B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 12 – April 10, 2025
Weather report: Another beautiful spring day in Austin: 70 degrees and sunny with 59% humidity and a light breeze from the south-southwest at 8 MPH at the start of the 10:30 game. Up to 84 degrees with 40% humidity and a southerly breeze at 6 MPH at the start of the 12:30 contest.
Games of Thursday April 10:
10:30 a.m., Orange (1-2) at Green (1-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 1 5 4 5 X 20 Green 2 2 0 0 4 4 12 Pitchers: Orange – Ray Pilgrim; Green – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Green – George Brindley and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – Jack Kelly; bases – Tommy Gillis. Perfect at the plate: Orange – David Brown (3 for 3 with a triple), Daniel Carvajal (4 for 4 with a double), Clint Fletcher (4 for 4), and Mike Malay (4 for 4 with two doubles); Green – Chunky Wright (3 for 3 with a double). Home run: Doc Hobar (inside the park) (1).
Orange ate its Wheaties this morning and won this game with a terrific offensive outburst, collecting 27 hits over five innings, most of them line drives, five going for doubles and one, by David Brown in the bottom of the third with the bases loaded, for a triple. David was one of four Orange batters, along with Clint Fletcher, Mike Malay, and Daniel Carvajal, who were perfect at the plate in the game. Orange scored five runs in each of the odd-numbered innings, plus one the second and four in the sixth, and made just nine outs in the game. Green didn’t do anything wrong on defense, Orange just didn’t hit many balls that had any chance of being converted into outs.
Orange played well on defense also, turning two double plays and keeping Green from scoring in the third and fourth innings. Green actually had a chance to take the lead in the second inning, after holding Orange to a single run in the top half and having five of its first six batters reach in the home half, on lead-off doubles by Rick Kahn and Chunky Wright, Billy Hill’s walk, a double by George Brindley and a bases-loading single by Ralph Villela, a hard grounder to third base that Terry O’Brien got a piece of, preventing runners at second and third from advancing. Doc Hobar then hit another hard shot down the third-base side, and this one Terry was able to get to and convert into an inning-ending 5u., 5-2 double play.
Terry made two more good plays in the bottom of the third, throwing out Phil Stanch on a grounder to the 5-6 hole for the first out and nabbing Mike Garrison’s low liner for the third, completing a 1-2-3 inning by Ray Pilgrim. Ray then worked around Chunky Wright’s two-out single in the bottom of the fourth.
After Orange scored five runs on seven consecutive singles without making an out in the top half, Green trailed 20-4 entering the bottom of the fifth, when their bats finally came alive, albeit a bit too late to affect the outcome of the game. Green scored four runs on six singles in the fifth, losing their chance for a fifth to a baserunning mixup. After Jack Spellman and George Brindley singled leading off, Ralph Villela ripped a base hit to center field. I thought I could make home pretty easily, but Chunky Wright, coaching third, initially held me up; George didn’t see this till he was halfway to third. Then the ball was juggled a bit, I think by Peter Atkins, and I was able to continue home and George to third. George rounded third and considered trying for home, and Ralph, thinking George was going for it, continued to third. Except George changed his mind before reaching the commit line and started to backtrack. Ralph was actually standing on third base, but he had to backtrack, too, toward second. George had no choice but to try for home, and was caught in a rundown and finally put out – I think it went 8-6-5-2-5, Peter to David Brown to Terry O’Brien to Marvin Krabbenhoft and back to Terry; after tagging out George, Terry threw to second (either David or Mike Malay, not sure who was covering) for Ralph, who reversed again and went for third, very narrowly beating the throw (it was a force play, not a tag play, because Ralph was advancing, not retreating). Whew.
Orange still led by 12, so the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Chunky Wright, Billy Hill, and Jack Spellman opened the inning with singles, loading the bases, but Orange got two quick outs when Mike Malay grabbed George Brindley’s liner to second and doubled up Spellman off first. Ralph Villela’s single drove in the two runners who hadn’t been doubled up, and Doc Hobar followed with an inside-the-park homerun on a liner to right-center. Those turned out to be the final runs of the game. Phil Stanch and Tim Coles singled, but Ken Mockler caught Mike Garrison’s fly to left for the final out. Final score: Orange 20, Green 12
Green manager Chunky Wright has a Pluckers coupon for Doc Hobar after Doc legged out a two-run inside-the-park home run in the buffet.
