Game Day Gazette
May 22, 2025
Hot and humid day that saw a pitcher’s duel and a slugfest, so you never know what you are going to get when you come out to the ballpark!
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Pioneers (4-2-0) vs. Sultans (2-4-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Pioneers welcomed Jack Adams back to the lineup and the skipper role after being out for a couple of games. Pioneers still struggling with injuries and other departures resulting in drawing three mercenaries to fill out today’s lineup.
Pioneers-Scott Wright opened the game by flying out to CF on a nice catch by Barry “Wille Mays” McRee. Jack Adams singled and moved to 2B on Mike Carroll’s base hit. Gene Nelson bounced into a fielder’s choice at 2B for the 2nd out. Mickey Poole ended the inning on a groundball to 2B. 2nd– Larry King struck out leading off the 2nd. Sal Lopez followed with a ground out to Adam Gordon at shortstop. The Pioneers rallied with consecutive hits by Bubba Barnett, Bobby Miller and Henry Flores to load the bases. Jack Kelly was able to coax Margarito Canava into a ground out to SS for the final out of the 2nd scoreless innings for the Pioneers.
Sultans- Phil Stanch led off with a line single to right. Donnie Janac hit a comebacker to P Sal Lopez, who for the ball to 2B to force out Phil for the 1st out. Ray Pilgrim then bounced into an inning ending 6-4-3 double play. 2nd– Gary Coyle walked to open the 2nd. Jeff Broussard flew out to CF for the 1st out. Adam Gordon singled but Lucky Hoffman fouled out for the 2nd out. Jack Kelly hit into a fielder’s choice out at 2B to retire the side as the Sultans failed to score in the first two innings.
End of 2nd Score: Pioneers 0 Sultans 0
Third Inning Recap:
Pioneers– Scott was retired on a fly ball to CF to open the 3rd inning. Jack doubled but could not advance on Mike’s ground out to short for the 2nd out. Gene followed with an infield single to the right side. Jack attempted to “steal” 3B but was gunned down by a nice throw from Jack Kelly for the final out and the 3rd consecutive scoreless inning for the Pioneers.
Sultans- in what was clearly shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel, the Sultans were unable to push across any runs in the 3rd. Jim Aaron lined out to Jack at SS to lead off the frame. Barry McRee and Tom Kelm had back-to-back singles as the Sultan’s mercenaries pumped a little life into the lineup. The scoring threat quickly ended as Phil hit into a 1-6-3 double play to end the Sultan’s 3rd scoreless inning.
End of 3rd Score: Pioneers 0 Sultans 0
Fourth Inning Recap:
Pioneers- Jack Kelly continued to deal in the 4th as he hurled his fourth straight shout out inning. Mickey led off with a ground out to short (Adam played an excellent defensive game at Ss in this game!). Larry and Sal followed with back-to-back singles, but Jack was able to get a force out at 3B for the 2nd out. Barry made the defensive play of the game as he made a fine running catch on Bobby Miller’s sinking line drive to CF for the 3rd out (hit was likely to be a three-run inside the park home run if it gets by Barry!)
Sultans- the slumbering Sultans bats finally awoke in the 4th as they pounded their way to a huge five-run inning. Donnie led off the inning with a line single up the middle. Sal retired Ray on a flyball to CF for the 1st out. Gary smacked a double to score Donnie with the 1st run of the game. Jeff followed with a flyball to CF that Bobby apparently lost in the “sun” that fell in for an RBI triple as Gary scored on the hit. Adam singled to score Jeff with the Sultans 3rd run of the frame. Lucky bounced into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Jack drew a walk, and Jim A. ripped a single to left to drive in the 4th run. Barry continued his day in the sun with a line shot to CF to drive in the 5th run.
End of 4th Score: Sultans 5 Pioneers 0
Fifth Inning Recap:
Pioneers- Crafty veteran P Jack Kelly continued to baffle the Pioneer hitters as he twirled his fifth consecutive shutout inning of the game. Henry led off by grounding out to Adam at SS. Margarito hit into a groundout to 3B as 1B Jim Aaron made a nice swipe tag on a throw up the line by Gary. Scott hit a rope to right, and Jim was able to get a glove on it but Scott was safe at 1B as no one covered the bag. Jack Adams grounded back to Jack Kelly for the final out of the inning.
