B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 5 – March 19, 2026
Games of March 16 were canceled due to cold temperatures.
Department of Corrections: Paul Rubin clarifies:
For the department of corrections in the next edition… I made the throw to Scott Rokita on the ball that Jimmy Sneed hit over my head. Also, Scott got thrown out at 2B in his first at-bat so I was second (should have known better!) and Scott ended up doing it twice in the game. Thanks!
Rules maven Jeff Stone checks in:
As of 3-19-26, the rule on the scoring line will be modified. It will be added to our B league rules over the next week or so, but the rule will take effect [Thursday] 3-19-26.
Over the last few years, the scoring line has often been marked incorrectly by the city. Also, over the last few years runners have been allowed to run wide of the scoring line. It becomes difficult at times for both the runner and the umpire to determines exactly how wide is legal and how far is not.
Much like the marked run-through lines at 2nd and 3rd base which are marked and are considered “virtually endless” so the runner can run as wide as necessary to avoid a collision.
Whatever the length of the marked scoring line is, that line will extend as an imaginary line all the way to the corner of the batter’s box. Runners that run into the batter’s box will be called out. Runners are allowed to run across the marked line and imaginary line from the fence to the corner of the batter’s box.
In several places in our rule as well as SSUSA rule it says, “A base runner must avoid a fielder making a play” and “It shall remain the runner’s responsibility to avoid contact with a defender making a play”.
This will also apply to a wide throw to the catcher that takes him into the path of the runner going to the scoring line. In addition, on page 5 of our rules it talks about SSUSA rule 8.6 Avoiding collisions. It says, “Running wide into first base or the scoring line or scoring plate is only permitted to avoid a collision with a defensive player”. This could happen on a runner going home across the scoring line.
So, runners need to also be aware of the throw to home if possible. If the throw comes from behind the runner (left, left center, or maybe even center) it might not be possible for the runner to know, and the umpire must use his judgment on that.
This line going all the way to the batter’s box should make it easier for both runners and umpires to make a determination on the runner crossing the scoring line and eliminate any subjectiveness on the call. Either the runner runs into the batter’s box or he doesn’t.
Jeff Stone
If you’re more a visual learner, the Picayune is here for you. Here is ChatGPT’s rendering of Jeff’s explanation:
Not fully clear? No problemo – here’s the Midjourney rendering:
President George Brindley has an update on player assignments:
Larry Fiorentino is assigned to the Green team, Luis Sanchez to the Gray team, and Steve Browne reassigned to the Maroon team. Daniel Baladez will chip in for a few games and then will be assigned to a team. We will continue to add players to teams until we have 12 players on each team. We currently have 3 more players returning soon; they will be assigned as they return.
PARD, working in mysterious ways, moved us to Krieg field 3 for today’s games.
Games of Thursday March 19:
10:30 a.m.: Maroon (2-2) at Green (0-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 4 0 1 0 3 8 Green 4 3 4 3 X 14 Pitchers: Maroon – Jeff Stone; Green – Chunky Wright. Mercenary: Green – Daniel Baladez. Umpires: home – Tom Kelm; bases – Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Fritz Hensel (3 for 3) and Jeff Stone (3 for 3 with a triple); Green – Tom Brownfield (3 for with two doubles) and Gary Coyle, Steve Sandall, Jimmie Maloy, and Boo Resnick (all 3 for 3).
Weather report: 66 degrees, 60% humidity, wind from the SSW at 9 MPH, sunny, very nice.
Green, led by new addition Larry Fiorentino, posted crooked numbers in each of its four at bats and recorded its first victory of the 2026 season by playing well on both sides of the ball.
Both teams scored four times in the first inning. Maroon got singles from four of its first five hitters, and they all scored, Jeff Stone driving in the first two runs. Fritz Hensel’s two-out single drove in Ken Brown, running for Jeff, with the third run. David Pittard then lined a single to right, Jack McDermott scoring, but on the play George Brindley, running for Fritz, tried for third base, and was thrown out on a perfectly executed 10-6-5 relay – I believe it went Jimmie Maloy to Gary Coyle to Ivan Budiselic (Green rotated its fielders a bit throughout the game, I might have the infielders wrong) – for the third out.
Green then got those runs back with five consecutive one-out hits in the home half. Larry Fiorentino drove in the first two runs with a triple on a line drive off the base of the fence in right field, and he scored the third run on Tom Brownfield’s drive to right-center that one-hopped the fence for a double.
