B League news for Monday, April 1, 2024

		1	2	3	4	5     BUFFET  FINAL
Red		3	3	5	0	4	X	15
Purple		3	0	3	0	1	5	12

Pitchers: Red – Eddy Murillo; Purple – Tom Kelm. Mercenaries: Purple – Paul Rubin and Ralph Villela. Umpires: home plate – Spike Davidson; bases – Larry Fiorentino. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Bruton (4 for 4 with a double), Gil Delossantos (2 for 2 with a double and a walk), and Denny Malloy (3 for 3 with a double); Purple – Tim Coles (4 for 4 with a double and a homerun) and Mike Velaney (3 for 3) Homerun: Tim Coles (over the fence). 

Gil Delossantos and Tim Bruton after the game. Gil took responsibility for his lineup construction and slowfootedness costing Tim a Pluckers coupon.
Eddy Murillo held Purple scoreless in the bottom of the second, getting the first two of the five foul-strikeouts he accumulated in the game. Red then took full control of the game by scoring five times in the top of the third, on doubles by Adam Reddell and Gil Delossantos, a walk to Eddy Murillo, and four singles, two of those and Gil’s double coming with two out.

Purple got three back in the home half, the first five batters hitting safely (four singles and a double by Tim Coles that drove in two more runs), and that kept Red within hailing distance, leading 11-6. Tom Kelm held Red scoreless in the top of the fourth, working around Morgan Witthoft’s lead-off single and Boo Resnick’s two-out base on balls, but Purple wasn’t able to take advantage, Eddy Murillo yielding only a one-out single to Ralph Villela in the home half.

Red scored four times in the top of the fifth to increase its lead to 15-6. Singles by Denny Malloy and Hal Darman and a walk to Gil Delossantos loaded the bases for the top of the order. Tim Bruton’s single, his fourth hit of the game, drove in Denny and Hal. Gil advanced to third on Rick Kahn’s fly to right-center, then scored on Morgan Witthoft’s double, Tim stopping at third. Peter Sundquist was unable to corral Adam Reddell’s deep fly to center, which fell in for a single, Tim scoring. Tom Kelm got Eddy Murillo to hit into a 6-4-3 double play, Rick Jensen to Mike Velaney to Daniel Carvajal, to end the inning.

Chasing nine, Purple got just one run back in the bottom of the fifth: Tim Coles doubled and scored on Mike Velaney’s sharp single through the 5-6 hole.

With Purple trailing by eight entering the buffet, the teams flip-flopped. Rip Wright singled to right-center and Larry Young singled on a ball that glanced off first baseman Gil Delossantos’s glove – Boo Resnick made a good play to field the carom, but Gil couldn’t get back to the base before Larry beat out the hit. Rip took third on Paul Rubin’s fly to right-center. Third baseman Adam Reddell made a good play on Ralph Villela’s hard grounder, throwing to second for the force there, Rip holding at third. Jim Foelker and Peter Sundquist each singled, Rip and Ralph scoring, and a walk to Daniel Carvajal loaded the bases. Tim Coles unloaded them with a drive to left-center that Denny Malloy got a glove on, but couldn’t hold, all three runners scoring on what was a long, loud single for Tim, his fourth hit in as many at bats, giving him eight RBI in the game.

That cut Red’s lead to three runs, but the game ended with Tim Bruton making a good play to his left on Rick Jensen’s grounder up the middle, Tim stepping on second for the game-ending force out. Final score: Red 15, Purple 12

Words that hurt:
Hal Darman to Jack Spellman: “Hey, the Shupe-ster!” (All us scrawny white guys look alike, I guess.)

11:30 a.m., Orange at Blue:

		1	2	3	4	5	5     BUFFET  FINAL
Orange		5	0	1	5	0	3	0	14
Blue		5	0	0	0	2	5	3	15

Pitchers: Orange – Spike Davidson; Blue – Joe Bernal. Mercenary: Orange – Jack Spellman. Umpires: home plate – Adam Reddell; bases – Hal Darman. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Doc Hobar (3 for 3 with two walks) and Rex Horvath (4 for 4 with a double); Blue – Joe Bernal, Jeff Fisher, and Jerry Mylius (all 4 for 4).

