“Rematch weekend” lived up to its billing as two of the longest winning streaks in the Brooklyn Kickball League came to a sudden and dramatic end.
Top-ranked juggernaut Brooklyn United beat the second-ranked New Frontiersmen, in a thrilling 7–6 game, but lost to the fourth-ranked Bacon Bits in the evening match, United’s first loss since early in the season.
The Frontiersmen, which slipped to third place after the loss, managed only a tie against last year’s champions, the John Cougar Mellencamps, in its second game of the day.
Third-ranked Never Scared moved up to second place after a takedown of its arch-rival seventh-ranked Crucial Taunt and the Lobos, which is clinging to eighth place after a critical win over the sixth-ranked Pony Boys later that night.
In the longest game of the night, the Mathletes surprised Majesty 11-9, moving up to fifth place. That game appeared to be too much for Majesty, which left the field in advance of its match against the Mellencamps, drawing stern words from Commissioner Kevin “Commish” Dailey.
“Majesty will need to play three games next weekend in order to get a shot at finishing in the top eight,” said Dailey. “They’ve only played 17 games.”
Teams that finish in the top eight get to determine which division to play in the 32-team playoffs — in essence picking their opponents in the round-robin first round of the playoffs.
But with one weekend left in the regular season, in which teams will be able to buy runs under the premise of charitable donations, the end results of the standings will be wildly unpredictable.
Teams such as ninth-ranked Majesty, 10th-ranked Mellencamps, or the 11th-ranked People’s Court could bump the Lobos, Crucial Taunt or Pony Boys out of contention depending on next weekend’s matchups.
But, hey, that’s why they call it kickball.
Brooklyn Kickball at McCarren Park ball fields (Bedford Street at N. 14th Street), Sundays 1–11 pm.
