B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 33 – July 20, 2026
Department of So Many Corrections:
1. It was inevitable that I’d get a bunch of details wrong in trying to describe last Monday’s Commitment Line Follies. Of particular note, I said the ball was dead at the moment David Pittard made the illegal tag on Rick Jensen, but in fact the rule explicitly states that the ball is live and play continues. Jeff Stone elucidates: “An unwritten rule of umpiring is never punish one team because of the mistake of the other. If it was a dead ball, then the runners would have to go back to the bases they were on and not allow the other runners to advance if possible. The other possibility is for the catcher to tag the runner knowing he would be safe just to make the other runners go back. Could be a tactic with lots of runners on base in the late innings.” Hat tip to Jeff for knowing the rule inside and out and being able to clearly explain it.
2.
I missed that the player second from the right in the Relentless 75s picture from the Waco tourney, between Terry Watts and Gary Bowles, is Tom DeRoo.
And 3. I missed that Jim Foelker was perfect at the plate last Monday, going 2 for 2 while playing as a mercenary for Maroon in the 11:00 game.
Games of Thursday July 16 were canceled due to flooded fields from the heavy rain that fell July 15.
Games of Monday July 20:
10:00 a.m.: Orange (4-3) at Maroon (5-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Orange 1 0 3 3 3 10 Maroon 1 0 4 4 2 11 Pitchers: Orange – Tommy Deleon; Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Orange – Tim Coles and Clint Fletcher; Maroon – Daniel Baladez, Jim Foelker, Bobby Miller, Ray Pilgrim, and Patrick Schmidt. Umpires: home – Larry Fiorentino and Mike Garrison; bases – Rex Horvath and Larry Young. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Tim Coles (2 for 2 with a walk and two doubles), Pat Scott (2 for 2 with a walk and a triple), and Jack Spellman (3 for 3); Maroon – Steve Browne and Scott Wright (both 3 for 3 with a double) and Jim Foelker and Fritz Hensel (both 3 for 3).
Weather report: 82 degrees at game time, felt like 88, and it got warmer as the game progressed; 74% humidity, though it didn’t feel that bad; negligible wind; mostly sunny.
Hard-fought game, both teams playing well defensively, the game coming down to the final batter.
Both teams scored a single run on three singles in the first inning, Jack Spellman scoring for Orange in the top half on a double-play grounder, 6-4-3 (Bobby Miller to Scott Wright to Ray Pilgrim) off the bat of Mark Hernandez, Steve Browne coming across for Maroon in the home half on Jeff Stone’s sacrifice fly to Peter Atkins in right field.
Neither team scored in the second, both pitchers retiring the first two batters, allowing a runner (Tim Coles walked off Jeff Stone in the top half; Jim Foelker singled off Tommy Deleon in the bottom half), then getting the third out on a grounder.
Orange took the lead with three runs on singles by its 1-4 hitters in the top of the third. Maroon stormed back and grabbed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the frame, on three singles and run-scoring doubles by Scott Wright (driving in Steve Browne with the first run) and Alan Phillips (driving in the third and fourth runs. Maroon’s last three hits and runs came after two were out.
Orange reclaimed the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth with hits – four singles and Tim Coles’s double – by its first five batters, but ran into two critical outs on the bases. Tim was thrown out 10-4-2 (Alan Phillips to Scott Wright to Fritz Hensel) trying to score on Clint Fletcher’s single to right field, and the inning ended when Peter Atkins was doubled off first on Mark Hernandez’s liner back to the box, snagged by Jeff Stone – Peter moved aggressively on the hard contact, and Jeff easily threw to first before he could get back.
Maroon then went back ahead, scoring four runs on four singles, Steve Browne’s double (completing a 3-for-3 game), and David Pittard’s sacrifice fly to Peter Atkins in right field.
Orange trailed 9-7 entering the buffet and proceeded to score three runs. Pat Scott led off with a triple to center field and scored on a line single to left field by Don Solberg, batting right-handed. Matt Levitt flied out to Patrick Schmidt in left-center. Tommy Deleon singled, then his pinch-runner was erased on Hal Darman’s grounder to the shortstop hole, David Pittard (I think it was) making a good play to his left and throwing to second for the force. Tim Coles ripped his second double of the game, a drive to left-center that scored Don with the tying run and Matt Levitt, running for Hal, with the go-ahead run. Jeff Stone got Clint Fletcher to fly out to Steve Browne in left field for the third out.
