Game Day Gazette
March 20,2025
We experienced a little of our own “March Madness” as we arrived at field #3 only to see the sprinklers working hard to water the field that we hoped to play on! Rumor is that a valve was stuck and the area between the fence and the right field foul line had been getting irrigated for most of the night! As a result, the field was unplayable, forcing a move to field #5. Our normal fallback fields (2 and 6) had been reserved for the day so they were not available. The new field created challenges including bright sun in the face of anyone on the left side, longer distance between the bases (70” vs. 65”) and a strong wind that was pushing most anything hit to the left side into foul territory. However, we were not deterred and played on after a thirty-minute delay in start time!
Game 1: 8:30 a.m. Braves (2-2-0) vs. Sultans (2-2-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Sultans– despite the cold temperatures (game time temp was 46 degrees) the Sultans came out smoking as the first seven batters reached base. Chris Villareal, Don Roets and Peter Atkins all doubled to open the game, and the Sultans quickly put up two runs. Donnie Janac, Gary Coyle, Ray Pilgrim, and Phil Stanch followed with singles to score two more runs and leave the bases loaded with nobody out. The Braves brought the infield in to try and limit any further damage. The strategy worked as Lucky Hoffman and Ray Saldana each grounded balls to shortstop Paul Rubin that were turned into force outs at home. Tom Kelm retired Chris Hurst for the final out as the Sultans were forced to settle with four runs. 2nd – Adam Gordon singled with one out but was doubled off of 1B with an inning ending double play after Doc Hobar snagged Chris V.’s liner to 2B and threw to 1B to get Adam.
Braves– responded with four runs of their own in the 1st. Doc Hobar led off with a single and scored on Bobby Miller’s double to right center. Paul walked and Tom Brownfield hit into a fielder’s choice groundout for the 1st out. Bob Steckler ripped a triple to left center to bring in two more runs. Billy Hill hit a groundball to 3B, and Bob tried to score on the play but Gary Coyle’s throw to the plate easily beat him for the 2nd out. The inning ended with a Tom Kelm groundout. 2nd– singles by Lynn Simpson and Joe Dayoc followed by a triple down the right field line by Doc Hobar brought in the 1st two runs of the inning. Bobby’s 2nd double scored Doc, but the inning ended when Paul grounded out to Ray Pilgrim.
End of 2nd Score: Braves 6 Sultans 3
Third Inning Recap:
Sultans- took the lead with a five-run outburst in the 3rd. Don singled to open the inning, but Peter was retired on a nice catch of a pop fly by Joe D. at 1B. Donnie and Gary had back-to-back hits to load the bases. Ray P. mashed a ball that flew over the center fielder’s head for a bases clearing triple. Phil followed with a single to score Ray and he came around to score on Lucky’s wicked line drive past Tom Brownfield at 3B that went for a double. Braves- in this back-and-forth affair, the Braves stormed back a five-run inning of their own to reclaim the lead. Tom B. led off with a double and scored on Billy Hill’s single. Tom K. proceeded to crush a ball down the left field line for an RBI triple. He scored on Lynn’s single for the 3rd run. Joe and Jim Foelker followed with run-scoring singles of their own as the Braves scored five and took a two-run lead.
End of 3rd Score: Braves 11 Sultans 9
Fourth Inning Recap:
Sultans- Tom K. shut down the bottom of the Sultans lineup on a single hit and got Chris to hit into an inning ending fielder’s choice groundout to hold the Sultans scoreless in the 4th. .
Braves- stretched their lead, adding two more runs in the inning. Bobby led off with a single and scored on Paul’s RBI double. Tom B.’s single drove in Paul as the Braves extended their lead to four runs.
End of 4th Score: Braves 13 Sultans 9
Fifth Inning Recap:
Sultans- would not go down without a fight as they rallied in the open inning led by hits from Don, Peter, Donnie and Ray to score the two runs, but the Sultans fell short as the Braves emerged victorious by a final score of 13-11.
Final Score: Braves 13 Sultans 11
Game 2: 9:30 a.m. Pioneers (2-2-0) vs. Keystones (3-1-0)
The combination of the good pitching, the longer distance between the bases, the cold temperatures and the strong wind turning hits down the left field line into foul balls kept the scoring down in this one.