Orange seemed to have this well in hand through four innings, holding Blue scoreless in the second, third, and fourth after both teams put across five without making an out in the first inning, Orange on two walks and five singles, Blue on seven consecutive singles, the last a line drive by Dale Fugate to right field, crossing up an Orange defense that was playing him to pull.

Neither team scored in the second, Spike Davidson escaping a first-and-third, one-out jam thanks to a 6-4-3 double play started by Rex Horvath and completed by Ray Pilgrim, who stretched to haul in a high, home-plate-side throw from second baseman Jack Spellman (kids, remember: it’s important to warm up).

Orange got a run in the third when Eddie Ortiz doubled Rex Horvath home from first following Rex’s one-out single, and Spike retired Blue in order in the bottom half.

Orange recorded another five-spot in the fourth, on lead-off walks by Matt Levitt and Fritz Hensel, four singles, and Rex Horvath’s double. Blue looked poised to respond in the home half when singles by George Romo, Jeff Fisher, and Joe Bernal loaded the bases with nobody out. Dale Fugate hit a sharp grounder down the third-base side that Eddie Ortiz made a terrific clean backhanded grab of; Eddie stepped on third (forcing out Jeff) and threw to second (forcing out Joe) for a huge double play. George had remained on third base and was safe there – if Eddie had tagged him before stepping on the bag, George would have been out and a triple play almost a certainty, but this didn’t happen (awfully hard to maintain presence of mind when so much is happening at once). In any event, Spike escaped with a scoreless inning when Tony Garcia in left-center made an excellent running catch of Steve Sandall’s drive.

That proved to be the high-water mark for Orange. Joe Bernal held them scoreless in the top of the fifth, working around Spike Davidson’s one-out single, and Blue got two runs back in the home half, George Brindley’s two-out double scoring Jerry Mylius and Pat Scott. That cut Orange’s lead to 11-7.

Time ran out as Orange batted in the top of the sixth, scoring three runs on a walk to Tony Garcia and four singles. But Blue won the inning by scoring five times in the bottom half. The first four batters singled, two scoring. Eddie Ortiz started another double play: with runners on first and second, he fielded Lucky Hoffman’s grounder, stepped on third for the first out, and threw across the diamond to get Lucky for the second. But then Jerry Mylius and Pat Scott singled, David Brown doubled, and George Brindley singled, three more runs coming across and Orange’s lead cut to 14-12 entering the buffet.

Orange was unable to add to its advantage in the top of the frame, Joe Bernal getting the first and third outs on two-strike fouls, Jack Spellman grounding into a weak-ass 6-4 force for the second. That left Blue chasing two to tie, three to win entering the bottom of the buffet.

George Romo led off with a line drive to left field that Doc Hobar was perfectly positioned for and caught. But that was the only out Orange recorded. Jeff Fisher singled, completing a 4-for-4 game. Joe Bernal singled, completing a 4-for-4 game. Dale Fugate singled, his third hit, Jeff scoring. Steve Sandall singled, his third hit, Joe scoring the tying run. Lucky Hoffman singled, loading the bases. As Jerry Mylius stepped to the plate, base umpire Hal Darman told me, “You should bring in your left fielder to play behind first base.” Hal was right: Jerry popped a ball into the no-man’s-land in short right field, too far out for me to get to, not far enough out for right fielder Matt Levitt to reach. It fell in for Jerry’s fourth hit of the game and produced a walk-off victory for Blue. Final score: Blue 15, Orange 14

12:30 p.m., Gray at Maroon:

		1	2	3	4	5     BUFFET  FINAL
Gray		5	4	0	0	4	0	13
Maroon		2	5	0	2	0	5	14

Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Maroon – Chunky Wright. Mercenary: Gray – Adam Reddell and Pat Scott; Maroon – Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Fisher; bases – Steve Sandall. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Ken Brown (2 for 2), Gary Coyle (2 for 2 with two walks), and Tommy Gillis (4 for 4); Maroon – Peter Sundquist and Chunky Wright (each 3 for 3)

Both teams came out of the gate hitting, only to settle into a defensive battle in the middle innings. Gray did not make an out while putting across five runs in the top of the first on five singles and doubles by David Kruse and Don Solberg, all clean hits. Maroon’s first three batters hit safely, two singles and a run-scoring double by Anthony Galindo, Jimmy Sneed driving in a second run with a sacrifice fly to left-center.

Chunky Wright got two outs in the top of the second on ground balls that sandwiched a single by Jack Kelly. The first six hitters in the Gray lineup then all hit safely, David Kruse knocking his second double, and four runs came across. At that point, Gray hitters were 14 for 16 in the game. With the bases loaded, fifth run on third, Mark Dolan hit the ball hard on one hop to shortstop for an inning-ending force. Maroon clawed back into the game in the home half, as the first five batters all hit safely, four singles and a two-run double by Scott Wright, all of them scoring, the last two runs coming across on a sacrifice fly and Anthony Galindo’s single to center field.

That left the score at 9-7 in Gray’s favor. Neither team scored in the third. In the top half, Chunky Wright worked around a two-out walk to Pat Scott and a single by Adam Reddell, who’d entered in place of Ken Brown, who’d left for an appointment. Jimmy Sneed led off the home half with a double to left field, but never advanced, as Jack Kelly retired Joe Roche on a fly to right, got James Chavana to foul off a two-strike pitch, and put out Marvin Krabbenhoft on a liner to right field.

Gray put two runners on to start the fourth, as Tommy Gillis singled and Gary Coyle walked. Don Solberg lined a ball to the left of second base, but right at shortstop Jack Spellman; Tommy broke on contact, and his momentum toward third left him wrong-footed when the catch was made behind him, and Spellman, his momentum toward the base, was able to beat him to the bag for an unassisted double play that derailed the potential rally.

Maroon then tied the game with two runs in the home half, which began with three singles, by Alvin Gauna, Chunky Wright, and Peter Sundquist – the bottom three Maroon batters were a combined 8 for 9 in the game – that loaded the bases for the top of the lineup. Alvin scored on Scott Wright’s grounder to first baseman Donnie Janac, who made a good glove play for the out, and Chunky scored the tying run on Jack Spellman’s second sacrifice fly of the game, to left-center.

Gray reclaimed the lead with four runs in the top of the fifth, its bottom four batters – Mark Dolan, Mike Mordecai, Jack Kelly, and Pat Scott – starting the frame with singles and all coming around to score: Mark on Pat’s hit; Mike on a single by David Kruse; Jack’s pinch-runner on a single by Tommy Gillis; and Pat on Gary Coyle’s bases-loaded walk. Mixed in there was a terrific diving play in center field by Peter Sundquist, who ranged a long way to rob Adam Reddell of a hit. Peter also very nearly caught David Kruse’s drive to deep center – off the bat,I thought there was no way Peter would get to the well-struck liner, but he actually just slightly overran the ball, which wound up glancing off the heel of his mitt and falling safely. Just Peter getting to the ball made the runners have to hold up to see whether it would be caught, and limited their advance to just one base, likely keeping Gray from scoring a fifth run.

Jack Kelly blanked Maroon in the bottom of the inning. Donnie Janac made another excellent play on a hard-hit grounder, this one by Joe Roche, for the second out.

Heading into the buffet, Gray led 13-9. With one out, the bottom of the lineup loaded the bases on a single by Mike Mordecai, a walk to Jack Kelly, and a single by Pat Scott. Adam Reddell grounded sharply to the right of second base; Scott Wright made a good play on the ball and flipped to second for the force there; Adam was called out on the relay to first, on a bang-bang play, Gray collectively very much believing Adam had beaten the throw, Maroon mostly thinking he had not, and the umpires ruling it was the third out.

