B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 9 – April 6, 2026
Department of Corrections: Luis Sanchez was perfect at the plate in Gray’s game of March 30, going 3 for 3 with a double; and Joe Roche was perfect at the plate for Purple’s game the same day, going 1 for 1 with two walks. I failed to report these, and regret the errors.
Department of Additions: Steve Sandall points out that we ticked another box on the 2026 B League Bingo Card on March 23 when Mike Malay was hit by Shane Hill’s batted ball.
Games of Thursday April 2 were canceled due to morning rain.
Games of Monday April 6:
10:30 a.m.: Purple (0-1) at Maroon (–):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Purple 2 0 5 0 2 0 9 Maroon 5 4 4 0 5 X 18 Pitchers: Purple – Ray Pilgrim; Maroon – Jeff Stone. No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Larry Fiorentino and Rex Horvath; bases – Jim Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Mike Malay (3 for 3 with two triples); Maroon – Ken Brown (2 for 2 with two walks), Jack McDermott (4 for 4), Allen Phillips (3 for 3 with a home run), and Scott Wright (3 for 3 with a double). Home run: Tony Garcia (inside the park) (2) and Allen Phillips (inside the park) (1).
Weather report: 65 degrees at game time, humidity at 40%, wind from the Northeast at 8 MPH, mostly sunny.
Maroon’s bats showed no ill effects from a ten-day layoff, scoring 13 of a possible 15 runs over their first three at bats of Session Two.
Jeff Stone held Purple to two runs in the top of the first, a fine relay play for the third out helping him escape further damage. After Jimmy Sneed and Mike Malay knocked one-out singles, Rick Kahn drove in Jimmy with the first run with a double to right field. The runners held on Ray Pilgrim’s ground out back to the box. Peter Sundquist then came up and lined a single to left field; Mike scored from third, and Rick tried to follow him, but was cut down on an excellent relay, left fielder Jack McDermott to shortstop Tony Garcia to catcher Fritz Hensel.
Maroon quickly grabbed the lead in the home half. Jack McDermott beat out a one-hop grounder to shortstop Jimmy Sneed, simply outrunning the throw, to start the frame, and Steve Browne followed with a base on balls. Tony Garcia then drove a pitch to right-center that one-hopped the fence, he Jack, and Steve racing around the bases, Maroon going ahead on the three-run inside-the-park homer, Tony’s second of the season.
Ken Brown walked and Jeff Stone singled. Ray Pilgrim helped himself by starting a 1-6-3 double play, Jimmy Sneed on the pivot, on Fritz Hensel’s hard grounder back to the box, Ken taking third on the play. David Pittard’s single drove in Ken with the fourth run. David took second on Dale Fugate’s pop-up single that fell in the no-man’s-land between the mound and second baseman Mike Malay. Scott Wright then doubled to right-center, David scoring the fifth run.
Jeff Stone held Purple scoreless in the top of the second, working around Billy Hill’s lead-off single to center field, and Maroon solidified its lead with four runs on five singles and Tony Garcia’s sacrifice fly to Peter Sundquist in deep center field.
Purple’s bats came alive and they scored five runs in the top of the third, Maroon somewhat accidentally recording two outs along the way. Daniel Baladez singled leading off. Shane Hill, still battling a tight hamstring, took Peter Sundquist as his runner from home, and ripped a base hit to right field. Patrick Schmidt, running for Daniel, took third on the hit; Peter, forgetting himself, ran all the way to or past second (I couldn’t see whether he stepped on the bag, but he went past it for sure), and at the same time Shane ran past the first-base commitment line. So that was an out, I believe called on Peter. Jimmy Sneed followed with a single that scored Patrick. Then Mike Malay, Rick Kahn, and Ray Pilgrim each hammered drives to right-center field, nearly identical and each going for an RBI triple. Larry Shupe ran for Ray, somewhat winded, at third base, and was the potential fifth run. He held up on Peter Sundquist’s liner back to Jeff Stone for the second out. Billy Hill stepped up and hit a grounder to the 5-6 hole; Tony Garcia fielded the ball, saw he didn’t have much chance of throwing out Jimmy Sneed running for Billy, so he threw home in a bid, unsuccessful, to put out Larry, who scored the fifth run.
Maroon got four runs back in the bottom of the third, on six singles, the last two with two out, by Tony Garcia (picking up his fifth RBI of the game) and Jeff Stone, who tried for second when the throw went to third in a bid to gun down Ken Brown (as if), but was put out 9-5-6, Rick Kahn to Rick Jensen to Jimmy Sneed. The inning ended with Maroon leading 13-7.
