WNYSOMBL 1996/1997 Final Standings

																					
						W	L	Pct.	GB
x-Hershey Squirts (J.Wilke)			48	36	0.571	-
z-Steubenville Rosedanders (E.Taylor)		46	38	0.548	2
y-Hagerstown Storm (J.Brierley)			44	40	0.524	4
y-East Aurora Indians (D.Davis)			44	40	0.524	4
y-Tonawanda Tarantulas (R.Golata)		42	42	0.500	6
y-Bronx Stukas (R.Vallari)			39	46	0.459	9.5
Black Rock Dodgers (S.McKee)			38	47	0.447	10.5
West Seneca (D.Polley)				36	48	0.429	12

	Bronx def. Black Rock in 1 game playoff for final playoff spot	
					
Playoffs:							
Round 1:	Bronx def. Hagerstown						
 		Tonawanda def. E.Aurora						

Semifinals:	Hershey def. Bronx						
		Steubenville def. Tonawanda						

WORLD							
SERIES:		HERSHEY (J.Wilke) def. STEUBENVILLE (E.Taylor)						



After showing signs of life the previous year, Jerry Wilke came of age.  This was 							
the season that everything fell into place for the Squirts, who had an overwhelming							
pitching staff led by Greg Maddux.  Although they fell to Hershey in the finals in 5							
games, and were still looking for their first title, Steubenville impressively reached the 							
World Series for the 3rd time in 4 years - hard to do in an era where parity had taken							
hold.  This was the first year for Sean McKee's expansion Black Rock Dodgers.							
Hagerstown had its first winning record in 7 seasons of play and gained respectability							
as an up and coming franchise.