Maroon needed four to tie and five to win in the bottom of the buffet. Alvin Gauna grounded out to shortstop David Kruse, who made a very strong throw to beat Alvin, hustling down the line. There followed a procession of singles. Chunky Wright singled to left. Adam Reddell knocked down Peter Sundquist’s grounder down the third-base line, but had no play. Mark Dolan got a glove on Scott Wright’s grounder to the 3-4 hole, but likewise couldn’t make a play. Jack Spellman singled up the middle, Chunky scoring to make it 13-10, the tying run now on base. Anthony Galindo ripped a sinking line drive to center field; Tommy Gillis, playing deep, made a play for the ball and very nearly caught it, but it was a short-hop trap, and all the runners advanced one base on the hit, Peter scoring to make it 13-11.

Jimmy Sneed singled to left field, Scott and Spellman scoring, tying the game. Joe Roche’s single to center field loaded the bases, the winning run now at third with one out. Jack Kelly got James Chavana to foul off a two-strike pitch for the second out. Marvin Krabbenhoft stepped up, took a strike, and then hit a sharp grounder to shortstop David Kruse – the ball took an untrue, in-between hop and glanced off David’s glove, far enough out of reach that he had no play anywhere as Anthony Galindo came home with the winning run. Final score: Maroon 14, Gray 13

www.beebesports.comStandings – Session Two:

                         Games    Runs  Runs      Run            W/L
        W   L   Win %:   behind:  for:  allowed:  differential:  streak:

Red     1   0   1.000    —       15    12        + 3            W1

Blue    1   0   1.000    —       15    14        + 1            W3

Maroon  1   0   1.000    —       14    13        + 1            W3

Green   0   0    .000      .5      0     0          0            L4

Orange  0   1    .000     1       14    15        – 1            L1

Gray    0   1    .000     1       13    14        – 1            L2

Purple  0   1    .000     1       12    15        – 3            L1

        Home  Visitor  Walk-off  Extra-inning  Flip-flop  1-run games
        W-L:  W-L:     Wins:     W-L:          W-L:       W-L:

Red     0-0   1-0      0         0-0           1-0        0-0

Blue    1-0   0-0      1         0-0           0-0        1-0

Maroon  1-0   0-0      1         0-0           0-0        1-0

Green   0-0   0-0      0         0-0           0-0        0-0

Orange  0-0   0-1      0         0-0           0-0        0-1

Gray    0-0   0-1      0         0-0           0-0        0-1

Purple  0-1   0-0      0         0-0           0-1        0-0

2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):

        Blue  Gray  Green  Maroon  Orange  Purple  Red   TOTAL

Blue     X     0     0      1       1       1       1     4

Gray     1     X     0      0       0       0       1     2

Green    0     0     X      0       0       0       0     0

Maroon   0     2     1      X       0       0       0     3

Orange   0     0     1      0       X       0       1     2

Purple   0     0     1      0       1       X       0     2

Red      0     0     1      0       0       1       X     2
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL:   1     2     4      1       2       2       3    15

Season homerun leaders:
Tim Coles – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Tim Bruton – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Eddie Ortiz – 1
Dave Pittard – 1

Schedule for Thursday April 4:
10:30 a.m.: Purple (0-1) at Maroon (1-0), Green umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Green (0-0) at Gray (0-1), Purple umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Red (1-0) at Orange (0-1), Gray umpiring

Blue has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.

Preview: No games on Thursday between both-undefeated or both-winless opponents, which means we could end the day with four teams at 1-1 and idle Blue in first place by default. I have a feeling Gray, still smarting off a tough loss to Maroon today, will be loaded for bear in the 11:30 game, Green’s first of the session. The B League powers-that-be will be monitoring players both veteran and new, with an eye to making roster adjustments to increase competitive balance. Will star players be reassigned? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.