11:30 a.m., Gray (1-2) at Purple (2-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 2 0 1 5 0 8 Purple 5 2 0 4 X 11 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Purple – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Gray – Peter Atkins; Purple – Joe Bernal, Mike Malay, Ray Pilgrim, and Chris Waddell. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Johnny Lee and Morgan Witthoft (both 3 for 3) and Paul Rubin (2 for 2 with a double and a walk); Purple – Mike Malay (3 for 3). Home run: Tommy Gillis (over the fence) (2) and Pat Scott (inside the park) (2).
Gray started strong, four of its first five batters knocking hits in the top of the first inning, three singles and a double by Paul Rubin, Tommy Gillis and Paul both scoring on Johnny Lee’s single past shortstop into left field. But a 6-4-3 double play, Rex Horvath to Mike Malay to Mark Hernandez, on Hal Darman’s grounder short-circuited the rally. Purple then scored five times on seven hits in the home half, establishing a lead it never gave up. Matt Levitt led off with a liner to third, caught by Peter Atkins, but that was the only out Purple made. Pat Scott followed with an inside-the-park home run to right field, Richard Battle singled, Rex Horvath doubled, the next four batters knocked sharp singles, and Purple was up 5-2.
Purple manager Larry Young happily hands a Pluckers coupon to Pat Scott after Pat’s inside-the-parker in the bottom of the first, his second home run of this season.
Dave Jaffe and Jack Kelly singled for Gray in the top of the second, but Joe Bernal got Peter Atkins to ground to third baseman Ray Pilgrim, who tagged third to put out Dave, and Tommy Gillis flied out to Pat Scott in left-center. Ray and Chris Waddell led off the bottom half with singles, then each was forced out at third, Ray 6-5 on Matt Levitt’s grounder to shortstop George Romo, Chris on Pat Scott’s grounder to third baseman Peter Atkins. Richard Battle knocked a hit to left-center that got past Paul Rubin for a two-run triple, and Purple’s lead was up to 7-2.
Gray won the next two innings, but only by a run each, scoring a singleton on a walk and three singles to start the third, only to leave the bases loaded as Joe Bernal got Hal Darman to pop out, caught Dave Jaffe looking at a called strike three, and covered second for the force there on Boo Resnick’s grounder to shortstop. Jack Kelly worked a scoreless bottom half, retiring the first two batters, allowing a double to Mike Malay and a single to Ray Pilgrim, then getting Chris Waddell to hit into a 6-4 force.
Gray scored five runs on seven consecutive one-out hits in the top of the fourth. Peter Atkins started the rally with a pop-fly single to right, and Tommy Gillis smashed a two-run home run to left-center that caromed off the light stanchion, about 20 feet up, a really impressive drive. The next five batters singled, three more runs coming across.
Boo Resnick presents his Gray teammate Tommy Gillis with a Pluckers coupon after Tommy’s over-the-fence two-run homer in the top of the fourth, Tommy’s second home run of the season. See Keggy’s Korner for a reminder of Boo’s gig at Donn’s Depot this Saturday night!
That briefly cut Purple’s lead to 8-7, but Purple got itself some breathing room by scoring four runs in the bottom half, on Richard Battle’s walk and five singles, the last four coming with two out. The second of those was Larry Young’s liner to left field that Tommy Gillis reached but couldn’t hold on to.
Purple went into the buffet holding an 11-8 lead, and Joe Bernal proceeded to retire the side in order, getting Dave Jaffe to ground out to shortstop Rex Horvath and Boo Resnick to third baseman Ray Pilgrim. The game ended with Jack Kelly popping a two-strike pitch foul down the first-base side. Final score: Purple 11, Gray 8
12:30 p.m., Maroon (1-1) at Blue (2-0):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 2 0 2 4 0 3 11 Blue 0 1 4 5 5 X 15 Pitchers: Maroon – Joe Bernal; Blue – Rex Horvath. Mercenaries: Maroon – Joe Bernal, Anthony Galindo, and Mark Hernandez; Blue – Rex Horvath, Jack Spellman, and Chris Waddell. Umpires: home – Larry Young; bases – Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Jim Foelker (3 for 3 with a triple), Jack Spellman (2 for 2 with a double and a walk), and Chris Waddell (3 for 3 with a double).
It was hitting weather, but there wasn’t much hitting getting done in the early going. Maroon, playing without its Toms (Brownfield, Fink, and Langa), scored two runs on Ken Brown’s lead-off walk and three singles in the top of the first, then was blanked in the second by Rex Horvath, who worked around Joe Bernal’s one-out single. Joe retired Blue in order in the bottom of the first, on two grounders and a fly to Ken Brown in right-center, and gave up a single run in the second, when Jim Foelker tripled with one out and scored on Daniel Baladez’s single. Joe struck out Don Solberg and Joe Dayoc on two-strike fouls in that inning, and inquired about receiving a Pluckers coupon if he could record a third strikeout. Three in one inning, maybe; three in a game? I don’t know.