Sultans– extended their lead with three more runs in the 5th. Tom K. led off the inning with a single to left. Phil and Donnie produced back-to-back hits to load the bases with nobody out. Ray ripped a hard single to left to drive in two runs. Gary popped out to 2B for the 1st out. Jeff lined a ball to left and the outfield relay to 2B beat Ray for a force out and the 2nd out of the inning, Adam knocked in the 3rd run with a single to left to finish the scoring.
End of 5th Score: Sultans 8 Pioneers 0
Sixth (Open) Inning Recap:
Pioneers– now chasing eight runs, Mike led off the inning with a sharply hit double to right. Gene singled to score Mike with the Pioneer’s 1st run of the day. Mickey’s single moved to 2B. Larry bounced out to Adam who made the force at 2B for the 1st out. Sal drove in the 2nd run on a sacrifice fly to left field. Bubba ended the contest by flying out to RF as the Sultans won decisively by a final count of 8-2.
Final Score: Sultans 8 Pioneers 2
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Senators (2-3-0) vs. Keystones (2-3-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Senators- Terry Thompson led off the game with a flyball to left that Barry McRee made a fine tumbling catch on for the 1st out. Greg Lloyd singled and moved to 3B on Raul DeLeon’s double. Tim Coles drove in the 1st two runs of the game with a booming double to left. Terry Watts single drove in Tim with the 3rd run. Henry Flores singled, moving Terry to 2B and he scored on Curt Ashmos’ base hit to left. Will Scheerer wrapped up the inning with an RBI single to right for the 5th run of the inning. 2nd-P Tommy DeLeon shut down the Senators in the 2nd allowing only a leadoff hit by Rick Parker.
Keystones– battled back to take the lead after the first two innings. John Flowers opened the game with a line single to right. Alex Valles flew out to LF for the first out. Patrick Schmidt fouled out for the 2nd out. Ken Brown followed with a double that turned into a home run as Tim’s throw to get John at the plate sailed over Roger’s head. Ken affirming that speed truly is a weapon in this game, scored all of the way from 2B on a play for a “homerun”. 2nd-Mike Mordecai led off the 2nd with a single. Margarito Canava followed with a single to put runners on 1B and 2B. Barry McRee crushed a ball that went over the outfielder’s head for a two-run triple. Tommy DeLeon followed with a double to right, scoring Barry with the 3rd run. Morris Carter knocked Tommy’s pinch runner with a single. Paul Rubin finished up the inning with a double to left field scoring the pinch runner to complete the Keystones five-run inning.
End of 2nd Score: Keystones 7 Senators 5
Third Inning Recap:
Senators– Greg and Raul opened the inning with back-to-back singles. Tim followed with another well-struck double that scored both runners to knot the score at 7-7. Terry W. singled to move Tim to 3B, but he was stranded there as Henry hit into a fielder’s choice and Curt ground out to end the inning.
Keystones– the top of the Keystones lineup came through in the 3rd as John and Alex both singled to start the inning. Patrick drove in the 1st run with an opposite field line single. Ken laced a hit to left center and somehow managed to race around the bases amidst the errors and overthrows to get his 2nd home run of the game. This one was good for three runs and staked the Keystones to an 11-7 lead. Bobby H. followed with a double, but Raul was able to retire the next two batters to avoid any further damage. top half of the inning.
End of 3rd Score: Keystones 11 Senators 7
Fourth Inning Recap:
Senators-Tommy retired the Senators in order in the 4th getting Will on a grounder to SS, striking out Rick and retiring Roger on a liner to 2B.
Keystones– managed to scratch out a run on a double by Tommy and an RBI single from John to add to their lead.
End of 4th Score: Keystones 12 Senators 7
Fifth Inning Recap:
Senators- tied the game with a five-run outburst in the 5th. Jerry singled to start the inning and was followed by hits from Terry T. and Greg to load the bases with nobody out. The Senators offense was led by Raul & Tim in this game as they combined to go 8-8 on the day with five doubles and a home run. They also accounted for a whopping twelve runs batted in. Raul drilled a ball to deep left field for a two-run double and Tim followed with a line single to right to drive in two more runs. Terry W. flew out to right for the 1st out. Henry’s single moved Tim to 3B. Curt ground into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out but Will came up with his 2nd big RBI of the game to drive in Tim with the 5th run.
Keystones– put up two runs to regain the lead in this seesaw affair. Patrick and Ken opened the inning with back-to-back double to put the 1st run on the board. Bobby singled to score Ken with the 2nd run. Mike bounced into a fielder’s choice at 2B for the 1st out. Margarito’s single put runners on 1B and 2B with one out. Barry lined a ball to left center for a double, but Tim’s relay throw home to Roger just beat Mike to the plate for the 2nd out. Tommy was retired for the final out as the Keystones clung to a two-run advantage heading into the buffet.
Sixth (Open) Inning Recap:
Senators-Rick led off the buffet with a single but was forced out at 2B on Roger’s groundout. Jerry singled and Roger’s pinch runner scored on Terry T. line single to left. Greg’s single loaded the bases for the heart of the Senators order. Raul blasted a drive off the left field fence to clear the bases for with a three-run double. Not to be outdone by his slug mate, Tim followed with a soaring flyball that easily cleared the fence for a two-run homer. Terry W. singled but Tommy retired the next two hitters to keep the Senators lead to four runs.
Keystones– now trailing by four runs, the Keystones failed to answer the bell and could only score one run in the inning. Morris struck out on a perfect pitch on the outside corner by Raul. Paul lined a pitch over Tim’s head that got past the left center fielder allowing Paul to circle the bases for an inside the park home run. But it was too little, too late as Raul retired John and Alex on infield grounders to end the game.
Final Score: Senators 18 Keystones 15
2nd Session Standings:
As a result of their loss to the Sultans, the Pioneers now trail the session leading Braves by .50 games. All the other teams remain in close proximity of the lead so anyone can still win in this session.
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 2nd Session |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0.667 |
74 |
55 |
19 |
– |
|
Pioneers |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0.571 |
81 |
85 |
-4 |
0.50 |
|
Senators |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0.500 |
82 |
87 |
-5 |
1.00 |
|
Sultans |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0.429 |
84 |
78 |
6 |
1.50 |
|
Keystones |
2 |
4 |
0 |
0.333 |
65 |
81 |
-16 |
2.00 |
Full Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season To-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
13 |
5 |
0 |
0.722 |
245 |
179 |
66 |
– |
|
Pioneers |
10 |
9 |
0 |
0.526 |
212 |
229 |
-17 |
3.50 |
|
Senators |
9 |
9 |
0 |
0.500 |
241 |
245 |
-4 |
4.00 |
|
Keystones |
7 |
11 |
0 |
0.389 |
220 |
236 |
-16 |
6.00 |
|
Sultans |
7 |
12 |
0 |
0.368 |
226 |
255 |
-29 |
6.50 |
The Braves stretched their lead over the 2nd place Pioneers to 3.50 games and appear to be in control at this point but it’s a long season and anything can happen so stay tuned!
Next Games: Monday May 26, 2025
No games scheduled for Monday as we will be taking the day off to celebrate the Memorial Day holiday! Special thanks go out to all of those men and women that paid the ultimate price to defend this country and for their families that suffered the loss of their loved ones.
Central Texas Food Bank contribution/ ASSL Raffle
Hey Fellow ASSL Players,
ASSL, Beebe Sports, and Southwest Assets are teaming up to sponsor a raffle with great prizes with all proceeds going to support the Central Texas Food Bank. This is to provide much needed food to families in need around Austin. In exchange for a small donation, you will be entered into the raffle to win the following prizes donated by our sponsors:
THE GRAND PRIZE (1st Draw): 2025 Short Porch Kevlar/ Spin Tech Wig Popper Black Out Senior Slowpitch Bat – 1-pc / 12 in – .5 load (value: $240) You choose the bat weight.
The 2nd DRAW PRIZE: A Pair of Beebe Sports Men’s Oahu Turf Shoes (value: $79.99) You choose color/size.
To Enter to Win, just click the link below:
Give Back and Win Big! All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Central Texas Food Bank to help needy families.
Many thanks for participating,
Terry Thompson
Note: If you are using an Apple device to enter the raffle, after you hit “Submit” at the bottom of the entry form, please check at the top of the form to see if Apple is asking you to verify your entry. (i.e., showing some pictures and asking you to choose those that are similar.)
Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial day!
Paul Rubin