B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 17 – May 7, 2026
Department of Corrections: I wrote that Jimmy Sneed ran for Joe Roche in the buffet inning of Purple’s game on Monday, but that was incorrect – Jimmy did run for Joe in the third inning, but it was Joe who scored from first on Patrick Schmidt’s triple, which is pretty impressive. The Picayune regrets the error.
Games of Thursday May 7:
10:30 a.m.: Maroon (5-2) at Red (1-6):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 3 5 3 5 2 18 Gray 3 2 3 2 4 14 Pitchers: Maroon – Jeff Stone; Gray – Luis Sanchez. Mercenaries: Red – Jim Foelker, Dean Hector, Patrick Schmidt, and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – Jim McAnelly; bases – Jack Kelly. Perfect at the plate: Maroon: Ken Brown (3 for 3), Tony Garcia (4 for 4 with a home run), and David Pittard (2 for 2 with a walk); Red – Richard Battle (3 for 3 with a double), Patrick Schmidt (3 for 3), and Jack Spellman (2 for 2 with a walk). Home runs: Steve Browne (inside the park) (2), Tony Garcia (inside the park) (3), and George Brindley (inside the park) (1).
Weather report: 61 degrees, felt like 60; 77% humidity; wind from the North at 11 MPH; cloudy – unseasonably chilly.
High-scoring battle, both teams posting crooked numbers in each of their at bats, Maroon a bit more effectively, tying or winning each of the first four innings, hitting three home runs along the way, making a great success of Maroon Bobblehead Day…
…which coincidentally featured their three home-run hitters, George Brindley, Steve Browne, and Tony Garcia.
Both teams scored three times in the first inning, Maroon on four singles and Steve Browne’s double, Red on two singles, Anthony Galindo’s walk, Johnny Lee’s sacrifice fly to Allen Phillips in right field, and Richard Battle’s two-run double.
Maroon exploded for five runs in the top of the second and never relinquished the lead from that point. They put together six singles and the day’s first home run, Steve Browne’s three-run inside-the-parker, his second of the season, seen here:
Red got two back in the home half, on Ralph Villela’s “single,” a drive to the fence in left-center that scored runners from first and third. Ralph restricted himself to DH duties and took a runner from home, else this would have been an extra-base hit.
Both teams scored three runs in the third, Maroon on four singles and a two-RBI ground out by Allen Phillips to first baseman Johnny Lee. Jack McDermott scored the third run on a Little League homer – a single that was thrown around, allowing Jack to circle the bases. Red got those runs back in the home half on Trent Peacock’s lead-off triple, Anthony Galindo’s second walk, singles by Johnny Lee and Richard Battle, and Marvin Krabbenhoft’s sacrifice fly to George Brindley in left-center. They loaded the bases on a single by Patrick Schmidt and a walk to Jack Spellman, but Jeff Stone escaped the jam by getting Jim Foelker to line out to shortstop Tony Garcia – Jim squared up on the pitch, but hit it right at Tony.
Tony then led off the fourth with an inside-the-park homer, his third of the season, tying for the league lead, as seen here:
(R.I.P., Jeeves from Ask.com.)
Maroon’s next four batters singled, David Pittard walked, Allen Phillips lofted a sacrifice fly to Jim Foelker in left-center, and Jack McDermott singled, four more runs scoring.
Red got two back in the bottom half, with five singles, but once again fatally left the bases loaded.
Maroon led by six entering the buffet, and quickly scored two more to cause a flip-flop. George Brindley led off with an inside-the-park park home run, his first of the season, seen here:
(Maroon mascot’s mediation efforts don’t seem to be bringing Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni back together, alas. Give them bobbleheads, is my advice.)
Steve Browne, Tony Garcia (completing a 4-for-4 game), and Jeff Stone followed with singles, putting Maroon up 18-10, and the flip-flop was invoked.
Three of Red’s first four batters in the home half of the buffet singled, Patrick Schmidt, Jack Spellman, and Ralph Villela all completing perfect days at the plate, Patrick coming around to score. Mark Dolan smacked a triple, driving in Spellman and Ralph. Mark scored on Trent Peacock’s ground out to second baseman Jack McDermott, who made a good play moving to the 3-4 hole for the second out. Anthony Galindo hit a sharp grounder up the middle that Jeff Stone deflected to within Jack’s reach, Jack throwing to first to complete the 1-4-3 play for the final out.
