By Rob Potter
SULLIVAN COUNTY — After a regular season in which several games had to be rescheduled due to rain and therefore delayed the start of the playoffs, the Eastern Sullivan Firefighters Softball League will soon be crowning a champion for 2009.
The league’s best-of-three-game finals series between White Lake FD and White Sulphur Springs FD was slated to begin last night at Gary A. Bradley Memorial Field at the White Sulphur Springs Firemen’s Park.
Game 2 of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 1 at Max Eronimous Firefighters Field in Swan Lake. (The Swan Lake FD graciously allows the White Lake FD team to use the field for its “home” games.)
If needed, the deciding Game 3 would be played at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Gary A. Bradley Memorial Field.
WSSFD, which finished second during the league’s regular season, reached the finals series by sweeping Neversink FD two games to none in a best-of-three semifinal series.
White Lake FD, which placed fourth in the regular season, qualified for the finals series by sweeping Smallwood-Mongaup Valley FD in the other best-of-three semifinal series. But it was not a typical two games to none sweep.
The two teams played Game 1 of the series last week. But SMVFD had to forfeit the game after league officials met and determined that one of the team’s members who played in that opening contest had not played in the required minimum number of regular season games in order to participate in the playoffs.
Game 2 of the series was slated to be played on Tuesday night at Edward M. Collins Memorial Park in Mongaup Valley. But SMVFD had to forfeit the game because it did not have enough players.