Maroon came up needing one to tie, two to win. Fritz Hensel led off with a single, completing a 3-for-3 game. His pinch-runner was forced out at second on Alan Phillips’s grounder to the left side, but the next three batters – Bobby Miller, Ray Pilgrim, and Jim Foelker – delivered clean singles. Bobby hit to right field and Ray to center, loading the bases for Jim, who singled through the 5-6 hole , Alan and Bobby scoring and Maroon walking off the win.
Final score: Maroon 11, Orange 10
11:00 a.m.: Green (3-4) at Purple (2-5):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 5 5 3 0 0 13 Purple 3 0 2 3 4 12 Pitchers: Green – Spike Davidson; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Purple – Anthony Galindo, Paul Rubin, and Jeff Stone; Jack Spellman entered in the second inning as an 11th player. Umpires: home – Steve Browne; bases – David Pittard, if I'm remembering correctly. Perfect at the plate: Green – Spike Davidson and Larry Fiorentino (both 3 for 3; Ohtani Award for Spike) and Rex Horvath (3 for 3 with a double); Purple – Shane Hill (3 for 3) and Ray Pilgrim (2 for 2 with a walk).
Weather update: 85 degrees, felt like 92, the heat index rising steadily; relative humidity dropped to 68%, there was a light breeze, 4 MPH from the Southeast, and it was sunny.
Another close game, Purple’s attempted comeback from an early 13-3 deficit falling one run short.
Green scored five times in each of the first two innings, making just one out. In the first, their 1-8 hitters all reached, on six singles, Gary Coyle’s walk, and Mike Garrison’s double, which drove in the first run. The fifth run came on Spike Davidson’s bases-loaded grounder to third baseman Jeff Stone, who threw home past catcher Billy Hill. In the second, seven of eight Green batters reached, on five singles, Boo Resnick’s walk, and Rex Horvath’s two-run double to left-center. Terry O’Brien drove in the fifth run with a line single up the middle. The only out in the inning was hit hard as well, Doc Hobar lining out to shortstop Jimmy Sneed.
Purple scored three runs in the bottom of the first on five singles and a bases-loaded walk drawn by Ray Pilgrim. Five runs looked do-able with three in, none out, and the bases loaded, but Green turned a 6-5-2 double play on Rick Jensen’s grounder to the 5-6 hole: Rex Horvath threw to Gary Coyle for the force on Jack Spellman, running for Billy Hill; Gary then ran toward Ray Pilgrim, advancing from third; Ray ran to the commit line, waited till Gary got close, and stepped over; Gary obviously either reads the Picayune or talks to players who do, because he knew exactly what to do – when Ray stepped over the line, Gary tossed to catcher Boo Resnick for the easy-peasy force at home. The inning ended on another 6-5 force, Paul Rubin grounding to the left side.
Spike Davidson held Purple scoreless in the bottom of the second thanks to a fine defensive play by first baseman Tom Brownfield; with runners on first and second, Tom made a terrific play to snag Rick Kahn’s smash down the first-base side on the short hop and get the inning-ending out at first.
Green then scored three runs in the top of the third on Gary Coyle’s lead-off walk and four singles, pushing their lead to double digits, 13-3.
But Purple, a team with heart, did not give in and started to rally in the home half. They scored two runs on five consecutive singles to start the inning, but squandered a chance for five when Jeff Stone got Paul Rubin to hit a two-strike foul, then got Anthony Galindo to line into a double play: Anthony squared up and pulled a liner down the third-base side, but Jeff Stone speared it; thinking the ball was headed for left field, Patrick Schmidt, running for Billy Hill, broke for home and was easily doubled up.
Speaking of Billy Hill, Scott Wright’s grandson Brooks took this photo of Billy and Shane Hill today. [Photo credit: Brooks Meredith.]
Ray Pilgrim held Green scoreless the rest of the way. He worked around a one-out single by Rex Horvath (completing a 3-for-3 game) in the top of the fourth.
Purple had scored three runs on five singles in the bottom of the frame, the inning ending with yet another double play involving third baseman Gary Coyle, his third of the game. With three runs in, one out, and runners on first and second, Gary fielded Billy Hill’s sharp grounder down the line, stepped on third, and fired to second for the force there, for a 5u., 5-4 twin killing.
Green entered the buffet leading 13-8, needing three runs to force a flip-flop. Spike Davidson and Larry Fiorentino completed their 3-for-3 games with back-to-back one-out singles, but Ray Pilgrim retired Ivan Budiselic on a pop to third baseman Jeff Stone and Boo Resnick on a liner to Patrick Schmidt in left-center.
Purple came up needing five to tie, and made a valiant effort. Three of the first four batters singled, one run scoring. Spike Davidson got the first out of the inning by getting Paul Rubin to hit another two-strike foul, then got Jeff Stone to hit into a force out for the second. Jack Spellman, Patrick Schmidt, and Rick Kahn followed with singles, three more runs scoring (two on Rick’s hit) to get Purple to within one with its big hitter, Jimmy Sneed, up and a fast runner, Patrick Schmidt, on second, representing the tying run. Jimmy went oppo, trying to sneak a single through the 3-4 hole, but Doc Hobar made a good play to get to the ball and threw to second for the game-ending force, Green holding on to win.
Final score: Green 13, Purple 12
Spike Davidson earned his third Ohtani Award of the season, going 3 for the 3 at the plate while pitching Green to victory. He accepts the award from the pop singer Yukipoyo while the Japanese men’s national football team exits the Trojan Horse, for reasons unclear.
Ray Pilgrim was also perfect at the plate at 11:00, but comes away with a No-Tani Award, presented to him at Buddy’s by the Real Housewives of Rhode Island.
Noon: Blue (4-2) at Red (2-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Blue 2 5 1 3 1 1 0 13 Red 5 0 0 0 0 8 1 14 Pitchers: Blue – Joe Bernal; Red – Trent Peacock. Mercenaries: Blue – Don Solberg; Red – Jack Spellman and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home – Rick Jensen; bases – Rick Kahn. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Lawrence Page and Larry Young (both 4 for 4); Red – Tim Coles (4 for 4 with a double). Home run: Ralph Villela (inside the park) (7).
Weather update: Temperature up to 88 degrees, felt like 95; relative humidity a bearable 57%; wind from the SSE at 3-5 MPH; blue skies.
Another one-run battle, this one went into overtime.
Red jumped to the lead early on, holding Blue to two runs (on Tom Bellavia’s lead-off double and three singles) in the top of the first, scoring five runs on eight hits while making one out in the bottom half. The top of the inning ended with Ralph Villela turning a 6u., 6-3 double play, and Ralph opened the home half with an inside-the-park home run, his league-leading seventh of the season, a drive to left field, David Brown’s strong relay home not coming close to catching him:
Seven of the next eight Red batters hit safely, six singles and a double by Tommy Gillis, to push across four more runs.
But after that, Joe Bernal settled down, shutting out Red over the next four innings while Blue scored 11 runs, going ahead 13-5.
Blue’s scoring: five runs on six singles in the top of the second, Joe driving in the fifth run with a single up the middle; one run on Daniel Baladez’s sacrifice fly in the top of the third; three runs on consecutive one-out singles by the 1-5 batters in the fourth; one run in the fifth on Larry Young’s two-out line single over first base, completing a 4-for-4 game; and one run in the top of the buffet, which I’ll get to.
Joe’s excellent pitching: three batters faced in the bottom of the second, the inning ending with David Brown turning a 6u., 6-3 double play on Anthony Galindo’s grounder up the middle; worked around lead-off singles by Tommy Gillis and Tim Coles in the bottom of the third; worked around a two-out single by Jeff Stone in the bottom of the fourth; retired the first two batters in the fifth (at which point he’d retired 10 of the last 14 batters he’d face), allowed a double to Tim Coles, but Tim was thrown out 9-6-2, Don Solberg to David Brown to Daniel Baladez, trying to score on Trent Peacock’s single to right.
Entering the buffet, Blue was up 12-5 and needed one run to force a flip-flop. Trent Peacock snagged Joe Bernal’s liner back to the box to start the inning. Lawrence Page singled, completing a 4-for-4 game. Donnie Janac lined a ball up the middle, and Trent caught that one as well. David Brown’s single to right field sent Lawrence to third. Daniel Baladez singled through the 5-6 hole to drive in the run and prompt plate umpire Rick Jensen to invoke the flip-flop.
Red came out hitting for the bottom half of the buffet. Johnny Lee and Donald Drummer led off with singles, Johnny Lee’s runner taking third on Donald’s knock, then scoring on Marvin Krabbenhoft’s grounder to third baseman George Romo. Jack Spellman grounded a ball through the 3-4 hole for a single. Jeff Stone grounded a ball to the 5-6 hole, George Romo got to it, but couldn’t get a handle on it, all runners safe, the bases now loaded. Ralph Villela lined a double to left, Marvin’s runner and Spellman scoring, Blue’s lead cut to 13-8. Anthony Galindo singled up the middle, Jeff’s runner and Ralph scoring – 13-10. Tommy Gillis singled to left field, Anthony advancing to third. Tim Coles singled to right, Anthony scoring – 13-11. Trent Peacock singled into short right field, loading the bases. Johnny Lee came up for the second time in the inning and, as he had the first time, lined a single to right, Tommy and Tim both scoring, tying the game.
Red now had the go-ahead run in scoring position with one out, but Joe Bernal got the next to batters, Donald Drummer and Marvin Krabbenhoft, to both hit grounders to the left side for force outs, 5-4 and 6-4.
The game was tied, with Blue now technically the home team. They came back up to complete their half of the buffet, with runners on first and third, two out. Trent Peacock got Larry Shupe to ground to Ralph Villela, who flipped to Jeff Stone covering second for the buffet-ending force.
So Red came back up, for the extra inning, with Tim Coles (who’d run from home for Marvin Krabbenhoft at the end of Red’s half of the buffet) at second base, one out, one-pitch rules in effect. Joe Bernal got Jack Spellman to fly out to Tom Bellavia in left-center for the second out, but Jeff Stone came through with a single up the middle, Tim racing home with the go-ahead run. Red wasn’t able to add on, however, as Joe got Ralph Villela to fly out to Lawrence Page in left field.
Blue came up with Larry Shupe on second base. Donald Solberg, batting right-handed, lined a single to left field. Blue manager/third-base coach David Brown waved Larry home, but he was cut down by a strong 7-6-2 relay, Anthony Galindo to Ralph Villela to Marvin Krabbenhoft, Ralph’s throw a laser strike that Marvin caught at knee level, Larry still a full step from the home line, for the second out. Tom Bellavia came up and drove a ball to deep center field, but Tommy Gillis, playing deep, smoothly moved back and to his left and caught the ball at waist height, about ten feet in front of the fence, for the final out.
Final score: Red 14, Blue 13
In the post-game handshake line, Ralph Villela reminded me that this game ticks off a box on the 2026 B League Bingo card: N-5, “Team flip-flops opponent but loses game”:
| B LEAGUE BINGO 2026 | ||||
| B | I | N | G | O |
| Hit for the cycle (Ralph Villela – May 26) | Mad beef re: infield fly rule | Triple play | Ken Brown scores from first on single | Walk-off grand slam |
| Jim Aaron home run for last-place team | Acclaim and adoption of Johnny Lee-created nickname | Batter takes a runner from home, runs past the 1B commit line (April 6) | Both teams score 5 runs in each of the first 3 innings | Spellman plays 5 games (C and B) in one day (July 6) |
| New guy pops a hammy | Double play, second out at home (March 12) | David Brown makes a great defensive play up the middle | 7-inning game | 3-pitch half-inning (Jeff Stone – April 23) |
| 3 Ohtani Awards in 1 day (July 6) | Over-the-fence home run at Krieg 2 (April 16) | Base runner hit by batted ball (March 23) | Don Solberg throws out a runner trying for an extra base | Rick Jensen delivers St. Crispin’s Day speech |
| Line drive hits Jack Kelly, he brushes it off (March 30) | Ralph Villela hits 2 inside-the-park home runs in one game | Team flip-flops opponent but loses game (July 20 – Red d. Blue ) | Inside-the-park home run at Krieg 3 | Shutout |
2026 standings:
| Session 3 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Maroon | 6 | 2 | .750 | 0 | 103 | 90 | 13 | W5 |
| Green | 5 | 3 | .625 | 1 | 115 | 116 | -1 | W2 |
| Blue | 4 | 3 | .571 | 1.5 | 74 | 58 | 16 | L1 |
| Orange | 4 | 4 | .500 | 2 | 111 | 102 | 9 | L2 |
| Gray | 3 | 4 | .429 | 2.5 | 72 | 76 | -4 | W1 |
| Red | 3 | 5 | .375 | 3 | 94 | 116 | -22 | W1 |
| Purple | 2 | 6 | .250 | 4 | 107 | 118 | -11 | L2 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Maroon | 3-1 | 3-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 3-1 | ||
| Green | 1-3 | 4-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 2-1 | ||
| Blue | 2-2 | 2-1 | 1 | 1-1 | 3-1 | 1-1 | ||