Final score: Maroon 18, Red 14
11:30 a.m.: Gray (3-6) at Orange (5-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 1 5 3 0 14 Orange 4 2 3 5 1 15 Pitchers: Gray – Luis Sanchez; Orange – Tommy Deleon. No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Anthony Galindo; bases – Ralph Villela. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Jim McAnelly and Paul Rubin (both 3 for 3); Orange – Pat Scott (3 for 3 with a double and a home run). Home runs: Peter Atkins (over the fence) (1) and Pat Scott (inside the park) (1).
Weather update: No change. It got drizzly at the end.
Once again a lot of offense, both teams scoring in bunches over the first four innings and entering the buffet tied at 14.
Gray opened the game with five runs on six singles and Scott Rokita’s double, several of the hits not struck especially hard, but finding holes. Orange got four back in the bottom of the first on four singles, Peter Atkins’s double, and Tommy Deleon’s sacrifice fly to right fielder Dave Jaffe.
Dave then led off the second with a single, took third on Clint Fletcher’s base hit, and scored on Scott Rokita’s sacrifice fly to Matt Levitt in left-center. (Matt had a terrific day in the field, hauling in five fly balls.) That was the only run Tommy Deleon allowed in the frame, and Orange tied the game with two in the home half. Luis Sanchez retired Tommy Langa and Hal Darman on grounders to the left side to open the inning, but Jack Spellman knocked a single to right-center and Peter Atkins followed with an over-the-fence home run to left field, an absolute rocket that he hit with so much force and backspin that it just kept rising and rising, as seen here:
(Ignore that Peter is a right-handed hitter.)
Gray went back ahead with five runs in the top of the third on six singles and Dave Jaffe’s RBI double. Red got three in the home half on Pat Scott’s inside-the-park homer, his first of the season, seen here:
Gray’s first six batters in the fourth inning singled, but they came away with just three runs. With one run in and runners on first (Paul Rubin) and second (Daniel Carvajal), Jim Foelker popped a ball behind second base. Shortstop Jack Spellman went after it, but couldn’t reach it before it dropped in; I retrieved the ball and threw for home, thinking I might have a shot at Daniel, but Tommy Deleon alertly cut off my throw and threw to Tommy Langa covering second base, gunning down Jim trying for second. Mike Velaney and Jim McAnelly followed with singles, Paul scoring, but Tommy stranded Mike and Jim’s runner by getting both Luis Sanchez and Dave Jaffe to fly out, to Peter Atkins in right-center and Matt Levitt in left-center, respectively.
Orange then tied the game with five runs in the home half, all scored after two were out. Adam Reddell singled with one out. Don Solberg hit a sinking liner to right-center, but was robbed of a hit by Paul Rubin, who came in aggressively and made a fine catch. The next five batters came through in the clutch: Mark Hernandez singled and Tommy Deleon walked, loading the bases. Pat Scott ripped a double, scoring all three runners. (Pat was 3 for 3 with seven RBI on the day.) Matt Levitt singled in Pat. Tommy Langa then doubled to right-center (as I recall), and Matt scored from first – Matt actually misheard manager/third-base coach Dave Berra, who wanted him to run through third; Matt thought Dave was telling him to run through for home, and so he did – a good throw might have gotten him, but it drew catcher Jack Kelly a little ways up the third-base side, and Matt was safe with the fifth run.
So it was tied entering the buffet. Tommy Deleon held Gray scoreless in the top half. He got Jack Kelly to ground out to first baseman Mark Hernandez to open the inning, and Clint Fletcher to fly out to Matt Levitt in left-center. Scott Rokita singled. Daniel Carvajal made a bid for a hit through the 5-6 hole, but Adam Reddell made a terrific play to his left, getting down low to field the ground-hugger and making a strong throw to second baseman Tommy Langa for the inning-ending force at second.
Orange came up needing a single run to win. Hal Darman led off with a sharp grounder to the 5-6 hole; Scott Rokita got to the ball, but runner-from-home Matt Levitt beat the throw to first. Matt raced to third on Jack Spellman’s single to right-center. Peter Atkins made a bid for a game-ending fly, but he got under Luis Sanchez’s pitch and popped it to Scott at shortstop. Adam Reddell hit a sharp grounder to the left of second baseman Mike Velaney, who made a good, clean play on the ball; he had a chance at a double play, but elected to throw home instead, forcing Matt to return to third, Spellman safe at second and Adam safe at first. Mike didn’t think he had a shot at a double play; Adam hasn’t been running super well, so I think it was maybe a bit better than even that Scott could have turned the pivot in time. But if Mike had gone to second, Matt would definitely have broken for home; Mike’s decision kept the game going for one more batter. (In short: Austin is a land of contrasts.)
