Bethany Maroon Wins Again

The Bethany Maroon Softball Team won the Lehigh Valley Church Softball League for the fifth time in the last ten years on Tuesday Evening beating Calvary Wesleyan in a rematch from last year.  The Bethany Maroon team won four consecutive championships from 2000 - 2003, and they finally got one for the thumb.  It was a great rematch of last year's final where Calvary Wesleyan beat Bethany 8 - 7 in their last at bat.

This Championship puts an end to the unbelievable run that the softball ministry had this summer.  The Bethany Softball Ministry has now won three championships over the past five weeks.  The first one came at the EPC UMM Modified Tournament in Upper Dublin on July 18 where the Bethany Maroon team won in only it's second year in the tournament.  The Bethany White Team won their championship tournament by going an impressive 17 - 5 on the season to win their second consecutive championship, and the Bethany Maroon Team added the third championship for the ministry by winning on Tuesday 6 - 2.

The Bethany Maroon Team started the season 0 - 2, and found themselves below the .500 mark for the first time in 18 years.  The team finished the season (tournament record included) an impressive 28 - 4, and they won 21 of their last 22 games (tournament record included).  The only loss over that stretch was in the EPC UMM Tournament.

The Bethany Blue Team played great in their divisional playoff bracket as well.  They finished in the Final Four, and lost a defensive struggle against Church of God which made it to the championship game.

Congratulations to the Bethany Softball Ministry.  You all deserved the honors you got, not because you played well, not because you had the best defense in the league, not because you had all the right hits at all the right times, but congratulations, because you made this ministry feel like a family where Christ was the center.

Bethany Softball Wins North Whitehall Church League Tournament

The Bethany Softball Program notched another Championship today winning it's second consecutive North Whitehall Church Softball League Tournament.  Bethany was invited to play in this league last year, and in their first year won the Championship.  This makes this team the first team to repeat as Champions of their league since the 2000 - 2003 Bethany Softball Team of the Lehigh Valley Church Softball League

This year, they entered the tournament as the second seed.  Bethany went 3 - 0 on the first day of the tournament with wins over Union Lutheran 13 - 4, Hope Lutheran 6 - 4, and the tournament's number one seed St. John's.  That meant Bethany had to be beat twice in the Championship Round.

St. John's came out of the loser's bracket to face Bethany in the Championship Game.  The game was a defensive one with teams trading zeros for the first couple of innings.  Bethany got on the board with two runs in the third, but St. John's came right back with one of their own in the bottom of the inning.  

Bethany got two more runs in the top of the fourth inning, and again St. John's scored in their half to make the score 4 - 2.

Bethany was held scoreless for the remainder of the game, but St. John's was far from finished.  Down to their last at bat, their leadoff batter hit a triple.  The next batter knocked him in with a sacrifice fly.  St. John's put the next two men on base.  The next batter made a productive out sending the man on second to third.  With two out and men on first and third, St. John's final batter of the year smashed a line drive to Bethany's third baseman ending a great defensive game.

Congratulations to the Bethany Softball Program on their 2nd Championship in the last three weeks. 

Best wishes to the Bethany Blue and Bethany Maroon teams on the rest of their season as they, too, are looking for championships in their respective playoffs.