B League news for Thursday July 25, 2024

B League Picayune

Often in error, never in doubt.

Volume 6, Issue 30 – for July 25, 2024

League president Anthony Galindo checks in:

1. Another new player has joined the league. Michael Malay, who played on Monday as a pickup, has now been assigned to the Red Team. He is replacing Terry Walker, who is out for the season. Welcome to the B League, Michael.

2. We are planning to switch from Baden softballs to Mortar balls in a month or two when we use up the remaining inventory. The C League uses Mortar balls and they are considered better than Baden so we’ll give them a try. And FYI, they cost an additional $40/doz so annually it amounts to an increase of approximately $700. This may eventually lead to higher league fees in the future, but that remains to be determined.

3. Finally, I would like to remind everyone about sportsmanship so please refrain from throwing bats and arguing with umpires.

Weather: Temperature was 81 degrees with 81% humidity at the beginning of the 10:00 game, partly cloudy. It warmed a bit, and the rain held off – about as nice a day as you could ask for in Austin in July.

Today’s games were moved to Krieg 2, in better shape for play than Krieg 3 after the week’s rain.

www.beebesports.com

Games of Thursday July 25:

10:00 a.m., Green (4-3) at Purple (4-3):

		1	2	3	4	5     BUFFET  FINAL
Green		5	0	2	5	1	X	13
Purple		3	0	0	1	0	0	 4

Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon (innings 1-2, 5-6) and David Pittard (innings 3-4); Purple – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Purple – George Brindley. Umpires: home plate – Bobby Miller and Adam Reddell; bases – Eddy Murillo. Perfect at the plate: Green – Jack Crosley and Mike Hill (both 3 for 3), Paul Rubin (3 for 3 with a double), and Ralph Villela (3 for 3 with a triple); Purple – Larry Young (2 for 2). 

Green set the tone early, its first five batters hitting safely and scoring – four singles and a two-run double by David Pittard, who scored the fifth run on Jack Crosley’s two-out line single to center. Purple spent the game playing catch-up, and never did manage to – the closest they got was scoring three times in the bottom of the first, Jeff Stone driving in Peter Sundquist and Clint Fletcher with a double that gapped the outfielders in right field, then scoring on Tim Coles’s single to left. Tim was thrown out 7-6-4 trying to stretch the hit into a double, a nice relay from Mike Garrison to Ralph Villela to Mike Hill. The inning ended with Green leading 5-3.

Neither team scored in the second. Jeff Stone worked around Phil Stanch’s two-out single in the top half. Tommy Deleon allowed singles to Rip Wright and Larry Young to put runners on first and second with one out in the home half. Jack McDermott, rotated to shortstop for the inning (Green had 12 players present; Jeff Broussard did a masterful job of giving everyone playing time in the field), made a terrific play on George Brindley’s grounder to his (Jack’s) left, flipping to Mike Hill for the force at second, and then Mike caught Peter Sundquist’s pop behind second, holding on despite colliding with Jack.

Ralph Villela led off the third with a triple to left-center and scored on Paul Rubin’s double to just about the same spot. Mike Hill hit a gapper to right field that Peter Sundquist made a great attempt on, but it hit off his glove for a single, Paul scoring. Jeff Stone then retired three of the next four batters, limiting the damage.

David Pittard took over on the mound in the bottom of the inning and kept the heart of the Purple lineup from getting anything going. Clint Fletcher popped out to shortstop and Mike Velaney lined out to left-center to start the frame. Jeff Stone worked a base on balls, but David retired Tim Coles on an opposite-field fly to Phil Stanch in right field.

Each team scored a single run in the fourth, Green on two singles and Daniel Baladez’s sacrifice fly, the top half of the inning ending when Trey Wall took off on contact on Phil Stanch’s short pop and was doubled up when Jeff Stone made the catch and fired to first. Purple got the run back with three singles in the bottom half, the last two, by Larry Young and George Brindley, with two out.

Green put the game out of reach in the fifth, scoring five times in the top half on eight singles (including Jack Crosley’s third in as many at bats, Jack continuing to absolutely scorch the ball), Tommy Deleon returning to the mound and shutting out Purple in the bottom of the frame, which ended with Ralph Villela starting a 6-4-3 double play.

