The Virginia Vipers Softball Club for Veterans had another solid campaign in 2015. The organization sponsored six teams. Those teams were a Five-Sided Vipers team, which played in the Fairfax Adult Softball Early Open League during the spring, a “35-and-older” team, which played in the summer, a Seniors team (50 and older), which also participated during the summer months an open team in Herndon throughout the softball season, another Five Sided Vipers Fall team, and the Senior team played fall ball as well. We appreciate all of our sponsors who have helped us since 1997 create this fabulous group supporting our active military, veterans and their spouses. Thank you.
The 2015 Five Sided Vipers named appropriately because the core of this team met while serving at the Pentagon had a fabulous spring. This 20-game schedule came down to the last game of the year to allow the Vipers to sweep a double header and take over first place winning the division. The team enjoyed a resurgence on the mound by introducing long-time Viper, Dennis Roberts to the pitching rubber. Additionally, the Five Sided squad was blessed with a familiar face at SS – Matt White and his bat and glove. The team welcomed a new outfielder, Wes Poyner, who really delivered in the clutch for the team. Steadfast performances from Jimmy Sneed and the Benoit family enabled the team to really compete and take the division championship finishing with a 17-4 record. The Five Sided Vipers look forward to continuing their string of success in 2016 with this new squad.
Routinely referred to as the team that has the most fun in the Vipers organization, this group had another fantastic year finishing second in the division before being eliminated in the playoffs. Stud players such as Dave Obstgarten, Eric Myers, Dennis Roberts, Sam Lea, Shawn Diggs and Mike Gizara really bring quite a bit of life to this team as it ran itself to a 10-4 record. One team in the division was “running the table” before the Vipers beat them for their only loss of the season. The 35-and-older team finished with a 10-4 record, second in division 1.
The Vipers finished our third season in the Herndon Over 40 league with a 22-6 record and our first league championship. We managed to beat out the five time defending champion Glory Days by three games. Glory Days had been a tough matchup for us in our first two seasons in which we had a record of 3-9 record against them. In 2015 we managed to turn that around by going 6-2 against them. Brian Neal led the team with an incredible .861 batting average beating out Charles ‘Gooz’ Guzek (.778) and Sean Shemanski (.761). Jimmy Sneed let the team with 61 hits and 57 RBIs while new addition Anthony Chew let the team with 15 home runs. After a very successful regular season the team fell short in the tournament finishing a disappointing third place. 2016 promises to be another successful season as the majority of the team will be returning to defend our league championship.
The Long Fanged Vipers won the Division 2 regular season. The Seniors added several key ball players to the team (one came of age) to enhance the roster from 2014. The Vipers started the season strong at 5 – 0 and 7 – 1 and played 4 games (in one night) in week 9 and went 1-2-1. The tie game was in extra innings and the visiting team did not score in the top of the inning. The Vipers had a man on second and no outs when the lights went out. Going into week 10 they were a half game out of first place and won both games to finish 15 – 4 – 1 and won the Championship.
The fall 2015 league had the Five Sided Vipers moving up a division due to their championship in the spring. Playing in the Wednesday D2 division was a challenge but the Vipers were able to finish with a winning record. The squad was very basically the same as the spring squad and enjoyed solid seasons from Jim Ragusa, Geoff Putnam and the middle of the infield – Dave Obstgarten and Matt White. The team finished 9-3 tied for the 2nd best record in the division. The Five Sided Vipers look forward to competing in 2016.
The Long Fanged Vipers played Fall Ball for the first time with the “merged” Destroyer team and had an 8 – 6 season playing against Division 1 thru Division 3 teams. There were 9 Senior teams entered into the league for Fall ball. The Long Fanged Vipers have several players coming of age in 2016, especially the long awaited arrival of FAS Hall of Famer Carl Ey. The Long Fanged Vipers are looking forward to the future with great expectation to build on the last 4 years of accomplishments. More to come in 2016!!!