B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 56 – November 2, 2023
Weather: Sunny and dry all day, temperatures in the low 50s at 10:00, rising to the low to mid 60s.
Games of Thursday November 2: All of the day’s games were played as one-pitch contests, with the aim of finishing early and getting to the eating part of the day.
10:00 a.m., Gray (2-6) at Green (2-6):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 3 5 4 1 18 Green 0 5 2 5 0 12 Pitchers: Gray – Greg Lloyd (odd-numbered innings) and Jerry Mylius (even-numbered innings); Green- Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Gray – Tim Coles, Rex Horvath, and Howard Spates. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Stone; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Rick Kahn (4 for 4 with two triples) and Howard Spates (2 for 2 with a walk); Green – Tommy Deleon and Mike Hill (each 3 for 3), Buddy Gaswint (2 for 2 with a walk), and Ray Pilgrim and Don Solberg (each 1 for 1 with two walks).
Going to one-pitch didn’t bother Gray at all, as they put up crooked numbers in each of the first four innings, scoring 17 of a possible 20 runs, maxing out in the first (five runs on five singles and two walks) and third (five runs on three singles, a walk, Jerry Mylius’s sacrifice fly, and the first of Rick Kahn’s two triples, which drove in Greg Lloyd with the fifth run). Green had trouble solving Greg Lloyd, who held them scoreless in the first and to two runs on three singles and a walk in the third, but had better success against Jerry Mylius, reaching him for five runs in both the second (on four singles, two walks, and Clint Fletcher’s double, without making an out) and fourth (on three singles, five walks, and Gary Coyle’s sacrifice fly).
That left Gray leading 17-12 entering the buffet. Rick Kahn opened the frame with his second triple, but Tommy Deleon retired the next three hitters, Rick scoring on Tom Brownfield’s sacrifice fly to left-center. Protecting a six-run lead in the bottom half, Greg Lloyd got Boo Resnick to ground to shortstop to start the frame. Tommy Deleon singled to right field. Clint Fletcher popped a ball between the pitcher’s mound and first base that Greg was able to reach on the fly, his momentum carrying him into Tommy’s pinch-runner trying to return to first, resulting in a game-ending F-1, 1-unassisted double play, B Leaguers forever finding innovative ways to turn two. Final score: Gray 18, Green 12
10:45 a.m., Red (4-4) at Gold (4-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 4 3 3 0 0 10 Gold 2 1 0 5 0 8 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Gold - Jeff Stone. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Fisher; bases – Chunky Wright. Perfect at the plate: Red – Jack Kelly (1 for 1 with a walk); Gold – Denny Malloy (2 for 2 with a double and a walk). Homerun: Tim Bruton (inside the park).
Closest game of the day. Red had the better of it in the early going, building a 10-3 lead through three innings, scoring four times in the first as the first six batters of the game reached safely on a walk and five singles, the first four scoring. Gold got two back in the home half, as Ralph Villela led off with an infield single (groundball to shortstop Jack Spellman; I fielded it cleanly, looked up, and Ralph somehow was two steps from first base) and Tim Bruton followed with a line drive down the right-field line, a foot or two fair, that rolled all the way to the fence, Tim easily circling the bases for a two-run inside-the-park homerun.
I didn’t get a picture of Tim Bruton today, but here he is with Gold manager Dave Berra following a round-tripper he hit earlier this season.
That was all Gold managed in the first, Jack Kelly retiring the next three hitters, Jeff Stone and Tim Coles on flies to David Ferley, ranging widely in right-center, and Jack McDermott on a foul third strike, the first of five Ks Jack Kelly recorded in the game.
Jack drew a one-out walk in the top of the second, his pinch-runner scoring the first of three runs that came on two-out doubles by David Ferley and Adam Reddell. Gold got one run back on three singles in the bottom half. Red won the third inning also, scoring three again, on a walk, three singles, and Jack Spellman’s two-out double. Gold did not score in its half, as Jack Kelly got two quick outs on balls struck foul, allowed singles to Tim Coles and Jack McDermott, then retired James Chavana on a liner to Paul Rubin in left-center.
Gold got back into the game in the fourth. Jeff Stone worked a scoreless top half, working around Ken Mockler’s two-out infield hit. Gold then scored five times in the home half, the first six batters hitting safely – Mike Garrison and Denny Malloy led off with doubles, the next six singled – and Jeff Stone delivering the fifth run with a sacrifice fly to left-center.
That cut Red’s lead to two runs entering the buffet. Red did not score in the top half – Terry Thompson drew a lead-off walk, but Gene Nelson took a called strike three on an unhittable pitch that ticked the front of the mat, Sam Baker grounded into a fielder’s choice, Terry forced at second, and Hal Darman lined out to shortstop Tim Bruton.