With Green up by nine, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Tim Coles led off with a single,but was forced out 6-4 on Tom Kelm’s grounder to Ralph Villela, moving right to cover the 5-6 hole. Ralph then started another 6-4-3 double play on Rip Wright’s hard grounder, this one ending the contest. Final score: Green 13, Purple 4

11:00 a.m., Red (3-3) at Gray (5-1):

		1	2	3	4	5     BUFFET  FINAL
Red		3	3	0	2	3	2	13
Gray		3	2	5	1	5	X	16

Pitchers: Red – Gil Delossantos; Gray – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Red – Jack Spellman and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone; bases – Larry Young. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Bruton and Adam Reddell (both 4 for 4); Gray – Ken Brown (3 for 3 with a walk), Gary Coyle (4 for 4 with a triple), and Johnny Lee (3 for 3). 

A hard-fought game that Gray put away with a pair of five-run innings.

Both teams scored three times in the first inning, Red on five singles, Gray on Ken Brown’s lead-off walk, three singles, and Gary Coyle’s two-run triple.

Red scored another three in the top of the second, again on five singles, the last three coming with two out. Jack Kelly got good outfield defense to limit the damage, Donnie Janac in right field catching two flies and Tommy Gillis in left-center running down Morgan Witthoft’s drive to end the inning.

Gray got two runs back in the home half, Ken Brown, David Kruse, and Tommy Gillis knocking two-out singles. I’ll hear about it if I don’t mention the catch Jack Spellman made, backhanded in foul territory, of Mark Dolan’s fly to left field for the second out. It was a good enough catch, but one that Peter Sundquist, with whom I was alternating in left field, would have made without all the fuss.

The third inning was the turning point. Jack Kelly worked a scoreless top half, allowing a one-out single to Denny Malloy but getting Gil Delossantos to ground to David Kruse, who started a 6u., 6-3 double play. Gray then scored five times in the home half, on six singles and Mark Dolan’s walk, while making just one out, Mike Maloy snagging Jack Kelly’s liner down the first-base side.

That put Gray ahead 10-6. Red won the fourth inning 2-1, scoring two runs on four singles in the top half. Gray had a double, a triple, and two singles in the home half, but came away with just the one run as David Kruse was thrown out 7-6-5 (Jack Spellman to Tim Bruton to Adam Reddell – Tim’s relay was a flat-out laser strike) trying to stretch his lead-off double into a triple. Tim then snagged Tommy Gillis’s liner for the second out. Don Solberg whacked a triple and scored on Gary Coyle’s single. Johnny Lee also singled, his third hit in as many at bats, but Tim Bruton, a force in the field all game, converted Frank Delmonte’s grounder into an inning-ending 6-4 force.

Red tied the game with three runs on five hits (Morgan Witthoft’s lead-off double and four singles) in the top of the fifth, and had a chance to go into the buffet tied 11-11 when Gil Delossantos retired Jack Kelly on a pop and Donnie Janac on a grounder, both to shortstop Tim Bruton, to start the bottom half. But Gil walked Mike Mordecai, and the next six batters singled, five runs scoring. Gary Coyle was the hitting star for Gray, going 4 for 4 with a triple, driving in four runs, including the fifth run in the bottom of the fifth, and scoring twice.

Needing five to tie, Red got the buffet inning started with consecutive singles by Tim Bruton and Adam Reddell (each completing 4-for-4 games) and Mike Maloy, Tim scoring. Morgan Witthoft grounded into a 6-5 force for the first out. Tommy Langa singled, his third hit of the game. Denny Malloy squared up on a pitch, but Johnny Lee snagged his liner down the first-base side – two out. Gil Delossantos was next. Jack Kelly fielded Gil’s grounder back to the box and threw to first for the final out. Final score: Gray 16, Red 13

Noon, Orange (2-6) at Maroon (1-6):

		1	2	3	4	5     BUFFET  FINAL
Orange		1	5	0	2	0	2	10
Maroon		0	1	5	0	0	3	 9

Pitchers: Orange – Spike Davidson; Maroon – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Orange – Adam Reddell; Maroon – Tim Bruton. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Mark Dolan. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Joe Roche (1 for 1 with a double and two walks) and Scott Wright (3 for 3). 

Two teams at the bottom of the standings, but they battled hard and to the final out. Tony Garcia opened the game with a triple, might well have made it home on the play, but, as he explained later, didn’t want to deprive a teammate of an easy RBI. Larry Fiorentino provided that, with a single. Peter Atkins also singled, but Chunky Wright escaped the jam, getting Ray Pilgrim to hit into a 6-4-3 double play (nice pivot by Tom Brownfield) and Spike Davidson to hit a two-strike foul.

Spike then worked a scoreless bottom half. Joe Roche walked with one out, but couldn’t get back to first on James Chavana’s line out to second baseman Jimmy Maloy, who threw to Ray Pilgrim to complete an L-4, 4-3 double play.

Orange’s first five batters of the second inning, the bottom half of its lineup, singled to start the second inning (technically singles, but Larry Shupe’s was a grounder to shortstop that Jack Spellman threw away, trying for the force at third; I only had all the time in the world to make a half-decent throw), and all of them scored – Matt Levitt and Jimmy Maloy on singles, Larry on Tony Garcia’s sacrifice fly to Buddy Gaswint in right-center field, and Dave Berra’s pinch-runner and Adam Reddell on Peter Atkins’s double.

Maroon got on the board with a run on three singles in the bottom half, two-out hits by Buddy Gaswint and Joe Dayoc bringing Scott Wright home.

Orange threatened but did not score in the top of the third. Ray Pilgrim walked and Spike Davidson singled to start the inning. Anthony Galindo in left-center made a fine running catch of Matt Levitt’s drive for the first out, and Chunky Wright got Jimmy Maloy to hit a two-strike foul. Larry Shupe’s single loaded the bases, but Chunky got Dave Berra to hit a two-strike foul, stranding three.

Maroon came roaring back in the home half and tied the game with five runs on eight consecutive hits (seven singles and Joe Roche’s double), without making an out.

The game turned into a defensive struggle over the final three innings. Orange took the lead with two runs on four singles and Peter Atkins’s sacrifice fly in the top of the fourth. Spike Davidson retired the side in order in the bottom half. Neither team scored in the fifth. Orange had two on and one out with Adam Reddell up in the top half, but second baseman Tom Brownfield made a terrific play on Adam’s hard grounder to his right, and Adam was out on a bang-bang play at the back end of a 4-6-3 double play. Spike Davidson got two quick outs to start the home half, allowed a double to Jack Spellman and a walk to Joe Roche (completing a perfect day at the plate), and then got James Chavana to hit a two-strike foul down the left-field side, foul by inches.

Orange led 8-6 entering the buffet and added two runs. Tony Garcia singled leading off and came around to score on Larry Fiorentino’s triple to the fence in center field. Larry scored on Peter Atkins’s second sacrifice fly, a knuckling liner to James Chavana in left field – James made a good play to make the catch, then a good throw in to Scott Wright, who turned and fired a strike home that only missed cutting Larry down by about two seconds/20 feet. Ray Pilgrim singled and Spike Davidson walked, but Chunky Wright got Matt Levitt to hit into a 6-5 force and Jimmy Maloy to fly out to left-center to end the inning.

Maroon needed four to tie. The bottom of the buffet started with Anthony Galindo, Scott Wright, and Tom Brownfield knocking singles, Anthony’s pinch-runner Chunky Wright coming around to score. (From this point, my reconstruction of events may or may not be totally accurate – my scorebook is a mess.) Buddy Gaswint grounded to third baseman Adam Reddell, who tagged out Scott (I think, or maybe he stepped on third base) for the first out. Joe Dayoc hit into a 6-4 force for the second, Tom’ pinch-runner advancing to third. Buddy ran for Joe at this point, maybe, I think, probably. Marvin Krabbenhoft singled, Tom’s runner scoring to make it 10-8. Chunky Wright singled, Buddy scoring from second on the play, as Orange threw the ball around a bit. That made it a 10-9 game with the tying run on third, the winning run at first, and Tim Bruton up – pretty much the situation Maroon wanted. But Spike Davidson got Tim to hit a grounder to the right of second base that Jimmy Maloy made a good play on, Jimmy shoveling the ball to shortstop Tony Garcia for the force at second to end the game. Final score: Orange 10, Maroon 9

Not meaning to claim outright that Tom Brownfield’s kids love him more than anyone else’s kids love their B League dads, but as a group of us were, ahem, reviewing the day’s action in Krieg 2’s version of the Beer Garden, there arrived a special delivery package, arranged by Tom’s daughter in Denver, of birthday treats. Which… draw your own conclusion.

Daniel Baladez, Anthony Galindo, and half of Tony Garcia look on as Tom prepares to open his gift.