B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 36 – July 30, 2026
Department of Corrections: Dave Berra notes that it was Pat Scott running for Hal Darman in the extra inning of Orange’s game on Monday, and that Doc Hobar’s game-winning hit was a bloop into no-man’s-land beyond first base. The Picayune regrets the errors.
Games of Thursday July 30:
10:00 a.m.: Gray (4-5) at Green (7-3):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 0 3 5 0 2 10 Green 5 5 5 0 1 X 16 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly (innings 1-3) and Luis Sanchez (innings 4-5); Green – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Gray – Steve Browne, Alan Phillips, and Scott Wright. Umpires: home – Lawrence Page; bases – David Brown and Jack Spellman. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Paul Rubin (4 for 4); Green - Town Brownfield and Mike Garrison (both 3 for 3).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 84, feels like 92; humidity 70%; partly cloudy; wind from the South at 11 MPH – perfect… for now.
Green came out hitting, putting up five runs in each of its first three at bats, effectively putting the game out of reach: five runs on four singles and run-scoring doubles by Rex Horvath and Larry Fiorentino in the bottom of the first; five more on six consecutive singles in the second; and another five on a walk to Spike Davidson, four singles, and Ivan Budiselic’s two-run triple in the third. Over those innings Green collectively went 17 for 21 for a .810 batting average, the walk making for an on-base percentage of .818.
Meanwhile, Spike Davidson shut Gray down over the first two innings, stranding two runners in each frame. In the top of the first, Paul Rubin singled and Clint Fletcher drew a walk with one out, but Spike retired Luis Sanchez on a pop behind second base, a good catch by Terry O’Brien, and got Jim McAnelly to ground into an inning-ending 6-4 force, Rex Horvath to Terry. Mike Velaney and Steve Browne singled in the second, but Spike got Scott Wright and Alan Phillips to ground into force outs, 3-6 and 6-4, to end the threat.
Gray got on the board in the third inning with three runs on five singles and Clint Fletcher’s sacrifice fly to Steve Sandall in left-center. Gray had two in and the bases loaded with one out, but Green was able to minimize the damage thanks to a controversial call. Jack Kelly hit a short pop in front of the mound, and plate umpire Lawrence Page called “Infield fly!” The ball fell in front of Spike Davidson, and Luis Sanchez scored from third, but Jack was declared out, to Gray’s general unhappiness. Dave Berra thought this was the long-awaited “Mad beef re: infield fly rule,” I-1 on your 2026 B League Bingo Card, and I accede to Dave’s assertion:
| B LEAGUE BINGO 2026 | ||||
| B | I | N | G | O |
| Hit for the cycle (Ralph Villela – May 26) | Mad beef re: infield fly rule (July 30) | 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 (Joe Bernal, Blue vs. Purple, July 27) |
Steve Browne flied out to Mike Garrison in left field to end the top half of the inning; with their third five-run inning in the home half, Green increased its lead to 15-3.
Gray outplayed Green the rest of the way, but that 12-run deficit proved too big a hole for them to escape. Gray scored five runs on six singles and Alan Phillips’ walk in the top of the fourth, and Luis Sanchez took over from Jack Kelly on the mound and retired the side in order in the bottom half.
Gray didn’t score in the top of the fifth, Spike Davidson stranding Steve Browne following Steve’s one-out double.
Green came up leading by seven, scored a quick run on three straight singles to start the home half of the fifth, and the flip-flop was called.
Gray scored two runs on five singles in the top of the buffet, Paul Rubin completing a 4-for-4 game, but eventually ran out of outs.
Final score: Green 16, Gray 10
Department of Dubious Statistics: Hanging around the home dugout toward the end of the 10:00 game, I witnessed Larry Fiorentino and Spike Davidson sniping at one another, always a delight. Larry was ragging on Spike about walking too many guys, and Spike came back with the assertion that he has the lowest walk rate of any B League pitcher. Is this true? I’ve been tracking pitchers’ stats this season, and I can answer the question with this dumb little chart:
B-LEAGUE PITCHERS: BB/IP Roche, Joe 0 Pittard, David 0.12 Davidson, Spike 0.13 Bernal, Joe 0.19 Kelly, Jack 0.23 Stone, Jeff 0.24 Peacock, Trent 0.26 Deleon, Tommy 0.33 Sanchez, Luis 0.36 Horvath, Rex 0.47 Wright, Chunky 0.49 Pilgrim, Ray 0.63 Page, Lawrence 0.77 TOTAL PITCHERS 0.33
The walk rate is the number of walks a pitcher has issued divided by [the total number of outs the pitcher has recorded divided by three]. Joe Roche in one appearance recorded four outs, didn’t walk anyone. David Pittard has recorded 76 outs while walking just three batters. Spike has recorded 158 outs and walked seven, and has the lowest walk rate of any pitcher who has recorded 100 or more outs. Also: Happy National Cheesecake Day.
