B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 31 – for July 29, 2024
Correction: Normally I wouldn’t bother (see motto above), but in this case it’s worth getting it straight. In the recap of this past Thursday’s Gray-Red game, I wrote that the final out came when Jack Kelly fielded Gil Delossantos’s grounder back to the box and threw to first for the final out. That’s not what I had in my scorebook, but I wrote it that way because I couldn’t square what happened with what I put in the scoresheet, which was “1-6-3.” I thought that meant that Jack threw to David Kruse, starting a 1-6-3 double play, which didn’t compute because there were already two out. I’ve been provided a full description of the play, and what happened was, Gil hit the ball hard back up the middle, Jack got a piece of it, and David was able to race in, barehand the ball, and throw Gil out. So it actually was a 1-6-3 play, just the 1-6 was a redirection, not a throw, and the 6 was an assist only, no putout. It was a really excellent play on the part of both Jack and David. The Picayune is happy to correct the record.
Weather: Temperature was 83 degrees with 87% humidity at the start of the 10:00 game. It warmed a bit, into the upper 80s, maybe 90, but the humidity lessened after we got a few raindrops during the 11:00 game. It was about as nice as could be hoped for in Austin late in July.
We returned to Krieg 2, which was in good shape.
Games of Monday July 29:
10:00 a.m., Gray (6-1) at Blue (5-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 4 0 0 0 2 0 6 Blue 4 1 5 2 1 X 13 Pitchers: Gray – Tommy Deleon; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Gray – Tommy Deleon; Blue – Tim Coles and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Stone and Larry Young; bases – Rick Jensen and Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Dale Fugate (3 for 3) and Jack Spellman (3 for 3 with a double).
Big game between the session’s leading teams, both looking to extend winning streaks. Both scored four times in the first inning, Gray on six singles, the last five consecutively with two out, and Blue on a walk to Jeff Fisher and five singles, Dale Fugate’s coming with two out and tying the score.
Joe Bernal then shut out Gray over the next three innings, working around Ken Brown’s one-out single in the second – Dale Fugate made a great catch of David Kruse’s liner down first-base way for the third out – and Gary Coyle’s one-out single in the second, and then retiring the side in order in the fourth. Over a stretch of 13 batters, Joe recorded 11 outs – as Larry David would say:
Blue meanwhile scored in the home half of each of those innings, building a 12-4 lead. They got one run in the second on doubles by Jack Spellman and Pat Scott; scored five runs on seven singles in the third; and in the fourth got two runs when George Brindley tripled in Jeff Fisher following Jeff’s one-out single, then scored on George Romo’s sacrifice fly to Tommy Gillis in left-center (nice play by Tommy to run down the drive).
Gray rallied in the fourth. With one out, Tommy Deleon walked, Ken Brown singled, and David Kruse drove in both runners with a double. Tommy Gillis followed with a single, putting runners at the corners, but shortstop George Romo made a very good play on Gary Coyle’s grounder to his left, fielding it cleanly and using his momentum to tag second and then make a strong throw to first to beat Gary on a bang-bang play for an inning-ending 6u., 6-3 double play.
Something similar happened in the bottom of the fourth, as Blue got four consecutive one-out hits, starting with a double by Terry Thompson, but came away with just one run. With Terry in on Billy Hill’s line single to left field and the bases loaded, Tim Coles hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Mike Mordecai, who made a terrific glove play on the ball, tagged third for the force there, then threw home to put out Dale Fugate, ending the inning.
Billy Hill and son. Billy drove in Blue’s final run with a single in the bottom of the fifth.
Gray was chasing seven runs entering the buffet. Don Solberg led off with a single, but that was all Joe Bernal allowed in the frame. He got Donnie Janac to ground into a 6-4 force, Donnie just beating the relay to first. Mike Mordecai popped out to second. And Johnny Lee grounded to shortstop, George Romo flipping to Joe covering second for the game-ending force on Donnie. Final score: Blue 13, Gray 6, Blue extending its winning streak to four games while snapping Gray’s at six and tying Gray for first place for the session.
11:00 a.m., Purple (4-4) at Maroon (1-7):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Purple 2 0 4 5 2 3 16 Maroon 2 5 0 0 2 3 13 Pitchers: Purple – Jeff Stone; Maroon – Chunky Wright. Mercenary: Purple – Tommy Gillis. Umpires: home – Jeff Fisher; bases – Eddy Murillo and Pat Scott. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Peter Sundquist (4 for 4 with a double and a triple); Maroon – Tom Brownfield and Tommy Gillis (both 3 for 3).
Maroon battled, led early, but once again came up short.
Each team scored twice in the first inning, Purple thanks to Gregory Bied, whose triple drove in Peter Sundquist, who’d singled to start the game (grounder down the third-base line; Scott Wright made a terrific backhanded grab and a long throw, but Peter outran it), and set up Clint Fletcher’s RBI single. Maroon got those back in the home when Joe Roche walked with one out and Scott Wright, Anthony Galindo, and Tom Brownfield followed with singles. With runners on first and second and one out, Buddy Gaswint refused a walk and wound up hitting into a 1-5-3 double play, Jeff Stone to Tim Coles to Daniel Carvajal.
Purple didn’t score in the second despite getting lead-off singles by Daniel Carvajal and Jim Foelker. Mike Velaney hit into a 6-4 force, Daniel’s pinch-runner advancing to third. Rip Wright’s fly to Anthony Galindo in right-center wasn’t deep enough to bring the run home, and second baseman Tom Brownfield made an excellent play to his right of Tom Kelm’s sharp grounder and beat Mike to second for the force there.
Maroon then grabbed the lead with five runs in the home half, on a walk and five singles, Scott Wright’s coming with two out and driving in the fourth and fifth runs.
Purple took control in middle innings, scoring nine of a possible ten runs in the top of the third (four runs, all with two out, on four singles and Tim Coles’s double) and fourth (five runs on a walk, three singles, and Peter Sundquist’s double, the last two runs scoring on ground ball outs – Scott Wright made a good play on Clint Fletcher’s grounder, looked Peter Sundquist back to third, and made a strong throw to first to put out Clint, but Peter broke for home and beat Joe Roche’s throw to the plate; Joe made a quick catch-and-release, Peter was just too danged fast) and holding Maroon scoreless in the bottom of each frame. Jeff Stone worked around Tom Brownfield’s one-out single in the third, then retired the side in order in the fourth, shortstop Peter Sundquist making all three plays, two grounders and a pop.
Purple led 11-7 entering the final five-run inning. Each team scored twice – Gray on two singles, Tim Coles’s second double, and Daniel Carvajal’s sacrifice fly to right-center; Maroon on four singles.
Purple took a 13-9 lead into the buffet and added three runs on two singles and consecutive run-scoring extra-base hits by Peter Sundquist (triple, completing a 4-for-4 game), Gregory Bied (double), and Clint Fletcher (another double). Purple had three in and two on with one out, but Chunky Wright escaped the inning when both Tim Coles and Daniel Carvajal lined out, Tim on a ball down the third-base side that Scott Wright made a great grab of, snagging it when it was actually past him, Daniel on a liner to shortstop.
That left Maroon chasing seven, and they simply ran out of outs. Joe Dayoc led off, and within moments of a discussion on the bench concerning whether he should take a runner from home, the consensus being no, he might knock an extra-base hit, Joe knocked an extra-base hit, ripping a liner to left-center that gapped the outfielders. Marvin Krabbenhoft followed with a single. Alvin Gauna squared up a pitch, but Jeff Stone snagged the liner up the middle for the first out. Chunky Wright grounded into a 6-4 force. Tommy Gillis, Jack Spellman, and Joe Roche each lined clean, run-scoring singles. But Jeff got Scott Wright to foul off a two-strike pitch to end the game. Final score: Maroon 16, Purple 12
Noon, Red (4-3) at Orange (3-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Red 2 5 0 5 0 10 22 Orange 4 2 0 0 4 2 12 Pitchers: Red – Donald Drummer; Orange – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Red – Buddy Gaswint and Don Solberg; Orange – George Brindley and Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Chunky Wright; bases – Jack Spellman. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Bruton (3 for 3 with a walk and a double) and Adam Reddell and Boo Resnick (both 4 for 4*); Orange – Peter Atkins (4 for 4 with a triple). * On one of Boo's singles a runner from first was thrown out at second 9-6; I'm still crediting Boo with a hit on the play.
This one was close until it wasn’t.
Red scored twice in the top of the first on Tim Bruton’s walk, singles by Morgan Witthoft and Adam Reddell, and Denny Malloy’s sacrifice fly to George Brindley in left-center. George, hurrying to throw the ball in, dropped the ball on the transfer to his throwing hand – leastways, this was how base umpire Jack Spellman saw it and ruled. (I suspect, as with the “Do-over” call I made at Pan Am in 2015, I’m going to be reminded of this one for years to come.)
Orange came back with four in the home half, its first four batters reaching and scoring: Matt Levitt singled; Tony Garcia tripled Matt home; Rex Horvath walked; and Peter Atkins tripled in Tony and Rex, then scored on Ray Pilgrim’s sacrifice fly to Don Solberg in left field.
Red grabbed the lead – as it turned out, for good – by scoring five times on Donald Drummer’s walk and six singles in the top of the second. Orange got back within a run on Rex Horvath’s two-out, two-run double in the bottom half, a long drive to left field that scored Scott Wright, who’d singled, and Tony Garcia, who’d reached on a fielder’s choice following Matt Levitt’s single.