That batter was Don Solberg. The outfielders positioned themselves on the 120-foot line. Don looked for a pitch he could drive. Luis Sanchez, working carefully, wouldn’t give him one, but neither could he find the mat – he wound up walking Don on three pitches, all three close but just missing, forcing in Matt with the winning run.
Final score: Orange 15, Gray 14
12:30 p.m.: Blue (7-0) at Green (4-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 3 3 4 3 0 1 14 Green 5 0 5 0 0 2 12 Pitchers: Blue – Ray Pilgrim; Green – Rex Horvath. Mercenaries: Blue – Anthony Galindo, Jack McDermott, Ray Pilgrim, Don Solberg, and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home – Adam Reddell; bases – Tommy Langa. Perfect at the plate: Green – Tom Brownfield (3 for 3) and Rex Horvath (3 for 3 with a double). Home run: Terry O'Brien (inside the park) (2).
Weather update: Up to 64 degrees, humidity at 68%, wind from the NNE at 8 MPH, cloudy. A few raindrops, nothing to stop play.
Another close, hard-fought game. Blue, playing with five mercenaries – JC Schmeil arrived after the game had started, and batted at the end of the lineup – got some great at bats from them, keeping them in the game. In the first, Anthony Galindo’s bases-loaded, two-out triple got Blue on the board. Orange took the lead with five runs in the bottom half, seven consecutive batters reaching base after Ray Pilgrim got Mike Garrison to fly out to Peter Sundquist in left-center to start the inning: five singles, Doc Hobar’s walk, and Steve Sandall’s pop-fly double to left-center.
Blue reclaimed the lead in the second, scoring three runs in the top half. Peter Sundquist walked, Don Solberg tripled, and Ray Pilgrim singled to open the inning. JC Schmeil grounded into a 4-6 force. David Brown lined a hit to right field; JC took third on it, but David was thrown out 10-4-6, Tom Brownfield to Doc Hobar to Terry O’Brien, trying for a double. Larry Young’s line single to right plated JC.
Ray Pilgrim then worked a scoreless bottom half. Tom Brownfield and Jimmie Maloy singled to start the inning, but Ray got Boo Resnick to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, David Brown to JC Schmeil to Larry Young, and Mike Garrison to ground out to third baseman George Romo.
Blue scored four runs and Green five in the third inning, with some long hits. Blue’s runs came on four singles and doubles by Anthony Galindo and Peter Sundquist. Tom Brownfield caught David Brown’s liner to right field for the third out, stranding two runners. Terry O’Brien led off the home half with an inside-the-park home run, his second of the season, seen here:
Larry Fiorentino, Steve Sandall, and Doc Hobar singled, loading the bases for Rex Horvath, who cleared them with a line double to the fence in left-center. Gary Coyle walked. Spike Davidson grounded into a 4-6 force, Mike Garrison, running for Rex, advancing to third. With the outfielders playing on the line with one out and the fifth run on third, Tom Brownfield swatted a ball over Peter Sunquist’s head in left-center to drive Mike in, tying the game at 10-10.
Blue went back ahead with three runs in the top of the fourth, the first two driven in by Daniel Baladez. George Romo drew a one-out walk and Donnie Janac singled on a swinging bunt that resulted in a topper in front of the mat – catcher Jim Maloy threw to first, but over first baseman Boo Resnick, George advancing to third. Daniel then lined a ball to left-center over the outfielders, both runners scoring and Daniel winding up at second. David Brown ran for him and scored on Anthony Galindo’s single, Anthony picking up his fifth RBI of the game.
Ray Pilgrim made the lead stand, working a 1-2-3 bottom half, retiring Jimmie Maloy, Boo Resnick, and Mike Garrison on grounders, the first two to shortstop David Brown, the third back to the box.
Rex Horvath returned the favor in the top of the fifth, retiring Blue in order: Ray Pilgrim flied out to Larry Fiorentino in right-center (good catch coming in), JC Schmeil on a pop that third baseman Gary Coyle caught in foul territory, and David Brown on a two-strike foul fly down the right side.
Quote of the day: Home umpire Adam Reddell, right about this point: “Food’s ready? Ball game!”
The game continued, Ray Pilgrim working his second consecutive 1-2-3 inning, retiring Green’s 2-4 hitters on a fly to Don Solberg in left by Terry O’Brien and grounders to shortstop David Brown by Larry Fiorentino and Steve Sandall.