11:00 a.m.: Blue (5-4) at Orange (4-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 1 0 4 1 3 2 11 Orange 4 4 2 0 1 1 12 Pitchers: Blue – Joe Bernal; Orange – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Blue – Jim McAnelly and Candy Perez; Orange – Terry O'Brien. Umpires: home – Chunky Wright; bases – Gary Coyle. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Tommy Deleon (4 for 4 – Ohtani Award) and Jack Spellman (4 for 4 with a double). Home run: Tom Bellavia (inside the park) (1).
Dave Berra’s weather update: Hotter.
This was a good battle. Orange jumped to an early lead, as Tommy Deleon held Blue to one run over the first two innings. David Brown led off the game with a double and came around on singles by Tom Bellavia. But Tommy got George Romo to ground to third baseman Adam Reddell, who stepped on third and fired to Terry O’Brien at second for a smart 5u., 5-4 double play, then got Lawrence Page to ground into a 6-4 force. Terry then made three straight plays in the top of the second, grounders by Larry Young and Daniel Baladez, then charging in to grab a short pop by Donnie Janac.
Orange scored four times on six hits in each of its first two at bats to establish a comfortable-ish early lead. Jack Spellman legged out a double to right to start the bottom of the first and scored on Pat Scott’s base hit. Joe Bernal got Mark Hernandez to ground into a 6-4 force and Adam Reddell to pop out to third baseman Larry Shupe, but the next four batters singled, pushing across three more runs.
All four of Orange’s runs in the second came with two out. Singles by Terry O’Brien, Jack Spellman, and Pat Scott loaded the bases to open the inning, but Joe Bernal got Mark Hernandez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, David Brown to George Romo to Larry Young, Terry scoring. Adam Reddell, Tommy Deleon, and Don Solberg followed with singles, three more runs coming across.
Blue began chipping away at Orange’s lead in the third inning. They scored four runs after two were out in the top of the third, those outs coming on another 5u., 5-4 double play turned by Adam Reddell after Larry Shupe and Candy Perez (making his 2026 B League debut) singled to start the frame. The top of Blue’s order came through with four consecutive two-out hits: a single by David Brown, a two-run triple by Tom Bellavia, and singles by Joe Bernal and George Romo, George’s driving in the fourth run. The third out of the inning was a pop hit by Lawrence Page and caught by Terry O’Brien – to that point Terry had handled the ball on every play resulting in an out recorded by Orange.
Joe then held Orange to two runs in the home half, on three consecutive one-out singles and Mark Hernandez’s sacrifice fly to Candy Perez in right-center.
Blue scored a single run in the top of the fourth on three singles. Adam Reddell, having himself a day at third base, caught Jim McAnelly’s low liner for the third out. Joe Bernal then worked a scoreless bottom half – Tommy Deleon singled leading off, but Don Solberg flied out to Candy Perez in right-center and Jack Crosley grounded into a 4u., 4-3 double play, well turned by George Romo.
Blue then cut Orange’s lead to one run in the final five-run inning. Tommy Deleon got David Brown to ground out to shortstop to start the inning, Mark Hernandez making an excellent scoop of Jack Spellman’s throw in the dirt. Tom Bellavia then stepped up and hammered a ball to left-center that gapped the outfielders, Tom circling the bases for his first home run of 2026:
Joe Bernal followed with an infield single, his third straight hit on a less-than-well-struck ball. George Romo doubled Joe to third, and they both scored on Lawrence Page’s base hit. Larry Young squared up on a pitch, but Terry O’Brien was well positioned and grabbed the liner for the second out. Daniel Baladez singled, but Tommy Deleon got Donnie Janac to fly out to Don Solberg in left to strand the two runners.
Orange got a single run back in the bottom of the fifth, as Peter Atkins doubled leading off and scored on Jack Spellman’s two-out single.
Entering the buffet, Orange led by two. Larry Shupe singled leading off and scored on Candy Perez’s double to deep left-center field. Jim McAnelly hit a short pop between third and shortstop that Jack Spellman ball-hogged for the first out. David Brown slashed a triple, I think to right-center, Candy scoring the tying run; Terry O’Brien made a strong relay home that held David at third. Tom Bellavia popped a ball behind second base, actually a little bit more to the shortstop side; I had no chance of getting to it, but Terry raced out and hauled it in, a really terrific catch, and was ready to fire home if David had tried to score, which he wisely did not. Joe Bernal stepped up and put his best swing of the day on a Tommy Deleon offering, hitting a sharp one-hopper to the 5-6 hole, but within reach of Jack Spellman, who fielded it cleanly and made a good-enough throw to first for the third out, maintaining the tie.
