Busy week brings Corporate Cup

 Last week was probably the busiest week that we have ever had with the Community Corporate Cup since it first started nineteen years ago. From the Run/Walk event on Wednesday to the Wiffleball and Bocce on Saturday, the weather was a constant, but not insurmountable challenge. The spirit and sportsmanship shown by all of the competitiors throughout was extraordinary.

We held our breath all day Wednesday hoping that the rain would hold off, but by the time the race started it was cold, windy and rainy. Many of our walkers and a couple of runners decided to stay dray and at-home, but 90 Corporate Cup participants joined over100 others running in the Valley YMCA 5K Sunset Race for a dash through Ansonia's Hilltop. Michael Zascicinghs of TEAM, Inc. was the first Corporate Cup participant across the line, but I think that it is safe to say that everyone who finished felt like a winner under the conditions. I ran in my first race in two years, and was quite pleased to win the 60 and over division. We had the CEO's from BIC (Mario Cuevas) and PerkinElmer (Dusty Tenney) in the race as well, and they both posted impressive times as did Bill Purcell, head of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce who zipped around the course with a 7:33 pace. The food after the race was outstanding, and it is one of the few races that I ever remember having pasta after the race. On such a deary night, it was just the thing to warm everyone up.


Saturday turned out a bit better weather wise though some light showers towards the end of the day threatened the conclusion of both Bocce and Wiffleball. It was quite a day as we had to lay out our six "ballparks" in time for the 9:00 am start. We would really like to thank Thaddeus Kurkowski of CDW-G for showing up early and lending a hand. TK competed in the Wiffleball tournament later in the morning. I also want to thank Bob Van Egghen for his help as our unofficial official during the Bocce tournament with his precise measurements! And it goes without saying that Chris Phipps and Sue Reilly of the Y did a great job in putting all the pieces together.


Both events turned out to be full of surprises and great comebacks. In Bocce, we were down to three teams competing following the suspension of the tournament due to darkness on May 25. It looked like it was going to be a quick exit for Kevin Dunn and Nora Espinel of BIC as they fell behind early in their losers bracket final with PerkinElmer. However, they managed to pick up four straight points in one round and go on to take that game before topping Mike Figueroa and Matt McKenney in two straight well played games to win the title.

The Wiffleball tournament was just as exciting as PerkinElmer came back from a crushing 7-6 loss to United Illuminating to rally through the losers bracket and top Griffin Hospital's 3 Amigos two straight for the title. Their one loss came in the bottom of the last inning when United Illuminating rallied from a 6-3 deficit with a walk-off grand slam homer to send PerkinElmer on their run through the losers bracket to the final. Ironically, one of Griffin's wins included Ryan Pereiras' walk-off grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the last inning for a 4-1 win that kept them alive in the winners bracket. PerkinElmer disposed of Griffin 3-0 in their first game, and had them 3-0 when Griffin staged an amazing 8 run rally to take an 8-3 lead. PerkinElmer was down to their last strike and trailing by 8-4 when they ran off eight straight runs to take a 12-8 lead. Griffin rallied for two runs in their last at bat, but it wasn't enough to keep PerkinElmer from winning their second straight Wiffleball tournament.

So now the competition is over, but we don't have a winner as yet. BIC stands precariously atop the standings with a 2.5 point lead. However, the Healthy Team results have yet to be added in, and it is always a high scoring event. Those results will not be announced until June 22 at the awards reception. Until then, I think we will just let the suspense build! We'll have a full story and all the results on June 22.

For more information about Valley United Way, visit our website at www.valleyunitedway.org.