Dale Fugate opened the top of the second inning with a line double to right-center. Allen Phillips followed with an infield single to shortstop, Dale holding at second. Ken Brown hit a pop behind second base; no infield fly was called, the umpires feeling it was not a gimme pop, and in fact, second baseman Doc Hobar (I think), battling the sun, couldn’t hold on, the ball glancing off his glove and falling to the ground. Shortstop Gary Coyle quickly retrieved it and threw to third base ahead of Dale, for a 4-6-5 force. The runners moved up on George Brindley’s fly to Steve Sandall in left-center. Tony Garcia followed with a pop-fly single to left-center that looked like it had driven in two runs, but home plate umpire Tom Kelm ruled that Allen ran to and touched the chalk of the batter’s box and was out – he was the third out of the inning, and that canceled Ken scoring behind him. Still a 4-4 game.
Not for long, as Green scored three times in the bottom of the second. Jimmie Maloy and Boo Resnick led off with infield singles, to shortstop and second base respectively, and both moved up on Daniel Baladez’s ground out back to pitcher Jeff Stone. Doc Hobar’s line hit up the middle gapped the outfielders and resulted in a two-run triple, and Doc scored on Steve Sandall’s line single to right field.
Jeff Stone led off the third inning with a triple to right field and scored on Jack McDermott’s sacrifice fly to Steve Sandall in left-center. Fritz Hensel and David Pittard knocked two-out singles, but Chunky Wright left them stranded, getting Dale Fugate to hit a two-strike foul fly to left field.
Green increased its lead with four runs in the bottom of the third. They actually had eight hits in the inning, but a base-runner kill kept them from cashing in the fifth run. Tom Brownfield led off with his second double in as many at bats, and the next five batters singled, three runners scoring. Chunky Wright’s runner, trying to go first-to-third on Jimmie Maloy’s single to left field when Jack McDermott threw home, was out 7-2-5, Jack to Fritz Hensel to David Pittard. The fourth run scored on Daniel Baladez’s sacrifice fly to Ken Brown in right-center. Line singles to right field by Doc Hobar and Steve Sandall loaded the bases with two out, the fifth run on third base. Mike Garrison hit a sharp grounder to the 5-6 hole, but was robbed of a hit by shortstop Tony Garcia, who made a clean diving grab to his backhand and threw from his knees to David Pittard at third for the inning-ending 6-5 force, an outstanding defensive play.
Green effectively put the game away in the fourth inning. Chunky Wright held Maroon scoreless in the top half, Green making two more good defensive plays. Catcher Boo Resnick moved out and to his right to catch Allen Phillips’s foul pop just up the first-base side for the first out. After George Brindley drew a two-out walk, Tony Garcia lined a ball down the first-base side, but was robbed of extra bases by first baseman Doc Hobar, who snagged the liner for the third out. Green then scored three runs on a very complicated sequence which might be beyond my ability to properly describe, though I’ll give it my best shot.
Larry Fiorentino walked and Tom Brownfield singled to center, Larry taking third, to open the inning. Gary Coyle hit a grounder to second baseman George Brindley, who threw to second trying for the force, only for his throw to wing Doc Hobar, running for Tom, on the shoulder, the ball caroming away. Larry scored, and Doc and Gary were safe, at second and first. Ivan Budiselic hit a sharp grounder up the middle – Jeff Stone got a glove on it and deflected it, but Tony Garcia couldn’t reverse his direction quickly enough, and the ball deflected off his glove as well, and into left-center field beyond shortstop. Doc scored, Gary stopped at second, Ivan at first. Steve Sandall ran for Ivan. I didn’t see the next play clearly, but I think this is what happened: Chunky Wright singled to the right side, past George. Gary and Steve both tried to score on the play, but the throw home came up on Steve, and he caught it on the hop, which… a runner can’t do that. Both Gary and Steve were called out on the interference (if I’ve got this right), with Chunky safe at first. Jimmie Maloy singled to right field and Boo Resnick to left, and Chunky’s runner came around with the third run of the inning. Daniel Baladez popped out to end the mess.
I might have details wrong – if you were involved, or saw this, and have a better explanation for what happened, let me know, and I’ll print a clarification next week.
Anyhoo, Green took a 14-5 lead to the buffet. Jeff Stone led off with his third hit in as many at bats. The next three balls were hit to shortstop Gary Coyle, with less than optimal results for Maroon. Gary made a good play on Jack McDermott’s short-hop liner, but he threw past second base, and Jack wound up at second and Ken Brown, running for Jeff, at third. Steve Browne hit a low liner to Gary’s right that Gary couldn’t come up with, good for a single that scored both Ken and Jack. Then Fritz Hensel completed the hat trick by hitting a grounder to Gary that took a bad final hop and handcuffed him – Steve took third on the play. David Pittard’s sacrifice fly to Larry Fiorentino in right-center brought in Steve with the third run of the inning, which proved to be the last of the game. Chunky Wright got Dale Fugate to fly out to Steve Sandall in left-center and Allen Phillips to ground into a 6-4 force to Gary, who finally got a playable hop and converted it into the final out.
