B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 35 – for August 12, 2024
Games of Monday August 12:
10:00 a.m., Purple (6-5) at Gray (7-3):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Purple 5 5 2 5 0 X 17 Gray 1 5 0 1 0 2 9 Pitchers: Purple – Tom Kelm; Gray – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Purple – Larry Fiorentino, Eddie Ortiz, Pat Scott, and Scott Wright; Gray – George Brindley, Jim Maloy, and Bobby Miller. Umpires: home plate – George Romo and Terry Thompson; bases – Terry Thompson and Billy Hill. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Eddie Ortiz (3 for 3 with a double), Pat Scott and Mike Velaney (both 4 for 4 with a triple), and Scott Wright (3 for 3); Gray – Bobby Miller (3 for 3 with a double).
Dave Berra’s Weather Report: 85 degrees; 74% humidity; breezy; pleasant
Purple came out hitting, scoring five runs on seven hits in each of the first two innings, then posting five more in the fourth, and the onslaught put Gray in a hole it couldn’t escape. All told, Purple amassed 26 hits, including triples by Mike Velaney and Pat Scott, who both went 4 for 4 in the game, and doubles by Eddie Ortiz (3 for 3, as was Scott Wright) and Larry Fiorentino. Gray left-center fielder Tommy Gillis made four catches, his excellent grab of Tom Kelm’s liner to end the top of the third limiting Purple to just two runs in that frame, but mostly Purple’s batters were able to find holes.
Gray scored a single run in the bottom of the first and then five on runs on five singles and Cary Coyle’s two-run, rally-capping double in the second. That cut Purple’s lead to four runs, but Gray got no closer. Based on my reading of the scoresheets, Mike Velaney was Purple’s game MVP, as in addition to his perfect day at the plate he cleanly fielded four grounders and one pop, notably taking a hit away from Ivan Budiselic in the bottom of the third, the contest’s first scoreless half-inning.
Gray finally held Purple scoreless in the top of the fifth, Jack Kelly getting two quick outs, allowing a pair of singles to Rip Wright and Pat Scott, then retiring Larry Fiorentino on a liner to Donnie Janac in right field. But Gray was unable to take advantage: they loaded the bases on two walks and Jack Kelly’s single in the home half, but came away with nothing when Tom Kelm induced Ivan Budiselic to ground to first baseman Daniel Carvajal for the third out.
With Purple up by ten, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Gray’s first three batters reached base, as Mike Mordecai walked, George Brindley singled, and Bobby Miller doubled, completing a 3-for-3 game and driving in Mike; but Tom Kelm retired the next three batters, getting Jim Maloy on a grounder to shortstop, George scoring on the play, retiring Ken Brown on a grounder back to the box (nice defensive play by Tom), and putting out Tommy Gillis on a fly to Peter Sundquist in right-center (“GOOD PLAY,” according to Dave Berra’s scoresheet). Final score: Purple 17, Gray 9
11:00 a.m., Blue (7-4) at Green (7-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Blue 3 5 2 3 3 16 Green 1 5 4 2 5 17 Pitchers: Blue – Joe Bernal; Green – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Blue – Tim Bruton and Don Solberg. Umpires: home – Jack Kelly; bases – Gary Coyle. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Tim Bruton (3 for 3 with a double), George Romo (3 for 3 with a walk), and Pat Scott (4 for 4); Green – Jack McDermott and David Pittard (both 4 for 4).
Dave Berra’s Weather Report: 89 (feels like 104); 63% humidity; somewhat breezy; tolerable in the stands.
I’m really enjoying spending (most of) August in Santa Fe instead of Austin, but I’m also genuinely distressed that I missed this barn-burner of a game. Both teams scored in every one of its at bats, but there was still a lot of good defense, with only one five-run inning apiece until the bottom of the buffet.
The teams matched those five-run innings in the second, after Blue had jumped to a 3-1 lead in the first, five of its first six batters reaching base on three singles, a walk, and George Brindley’s double, which drove in Pat Scott with the game’s first run. (Pat followed up his 4-for-4 game at 10:00 with another at 11:00. All singles this time, presumably because he was tiring out.) Dale Fugate was the seventh batter; he came up with the bases loaded and two runs in and knocked a ball to left field, but a quick throw by Mike Garrison to third baseman David Pittard beat Joe Bernal to the bag for a key out; George Romo scored on the play, but Tommy Deleon escaped further damage when he got Billy Hill to line out to shortstop Ralph Villela. Green then got one run back on three singles in the home half.
Both offenses erupted in the second. Blue scored its five runs without making an out, on seven consecutive hits, five singles and doubles by Tim Bruton (leading off) and George Brindley (driving in the third run and setting up the fourth; George scored the fifth). Green opened the bottom of the inning with four singles, one run scoring, before Joe Bernal got Jim McAnelly to hit a two-strike foul. Ralph Villela then crushed a bases-clearing double to left-center. The next three batters singled to complete the rally.
