B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 12 – April 17, 2023
Weather: Spectacularly Another beautiful spring day in Austin, 66 degrees, sunny, and dry (36% humidity) at the start of the 10:30 game, temperature rising a bit over the three games, to 72 degrees at the start of the 12:30 match.
Games of Monday April 17:
10:30 a.m., Gray (1-3) at Red (1-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 1 0 0 5 5 16 Red 5 1 3 3 0 0 12 Pitchers: Gray – Jerry Mylius; Red – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Red – Ken Brown, Donnie Janac, Tom Kelm, and Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Stone and Dave Berra; bases – Mike Garrison; scoreboard – Dave Berra. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Greg Lloyd (4 for 4) and Rick Jensen (3 for 3); Red – Ken Brown (3 for 3).
Strong lineup construction resulted in each team scoring five runs on seven hits in the first inning, Paul Rubin’s double in the bottom half the only extra-base hit. Gray’s runs all came after the first two batters went out. Each team then scored one run on singles in the second, Gray on three after the first two batters again went out, Red on four, leaving the bases loaded. Jack Kelly held Gray scoreless in the third (1-2-3 inning) and fourth (three batters retired following Rick Jensen’s lead-off single), and Red took the lead with a pair of three-run rallies in each of the bottom halves – on four singles and a walk in the third, and on six hits in the fourth, Paul Rubin’s triple the big blow. The start of the bottom of the third inning was delayed when Gray second baseman Tom Brownfield couldn’t locate his mitt, which arguably he didn’t need anyway, as Sam Baker’s grounder went threw Tom’s wickets, much to the general merriment. The first five Red batters hit safely in the bottom of the fourth, but then Tom exacted his revenge, turning the pivot on a 6-4-3 double play started by shortstop Rick Jensen that short-circuited the rally.
From that moment, the game was all Gray the rest of the way: They Monochrome Crew scored five runs on seven hits without making an out in the fifth, David Kruse and Daniel Carvajal knocking doubles as Red’s lead was cut to 12-11. Jerry Mylius kept Red off the board in the bottom half, working around George Brindley’s two-out single. Gray then put across five more in the top of the buffet, again on seven hits, David Kruse knocking in two with another two-base hit. The inning ended with David, running for Tom Brownfield, thrown out 7-5-2 (Donald Drummond to Scott Wright to Scott Sovereen) trying to score on Daniel Carvajal’s Texas League single to left field.
Red was chasing four runs in the bottom of the buffet, which started promisingly when Paul Rubin doubled, his third extra-base hit of the game. Hal Darman socked a ball to left field, but left fielder Jim Maloy was perfectly positioned to haul it in. Sam Baker singled, his third hit of the game, putting runners on the corners. Scott Sovereen grounded hard to the 5-6 hole: Rick Jensen moved to his left and fielded it cleanly, threw to second for the force, and then Tom Brownfield showed the peanut gallery what for – he caught the ankle-high relay from Rick for the out at second, then straightened and made a laser-like throw to first, beating Scott by half a step for the game-ending 6-4-3 double play. Final score: Gray 16, Red 12
11:30 a.m., Gold (3-0) at Green (2-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Gold 5 0 5 0 0 1 6 17 Green 0 5 5 0 1 0 0 11 Pitchers: Gold – Jeff Stone; Green – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Green – Larry Fiorentino and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home plate – Rick Jensen; bases – Jim Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Tim Bruton (4 for 4 with a double) and Jack Spellman (4 for 4); Green – Gary Coyle (3 for 3) and Larry Fiorentino (3 for 3 with two doubles).
Each team put up five-run innings in two of its first three at bats, Gold coming out hot in the top of the first, not making an out while knocking six singles, Jeff Stone drawing a walk. The bottom of the inning began with Gold second baseman Rip Wright robbing Mike Hill of a hit by snagging his liner – somebody shouted “He Ripped him off!”, which, props. Green did not score in the first, but Chunky Wright retired Gold in order on three grounders to the left side in the top of the second, and Green tied the game with five runs in its half, on six singles and a walk. Both teams put across five runs in the third on a total of 13 singles, five coming with two out.
Then the defenses took over. Green turned a 4-6-3 double play, Mike Hill to Clint Fletcher to Ray Pilgrim, in the top of the fourth; Jeff Stone allowed two singles to start the bottom half, then got Ray Pilgrim to line out to shortstsop Tim Bruton before starting an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play, Tim on the pivot once I got out of his way. Tim opened the fifth with a double and took third on Mike Garrison’s fly to deep left field. Jack McDermott followed with a grounder to shortstop Clint Fletcher; Clint’s throw drew Ray Pilgrim off the first-base bag, so Jack was safe, but it set Ray up to be squared up to throw out Tim trying to score, 6-3-2.
Green took the lead with one run in the bottom of the fifth. Reed Durant led off with a single. Chunky Wright popped a ball behind third base, but Tim Bruton made what in my opinion was the defensive play of the day, racing back and to his right and catching the ball inches from both the ground the foul line – incredible range. Peter Sundquist came up and knocked a grounder up the middle, off pitcher Jeff Stone’s glove and to Tim at shortstop – he was able to funnel the ball to second baseman Rip Wright for the force at second. Larry Fiorentino followed with a double to right-center, Peter scoring from first to put Green up 11-10 entering the buffet.