Orange came up needing one run to win. Mark Hernandez led off with a line single to right-center (I think it was – definitely a liner). Peter Atkins ran for Mark. Adam Reddell flied out to Candy Perez in right-center; Peter alertly tagged up and took second the play. Tommy Deleon hit a soft liner to the right side, just out of the reach of second baseman George Romo; Peter had to wait to see if the ball would be caught, and advanced only to third on the hit, Tommy’s fourth in as many at bats. Don Solberg then came up and rifled a base hit to right field, bringing in Peter with the game-winning run.
Final score: Orange 12, Blue 11
Tommy Deleon earned his fifth Ohtani Award of the season, going 4 for 4 while pitching Orange to a walk-off victory. He received his award from the pop singer Yukipoyo at a classy Tokyo saki bar.
Noon: Red (3-6) at Purple (2-8):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 3 5 0 2 2 12 Purple 2 4 3 1 0 10 Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Red – Alan Phillips, Adam Reddell, and Scott Wright; Purple – Jim Foelker, Terry O'Brien, and Jack Spellman; Gary Coyle entered for Terry in the fourth inning when Terry had to leave for a dental appointment. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Dave Berra and David Brown. Perfect at the plate: Red – Richard Battle (2 for 2 with two walks and a double), Donald Drummer (2 for 2 with two walks), and Tommy Gillis (3 for 3 with a walk); Purple – Terry O'Brien (2 for 2) and Ray Pilgrim (3 for 3).
Dave Berra weather update: Hottest.
Purple scored a pair of two-out runs in the home half. Rick Kahn led off with a double. Trent Peacock got both Mike Malay and Shane Hill to ground out, Mike to shortstop Ralph Villela and Shane to second baseman Adam Reddell, Rick advancing on Shane’s. Ray Pilgrim, Peter Sundquist, and Patrick Schmidt followed with singles, Rick and Ray scoring, ending Purple’s drought (“our long national nightmare,” as some wise-ass in the dugout put it).
Red won the second inning by a run as well, scoring five times without making an out in the top half on three walks, three singles, Trent Peacock’s RBI double, and Anthony Galindo’s three-run inside-the-park home run to left-center, Anthony’s first of the season:
Purple got four runs back in the home half on six singles, and had the fifth run at third with one out. But Trent Peacock got Peter Sundquist to line out to shortstop Ralph Villela and Patrick Schmidt to fly out to Anthony Galindo in left-center.
Ray Pilgrim held Red scoreless in the third, the one inning he did not issue a walk. He worked around singles by Scott Wright (leading off) and Alan Phillips (with one out), retiring Ralph Villela on a foul pop off of third base that Mike Malay made a good play to get to, then getting Trent Peacock to hit a two-strike foul.
Purple then took the lead with three runs in the bottom half on four consecutive one-out hits: singles by Terry O’Brien and Jack Spellman, an RBI double by Jim Foelker, and a two-run single by Rick Kahn.
Red went back ahead and seemed poised for a big inning when its first three batters hit safely to start the fourth: Anthony Galindo and Tommy Gillis singled, and both scored on Richard Battle’s double to left-center. Donald Drummer drew a walk, but Ray Pilgrim retired the next three batters, two on 6-4 force outs, Scott Wright on a foul pop to third baseman Mike Malay, another good play.
Ray then led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Anthony Galindo made a good play on Peter Sundquist’s drive to left-center for the first out, but Ray came around and scored the tying run on back-to-back singles by Patrick Schmidt and Rick Jensen. Gary Coyle, batting for Terry O’Brien, who’d departed for a dental appointment, hit a sharp grounder to the 5-6 hole, but Ralph Villela made a good play to his right and threw to third for the force there. Jack Spellman got a hittable pitch on the outside half of the plate, but got under it, and Alan Phillips caught my fly to end the inning, the game tied entering the buffet.
Ray Pilgrim got Alan to pop out to Mike Malay at third to open the buffet. Ralph Villela ripped a double, then advanced to third on Trent Peacock’s ground out to second baseman Rick Jensen. The third out proved elusive. Anthony Galindo singled, Ralph scoring the go-ahead run. Tommy Gillis walked. Richard Battle singled, Anthony scoring. A single by Donald Drummer loaded the bases. (Tommy, Richard, and Donald were all perfect at the plate in the game, Red’s 4-5-6 hitters going a combined 7 for 7 with five walks, a double, four runs scored, five driven in.) Marvin Krabbenhoft lined a ball to right-center, but Rick Kahn was perfectly positioned to make the catch, ending the inning.
Purple looked poised for a comeback, with mercenary Jim Foelker and the top of the order due up. But Trent retired the side in order, getting Jim to ground out to shortstop Ralph Villela, Rick Kahn to line out to third baseman Donald Drummer, and Mike to ground out to Donald, who moved to his left to cut the ball off and made a strong throw to first to end the game.
