The Viper's softball club began in the Fall of 1997. However, the original team had a much less
appealing name, the Woodchucks. Yes, I said the Woodchucks. I moved to the Northern Virgina
area from Tennessee in October 1996 and my first apartment was in Centreville, VA. The
apartment complex was named Woodway. The apartment complex started a coed softball team
in the Spring of 1997. I was itching to get back to playing softball. I decided this would be the
place to start so I signed up. It was here that I met Matt Bradley. After a disastrous coed
season we decided to form a men's team to begin play in the Fall of 1997. The following is a
season by season report as I remember.
Fall 1997
Our first season was a success as we finished 8-6 - third place in our division. We actually were
in position to win the division all the way up to the last double header. I was lucky enough to end
up as our batting champion for the season and Keith Warren was our MVP. We thought we would
only get better, but little did we know that we would take a few steps back before we would
move forward.
Spring 1998
During this season we added more players to the core of our team that would be huge
contributors in the seasons to come. Steve Valavanis joined us as our new third baseman, Bill
May joined us as our left fielder (yes, the man who today is nicknamed Jabba the Gut) and Shey
Edwards joined us as a utility player. Overall this season ended up a negative one as we finished
7-12 - sixth place. Keith Warren won the batting title with Steve Valvanis pushing him the whole
way. The final margin was a mere eight points. Keith also became our two time MVP.
Fall 1998
The first season, officially, as the Vipers. This turned out to be another season under .500 as
we finished 6-8. That record was only good enough for fourth place. The batting title race
turned out to be a great one with a three way battle going down to the last few games. Steve
Valavanis, Jay Oflahaven and Kevin Wilkerson battled to the end. This time Steve was able to
win his first batting title by finishing with a .725 average, good enough to win the title by six
points. Steve also captured his first team MVP award.
Spring 1999
This season turned out to be by far the worst in the history of the Vipers. We finished 3-17 in
eighth place. We virtually had no offense and never really threated in many games. The worst
was a double header; which we lost both games; 22-3 and 20-0. In the last game we only
managed 2 hits, both by Kevin Wilkerson. Luckily, we have never seen anything even close to
that bad since. I managed to win my second batting title in what would be the worst average
ever to win a batting title for us. I finished at an even .600. Bill May won his first MVP award.
Fall 1999
This season saw the addition of new players that, again, have become integral members of the
Vipers. The new players were: Dave Keitel (the best pure hitter I have ever played with), John
"The Menace" Wilhelm, Paul Nagel (one of the best pitchers I have ever played with) and Ben
Bennett (the best person I have ever played with). With these additions we managed to have a
very good season despite the fact we had to play the final six games of the season with eight
players. We actually won five of those six games and finished 9-5 in second place. Dave Keitel
won his first batting title by hitting .692. I had the honor of being voted my first team MVP
award.
Spring 2000
This was a break even season as we finished in third place with a 10-10 record. We had another
key addition during this season as Todd Musa joined our team. Todd was not the greatest
softball player in the world, but he was the strongest person I have ever met. As for the
softball John Wilhelm won his first batting title by hitting .718. Dave Keitel and I shared the
MVP award.
Fall 2000
Another losing season as we finished a disappointing 5-8-1 in fifth place. We had trouble just
getting players to show up and it really hurt us. We were very inconsistent winning big games
when everyone showed up, but losing games we should not because of lack of players. Matt
Bradley won his first batting title with a .735 average. Matt won the title by eight points over
Dave Keitel. I managed to win my third MVP award.
Spring 2001
This season brought in two player that would forever change the Vipers, Eric Wooten and Carl
Ey. Eric gives more effort every game than anyone I have ever played with or against. Carl is
the only person I have ever played with that wants to play and win as badly as I do. With these
key guys we had our most successful season to date. We finished in second place with a 13-7
record. With this duo we added a new weapon to our team, which was the home run. We had
never hit many home runs, but with the addition of these two guys we had a constant home run
threat. Dave Keitel would win the batting title with an incredible .780 average. This is still a
Viper record. Eric Wooten won his first MVP award.
Fall 2001
The season began in August and we started off slowly, but the worst came on September 11.
Our country was attacked ruthlessly by terrorists in New York and right here in Washington DC.
Many of the people we play with are military and contractors that worked at the Pentagon. By
the mercy of God none of our teammates were hurt in the attacks. However, our hearts go out
to the ones who were not so lucky. We will never forget this day! As for softball we had another
sub par season saw us finish 6-8 in fourth place. We lost Dave Keitel and Eric was unable to play
this season. Combined with missed games by Carl, we were unable to establish any consistency
and were never really in the division race. I managed to win the batting title with a .689
average and was lucky enough to win another MVP award. Just after the season ended Todd
Musa was diagnosed with Leukemia. Despite the odds Todd managed to fight over the next six
months and his illness actually went into remission.
Spring 2002
Todd managed to fight off his illness and he rejoined us for the spring season. I have never met
anyone who was as strong as Todd was over this six months. As for the season we had another
good season and we finished in third place with a 12-9 record. The season was disappointing in
the way it ended. We last a playoff game with the team we were tied for second place with.
Trailing by seven runs entering the bottom of the seventh inning we rallied for seven runs to tie
the game and had the bases loaded with only one out. Unfortunately one of our best hitters hit
into a questionable double play were the first basemen clearly dropped the ball, but the umpire
called the double play. We would lose by two runs in extra innings. What made the loss even
worse was the team we lost to played in the playoff tournament with eight players and were
swept in two games. Carl won the batting title with a .717 average and Eric Wooten won his
second MVP. Despite the good season we were once again shocked when Todd's illness returned
in full force.
Fall 2002
We did not field a Viper team in the Fall of 2002. Myself and many of the key players played on
Carl's team in the fall.
Spring 2003
Another good season saw us finish 13-7 and in 2nd place. We competed for the division title and
should have won it. However, a few bad breaks cost us the title as we fell only one game short.
This was the first season of the Miken Ultra II and we saw an increase in the power numbers.
We also added another huge member to our team. Dave Marsh stepped into our leadoff role and
immediately sparked the team. He even lead the team with five homers. Eric won his first
batting title and his third MVP award. As our season ended we received the horrible news that
Todd had lost his battle with his illness and passed away. Todd will always be remebered as a
great friend. We will always remember Todd and his wife Erika in our prayers.
Fall 2003
The fall was another disappointing season as we finished 8-6. We dropped several games that we
should have won and finished in third place. However, with the Miken Ultra II we set several
team records. We added Ron Pack to the team. Ron is quite possibly the best power hitter we
have ever had on our team. Ron managed to connect for 12 homers. Ron also captured his first
batting title and first MVP award. With the Ultra II being banned we will be hard pressed to
match the offensive numbers from this season; especially the thirteen homers in one game.