Blue led 8-6 through two and added two more in the third thanks on Richard Battle’s lead-off double and three two-out singles. Green tied the game with four runs on six singles in the home half. With three runs in and two runners on base, Steve Sandall made an excellent catch of Jim McAnelly’s fly to right-center for the second out. Ralph Villela followed with a run-scoring single, but Joe Bernal got his second key two-strike foul in as many innings to deny Green a fifth run, this time victimizing Paul Rubin.
Blue reclaimed the lead in the fourth, scoring three times, though a couple of Green defensive gems limited the damage. George Brindley, George Romo, and Joe Bernal opened the inning with singles, George B. coming around to score. Richard Battle poked a ball to short left field that looked like a certain Texas League single, but Ralph Villela ranged back and made a defensive play for the ages.
Here’s Dave Berra’s description:
Ralph was running out to left and played the ball over his shoulder but not with his glove! Bobbled it a time or two before corralling it – a sight to behold.
And here’s how Jeff Broussard recounted it:
Ralph somehow got to it (nobody else could) and tipped the ball to himself with his bare hand while running at full speed away from the infield. Best play of the year.
Though Dale Fugate and Tim Bruton followed with RBI singles, Tommy Deleon got out of the inning by making a good play on Don Solberg’s grounder back up the middle, throwing to first for the third out.
Green’s first four hitters singled in the bottom of the inning, Mike Hill coming around to score. The bases were loaded with none out, but only one more run came across. Mike Garrison fouled out to third baseman Tim Bruton. Jack Crosley lofted a fly to Steve Sandall in right-center, deep enough to score David Pittard, for the second out. Jeff Broussard drew a walk to re-load the bases, but Joe Bernal got Daniel Baladez to ground back to the box, Joe throwing to third for the force there.
Blue led by one entering the buffet. Pat Scott knocked his fourth single of the game to start the inning, then raced to third when Steve Sandall grounded a single up the middle. Mike Garrison made an outstanding play to run down George Brindley’s fly to left, Pat tagging and scoring on the play. George Romo walked, reaching base for the fourth time in the game. Joe Bernal grounded into a 3-6 force, Daniel Baladez throwing to Ralph Villela for the out at second, Steve advancing to third on the play. Two-out singles by Richard Battle and Dale Fugate drove in Steve and Joe. Tommy Deleon got Billy Hill to ground into a 5-4 force to end the inning, Blue now leading by four.
Green needed four runs to tie, Blue needed three outs to win. Jim McAnelly lined a single to right field leading off the bottom of the inning, but Richard Battle made a fine catch of Ralph Villela’s drive to left field for the first out. Paul Rubin then stroked a double to left-center. Joe Bernal got Mike Hill to line out to second baseman George Brindley, and Green was down to its last out.
David Pittard singled to right field, Jim McAnelly’s pinch-runner scoring, Blue’s lead cut to 16-13, runners on the corners. Jack McDermott lined a single to center field, Paul Rubin scoring to make it a two-run game, the tying runs on base. Tommy Deleon grounded a single to left field, loading the bases. Mike Garrison hit a hard grounder to shortstop, but, as Dave Berra noted, “bad and weird hops in the infield and outfield were common in all three games.“ Shortstop George Romo did not get a true hop, wasn’t able to make a play, all runners were safe, David scoring to make it a one-run game.
Jack Crosley came up with the game on the line. I’ll let Dave Berra and Jeff Broussard describe it:
Berra: Crosley, on the first pitch, drove a ball down the right field line, foul by inches. Umpire Jack Kelly was the only person with a definitive view.
Broussard: Crosley up to bat with bases loaded and hit one down the right-field line that Jack Kelly called foul. After a conference with base umpire Gary Coyle, decided to remain foul. Jack Crosley was irritated at the call (never see that).
Berra: Next pitch Jack hit a routine grounder perfectly placed between third and short.
Broussard: With two strikes on him, Jack drove one through the infield between third and short for a walk-off two-run single.
Final score: Green 17, Blue 16, Green moving into first place for the session.
Green-ish manager Jeff Broussard indicates his team’s place in the Session 3 standings.
Noon, Maroon (1-10) at Red (5-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 5 1 0 5 4 5 20 Red 5 2 0 2 0 4 13 Pitchers: Maroon – Chunky Wright; Red – Donald Drummer. No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Daniel Baladez; bases – Mike Hill. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Joe Roche (4 for 4 with a triple) and Chunky Wright (4 for 4 with a double).
Dave Berra’s Weather Report: Weather at the start: 92 degrees (heat index 103); 55% humidity; at the end: 96 degrees (heat index 107); 41% humidity. No breeze; flags limp and at half-mast due to the death of Maroon’s losing streak.
Bit of a spoiler in the line score and the weather report: Maroon broke its double-digit losing streak with a solid victory, playing well on both sides of the ball. Joe Roche had a big day at the plate for Maroon, his two-run triple the key hit in Maroon’s five-run outburst that opened the game, and the first of his four hits on the day. Red scored five in the home half, with Rick Kahn ripping a triple to right-center and Adam Reddell and Hal Darman smacking two-base hits.
