B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 29 – June 29, 2023
Weather: Still dealing with the Texas Heat Dome – 80 degrees with 81% humidity at the start of the 10:30 game, increasing to 87 degrees by the start of the 11:30 game, into the 90s by 12:30, and high sun throughout.
Injured list:
Blue team: Stan Fisher – Dupuytren’s contracture
Gold team: Jeff Stone – broken left pinky finger
Red team: Gregory Bied – pulled quadriceps
Alvin Gauna – broken finger
Back in action:
Maroon team: Chris Villareal
Games of Thursday June 29:
10:30 a.m., Blue (2-1) at Red (1-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 3 5 4 5 1 X 18 Red 0 1 3 3 3 5 15 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Red – Rex Horvath. Mercenaries: Red – Tim Coles and Rex Horvath. Umpires: home plate – Tom Kelm and Marvin Krabbenhoft; bases – Dave Berra. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Richard Battle and Larry Fiorentino (each 4 for 4); Red – Paul Rubin (4 for 4).
Led by their first five batters, who went a combined 17 for 20, Blue put up crooked numbers in each of its first four at bats and built a 17-4 lead through the top of the fourth inning. Paul Rubin robbed Fritz Hensel of a hit in the top of the first with a shoestring catch in left-center that helped limit Blue to three runs in that inning, but Blue then scored 19 of a possible 20 runs over the next three frames, without making an out in the second (seven straight singles), missing out on a fifth run in the third when Richard Battle was thrown out at home trying to score on Larry Fiorentino’s single to right field (the relay went 10-4-2, Scott Sovereen to Terry Thompson to Sam Baker, per the textbook), and scoring all five runs in the fourth after two were out, Dale Fugate’s two-run triple to center, over everybody, the big hit.
Red was slow to get untracked – shut out in the first, then Paul Rubin scoring in the second on Hal Darman’s sacrifice fly to left. The bats came to life beginning in the third, Red scoring three times in each of the next three innings. The rally in the bottom of the third ended with Eddy Murillo starting a 5-4-3 double play, Bobby Miller on the pivot, on Daniel Baladez’s grounder. Red’s three runs in the fourth all came with two out, Tim Coles’ two-run double the key hit. And in the fifth, six singles resulted in three runs, though Red did wind up leaving the bases loaded.
With the score 18-10, the teams agreed to flip-flop for the buffet. Tim Coles led off with a single. Spike Davidson retired Terry Thompson on a third-strike foul and Mike Mordecai (3 for his first 3) on a fly to Anthony Galindo in left-center, but the third out proved surprisingly tough to secure – the next seven batters all singled, five runs scoring and the tying run reaching base before Spike was finally able to get Rex Horvath to pop out to shortstop Larry Fiorentino for the final out. Final score: Blue 18, Red 15
11:30 a.m., Gray (2-0) at Maroon (1-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 4 3 1 5 0 0 13 Maroon 3 0 2 1 2 0 8 Pitchers: Gray – Gil Delossantos (first inning) and Greg Lloyd (the rest of the way); Maroon – Joe Bernal. Umpires: home plate – Gary Coyle; bases – Tim Balke. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Doc Hobar (2 for 2 with a walk), Rick Jensen (3 for 3 with a double), and David Kruse (3 for 3 with a homerun). Homeruns: David Kruse and Rick Kahn (both inside the park).
Gray came out strong and built a 13-5 lead through the top of the fourth, working a lot of good at bats against one of the B League’s best pitchers. Joe Bernal allowed four runs on six hits in the first (Rick Kahn’s double the big blow), three runs on four hits and Doc Hobar’s walk in the second, then just a single run in the third despite the first three Gray batters hitting safely. Rick Jensen led off with a double, took third on Jerry Mylius’s infield hit to the right side, and scored on Frank Delmonte’s single. But Joe worked out the jam, getting Jim McAnelly to line out to third baseman Larry Shupe and Greg Lloyd to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, Rex Horvath to Mike Velaney to Johnny Lee. Joe struck out Gil Delossantos looking to start the fourth, but the next five batters hit safely and scored: Hal Darman and Doc Hobar singled, and David Kruse drove them in with an inside-the-park homerun on a drive to left field that one-hopped the fence; then Trey Wall singled and came around on Rick Kahn’s inside-the-park homerun to right field. It all happened very quickly.