It stayed that way as neither team scored in the fourth: Jeff Stone worked around Larry Shupe’s two-out single in the top half, getting three outs on ground balls; and Ray Pilgrim worked a 1-2-3 bottom half, with ground-ball outs to third baseman Rick Jensen, back to the mound, and to shortstop Jimmy Sneed.
Shane Hill led off the fifth inning for Purple, and again had Peter Sundquist running for him from home. Beforehand, he was reminded by Billy Hill not to run after making contact. Shane ripped a line-drive hit to right field, and of course he took off for first and passed the commitment line. No blaming this one on Peter, but it does let us cross off another box in the 2026 Bingo card:
| B LEAGUE BINGO 2026 | ||||
| B | I | N | G | O |
| Hit for the cycle | Mad beef re: infield fly rule | 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 |
| 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 |
| 3 Ohtani Awards in 1 day | Over-the-fence home run at Krieg 2 | 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 | Inside-the-park home run at Krieg 3 | Shutout |
Jeff Stone caught Jimmy Sneed looking at a suspiciously flat pitch for called strike three and out number two. Mike Malay and Rick Kahn followed with back-to-back triples, just as they had in the third inning, Mike scoring on Rick’s, Rick then scoring on Ray Pilgrim’s Texas League single to left-center. Peter Sundquist followed with a single to center field. Billy Hill hit a ball sharply to the 5-6 hole, but Tony Garcia got to it and flipped to third for the inning-ending out.
Maroon then scored five runs without making an out in the bottom half, effectively putting the game out of reach. Scott Wright led off with a single, and Allen Phillips followed with a drive pulled down the right-field side that rolled to the fence while Allen circled the bases for his first B League home run.
Allen Phillips, from the left side, and Tony Garcia, from the right, each smacked inside-the-park home runs for Maroon today.
Scott and Allen each completed 3-for-3 games with their hits. The top of the Maroon order followed with six players in a row reaching base, with a near repeat, barely avoided, of last week’s batting-out-of-order fiasco. Jack McDermott (completing a 4-for-4 game) and Steve Browne singled. Ken Brown went to the plate, but was called back in time, with Tony Garcia correctly going up and hitting a fly-ball double to right field that drove in both Jack and Steve – Tony’s sixth and seventh RBI of the game. Ken Brown then came up, in his correct spot, and completed his own perfect day at the plate by drawing his second walk. Jeff Stone’s single loaded the bases. Fritz Hensel drew a walk to force in Tony with the fifth run.
Purple trailed by nine entering the buffet. Jeff Stone got two quick outs, retiring Patrick Schmidt and Rick Jensen on grounders to second baseman Scott Wright. Larry Shupe came up and smoked a triple over the head of Ken Brown in right-center – I don’t think I was alone in rooting for Larry to Go for the Pluckers, but he elected to not risk making the final out in search of personal glory. The game ended with Jeff Stone getting Daniel Baladez to pop out to first baseman Dale Fugate.
Final score: Maroon 18, Purple 9
League president and Maroon stalwart George Brindley was absent today. What was he doing while we were gallivanting around Krieg 2?
Tell me I’m wrong.
11:30 a.m.: Green (1-0) at Gray (0-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 5 5 4 3 1 18 Gray 1 5 5 5 3 19 Pitchers: Green – Rex Horvath; Gray – Luis Sanchez. No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Rick Jensen; bases – Peter Sundquist. Perfect at the plate: Green – Doc Hobar (4 for 4) and Boo Resnick (1 for 1 with two walks); Gray – Scott Rokita (4 for 4 with three doubles), Paul Rubin (4 for 4) and Mike Velaney (3 for 3). Home run: Luis Sanchez (inside the park) (1).
Weather report: 68 degrees at game time, humidity down to 31%, wind from the East-Northeast at 10 MPH, sunny – a beautiful day for softball today.
Terrific game, Gray battling back from an early deficit to post a stirring come-from-behind victory.
Green broke on top, scoring five times in the top of the first on six singles, two walks, and Tom Brownfield’s sacrifice fly to Bobby Miller in right-center, and then holding Gray to a single run in the home half – Scott Rokita doubled with one out, took third on Bobby Miller’s ground out to second baseman Tom Brownfield, and scored on Paul Rubin’s single to left field.
Green scored five times again in the top of the second, on Boo Resnick’s lead-off walk, five singles, and Mike Garrison’s two-run double on a drive to right field.