I have no explanation for why, but to me this sculpture represents the first-inning triples hit by Joe Roche and Rick Kahn.
Red took the lead in the second, holding Maroon to one run on three singles in the top of the frame and scoring two on three singles and aggressive baserunning by Tim Bruton in the bottom half. Tim reached on a fielder’s choice and took second on some combination of defensive inattention and/or sloppy ball handling, then followed Boo Resnick home on Rick Kahn’s single.
Neither team scored in the third, Donald Drummer working around a pair of singles in the top half, Chunky Wright retiring Red in order in the bottom, and Red still led 7-6.
After that, Maroon took charge, outscoring Red 14-6 the rest of the way. They got five runs on a walk to James Chavana and six singles in the sixth. Red got two back on three singles and Bobby Miller’s double in the home half, but with runners on the corners and one out, Chunky Wright retired three-four hitters Rick Kahn (on a foul third strike) and Adam Reddell (on a liner to Buddy Gaswint in right-center).
Maroon added four runs on four singles and Chunky Wright’s double in the top of the fifth, denied a fifth run thanks to a pair of excellent outfield catches – Bobby Miller caught Buddy Gaswint’s deep fly to left-center leading off, and Rick Kahn made a nifty grab of Alvin Gauna’s liner to left field for the second out. Chunky then threw another scoreless frame in the bottom half, which ended with Tom Brownfield turning a 4u., 4-3 double play on Mike Malay’s hard grounder to his left.
Entering the buffet, Maroon led 15-9. They added five runs on seven singles and Tom Brownfield’s sacrifice fly, Joe Roche and Chunky Wright completing perfect days at the plate. That set Chunky up with an 11-run cushion entering the bottom half. He retired two of the first three hitters, denying Hal Darman a 3-for-3 game by getting him to foul off a two-strike pitch. Boo Resnick singled, but was forced out at second on Donald Drummer’s grounder to shortstop Jimmy Sneed. That brought up the top of the order, and the next six Reds hit safely – five singles and Rick Kahn’s second triple of the game(see picture above), which came with the bases loaded. Rick drove in five runs in the game, and scored Red’s last run, coming across on Adam Reddell’s single. Base hits by Morgan Witthoft and Denny Malloy loaded the bases, but the tying run was still four batters away when Chunky got Mike Malay to hit a pop down the first-base side that Joe Roche squeezed for the final out, ending our long national nightmare. Final score: Maroon 20, Red 13
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Green 8 4 .667 — 164 138 +26 W2
Gray 7 4 .636 .5 131 137 – 6 L1
Blue 7 5 .583 1 151 142 + 9 L2
Purple 7 5 .583 1 135 130 + 5 W1
Orange 6 7 .462 2.5 160 155 + 5 W3
Red 5 7 .417 3 157 166 – 9 L1
Maroon 2 10 .143 6 128 158 -30 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Green 3-3 5-1 2 0-0 4-0 2-0
Gray 3-3 4-1 1 0-0 1-3 1-0
Blue 4-2 3-3 1 0-0 0-1 1-2
Purple 2-4 5-1 1 0-0 1-3 1-1
Orange 1-5 5-2 0 0-0 3-2 1-1
Red 1-5 4-2 1 0-0 2-1 1-1
Maroon 1-5 1-5 0 0-0 0-1 0-2
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 1 3 4 1 3 14
Gray 3 X 3 3 4 0 4 17
Green 3 1 X 4 2 4 3 17
Maroon 1 2 3 X 3 0 3 12
Orange 1 1 2 2 X 2 2 10
Purple 4 2 2 4 3 X 1 16
Red 3 1 2 1 3 4 X 14
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 15 9 13 17 19 11 16 100
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Ken Brown – 3
Gregory Bied – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
David Kruse – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
David Brown – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
Eddie Ortiz -1
David Pittard – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Thursday August 15:
10:00 a.m.: Blue (7-5) at Maroon (2-10), Green umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Green (8-4) at Gray (7-4), Maroon umpiring
Noon: Orange (6-7) at Purple (7-5), Gray umpiring
Red has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Only five dates remain in the session, and six teams remain in contention. Thursday’s big game will be at 11:00 – the winner of Green versus Gray will end the day in first place. Blue can remain half a game back by snapping its two-game losing streak at 10:00 versus a Maroon squad coming off its first win since mid-June. Orange, with the longest active winning streak and coming off a bye, will try to keep pace at noon versus a Purple team with the same run differential but a game-and-a-half advantage in the standings. How far will the Boerne, Texas team advance in the Little League World Series? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
These putatively lost shoes were left in the visitors dugout. I enjoyed Dave Berra’s and Alex Valles’s commentary on their provenance, but it turns out they belong to Tom Kelm and were not, as I’d suspected/hoped, left behind by Lipan Apache warriors dating back to the 1820s.