Final score: Green 14, Maroon 8
Quote/Hilarious Dis of the Day: Daniel Carvajal, greeting myself and the other denizens of the reconstituted Krieg 3 Beer Garden on his arrival, during the 10:30 game: “Gentlemen… Jack.” (Spend just one week in a fellow B Leaguer’s attic, and this is the kind of opprobrium you get.)
11:30 a.m.: Gray (2-1) at Blue (2-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 3 0 2 5 0 10 Blue 4 0 5 5 5 X 19 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Gray – Rip Wright; Blue – Trent Peacock. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone; bases – Ken Brown. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Clint Fletcher (3 for 3 with a double and a triple) and Jim McAnelly (3 for 3); Blue – Joe Bernal (4 for 4), Ken Mockler (4 for 4 with a double), Chris Waddell (4 for 4), and Larry Young (3 for 3). Home run: George Romo (over the fence) (1). Ohtani Award: Joe Bernal (2).
Blue put this one away with consecutive five-run innings in its final three at bats. Gray had kept it close through the top of the third despite being shut out in the top of the first, Blue playing great defense. Bobby Miller led off the game with a grounder down the third-base side, just fair, but was put out on a terrific play by third baseman George Romo, who fielded the ball to his backhand and made a long, cross-diamond throw, and first baseman Trent Peacock, who made an outstanding scoop of the one-hop toss. Paul Rubin singled off pitcher Joe Bernal. Jim Foelker flied out to left-center, Tom Bellavia making a very good catch. Daniel Carvajal lined a single to the same spot, and Paul tried for third, but was gunned down 8-6-5, Tom to David Brown to George.
Blue then scored four runs in the home half, building a lead they would never relinquish. Joe Bernal led off with an infield single, just beating Bobby Miller’s throw from the shortstop hole. George Romo came up and lined a ball to left field that rose and rose and cleared the fence, for the first over-the-fence home run of the 2026 B League season, a two-run shot.
George Romo swats the first over-the-fence homer of the 2026 season. Side note: Is it just me, or has the Lower Colorado River Authority let the water get kind of high above Longhorn Dam?
Tom Bellavia and Ken Mockler followed with back-to-back doubles for another run, and Ken came around on Chris Waddell’s grounder to shortstop, thrown past first base by Bobby Miller. Lawrence Page followed with a ground single past second base, but Jack Kelly got out of the inning without allowing the fifth run: Phil Stanch flied out into a double play, Jim Foelker in right-center coming in to grab his liner and firing to second to double up Chris. David Brown flied out to Clint Fletcher in left field for the third out.
Gray got on the board with three runs on five singles in the top of the second. Phil Stanch made a good play on Luis Sanchez’s fly to right-center, Phil moving to his left to run the ball down. Jack Kelly then threw a scoreless bottom half, working around singles by Larry Young and Joe Bernal.
Joe then retired Gray’s 3-4-5 hitters in order in the top of the third, and his teammates gave him some breathing room by scoring five times in the bottom half on seven singles. Three of the runs scored on Larry Young’s bases-loaded single to right field, David Brown scoring from first. (That doesn’t get us a crossed-out B League Bingo square, however – it’s Ken Brown, not David, we need to see score from first on a single.)
Gray manager Clint Fletcher got his team two runs in the top of the fourth, driving in Luis Sanchez with a line triple to right field, then scoring on Jack Kelly’s grounder to shortstop. Blue scored five again in the home half, on seven singles and without making an out, extending its lead to 14-5.
Gray found its groove in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs on four singles and doubles by Jim Foelker, driving in the first run, and Clint Fletcher, driving in the fourth and fifth while completing a perfect day at the plate.
But Blue responded in kind in the bottom half, scoring five times on seven singles while making just one out. (Over its last three at bats, Blue batters went 21 for 24, and one of the outs was on a one-hop liner by Lawrence Page to right-center that would have been a hit except that Jim Foelker charged it, came up throwing, and forced Chris Waddell at second.)
Entering the buffet, Gray trailed 19-10. Jack Kelly and Rip Wright opened the inning with singles, but Joe Bernal retired the next three batters, the top of the Gray order, on balls in the air: Bobby Miller on a fly to Phil Stanch in right-center; Paul Rubin on a fly to Lawrence Page, very well positioned in left field, and he took a good route in on the ball; and Jim Foelker on a liner to Chris Waddell at second.