Gold needed one to tie, and got just one, on three singles. That left Green needing just one run to win with the heart of its order coming up in the bottom half. Donnie Janac led off with a single. Clint Fletcher lined a ball to left, but directly at James Chavana, who made the catch for the first out. Gary Coyle grounded to third baseman Jack Spellman; I threw to second and thought I’d beaten Donnie to the bag on a bang-bang play, but umpire Jim Maloy disagreed, emphatically calling Donnie safe. Ray Pilgrim followed with another grounder to me; I tagged third for the force there, knew I couldn’t throw to first in time to double up Larry Fiorentino, running for Ray, so I went to second, but Gary easily beat my throw there. Didn’t matter, as Jeff Stone got Buddy Gaswint to ground to shortstop Tim Bruton, who threw to second for the inning-ending force.
On to the extra inning, with Larry Young running at second for Gold, whose first seven batters proceeded to reach base, on five singles and two walks, five runs scoring. A sixth came in on Denny Malloy’s sacrifice fly to left-center. Jeff Stone continued to be crazy effective in the bottom half, not allowing Buddy Gaswint to advance past second. Jeff retired Reed Durant on a pop to shortstop, one-pitch-walked Chunky Wright, then got Peter Sundquist to foul out to end the game – Gold keeps finding improbable ways to win. Final score: Gold 17, Green 11
12:30 p.m., Blue (1-3) at Purple (1-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 2 3 1 5 4 4 19 Purple 0 5 3 5 2 1 15 Pitchers: Blue – Tom Kelm; Purple – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Blue – Tom Kelm and Jeff Stone; Purple – Hal Darman and Scott Wright. Umpires: home plate – Gary Coyle; bases – Mike Hill; scoreboard – Dave Berra. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Anthony Galindo (5 for 5 with two doubles); Purple – Jim Aaron and Adam Redell (each 3 for 3 with a walk), Marvin Krabbenhoft (2 for 2 with a double and two walks), and Scott Wright (3 for 3).
High-scoring game, the teams combining for 34 runs and scoring in every half-inning except the bottom of the second, when an around-the-horn double play – Jimmy Shrull (who had a great defensive game) to Jeff Stone to Dale Fugate – kept Purple off the board. Anthony Galindo led Blue both as manager and as their best hitter, going 5 for 5 with a pair of doubles and driving in eight runs while scoring twice. Larry Fiorentino also doubled twice for Blue, and George Romo drove in four runs with two singles and a sacrifice fly. Blue trailed 8-6 through three innings and 13-11 after both teams scored five times in the fourth, Blue on six singles and Larry Fiorentino’s double to left field, a ball he absolutely powdered, Purple on four singles, two walks, and Hal Darman’s double to left field.
Quotes of the Day, both delivered with absolute sincerity and truthfulness:
I: Hal Darman: “I’ve got another gear.”
II. Dave Berra: “Reverse doesn’t count.”
Blue poured it on over the final two innings, however, scoring four times in the fifth and buffet and holding Purple to three runs over those frames, in each of which Blue turned another double play. In the fifth, after the first four batters singled, resulting in one run scoring and loaded bases, Hal Darman hit a hard grounder to third. Jimmy Shrull knocked it down, recovered it, stepped on third for the force there, then made a strong throw home to double up Gil Delossantos. A single by Scott Wright drove in Mike Mordecai, and Marvin Krabbenhoft drew a walk, his fourth time reaching base in the game, but Richard Battle made a tumbling catch of Don Roets’s fly to left to retire the side.
Chasing four runs entering the bottom of the buffet, Purple loaded the bases on singles by Larry Bunton and Adam Reddell and a walk to Jim Aaron. Don Solberg scorched a hard grounder that Jeff Stone fielded cleanly and flipped to George Romo for the force at second; George’s strong throw to first beat Don to first by a step. Larry Bunton scored on the play, but it took the wind out of Purple’s sails. Gil Delossantos flied a ball to right that Morgan Witthoft caught for the final out. Final score: Blue 19, Purple 16
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Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Gold 4 0 1.000 — 56 47 + 9 W4
Maroon 3 1 .750 1 63 48 +15 L1
Green 2 2 .500 2 52 52 0 L1
Blue 2 3 .400 2.5 77 79 – 2 W1
Gray 2 3 .400 2.5 68 71 – 3 W2
Red 1 3 .250 3 51 59 – 8 L2
Purple 1 3 .250 3 42 53 -11 L1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Gold 2-0 2-0 2 2-0 0-0 3-0
Maroon 1-0 2-1 0 0-0 1-0 0-1
Green 0-2 2-0 0 0-1 1-1 0-0
Blue 0-3 2-0 0 1-0 1-0 0-1
Gray 1-1 1-2 1 0-2 0-1 1-1
Red 0-2 1-1 0 0-0 0-1 0-1
Purple 1-2 0-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 1 2 0 0 2 0 5
Gold 1 X 1 2 0 0 1 5
Gray 0 1 X 0 1 0 2 4
Green 1 0 1 X 0 1 2 5
Maroon 1 1 0 2 X 1 0 5
Purple 0 0 1 0 1 X 1 3
Red 1 0 0 0 1 1 X 3
_____________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 4 3 5 4 3 5 6 30
Schedule for Thursday April 20:
10:30 a.m.: Gold (4-0) at Maroon (3-1), Blue umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Blue (2-3) at Red (1-3), Gold umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (1-3) at Green (2-2), Red umpiring
Gray has the bye – players from that team will have priority out of the bucket.
Preview: A battle for first place at 10:30 between undefeated-by-the-skin-of-their-teeth Gold and second-place Maroon; Maroon won the first meeting between the two teams. Blue and Red at 11:30, and Purple and Green at 12:30 also square off for just the second time this season – Red and Green won the first meetings.
Keggy’s Korner:
Just to say: There was agreement in the peanut gallery during the 12:30 game that coming to bat when Reed Durant is catching is absolutely delightful.