Gray matched this in the home half. Jim McAnelly drew a lead-off walk. Pinch-runner Jim Foelker was forced at second on Dave Jaffe’s grounder to shortstop Larry Fiorentino. Mike Velaney lined a single to right field. Luis Sanchez then lined a ball to deep right, over Boo Resnick’s head; it rolled to the fence while Dave, Mike, and Luis circled the bases, Luis notching his first B League homer.
I feel your pain, Boo.
Clint Fletcher followed with a single, and Stan Rokita and Bobby Miller with back-to-back line doubles to right field that drove in the fourth and fifth runs.
Green scored four times in the top of the third on four singles, Boo Resnick’s second base on balls, and Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly to Bobby Miller in right-center field. Larry Fiorentino singled in the fourth run and then advanced to second on Tom Brownfield’s walk. Rex Horvath came up and did something he hadn’t done in any of his previous 2026 at bats: he made an out, popping out to shortstop Scott Rokita, ending a run of 12 consecutive hits.
Gray then won the inning, scoring five times in the home half, on five singles – the last of which, by Mike Velaney, was a swinging bunt resulting in a topped, unplayable ball that landed between the pitcher and the third-base line – and Luis Sanchez’s two-run triple, another drive to right field, for his fourth and fifth RBI of the game.
Green led 14-11 entering the fourth inning. They added three runs to their total, on four singles and a double to right-center by Mike Garrison, a ball Bobby Miller reached, but couldn’t hold on to. Gray won the inning and cut Green’s lead to a single run by scoring five times in the bottom half, on six singles and Dave Jaffe’s walk. After the first four batters singled, Steve Sandall made a terrific shoestring catch coming in of Daniel Carvajal’s fly to center field, but this only delayed Gray’s reaching five runs. Mike Velaney drove in that fifth run with a line single to right field, completing a 3-for-3 day at the plate.
Green looked to add to its lead in the top of the buffet, and got singles to start the inning by Tom Brownfield and Rex Horvath. Rex’s hit really was for extra bases, Tom’s pinch-runner easily scoring from first on the drive to center field, but Rex took a runner from home, so it went for a single. Luis Sanchez then retired the next three hitters: he got Ivan Budiselic to hit into a 4-6 force, Chunky Wright to line out to Bobby Miller in right-center, and Jim Maloy to also hit into a 4-6 force.
Gray, then, needed two to tie and three to win in the bottom of the buffet. Rex Horvath got Luis Sanchez to hit a two-strike foul to open the inning, but that turned out to be the only out Gray would make. Clint Fletcher singled to right field. Scott Rokita ripped a double down the left-field line, his third two-bagger of the game and his fourth hit in as many at bats, Clint scoring from first. Clint then ran for Scott at second.
Bobby Miller stepped up and ripped a single to right field, as seen here: April 6, 2026: Bobby Miller singles in the tying run in the bottom of the buffet
That brought in Clint with the tying run.
Paul Rubin was next. He grounded a ball to shortstop Larry Fiorentino, as seen here: April 6, 2026: Everyone’s safe on Paul Rubin’s grounder in the bottom of the buffet
I don’t think there was much chance at a double play – hard to double up a left-handed batter generally, never mind one who runs as well as Paul – but Green wasn’t able to get any out on the play as Tom Brownfield couldn’t handle Larry’s short toss.
That put a very fast runner on second representing the winning run, with situational hitter supreme Daniel Carvajal coming up. Here’s what happened: April 6, 2026: Gray walks off 19-18 win versus Green
Bobby and Paul held up on Daniel’s pop to short center field, a bit to the right of left-center fielder Steve Sandall. When Bobby saw Steve wasn’t going to get to the ball, he took off and did not hesitate rounding third. He beat the relay home, his foot down before the throw reached catcher Chunky Wright, to score the winning run.
Final score: Gray 19, Green 18
12:30 p.m.: Red (0-1) at Orange (1-0):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 5 0 1 1 3 10 Orange 2 3 5 5 X 15 Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Orange – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Red – Ray Pilgrim and Scott Wright; Orange – David Brown. Umpires: home – Jim McAnelly; bases – Clint Fletcher. Perfect at the plate: Red – Tim Coles (3 for 3 with a double), Anthony Galindo (1 for 1 with a triple and two walks), and Johnny Lee (2 for 2 with a walk); Orange – Hal Darman, Tommy Deleon, and Ray Pilgrim (all 3 for 3). Ohtani Award: Tommy Deleon (1).
