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The Winchester Men's Softball League, under the auspices of the Winchester Recreation Department, plays its games at Ginn Field in the spring and fall, and this year the fall season finally concluded just a couple of weeks ago on Nov. 18, when the Pipes, sponsored by DaVinci Plumbing, defeated the Purple in a wild game, 13-10. Leading up to the finals, the Pipes edged the Green, 13-12 in the quarterfinals, before hammering the Yellow in the semis, 11-3.
The fall league got underway in early September with 150 players spread over 10 teams battling for that same championship goal that the Pipes eventually took home.
“We’re just a bunch of regular guys, who spend one night every week competing (on the softball diamond),” said Pipes player Greg Bohenko after the title game. “It’s all about having fun, and building relationships in this league.”
Bohenko added the games are mostly friendly, which brings the community together, and then kiddingly said it’s “free entertainment for anyone who cares to watch mediocre athletes play past their prime.”
The Pipes, also known as the White team that corresponds with the league’s color-coding name policy, have been around for four years, or a total of eight seasons that includes both the spring and fall campaigns.
Captain Ryan Ackerson started the team with longtime friends after playing ironically for the Purple. After going through the usual growing pains with two winless seasons, it started to turn around for the Pipes in Year 3.
“We made it to the playoffs for the first time last year, and won our first playoff game this year that ultimately led to two more wins and the championship,” said Bohenko.
Most of the team grew up in different parts of the state, but eventually they all landed in Winchester for various reasons. They are not just softball players, many of them also participate in other sports like soccer, golf, tennis, mountain biking and even ultra marathons, according to Bohenko.
But when the Pipes are at Ginn Field, it’s all about softball. They ended the regular season this fall with a rather pedestrian 4-5 record, before putting it altogether in the postseason with three straight wins. The offense was on fire in those three games, scoring 37 runs.
“It really was a team victory, but I would say the MVP for the season was our captain and pitcher Ryan Ackerson, who ended up making the final two outs in the championship game,” said Bohenko.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News last November.