Maroon increased its lead to 4-1with two runs in the top of the third. Ken Brown led off with a double and scored on Bobby Miller’s single. Tony Garcia followed with a liner back to the box that caught Rex Horvath on the right ankle. The ball dropped to Rex’s feet, and he was able to pick it up and throw to second in time to beat Bobby; Tony, upset with himself, didn’t run, and second baseman Chris Waddell had time to relay to first to complete the (painful) 1-4-3 double play. Maroon got another run on back-to-back doubles by Scott Wright and Jeff Stone.
Blue grabbed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third, on Jack Spellman’s lead-off pop-fly double, Steve Sandall’s walk, and five singles. The inning ended with Jeff Stone starting an around-the-horn double play on Daniel Baladez’s hard-hit, bases-loaded grounder to third, Jeff making a nice play with the glove to his left.
Maroon surged ahead with four runs on four singles, two walks, and Bobby Miller’s sacrifice fly to Ken Brown in right-center in the top of the fourth. Rex Horvath made another good defensive play for the first out, on a hard grounder back to the box off the bat of Ivan Budiselic; Rex knocked it down and threw to second for a force.
Blue then scored five times in the bottom half on seven singles while making just one out.
Maroon did not score in the top of the fifth, Rex Horvath working around a two-out walk to Anthony Galindo, and Blue effectively put the game away with five more runs in the home half, on four singles, a walk, and run scoring doubles by Daniel Baladez (a drive to center that scored Jim Foelker from first with the first run) and Chris Waddell (with the bases loaded, clearing them). Chris took third on Steve Sandall’s base hit. George Brindley refused a walk and popped out to third baseman Jeff Stone for the second out, but Tom Bellavia got the fifth run in with a clean single.
Maroon was chasing seven runs entering the buffet. Mark Hernandez and Ivan Budiselic started the inning with singles. Rex, always the infielder, made a good play on Ken Brown’s grounder up the middle and threw to second to force Ivan for the first out, Rex’s fifth assist of the game. Bobby Miller’s double scored Mark. Ken scored and Bobby took third on Tony Garcia’s liner to right field, a nice catch by Jim Foelker for the second out. Scott Wright walked. Jeff Stone singled, Bobby scoring, cutting Blue’s lead to four runs. A single by Jimmie Maloy loaded the bases, but Rex got Steve Hamlett to ground to shortstop George Brindley, who threw to Chris Waddell covering second for the final out of the day. Final score: Blue 15, Maroon 11
Session 2 standings:
| Session 2 | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 45 | 29 | 16 | W5 |
| Purple | 3 | 1 | .750 | 0.5 | 49 | 44 | 5 | W2 |
| Orange | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1.5 | 49 | 45 | 4 | W2 |
| Green | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 | 45 | 45 | 0 | L2 |
| Maroon | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 | 37 | 42 | -5 | L2 |
| Red | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 | 36 | 43 | -7 | L1 |
| Gray | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2.5 | 37 | 50 | -13 | L1 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins: | wins: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 2-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 1-1 | 2-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Orange | 1-1 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Green | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | ||
| Maroon | 1-1 | 0-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Red | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Gray | 1-1 | 0-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 |
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | X | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Gray | 1 | X | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Green | 0 | 1 | X | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Maroon | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Orange | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Purple | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 1 | 7 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 5 |
| TOTAL: | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
2025 season home run leaders:
Bobby Miller – 4
Tim Coles – 3
George Brindley – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Tom Belavia – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Rex Horvath – 2
Mike Malay – 1
Jimmy Sneed – 1
Jack Spellman – 1
Jeff Stone – 1
Mike Velaney – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Schedule for Monday April 14:
10:30 a.m.: Green (1-2) at Blue (3-0), Red umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Red (1-2) at Maroon (1-2), Green umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Orange (2-2) at Gray (1-3), Maroon umpiring
Purple has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Blue is threatening to run away with the session. Green, facing Blue for the third time this season, will look to notch its first win against them and bring the back to the pack – idle Purple could find itself tied for first if Blue falters. George Brindley brought cookies today, both a delicious homemade batch and pre-packaged, store-bought bunch that are from Southampton, though I’m not sure which Southampton. If it’s the England Southampton, they coincidentally were consumed on the 113 th anniversary of the departure on the maiden (and also final) voyage of HMS Titanic from that seaport. Were those cookies actually supposed to be on the ship? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Boo Resnick and Hotcakes will be playing at Donn’s Depot at 1600 West Sixth Street Saturday night, from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. This is how you’ll feel if you forget to go:
