all the right strings this season, managing the team to another playoff appearance. Brogdon is known within the team as being a mischevious motivator, singling out players who need to pick up their game in different (yet creative) manners. Whether its an in game pep talk, a suggestive note on the Coach's Corner©, or shifting players within the lineup, (worked for Dias last week, hopefully will work for Iannantuoni and Lima this week) Brogdon has been able to keep the team focused during critical moments throughout the season.

Modsquad and company will look to finish the season with a trophy in hand, as they take on Reuters in a best of three game series starting at 5:45 Monday night at Delfino Park. The teams have faced each other twice this season, splitting the season series 1-1. The first game saw the Modsquad come away victorious 24-19, while Reuters got the best of a Modsquad team (10-9) that saw half their team missiong, attending the Summer Staff Conference in Arizona.