Final score: Blue 19, Gray 10
Joe Bernal earned his second Ohtani Award of the season today, presented to him by the Straw Hat Pirates.
12:30 p.m.: Purple (1-2) at Orange (3-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Purple 5 5 0 5 0 15 Orange 1 3 3 5 0 12 Pitchers: Purple – Ray Pilgrim; Orange – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Purple – Daniel Baladez and Anthony Galindo. Umpires: home – Larry Young; bases – Dave Brown. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Anthony Galindo (2 for 2) and Jimmy Sneed and Peter Sundquist (both 3 for 3); Orange – Don Solberg (2 for 2 with a walk).
Weather update: 80 degrees, 38% humidity, wind from the South at 7 MPH, sunny – about as good as gets in Austin.
Purple jumped off to a big early lead, going up 10-1 through the top of the second, but Orange battled and actually got the tying run on base in the bottom of the buffet before Ray Pilgrim put the game to bed.
Purple came out hitting, with its eight hitters in the top of the first all squaring up on the ball, resulting in five singles, doubles by Shane Hill (driving in the first two runs) and Joe Roche (driving in the fifth), and the lone out, a line drive by Mike Malay that was snagged by third baseman Adam Reddell. Orange got just one back in the home half: Peter Atkins doubled with one out and scored on Don Solberg’s two-out single.
More of the same by Purple in the second inning, five runs on six hits, all of them hard hit, Mike Malay again robbed of a hit only because his liner, this one to Pat Scott in right-center, was caught. Shane Hill drove in two more runs with a line single off the ankle of second baseman Jack Spellman, a ball that was absolutely scorched – I was lucky to be wearing a brace that took the brunt of the blow.
Orange rallied for three runs in the home half. Mark Hernandez opened the inning with a drive to the fence in left field for a double. His pinch-runner Peter Atkins scored on Pat Scott’s single to right-center. Jack Crosley knocked what looked like a single into right-center as well, but Pat had to hold up to see if the ball would be caught by Anthony Galindo; it was not, but Anthony charged it, played it on one hop, and came up throwing, and forced Pat out at second. A walk to Matt Levitt and Hal Darman’s opposite-field single loaded the bases. Jack Spellman’s walk forced in Jack Crosley, and Peter Atkins’s sacrifice fly to Shane Hill in left brought in Matt. Adam Reddell squared up on a pitch, but lined it right at third baseman Rick Jensen.
Tommy Deleon retired the side in the top of the third, not allowing a ball out of the infield: Rick Jensen grounded to shortstop Peter Atkins, Billy Hill popped out to first baseman Mark Hernandez, and Joe Roche grounded out to second baseman Jack Spellman.
Orange then scored three runs, cutting Purple’s lead to 10-7, on two walks, two singles, and Jack Crosley’s two-run triple to the fence in right field.
Both teams scored five times in the fourth inning, Purple on six singles and Ray Pilgrim’s sacrifice fly to Matt Levitt in left-center (valiant relay home, but no chance of gunning down Mike Malay), Orange on six singles, Pat Scott’s walk, and a double by Peter Atkins.
Orange went into the buffet still down by three, and really needing to keep Purple from adding to its lead. Tommy Deleon got Rick Jensen to pop out to second to start the inning. Billy Hill topped a ball down the third-base line, the thing stayed just fair and died, and Billy had a single. (I live for the smirk I saw on Billy’s face as he headed back to the dugout.) Joe Roche drew a walk. Larry Shupe, looking for his third hit, lined a ball to left field, but right at Don Solberg, perfectly positioned to gather it in for the second out. Daniel Baladez hit a sharp grounder to shortstop that took a bad last hop (the Krieg 3 infield isn’t as soft as Krieg 2’s), but Peter Atkins kept it in front of him, gathered it up, and flipped to second for the inning-ending force.
We thought on the Orange bench that we had a good shot at tying and winning in the home half. Matt Levitt drew a lead-off walk. He was forced at second on Hal Darman’s grounder to shortstop. A single up the middle by Jack Spellman and a walk to Peter Atkins loaded the bases, the tying run now on first with the heart of the Orange order due, beginning with Adam Reddell. Adam came up and ripped a one-hopper up the middle – looking in from second base, I thought off the bat it would get through, but Ray Pilgrim made an outstanding play to snag the ball, turned and fired to shortstop Jimmy Sneed at second, and Jimmy pivoted and completed the 1-6-3 double play to end the game
Final score: Purple 15, Orange 12
Post-Game Intellectual Exchange of the Day:
Rick Jensen, inquiring after the ambiance at Buddy’s Place, Shane Hill’s establishment at 8619 Burnet Road: “You got any titty girls there?”