Neither team scored in the third, Ray Pilgrim working around a lead-off walk to Denny Malloy in the top half, Donald Drummer retiring the side in order in the bottom.
Red extended its lead to 12-2 with five runs in the fourth. Don Solberg drew a leadoff walk, Buddy Gaswint doubled, Tim Bruton and Morgan Witthoft singled, Denny Malloy tripled to right, and Hal Darman ripped a single to left. Donald Drummer then worked another scoreless frame in the home half, retiring mercenaries George Brindley and Scott Wright to begin the inning, walking Matt Levitt and allowing a single to Tony Garcia, then retiring Rex Horvath on a fly to left-center.
Boo Resnick led off the fifth with a single to the 5-6 hole, but never advanced, as Ray Pilgrim got Donald Drummer on a fly to left-center (fine running catch by George Brindley, moving to his left), Don Solberg on a liner to first baseman Jim Maloy, and Buddy Gaswint on a deep fly, almost to the fence, caught by left fielder Matt Levitt.
Orange then scored four times to get back into the game, on four singles and Jim Maloy’s triple to center field, gapping the outfielders. That cut Red’s lead to 12-10 entering the buffet, with Orange having last bats. Seemed like a winnable game, right?
Red put the kibosh on that notion, going nuts in the top half of the buffet – the team sent 11 batters to the plate, all of them reached (Tim Bruton doubled, Hal Darman walked, and everyone else except Tommy Langa singled; Tommy singled twice), and ten scored before the flip-flop was called, with Red ahead 22-10. Tim, Adam Reddell, and Boo Resnick (see * note in the line score) all completed perfect days at the plate.
Orange had the heart of its order up for the home half, and got a bit of a rally going. Tony Garcia led off with a single. Rex Horvath flied out to left field. Peter Atkins singled, completing a 4-for-4 game. Ray Pilgrim absolutely smoked a liner to center for a double, both Tony and Peter scoring. But that was it. Jim Maloy grounded back to the box for the second out. Larry Shupe, taking Tony Garcia as a runner from home, topped a two-strike in front of home plate; instinct took over, and Larry sprinted for first, almost catching up with Tony. (Larry always gives 100%.) He would have been called out for passing the commit line, but the ball he hit spun backwards into foul territory for a foul strike three – end of game. Final score: Red 22, Orange 12
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 6 2 .750 — 104 79 +25 W4
Gray 6 2 .750 — 98 89 + 9 L1
Green 5 3 .625 1 105 86 +19 W1
Purple 5 4 .556 1.5 86 97 -11 W1
Red 4 4 .500 2 109 100 + 9 W1
Orange 3 7 .300 4 110 132 -22 L1
Maroon 1 8 .111 5.5 84 113 -29 L8
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 4-1 2-1 1 0-0 0-0 1-1
Gray 2-1 4-1 1 0-0 1-1 1-0
Green 2-2 3-1 1 0-0 3-0 1-0
Purple 1-3 4-1 1 0-0 0-3 1-1
Red 1-2 3-2 1 0-0 2-0 1-1
Orange 1-5 2-2 0 0-0 1-2 1-1
Maroon 1-4 0-4 0 0-0 0-1 0-2
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 1 3 4 1 2 13
Gray 3 X 3 2 4 0 4 16
Green 2 1 X 3 2 4 2 14
Maroon 1 2 3 X 3 0 2 11
Orange 0 0 1 2 X 2 2 7
Purple 3 1 2 4 3 X 1 14
Red 3 1 2 1 3 3 X 13
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 12 7 12 15 19 10 13 88
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Gregory Bied – 2
Ken Brown – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
David Kruse – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
David Brown – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Eddie Ortiz -1
David Pittard – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Thursday August 1:
10:00 a.m.: Orange (3-7) at Gray (6-2), Green umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Green (5-3) at Red (4-4), Gray umpiring
Noon: Blue (6-2) at Purple (5-4), Red umpiring
Maroon has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: We could see a three-way tie for first at the end of the day Thursday if Orange upsets Gray (it would be their first victory of the season versus Gray), Green tops Red, and Blue defeats Purple. The five teams at the top of the standings all seem pretty evenly matched to me, a relatively objective observer at the bottom of the heap. Will the first day of August prompt wholesale absences for vacations and heat-flight? One thing is certain: It all comes down to turnout.
Keggy’s Korner:
Keggy will be spending most of the month of August in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which means the coming month’s editions of the Picayune will likely arrive a little later and be a bit shorter.
Johnny Lee and Arctic Blues will be playing at Mr. Catfish on Airport Boulevard this coming Monday night August 5 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Mike Mordecai emcees and plays at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Mondays from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.