Gold needed two to tie. Jack Kelly got two quick outs to start the inning, retiring Tim Coles on a fly to David Ferley in right-center and Jack McDermott on a sky-high fly to Ken Mockler in left. James Chavana and Mike Garrison singled. Denny Malloy took a bases-loading walk that I suspect, following Denny scorching the ball in each of his first two at bats, was semi-intentional. Rip Wright came up with the tying run in scoring position, but fouled off Jack Kelly’s offering for the final out. Final score: Red 10, Gold 8
12:30 p.m., Maroon (6-2) at Blue (6-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 0 0 0 1 0 1 Blue 5 0 2 0 X 7 Pitchers: Maroon – Joe Bernal; Blue – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Maroon – Rick Jensen, Ray Pilgrim, and Adam Reddell. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Jack Spellman and Howard Spates. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Ken Brown (1 for 1 with a double and a walk) and Rick Jensen (1 for 1); Blue – Spike Davidson, Eddy Murillo, and Morgan Witthoft (each 1 for 1 with a walk), Larry Fiorentino (2 for 2 with a double), Anthony Galindo (two walks), and George Romo (2 for 2).
With two excellent pitchers working with the rover behind them, no surprise that this was a low-scoring game – in fact, after Blue scored five times in the bottom of the first, on Bobby Miller’s lead-off double, a walk, and five singles, the two teams combined to score only three runs the rest of the way. Maroon didn’t get a runner home until the fourth inning, stranding two runners in the first, one in the second, and none in the third, that inning ending with Spike Davidson starting a 1-rover-3 double play, Larry Fiorentino on the pivot, following Rick Jensen’s one-out single.
Blue got two more runs in the third due to an uncharacteristic spot of wildness by Joe Bernal, who walked three out of four batters following Larry Fiorentino’s one-out double. George Romo singled after the first walk, loading the bases, and free passes to Morgan Witthoft and Eddy Murillo forced in the runs. Joe made a terrific fielding play to end the inning, however, backpedaling and snagging Fritz Hensel’s grounder up the middle, tagging second himself, and throwing to first to just beat runner-from-home Larry Fiorentino, for a 1-unassisted, 1-3 double play.
Maroon ended Spike Davidson’s shutout bid in the next half-inning: Ken Brown doubled to left leading off and scored on Scott Wright’s single to right. Rex Horvath’s grounder up the middle normally would have been a single, but was fielded by Larry Fiorentino, who converted it into a rover-unassisted, rover-3 double play. Spike then got Johnny Lee to foul off a pitch for the third strike – you don’t need me to report the widespread response among those who witnessed this.
Blue did not score in the bottom of the fourth, Joe Bernal retiring three batters in a row after walking Spike Davidson and allowing a line single to Mark Dolan to open the inning. That left Maroon chasing six to tie in the top of the buffet. Marvin Krabbenhoft grounded out to shortstop George Romo to start the frame. Joe Bernal singled. Tom Kelm popped a ball to third base, and Joe was doubled up off first, 5-3, for the final out. Final score: Blue 7, Maroon 1
Standings – Session Four:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 7 2 .778 — 121 94 +27 W3
Maroon 6 3 .667 1 117 100 +17 L1
Red 5 4 .556 2 124 109 +15 W1
Gold 4 5 .444 3 113 122 – 9 L1
Gray 3 6 .333 4 96 123 -27 W1
Green 2 7 .222 5 110 133 -23 L4
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 4-0 3-2 1 0-0 1-0 2-1
Maroon 3-2 3-1 2 0-1 1-0 3-1
Red 2-2 3-2 2 0-0 2-0 2-2
Gold 3-2 1-3 0 0-0 1-0 0-2
Gray 0-4 3-2 0 0-0 0-4 1-1
Green 1-4 1-3 0 1-0 0-1 0-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 6 6 7 4 2.5 6 31.5
Gold 3 X 4 7 4 1 4 23
Gray 2 5 X 5 4 2 6 24
Green 3 4 4 X 4 4 4 23
Maroon 5 6 4 4 X 3 6 28
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 4 4 5 3 3 X 23
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 18.5 26 24 28 20 15.5 28 159
Schedule for Monday November 6:
10:30 a.m.: Gold (4-5) at Gray (3-6), Green umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Blue (7-2) at Green (2-7), Gold umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Red (5-4) at Maroon (6-3), Blue umpiring
Preview: With five sets of games left to play, only three games separate the top four teams. It’s a must-win game at 10:30 – the loser of Gold (4-5) at Gray (3-6) will practically be eliminated from contention for the session. At 11:30, last-place Green (2-7) has an opportunity to drag first-place Blue (7-2) back to the pack. And Red (5-4) and Maroon (6-3) will battle for second place at 12:30. Will everyone show up Monday morning exhausted following the overnight switch back to Standard Time? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
We enjoyed a splendid post-games luncheon, catered by Lupe’s Tortilla, with wonderful desserts brought by Lisa McDermott and Mike Velaney. President Jack McDermott introduced the 2024 Board of Directors, including incoming President Anthony Galindo.
Terry Watts introduced the 2024 Texas Senior Softball Hall of Fame inductees:
C League’s Roger Geras…
Tommy Deleon…
and Johnny Lee.
Special “Xtra” presentations were made as well to the many individuals who go above and beyond to help with setting up in the morning and breaking down at day’s end (thank you, Greg Lloyd!) and umpiring. And a hat tip as well to Daniel Baladez for pulling together the picture book he distributed during the luncheon.
Larry Fiorentino
Jack Kelly
Greg Lloyd
George Brindley
President-in-waiting Anthony Galindo