Final score: Red 12, Purple 10
Ray Pilgrim was 3 for 3 at the plate and held Red to just 12 runs, but came up on the losing end, though he did receive a Notahni Award for his efforts.
2026 standings:
| Session 3 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Maroon | 8 | 2 | .800 | 0 | 134 | 119 | 15 | W7 |
| Green | 8 | 3 | .727 | 0.5 | 167 | 151 | 16 | W5 |
| Blue | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | 112 | 90 | 22 | L1 |
| Orange | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | 138 | 129 | 9 | W1 |
| Gray | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4 | 105 | 113 | -8 | L2 |
| Red | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4 | 122 | 143 | -21 | W1 |
| Purple | 2 | 9 | .182 | 6.5 | 124 | 157 | -33 | L5 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | Last 5 | ||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | games: | ||
| Maroon | 4-1 | 4-1 | 3 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 5-1 | WWWWW | |
| Green | 3-3 | 5-0 | 1 | 1-0 | 4-1 | 3-1 | WWWWW | |
| Blue | 2-3 | 3-2 | 1 | 1-1 | 4-2 | 1-2 | WLLWL | |
| Orange | 3-2 | 2-3 | 2 | 0-2 | 1-0 | 2-2 | WLLLW | |
| Gray | 2-2 | 2-4 | 0 | 1-1 | 2-1 | 1-4 | LWWLL | |
| Red | 2-3 | 2-3 | 0 | 1-0 | 1-4 | 2-1 | LLWLW | |
| Purple | 0-6 | 2-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0-3 | LLLLL | |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 22 | |
| Gray | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 | |
| Green | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 17 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 20 | |
| Orange | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | |
| Purple | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | |
| Red | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 13 | |
| TOTAL: | 9 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 16 | 23 | 17 | 108 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 8
Ralph Villela – 8
Tony Garcia – 4
Trent Peacock – 4
David Brown – 3
Steve Browne – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
Larry Fiorentino – 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
Tom Bellavia – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
George Brindley – 1
Ivan Budiselic – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Jim Foelker – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Tommy Gillis – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Jack McDermott – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
David Pittard – 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: 5 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30)
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 Monday August 3:
10:00 a.m.: Blue (5-5) at Gray (4-6), Green umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Green (8-3) at Maroon (8-2), Gray umpiring
Noon: Orange (5-5) at Red (4-6), Maroon umpiring
Purple has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Purple gets the day off, no doubt will use the time to workshop new ideas for busting out of its slump. One of Blue and Gray, which both lost today, will get back on track with a win at 10:00. Blue leads the season series 4-1. The day’s marquee match-up is at 11:00, with first-place Maroon, riding a seven-game winning streak, taking on second-place Green, which has won five in a row. Maroon leads the season series 4-1. Orange and Red both won today and face off at noon, Orange leading the season series 3-2. Will Terry O’Brien rebound from his crown procedure and lead Green into first place? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Join me in wishing well Maroon’s Fritz Hensel, who underwent heart surgery earlier today. The Picayune’s paparazzo caught the scene as Fritz gave the surgical team a pre-event pep talk:
Also putting out positive thoughts for Johnny Lee’s brother.
Speaking of: Johnny Lee and Arctic Blues Band will be at Lighthouse on the Lake in Briarcliff, 513 Sleat Drive, this coming Saturday night from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.
As an after-the-fact Father’s Day treat, Keggy Junior is taking me Sunday to see The Odyssey in IMAX. I’m looking forward to it, though I understand Christopher Nolan has taken some liberties with the original text:
Looks good to me.Podcast review: The Reduced Shakespeare Company Podcast
This is an OG podcast, as host Austin Tichenor, co-artistic director of the troupe, has been outputting an episode a week since December 2006 – at 1,024 and counting, hasn’t missed a week, and I’ve listened to them all. The pod chronicles the history and current doings of the RSC, but also covers contemporary theater, performing arts, and Shakespeare-related stories more generally, deep-diving with actors, playwrights, directors, authors, and designers. Tichenor is an excellent, engaging interviewer, quick and funny (much like the RSC’s productions), and he keeps the episodes moving briskly, generally coming in at around 20 minutes – no indulging the bloat that so many podcasts now foist on listeners. The holiday episodes are always a particular treat. New England content: Lots. Just recently there have been episodes about the Stephen King archives, another discussing a new play about Louisa May Alcott and the Transcendentalists, and the RSC performs regularly at Merrimack Repertory Theater in southern New Hampshire, where I first saw them with Keggy Junior. Canadian content: I couldn’t recall any, so I checked, and exactly two of the 1,024 episode have been Canadian-themed, one (episode #587) about the Canadian television series Slings & Arrows, the other a holiday episode (#732) featuring the reading of a ghost story by Canadian novelist Robertson Davies. So that’s just under 0.2% Canadian content – disappointing, frankly. Listening speed: 1X. Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