Blue led by three entering the buffet, and added one run: Larry Young led off with a single, and his pinch-runner JC Schmeil took third on George Romo’s line single past third base and scored on Donnie Janac’s sacrifice fly to Larry Fiorentino in right-center. Anthony Galindo came up with a runner on first and two out, needing a home run to complete the cycle, but he got under a pitch and flied out to Larry.
Green was chasing four in the home half. Doc Hobar led off with a fly to right-center, caught by Anthony Galindo. Rex Horvath singled, completing a 3-for-3 game. Gary Coyle lined out to third baseman George Romo for the second out. Spike Davidson drew a walk. Tom Brownfield lined a single to left field; Mike Garrison, running for Rex, scored from second while Larry Fiorentino, running for Spike, stopped at second. Jimmie Maloy lined a single to center, driving in Larry and putting the tying run on base. But the game ended when Boo Resnick got under a pitch and popped to David Brown for the final out.
Final score: Blue 14, Green 12
Rex Horvath receives his Notahni Award after going 3 for 3 with four RBI but taking the loss for Green.
2026 standings:
| Session 2 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 8 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 107 | 68 | 39 | W12 |
| Maroon | 6 | 2 | .750 | 2 | 111 | 83 | 28 | W1 |
| Orange | 6 | 3 | .667 | 2.5 | 112 | 106 | 6 | W1 |
| Green | 4 | 5 | .444 | 4.5 | 118 | 109 | 9 | L1 |
| Gray | 3 | 7 | .300 | 6 | 123 | 147 | -24 | L5 |
| Purple | 2 | 6 | .250 | 6 | 99 | 128 | -29 | W1 |
| Red | 1 | 7 | .125 | 7 | 93 | 122 | -29 | L3 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 3-0 | 5-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Maroon | 2-1 | 4-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 3-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Orange | 3-2 | 3-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 2-0 | ||
| Green | 2-3 | 2-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 0-2 | ||
| Gray | 1-4 | 2-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-3 | 1-3 | ||
| Purple | 0-4 | 2-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-1 | ||
| Red | 0-5 | 1-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0-0 |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | |
| Gray | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Green | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | |
| Orange | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 9 | |
| Purple | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |
| Red | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | |
| TOTAL: | 1 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 51 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Tony Garcia – 3
Ralph Villela – 3
Steve Browne – 2
Tim Coles – 2
Mike Garrison – 2
Terry O’Brien – 2
Allen Phillips – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Richard Battle – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
George Brindley – 1
David Brown – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Larry Fiorentino – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Pat Scott – 1
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 4 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16)
Ray Pilgrim: 3 (March 5, March 23, March 26)
Tommy Deleon: 2 (April 6, April 30)
Spike Davidson: 1 (May 4)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Jeff Stone: 1 (March 2)
Schedule for Tuesday May 12 – reminder, games are being pushed back to Tuesday:
10:30 a.m.: Green (4-5) at Maroon (6-2), Purple umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Purple (2-6) at Blue (8-0), Maroon umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Red (1-7) at Gray (3-7), Blue umpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Due to rainouts, I think, Purple and Blue have played each other just once so far this season, with Blue winning. They play for the second time at 11:30, Purple looking to extend its one-game winning streak and end Blue’s 12-game winning streak. Green and Maroon have split their two previous games; they take the field at 10:30, Maroon with a one-game winning streak, Green with a one-game losing streak. At 12:30, one of Red (three-game streak) or Gray (five-game streak) will end its losing streak. Gray leads the season series between the teams 2-0. Will tall peaks mean deep valleys, Grasshopper? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Many thanks to the Hill Family for a fantastic BBQ lunch after today’s games. I’ve got a bunch more pictures, taken by Scott Wright and myself, that I can’t fit into this email, but will send separately.
Lost and found:
This cap and orange sweatshirt were left behind last week. Yours? See Dave Berra.
Podcast review: Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pretty entertaining podcast that looks at screw-ups through history and asks, where did they go wrong and how can we avoid repeating the errors? Host Tim Harford is a Brit, and a lot of the stories are UK-based or adjacent. He loves plane crashes, shipwrecks, and conmen getting caught in a web of lies. Episodes come in at under 45 minutes, which I appreciate. Recommended listening speed: I listen at regular speed, but you probably can get away with 1.1X and not miss anything. New England content: Not especially. Canadian content: Ditto.
Rating: 