Shane Hill: “Had to let her go, she was drinking all my vodka.”
This is not a picture of Buddy’s Place, but I’m including it here to assuage Laurie Jensen’s concern that there’s a raccoon living in her and Rick’s attic:
Larry’s just crashing for a while, and he’ll try to be quieter overnight.
2026 standings:
| Session 1 standings: | Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 3 | 1 | .750 | 0 | 50 | 39 | 11 | W2 |
| Orange | 3 | 2 | .600 | 0.5 | 61 | 55 | 6 | L1 |
| Red | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 52 | 52 | 0 | L1 |
| Gray | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 58 | 60 | -2 | L1 |
| Purple | 2 | 2 | .500 | 1 | 52 | 56 | -4 | W1 |
| Maroon | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1.5 | 54 | 61 | -7 | L2 |
| Green | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2 | 37 | 41 | -4 | W1 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Orange | 2-1 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | ||
| Gray | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | ||
| Blue | 2-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Red | 2-0 | 0-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | ||
| Maroon | 2-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | ||
| Purple | 1-1 | 1-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | ||
| Green | 1-1 | 0-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-2 |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| Gray | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| Orange | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Purple | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Red | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| TOTAL: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 15 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Tony Garcia – 1
George Romo – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Ohtanis (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 2 (March 2, March 19)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Ray Pilgrim: 1 (March 5)
Jeff Stone: 1 (March 2)
Schedule for Monday March 23
10:30 a.m.: Gray (2-2) at Red (2-2), Purple umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Purple (2-2) at Green (1-3), Gray umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Orange (3-2) at Blue (3-1), Green umpiring
Maroon has the bye, with (secondary) priority for its players out of the bucket.
Umpire chip status:
David Brown: 1 green chip
Rex Horvath: 1 green chip
Rick Jensen: 1 green chip
Jeff Stone: 3 green chips
Ralph Villela: 1 green chip
Rip Wright: 1 green chip
Larry Young: 1 green chip
George Brindley: 1 red chip
David Brown: 1 red chip
Ken Brown: 1 red chip
Marvin Krabbenhoft: 1 red chip
Tommy Langa: 1 red chip
Jim Maloy: 1 red chip
Trent Peacock: 1 red chip
Larry Shupe: 1 red chip
Peter Sundquist: 1 red chip
Mike Velaney: 1 red chip
Ralph Villela: 1 red chip
Scott Wright – 1 red chip
Larry Young: 1 red chip
(1 green chip for umpiring a full game behind the plate. 1 red chip for umpiring a full game on the bases. 2 red chips = 1 green chip. 1 green chip gets a player priority out of the bucket.)
Preview: Reminder that Monday will be the first Bobby Fund Cookout of the 2026 season, which will take place during and after what looks to be a great set of games. Gray and Red, both 2-2, face off at 10:30. Purple and Green, both winners today, Green for the first time, will look to extend their winning streaks when they play at 11:30. And the winner of the 12:30 contest, Orange versus Blue, will eat their burgers while luxuriating in the glow of having either secured (if Orange wins) or retained (if Blue) first place for the session. Will there be any good desserts left for those teams when they finish the final game? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Lost and found:
Peter Sundquist has this nice insulated mug, left behind today.
And I’ve got this size medium knee sleeve, which I’ll bring with on Monday.
Speaking of lost and found, Ken Brown found this Saint Benedict medal at Krieg 2:
I found this St Benedict medal in the shortstop area of the field while playing last Thursday. I know odds are long that it came from C or B, but just in case can you add to next Picayune. It is for protection against temptation and evil which as you know plagues most shortstops.
Saint Benedict of Nursia (c. 480–547) is also patron against poisoning, inflammatory diseases, gall stones, and kidney disease, which clearly marks him as a B League go-to, as well as a protector of farmers, spelunkers, students, copper smiths, civil engineers, and Italian architects. (I cannot overemphasize this point: to Hades and beyond with all you Albanian architects – yeah, talking to you, Mimar Sinan).
Jeff Broussard forwards this picture of the great Tom Kelm, who with his partner won his fishing tournament with the biggest stringer and biggest fish, this 5.95-pound beast:
Tom subsequently repurposed his pole into a living exhibit, for the benefit of B League umpires, of just how high 12 feet is:
