B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 22 – June 17, 2024
$1.50 (Prices in Oahu may be higher)
Roster notes:
Peter Atkins has returned to B League, and has been assigned to Orange team.
Thomas Langa has been moved from Orange to Red team.
Game play notes:
Beginning with today’s games, a new ball will be used for each game – hurrah!
Games were moved back to Krieg 3 – also hurrah!
The opposite of hurrah: Gray team’s Gary Coyle is out for about six weeks after suffering ligament damage playing at Sun City Saturday, taking a sky-high pop off the middle finger of his throwing hand after your correspondent failed to call him off the ball. (Yes, dear reader, it was entirely my fault.)
Weather: Temperature was 84 degrees at the start of the 10:30 game, humidity at 65%, mostly sunny. (It was nice to get some occasional cloud cover and breezes.) Temperature gradually rose to the low 90s. Not the worst day ever.
Games of Monday June 17, the first of Session Three:
10:30 a.m., Red at Purple:
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 4 2 5 5 X 16 Purple 0 0 5 2 0 7 Pitchers: Red – Donald Drummer; Purple – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Red – Tommy Gillis; Purple – Donnie Janac. Umpires: home plate – Jack Crosley; bases – Mike Garrison and Mike Hill. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Bruton and Bobby Miller (each 4 for 4), Donald Drummer (1 for 1 with two walks), and Denny Malloy (2 for 2 with a walk); Purple – Peter Sundquist (3 for 3).
Red made a statement in its first game of Session 3, putting up crooked numbers in each of its four innings and flip-flopping a very solid Purple team that took a couple innings to get untracked, then couldn’t escape the hole they’d found themselves in. Red’s first four batters singled, and then Morgan Witthoft smacked a one-hop double off the fence in left, and three runs scored before Purple finally recorded on out, Adam Reddell out on a bang-bang play at home, 5-2, Rick Jensen to Rip Wright, on Hal Darman’s grounder down the third-base side. Denny Malloy’s single loaded the bases. Boo Resnick lined out to Peter Sundquist in left-center for the second out. Donald Drummer worked a base on balls, forcing home Morgan with the fourth and final run of the frame, as Rick Jensen made an excellent play on a hard grounder to his left by Tommy Gillis, the tenth batter of the inning, and snapped a throw to Mike Velaney at second for the third out.
Donald Drummer did not allow Purple a run in either of the first two innings, working around Peter Sundquist’s one-out single in the bottom of the first, and singles by Rick Jensen and Tim Coles to start the second. Donald got Jeff Stone to fly out to Tommy Gillis in left for the second out in the first, Tommy moving to his left to track down the fly, and then retired Mike Velaney on a liner to third baseman Adam Reddell. In the second, Tim Bruton went back into short left field to track down Daniel Carvajal’s short fly for the first out, then Donald got both Tom Kelm and Rip Wright to ground to Adam Reddell, who tagged third each time for the forces there.
Red had scored two runs on three singles and Morgan Witthoft’s sacrifice fly to left field in the top of the second, then made it 11-0 with five runs on a walk and six singles in the top of third, not making an out in that frame.
Purple broke through and briefly got back into the game, scoring five times in the bottom of the third, their first seven batters knocking singles, all but one to left field. Four runs had scored before Donald Drummer got Daniel Carvajal to pop out. Tom Kelm followed with a single to left that brought in Mike Velaney with the fifth run.
Red responded by putting up its second consecutive five-run inning, all the scoring coming with two out. Morgan Withhoft ripped a triple past Peter Sundquist and to the fence in center field with one out, then scored on Hal Darman’s 6-3 ground out, beating Daniel Carvajal’s quick throw home. Jeff Stone had two out and no one on base, but couldn’t get the last out. Denny Malloy walked, Boo Resnick singled, and Donald Drummer drew his second walk of the game to load the bases. Denny and Boo both scored on Tommy Gillis’s single to left. Bobby Miller’s fourth hit in as many at bats drove in Donald with the fourth run. Tim Bruton’s fourth hit in as many at bats drove in Tommy with the fifth.
Purple only got two runs back in the home half, on two-out singles by Peter Sundquist (completing a 3-for-3 day) and Jeff Stone. Mike Velaney’s hit loaded the bases, but Donald Drummer got Rick Jensen to hit a short pop back to the mound.
With Red leading by nine, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Tim Coles led off with a drive to left field that Tommy Gillis caught with his back to the fence. (Rick Jensen pointed out how similar Tim’s drive was to his own ending the previous inning, in that they were both hit in the air.) Daniel Carvajal singled to center, but Donald Drummer got Tom Kelm to ground into a 5-4 force out and Rip Wright into a 6-3 game-ending out. Final score: Red 16, Purple 7
11:30 a.m., Green at Maroon:
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 3 0 5 0 0 1 9 Maroon 0 1 2 5 5 X 13 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon; Maroon – Terry Thompson. Mercenaries: Green – Tim Bruton and Don Solberg; Maroon – Terry Thompson. Umpires: home – Adam Reddell; bases – Donald Drummer. Perfect at the plate: Green – Paul Rubin(3 for 3 with a home run and a walk); Maroon – Buddy Gaswint (2 for 2 with a walk), and Terry Thompson and Scott Wright (each 3 for 3). Home run: Paul Rubin (inside the park).
Green dominated over the first three innings, building an 8-3 lead, but Maroon won with a pair of five-run innings while holding Green to just one run over the final three frames.
Green jumped to a quick lead as Ralph Villela led off the game with a single and Paul Rubin followed with an inside-the-park home run to right-center, three of the next four batters singled, another run scoring, and Jack Crosley’s base on balls loaded the bases with two out, but Terry Thompson got Don Solberg to ground back to the box. Scott Wright led off the bottom of the inning with a line single, but was erased on an excellent 3-6-3 double play on Jack Spellman’s hard grounder that was started by and ended with Ralph Villela, who played first today, mercenary Tim Bruton taking over at shortstop and pivoting on the play. (It was a very close play at first base – /cough/safe/cough.)
Paul Rubin legged out an inside-the-park home run in the top of the first. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of Paul; here’s one from last year, with Hal Darman and Scott Sovereen.
Green didn’t score in the second after loading the bases with two outs on two walks and Mike Hill’s single, James Chavana running down Mike Garrison’s fly to left field for the third out. Maroon got on the board with one run on consecutive one-out singles by Joe Roche, James Chavana, and Buddy Gaswint in the home half.
A five-run inning by Green made it 8-1 through the top of the third, all the runs scoring with two out. Jack McDermott crushed a pitch for a triple to center field with one out. He held up on Jack Crosley’s bouncer back to the box for the second out. Don Solberg’s double scored Jack, and then Tim Bruton, Ralph Villela, Paul Rubin, and Mike Hill each singled, Don, Tim, Ralph, and Paul scoring.
Maroon got two back in the bottom of the third, on four singles, Anthony Galindo and Jimmy Sneed driving in Terry Thompson and Scott Wright with two-out knocks.
Green loaded the bases again in the top of the fourth, this time with one out, but did not score, Terry Thompson getting Jack Crosley to pop out to second baseman Scott Wright and Don Solberg to ground into a 4-6 force, Scott to Jimmy Sneed.
Mike Garrison made an excellent play to grab James Chavana’s drive to left field to start the bottom of the fourth. Buddy Gaswint walked and Alvin Gauna singled. Buddy was out at third 6-5 on Marvin Krabbenhoft’s grounder to Tim Bruton. Joe Dayoc, Terry Thompson, and Scott Wright followed with singles, Alvin, Marvin’s pinch-runner, and Joe’s pinch-runner scoring in turn. Jack Spellman drove a pitch between the left and left-center fielders to score both Terry and Scott with the fourth and fifth runs of the inning, tying the game 8-8.
Terry Thompson stymied Green again in the top of the fifth. Tim Bruton led off with a single, then was forced out at second 5-4 on Ralph Villela’s one-hop grounder to third base. Paul Rubin grounded a ball to second baseman Scott Wright’s backhand that Scott knocked down, but couldn’t make a play on. Terry then retired Mike Hill on a fly to Anthony Galindo in left-center and David Pittard on a fly to right, Alvin Gauna coming in and to his right to make an excellent basket catch of a sinking line drive.
Tommy Deleon got two quick outs in the bottom of the fifth, getting Anthony Galindo on a liner to third baseman David Pittard and, after Jimmy Sneed singled, retiring Joe Roche on a fly to Don Solberg in right field. But the next six batters singled, two or three of those squib hits that didn’t get out of the infield, and five runs came across. (On the day, every single one of Maroon’s 13 runs was scored with two out.)
That left Maroon with a five-run cushion entering the buffet. Mike Garrison ripped a triple to start the inning, then scored on Tommy Deleon’s base hit. But Terry Thompson retired the next three hitters to close out the victory, getting Jack McDermott on a pop to Scott Wright at second, Jack Crosley on a grounder back to the box (Terry made a good play to knock the ball down, retrieve it, and just manage to throw to first in time to nip Jack), and Don Solberg on another pop to Scott. Final score: Maroon 13, Green 9
12:30 p.m., Orange at Blue:
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 3 3 0 0 2 3 11 Blue 2 5 0 5 5 X 17 Pitchers: Orange – Spike Davidson; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Orange – Anthony Galindo, Adam Reddell, and Jimmy Sneed; Blue – Jack Spellman and Scott Wright. Umpires: Home plate – Marvin Krabbenhoft; bases – Eddy Murillo. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Larry Fiorentino (4 for 4 with a home run and a triple) and Jimmy Sneed (3for 3); Blue – Joe Bernal and Pat Scott (each 4 for 4), David Brown (3 for 3 with two doubles), and Jack Spellman (3 for 3). Home run: Larry Fiorentino (inside the park).
Another game that was close through three innings, but put away by the home team with five-run outbursts in the fourth and fifth innings.
Orange won the first inning, scoring three times on four hits in the top half, Ray Pilgrim’s resounding double to the fence in left-center the big blow, then holding Blue to two runs on five singles in the home half, Spike Davidson recording two strikeouts (he caught Jeff Fisher looking and got Dale Fugate to hit a two-strike foul) and leaving the bases loaded.
Orange added to its lead in the second on Larry Fiorentino’s two-out inside-the-park three-run homer, which made it 6-2 Orange, but Blue grabbed the lead with five runs in the home half. The first four batters singled and Jeff Fisher doubled, the four singles hitters scoring. Adam Reddell snagged Steve Sandall’s liner to third base, but David Brown drove Jeff in with a double.
Larry Fiorentino’s inside-the-park homer in the top of the second put Orange ahead 6-2. Here’s a nice 2023 picture of Larry.
Both teams went out in order in the third, Orange on three grounders (first to pitcher Joe Bernal, then to second baseman Jack Spellman, and then tipped off Joe’s glove to Spellman), Blue on Dale Fugate’s liner to third baseman Adam Reddell, Terry Thompson’s fly to Peter Atkins in left, and Billy Hill’s grounder to Adam.
Orange didn’t score in the fourth, either, Joe Bernal working around Jimmy Sneed’s one-out single. Blue then took control of the game with a five-run outburst in the bottom half: three singles, Jeff Fisher’s triple, and doubles by Steve Sandall and David Brown (David’s second two-bagger of the game, completing a 3-for-3 day).
Orange got a couple back in the final five-run inning, Larry Fiorentino tripling home Doc Hobar, who’d singled leading off, Larry then scoring on Ray Pilgrim’s ground out. But Blue scored five again in the bottom half, on seven singles and Jeff Fisher’s sacrifice fly to right field.
That left Orange chasing nine heading into the buffet. They got three, on five singles and Doc Hobar’s sacrifice fly to left-center, with Jimmy Sneed and Larry Fiorentino completing perfect days at the plate, before they ran out of outs. Final score: Blue 17, Orange 11
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Red 1 0 1.000 — 16 7 + 9 W2
Blue 1 0 1.000 — 17 11 + 6 W1
Maroon 1 0 1.000 — 13 9 + 4 W2
Gray 0 0 .000 .5 0 0 0 W2
Green 0 1 .000 1 9 13 – 4 L1
Orange 0 1 .000 1 11 17 – 6 L4
Purple 0 1 .000 1 7 16 – 9 L2
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Red 0-0 1-0 0 0-0 1-0 0-0
Blue 1-0 0-0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Maroon 1-0 0-0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Gray 0-0 0-0 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Green 0-0 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Orange 0-0 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Purple 0-1 0-0 0 0-0 0-1 0-0
A note about the cumulative standings: President Anthony Galindo reminds me that Session One was, essentially, a pre-season set of games used to set the rosters, which were adjusted for Session Two. (This is a change from past seasons.) Session One standings are not being counted as part of teams’ full-season records.
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 1 1 1 3 1 1 8
Gray 2 X 2 1 3 0 2 10
Green 2 0 X 2 1 2 2 9
Maroon 1 2 3 X 3 0 2 11
Orange 0 0 1 0 X 1 2 4
Purple 2 1 2 2 2 X 0 9
Red 3 1 1 1 1 3 X 10
_____________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 10 5 10 7 13 7 9 61
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Gregory Bied – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
David Brown – 1
Ken Brown – 1
Tim Bruton – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Larry Fiorentino – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
David Kruse – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Eddie Ortiz – 1
Dave Pittard – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Pat Scott – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Thursday June 20:
10:30 a.m.: Blue (1-0) at Green (0-1), Maroon umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Maroon (1-0) at Red (1-0), Blue umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (0-1) at Gray (0-0), Red umpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: These games may not get played, as there’s rain in Austin’s forecast for the coming few days, possibly extending Gray’s non-playing hiatus. Purple and Gray are scheduled to meet at 12:30, Gray looking to extend its winning streak to three games. Red and Maroon will battle for first place, the winner also extending its modest winning streak to three games. Blue looks to add to today’s momentum, and can end the day tied for first if they defeat a Green team smarting from today’s defeat. Will we see a winning streak as long as five games this season? One thing is certain: only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Mike Mordecai emcees and plays at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Mondays from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Johnny Lee and Arctic Blues are playing at Mr. Catfish as I write – too late to be helpful, I know.
I hope all the dads out there had a great Father’s Day yesterday, and an equally celebratory Bunker Hill Day today.