Maroon got three runs in the bottom of the first off Gil Delossantos, on a walk and four singles, but Greg Lloyd took over on the mound in the bottom of the second, and Maroon had a hard time solving him. Greg threw a scoreless second, working around a one-out walk to Tom Kelm, then allowed two runs in the third, on a double by Rex Horvath, walks to Peter Atkins and Ken Brown, and a single by Chris Villareal. Maroon looked poised for a big inning in the bottom of the fourth, with two pairs of singles sandwiching Johnny Lee’s sacrifice fly to left-center (a great catch by Rick Kahn to rob Johnny of a hit), but with one run in, the bases loaded, and one out, Greg escaped the jam by getting Mike Velaney to hit into a 5u., 5-2 double play, Rick Jensen executing it perfectly (though his strong throw home to catcher Jim McAnelly almost tore Jim’s glove off his hand)
Gray wound up not scoring again, as Joe Bernal found a groove, retiring six batters in row, three by strikeout, after allowing a single by Rick Jensen to start the top of the fifth. Maroon scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth, on three sinngles and Ken Brown’s double, and entered the bottom of the buffet trailing by five with the top of its order due up. Johnny Lee led off with a single, but shortstop David Kruse made a terrific play on Joe Bernal’s grounder to his left, scooping it up, tagging second and firing to first – first baseman Frank Delmonte had to lean way to his right to catch the throw, got his feet somewhat tangled, but through great effort managed to keep a foot on the bag even as he fell to the ground, catching the ball cleanly to complete the 6u., 6-3 double play. Joe then got Rex Horvath on a high fly to Rick Kahn in left-center for the final out. Final score: Gray 13, Maroon 8
Gray manager Greg Lloyd presents David Kruse and Rick Kahn with Pluckers coupon after they both legged out inside-the-park homeruns in the fifth inning. Jim McAnelly photobombs.
12:30 p.m., Green (1-2) at Gold (2-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Green 5 5 2 0 1 4 17 Gold 2 0 3 5 2 4 16 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon; Gold – Joe Roche (first and second innings) and Gil Delossantos (rest of the way). Umpires: home plate – Trey Wall; bases – Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Green – Anthony Galindo (2 for 2 with a walk), Ray Pilgrim (4 for 4), and Don Solberg (3 for 3 with a walk); Gold – Jack McDermott (4 for 4) and Joe Roche (4 for 4 with a double and a triple).
Green came out hot, scoring five runs in each of the first two innings – on six singles and a walk to Jeff Fisher in the first, on six singles and Jeff’s double in the second. Gil Delossantos took over on the mound in the third and was pretty effective, holding Green to seven runs the rest of the way.
While Joe Roche struggled on the mound, he was aces at the plate, driving in one of Gold’s two runs in the bottom of the first with an RBI double and, after Tommy Deleon held Gold scoreless in the second, chipping in one of the five singles that resulted in three runs for Gold in the third. Green had scored twice in the top half, on three singles and two walks, but a 5u., 5-4 double play limited the damage, and Gold wound up winning the inning.
Green didn’t score at all in the top of the fourth, which saw first baseman Larry Young make a very good play on Donnie Janac’s hard grounder leading off, and Gold got back into the game by scoring five runs in the home half without making an out, on a lead-off walk by Larry Young and six singles. That cut Gold’s lead to 12-10.
Gold third baseman Jack Spellman took away a hit in the top of the fifth, snagging Reed Durant’s liner down the third-base line for the first out following a lead-off single by Ray Pilgrim (4 for 4 in the game, all of them frozen ropes), but then he gave away a run, as he made a terrible relay home after Anthony Galindo singled to left field with two out and runners on first and second – I had a good shot at gunning down Boo Resnick, but my throw was short and offline, not at all catchable by catcher Joe Dayoc, and Boo scored.
After Clint Fletcher lined out to left field to end the top of the fifth, Gold entered the bottom half trailing 13-10. Gold got two runs, the first scored by Joe Roche after he led off with a triple, the second scored by James Chavana, whose single scored Joe, and who himself came around on one-out singles by Gil Delossantos and Denny Malloy. Tommy Deleon got out of the inning by getting Larry Young to ground into a 4-6-3 double play, beautifully turned by second baseman Boo Resnick and shortstop Mike Hill.
Leading by a run entering the buffet, Green scored four times in the top half, on five singles and a walk to Don Solberg (completing a perfect day at the plate). The damage would have been worse except that first baseman Rip Wright made a terrific play on Jeff Fisher’s screaming one-hopper, beating Jeff to the bag for the first out of the inning. Gil Delossantos then left runners stranded at first and third, getting Boo Resnick on a foul third strike and Tim Balke on a grounder to second baseman Larry Young.
Gold needed five to tie, and we were heartened when 8-9-10 hitters Rip Wright, Larry Bunton, and Joe Dayoc started the innings with singles, loading the bases for the top of the order. Tim Bruton singled, two runs scoring. Jack Spellman came up and lined a ball to the right side, but was robbed of a hit by first baseman Reed Durant (payback!), who made a terrific clean catch despite being partially blocked by the baserunner. Jack McDermott singled, Joe Dayoc’s pinch-runner scoring to cut Green’s lead to 17-15. Joe Roche followed with his fourth hit of the game, a single to (I think) right-center – Tim Bruton tried to score on the play, but was out at home, the play I believe going 9-6-2, Don Solberg to Mike Hill to Ray Pilgrim, very close at home, but I think umpire Trey Wall got it right. Mike Garrison came up and knocked a single to left-center; Jack McDermott scored on it, just beating the relay home. James Chavana came up with the tying run at second and the winning run at first. Tommy Deleon worked him masterfully, getting a foul ball down the left-field side for strike two, then throwing an almost equally unhittable inside pitch, too close to take, that James had to swing at, but pulled foul for strike three and the final out of a terrrific, hard-fought contest. Final score: Green 17, Gold 16, the visiting teams winning all three of the day’s games; also, this was Green’s first win versus Gold in 2023, after Gold won the first five meetings.
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Gray 3 0 1.000 — 43 34 + 9 W6
Blue 3 1 .750 .5 62 50 +12 W3
Gold 2 2 .500 1.5 57 54 + 3 L2
Green 2 2 .500 1.5 51 53 – 2 W2
Maroon 1 2 .333 2 35 41 – 6 L2
Red 1 3 .250 2.5 52 64 -12 L3
Purple 0 2 .000 2.5 29 33 – 4 L3
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Gray 2-0 1-0 1 0-0 0-0 1-0
Blue 0-1 3-0 0 0-0 3-1 0-0
Gold 1-1 1-1 0 0-0 1-0 0-1
Green 1-1 1-1 0 0-0 1-1 1-0
Maroon 0-2 1-0 0 0-0 1-1 0-0
Red 0-2 1-1 0 0-0 0-3 0-0
Purple 0-1 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 2 2 1 2.5 2 11.5
Gold 2 X 2 5 1 1 2 13
Gray 2 2 X 2 2 2 3 13
Green 1 1 1 X 1 4 4 12
Maroon 3 3 1 3 X 3 1 14
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 3 1 1 1 2 3 X 11
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 12.5 10 9 13 8 15.5 13 81
Schedule for Monday July 10:
10:30 a.m.: Green (2-1) at Gray (1-2), Red umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Maroon (1-1) at Red (), Blue umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Gold (2-2) at Blue, Maroon umpiring
Note that there are no games scheduled next week, due to the Fourth of July holiday, and just one game the week of July 10, as the Krieg fields will be hosting a girls fast-pitch tournament on Thursday July 13. Meanwhile, I’ll be out of town the first half of July, so the Picayune report for games of Monday July 10 will probably be both late and short (and possibly also even less accurate than usual – #lifegoals).
Preview: Green will try to end Gray’s six-game winning streak at 10:30. Maroon and Red at 11:30 will be fighting to stay out of the cellar. Blue at 12:30 faces gold, and could take over first with a victory if Gray falls at 10:30. Where will I find the best stuffie in southern Rhode Island? Only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Many thanks to Bruce Barnett for today’s Welcome Back Burger Cookout, which was a rousing success.
It was so great to see longtime Austin senior softball stalwarts such as…
Keith Schnell, Gene Nelson, Bill Kocke, and Bob Cotter…
and Buster Goode (with Tommy Deleon).
B League President Jack McDermott checks in:
The board decided at the beginning of the year that we would take both Monday July 3 and Thursday July 6 off during 4th of July week so that anyone who had extended holiday plans would not miss any games. We also thought that it might give anyone with mid-season injuries a little extra time to heal. I found out today that the C-division is planning on playing on Thursday July 6. Several players have asked me why we are not playing and were disappointed that we were not. If anyone wants to organize a pick up game on that Thursday, feel free to do so. You will need to coordinate with the C-division to see what their schedule is and do some leg work to coordinate with players. All I ask is that you keep it somewhat organized and follow the ASSL rules and city guidelines. We are required by the city to play as an organized league and I would not want to be in breach of our contract.
Thanks,
Jack McD