The Brooklyn Kickball League’s Final Four is set — and on Sunday a champion will emerge.
Eighth-seed Majesty’s surprising playoff reign continues, and the dark-horse sixth-seed Pony Boys galloped into the final round, ending the seasons of favorites the New Frontiersmen, Never Scared and Bacon Bits.
Both teams will join top-seed Brooklyn United and the third-seed John Cougar Mellencamps in a round-robin quartet on Saturday with the championship to be played on Sunday night at 6 pm at the McCarren Park ball fields.
It’s an unlikely pairing, with many expecting solid Never Scared and Bacon Bits to advance to the final round.
And it almost played out that way at the beginning of the quarterfinals.
Both Majesty and the Pony Boys were slow during its first games on Sunday, with Majesty dropping a 6–5 decision to Brooklyn United after leading 5–0 in the first inning and the Pony Boys settling for a tie with the Mellencamps 2–2.
But the underdogs dug in and dismantled its opponents in its second games.
Majesty bounced back after its heartbreaking loss to corral the New Frontiersmen, 7–1, due to a crucial fourth inning single by Lizzy “Steve” Martin after the team loaded the bases in the first and third innings, and solid defensive play from right fielder John “King” Kormash.
“Lizzy kicked over everyone’s head with two outs during our game and we got six runs that inning,” said Majesty captain Rachelle “The Big Misunderstanding” Fainstein. “Our offense was tight.”
The Pony Boys shut down Crucial Taunt, 4–0, keeping its composure after outfielder Erin “Berserky” Berky, badly sprained her ankle sliding safely into home plate before being lifted from the game on an ambulance’s stretcher.
“She’s the toughest girl in the league,” said Pony Boys star Jonathan “Jeremy” Irons. “She’s a Pony Girl through and through.” Berky is expected to undergo Matt Sadewitz surgery, a kickball version of Tommy John surgery, and will miss the rest of the tourney.
The shocking results came near the end of the night, when Majesty easily feasted on the Bacon Bits, 7–2, butchering the former champions from two years ago to secure its place in the semifinals.
And the Pony Boys struck some fear in second-seeded Never Scared, pulling together an upset win, 6–4, after the purple players took an early lead.
Never Scared had already defeated Crucial Taunt, ending its season, but had to beat last year’s champion’s, the Mellencamps, to secure a spot in the semis.
The team was on its way, leading 5–3 in the bottom of the fifth, but the Mellencamps had the bases loaded with two outs.
Up came “Shirtless” Tom McDonough who pulled his compatriots on his naked back with a solid single, tying the game 5–5, and stunning last year’s finalists.
I thought Never Scared was going to make it to the final four,” said League Commissioner Kevin “The Commish” Dailey. “I feel really badly. I don’t know what to say. I’m as shocked as they are. I hope they had a good season and come out next weekend regardless.”
Dailey would not predict a winner, but noted that the Pony Boys “have a lot of talent on that team” and that Majesty scored the most runs, 19, of any advancing team this weekend.
“Majesty brought it,” said Dailey. “That shocked even themselves, I imagine.”
One team which kept playing despite the sour feelings was the Bacon Bits, which defeated the New Frontiersmen, 3–0, in the final match of the night — perhaps a sign of good things to come next year.
“The bits may have crumbled in games one and two, but after a much-needed visit to the turkey’s nest, we came back and sizzled in our third game, which didn’t even start until almost midnight,” said Jessica “Grand” Laun. “We decided to just play for fun, switching up positions and somehow defeated the New Frontiersmen while just kicking away and messing around.”
Brooklyn Kickball at McCarren Park ball fields (Bedford Street at N. 14th Street), semifinals on Oct. 2, 5-11 pm; finals on Oct 3, 6 pm.