First & Second Inning Recap:
Keystones- tallied a single run in the 1st on a double by John Flowers and an RBI single from Ken Brown. 2nd– Sal Lopez held the Kops scoreless in the 2nd helped by some excellent defense behind him. Mike Mordecai walked with one out and Robby Vickery hit a shot between 1B and 2B that had double written all over it. However, 1B Larry King ranged far to his left to snag the line drive for the 2nd out. Barry McRee singled to keep the inning alive but was forced out at 2B for the final out on Margarito Canava’s groundball.
Pioneers- Scott Wright led off with a single but was erased at 2B on Jack Adams fielder’s choice grounder. Tommy DeLeon got the next two batters to foul out to close out the inning. Umpire Tom Kelm was giving Tommy the high pitch that is Tommy’s D’s trademark making him that much more difficult to hit! 2nd– after the third batter in a row struck out, the Pioneers finally got things rolling. Larry King and Mickey Poole had back-to-back hits to get the rally started. After the 4th strike out/foul out, Bubba Barnett singled to load the bases. Art Monzingo ripped a single in the 5/6 hole to score the Pioneers first run of the day. Tom Mecredy singled in the 2nd run. The next two batters (Scott & Jack) walked forcing in two more runs. Mike Carroll wrapped up the scoring with a sharp single to right for the 5th run.
End of 2nd Score: Pioneers 5 Keystones 1
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones- cut into the Pioneers’ four run lead with two runs in the 3rd. Johnny singled to start the frame but was retired on Morris’ ground out. Mike Hill hit a line shot down the 1st base line, but Larry made his 2nd great defensive play of the game as he robbed Mike of extra bases. Alex Valles single scored Ken (pinch runner) with the 1st run. John’s single moved Alex to 3B, and he scored on Ken’s base hit. Patrick singled to load the bases, but Sal got Tommy to hit into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Pioneers- Butch Barber started the rally with a one-out double and later scored on Mickey’s two-out single. Sal and Bubba had back-to-back singles to load the bases. Art came through with another clutch hit to drive in the 2nd run of the inning. Don’t recall the details of the play but Sal was out at 3B after the run scored to retire the side.
End of 3rd Score: Pioneers 7 Keystones 3
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones- failed to score in the 4tg despite the first two batters reaching base. Mike walked and moved to 2B on Robby’s single. Barry hit into a fielder’s choice groundout to 3B. Margarito fouled out and Johnny popped out to the catcher to end the inning.
Pioneers- managed to scratch out a run on hits by Tom M., Scott, Buddy and Butch to push their lead to five runs.
End of 4th Score: Pioneers 8 Keystones 3
Keystones- down by five, the Keystones rallied with two runs on singles by Mike Hill and Alex Valles and two RBI double by Ken Brown but could not catch the Pioneers and fell by a final score of 8-5.
Final Score: Pioneers 8 Keystones 5
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 1st Session | |||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
| Keystones |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.600 |
72 |
66 |
6 |
– |
| Braves |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.600 |
69 |
57 |
12 |
– |
| Pioneers |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.600 |
60 |
56 |
4 |
– |
| Sultans |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0.400 |
56 |
72 |
-16 |
1.00 |
| Senators |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0.250 |
57 |
63 |
-6 |
1.50 |
The Pioneers win over the league leading Keystones and the Braves win over the Sultans resulted in three teams being tied atop the standings after six play dates. Despite how things may look on paper, this league remains extremely competitive, and any team can win on any given day!
Next Games: Monday March 24, 2025
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Keystones (3-2-0) vs. Braves (3-2-0)
Can the Keystones bounce back from their defeat at the hands of the Pioneers and reclaim sole leadership in the standings? Will the Braves make it three in a row and lay their claim to the top spot in the league with the Pioneers on a bye?
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Sultans (2-3-0) vs. Senators (1-3-0)
Can the Sultans climb back to the .500. Will the Senators return from their recess to get back in the race by taking down the Sultans?
The Pioneers have a bye on Monday and their players will have priority in the draw. Interestingly, no players were drawn in either game on Thursday!
Come Monday, all will be revealed! Warmer weather is coming, low of 62 degrees on Monday so have a great weekend and see you then!