| Orange | 2-2 | 2-2 | 1 | 0-1 | 1-0 | 1-1 | ||
| Gray | 1-2 | 2-2 | 0 | 1-1 | 1-0 | 1-3 | ||
| Red | 2-2 | 1-3 | 0 | 1-0 | 1-3 | 2-0 | ||
| Purple | 0-4 | 2-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-3 | ||
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 21 | |
| Gray | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 | |
| Green | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 14 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 18 | |
| Orange | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | |
| Purple | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | |
| Red | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 12 | |
| TOTAL: | 7 | 16 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 16 | 99 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Ralph Villela – 7
Terry O’Brien – 5
David Brown – 3
Steve Browne – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Tony Garcia – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Trent Peacock – 2
Allen Phillips – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Jack Spellman – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Richard Battle – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
George Brindley – 1
Ivan Budiselic – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Tommy Gillis – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Jack McDermott – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Patrick Schmidt – 1
Scott Wright – 1
Hit for the cycle:
Ralph Villela – May 26
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 8 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16, June 22, June 25, June 29, July 9)
Ray Pilgrim: 6 (March 5, March 23, March 26, June 1, July 2, July 9)
Tommy Deleon: 4 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6)
Spike Davidson: 3 (May 4, July 2, July 20)
Jeff Stone: 2 (March 2, July 9)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Schedule for Thursday July 20:
10:00 a.m.: Purple (2-6) at Gray (3-4), Maroon umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Maroon (6-2) at Red (3-5), Gray umpiring
Noon: Green (5-3) at Blue (4-3), Red umpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: To quote the great Tom Brownfield, whose 75th birthday bash at Bouldin Acres was awesome, “Well, lookie here!”: Blue, despite having the best run differential for the session, has fallen to third place for the first time since the first day of the season, passed by Green for second place today. Those teams will face off at 11:00 on Thursday – the winner will finish the day in second place, possibly tied (if Green wins) or half a game behind (if Blue wins) Maroon, if Red can knock off the first-place team at noon. Purple and Gray have the opening game, Gray with a chance to get back to .500 with a second consecutive win, Purple waiting on savior Jack McDermott to return from his travels and save the day. Alannis Morrissette notwithstanding, it would not technically be irony if their game was decided by one run. Will birthday celebrations for Trent Peacock’s lovely wife Jennifer include a proper appreciation for National Hot Dog Day on Thursday? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Terry Thompson has created a new page on the ASSL website, “Injury Support,” that links you to information about sports injuries and recoveries. There’s a link at the bottom of the home page (https://austinseniorsoftball.
Sprains
Muscle strains
Shoulder injuries
Knee pain
Hamstring pulls
Finger injuries
Back pain
Heat illness
Concussions
Safe return-to-play guidelines
Injury prevention
Exercise and Fitness
Healthy aging
Medical conditions affecting athletes
Nutrition
Heat safety
Recovery tips
Podcast review: Radio Atlantic
Radio Atlantic is the flagship podcast from The Atlantic magazine. It features interviews, debates, and personal narratives with prominent thinkers, writers, and experts. Co-hosted by senior editor Hanna Rosin, who rules, and relative newcomer Adam Harris, feeling his way into it, the pod goes deep into national and international politics, high and popular culture, is always smart and is occasionally unexpectedly funny. They’ve just gone to a twice-a-week scheudle, Harris hosting on Monday, Rosin on Thursdays. New England content: Founded as a New England-based magazine with a strong abolitionist bent, the Atlantic remains in touch with its northeastern roots. A favorite contributor of mine is Rhode Island-based Tom Nichols. Canadian content: Occasional. Listening speed: Regular speed. Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