The Coolers knocked the Seaborne Stealers out of the Bob Owens Slow Pitch Softball League playoffs for the second year in a row with a 14-4 victory at the D.C. Canegata ballpark. The Coolers’ win was their second of the night as they also had to beat the National Guard Hummers in order to play the Stealers for a chance at the finals against undefeated Set it Off.

Batting first, Enrique Soto’s two-run blast in the top of the first inning got the Stealers on the board with the early 2-0 lead. The Coolers, still hot from their victory over the Hummers, exploded for five runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead at 5-2 and they never looked back.

The Coolers scored five runs on a two-run homerun by Steve Pindoro, a two-run single by Jose Robles and a Stealers error.

After a scoreless second inning, the Coolers were back on offense in the bottom of the third when Thomas Corcino and José Berrios hit back to back home runs to extend the coolers lead to five at 7-2. Meanwhile the Coolers ace, Warren Brooks, would keep the Stealers bats quiet over the next three innings.

The Coolers tacked on four more runs in the bottom of the fourth on RBI singles by Berrios, Corcino, Dwayne Harvey and Pindoro to expand the lead, 11-2.

The Stealers, fighting to stave off the ten-run mercy rule, plated two runs on a homer by Guido Schjang to close the gap to 11-4 in the top of the fifth. The Coolers responded mightily in the bottom of the inning, rallying for the necessary three runs to send the Stealers home until next season with a 14-4, ten-run mercy ruled victory.

Brooks got the win on the hill for the Coolers, while Sam Ramos got the loss. Top batters for the Coolers were Corcino (3 for 3 with a homerun and two RBIs), Berrios (2 for 3 with a homerun and two RBIs), and Robles (2 for 3 with two RBIs). For the Stealers, Schjang was 2 for 2 with a homerun and two RBIs, and Soto was 1 for 2 with a homerun and two RBIs.