Tommy Deleon uncharacteristically struggled with his control in this game, particularly in the first inning, and Red took advantage, scoring five times on three walks, doubles by Ralph Villela and Tim Coles, and a two-out, bases-loaded hit by Rip Wright, a hard-hit single up the middle that took a bad hop over the glove of Matt Levitt charging in, scooting past him and allowing all three runners to score.
Orange got two runs back on four singles in the bottom of the inning, and Tommy settled in over the middle three innings, giving his teammates a chance to catch up and then take the lead. He threw a scoreless top of the second, working around Marvin Krabbenhoft’s lead-off single and a two-out walk to Anthony Galindo. Orange tied the game with three runs in the home half, on five singles, Adam Reddell’s walk, and Don Solberg’s sacrifice fly to right fielder David Brown.
Red scored a single run in the top of the third: Tim Coles singled leading off, took third on Johnny Lee’s base hit, and scored on Tommy Gillis’s grounder back to the box, which went for a 1-4 force at second, Tommy Deleon to Scott Wright. Richard Battle squared up on a pitch, but Don Solberg was perfectly positioned to catch Richard’s liner to left field.
Orange then took the lead for good with five runs in the bottom half, on seven singles, the last two, by Adam Reddell and Don Solberg, coming with two out and driving in the fourth and fifth runs.
The fourth inning was nearly a carbon copy of the third. Red got a single run in the top half, on Anthony Galindo’s triple, a drive to center field, over everyone, that scored Ralph Villela, who was on first after lining a ball to third baseman Adam Reddell that Adam knocked down and threw to second to force out David Brown, who’d drawn a one-out walk. Orange then scored five times without making an out in the home half, on five singles, Scott Wright’s walk, and Matt Levitt’s two-run double. (It’s worth noting that the bottom half of Orange’s order, including mercenaries Scott Wright and Ray Pilgrim, were a combined 16 for 17 with Scott’s walk and did not make an out after the first inning.)
Orange led by seven entering the buffet. Red’s first three batters – Tim Coles, Johnny Lee, and Tommy Gillis – singled to start the inning, Tim coming around to score. (Both Tim and Johnny Lee completed perfect days at the plate.) Richard Battle flied out to Don Solberg in left field for the first out, and Marvin Krabbenhoft grounded into a 4-6 force, Scott Wright to Jack Spellman, for the second; Spellman threw past first baseman Ray Pilgrim in a futile attempt to double up Marvin’s pinch-runner, and Tommy Gillis wound up following Johnny Lee’s runner home, cutting Orange’s lead to five runs. David Brown’s single extended the inning, but Ralph Villela’s hard grounder was hit right to Spellman, who managed a lollipop toss to Scott Wright covering second that just beat David to the bag for the final out.
Final score: Orange 15, Red 10
Tommy Deleon earned his first Ohtani Award of the season, graciously presented to him by David Brown.
2026 standings:
| Session 2 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Orange | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 28 | 21 | 7 | W2 |
| Blue | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 11 | W5 |
| Maroon | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 18 | 9 | 9 | W1 |
| Green | 1 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 34 | 30 | 4 | L1 |
| Gray | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 27 | 37 | -10 | W1 |
| Red | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 21 | 31 | -10 | L2 |
| Purple | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 | 20 | 31 | -11 | L2 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Orange | 2-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Blue | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Maroon | 1-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Green | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-1 | ||
| Gray | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-0 | ||
| Red | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | |
| Gray | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Green | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Maroon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| Orange | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |
| Purple | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Red | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| TOTAL: | 1 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 27 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Tony Garcia – 2
Richard Battle – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Rick Kahn – 1
Allen Phillips – 1
George Romo – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 3 (March 2, March 19, March 30)
Ray Pilgrim: 3 (March 5, March 23, March 26)
Tommy Deleon: 1 (April 6)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Trent Peacock: 1 (March 9)
Jeff Stone: 1 (March 2)
Schedule for Thursday April 9:
10:30 a.m.: Orange (2-0) at Green (1-1), Gray umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Gray (1-1) at Purple (0-2), Orange umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (1-0) at Blue (1-0), Purple umpiring
Red has the bye, with (secondary) priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Orange, which had its bye skipped due to last week’s rainout, has a chance to go to 3-0 for the session; Green will try to prevent that at 10:30. Purple will have home-field advantage as it tries to post its first victory of the session, versus Gray at 11:30. Blue, coming off the bye, will put its five-game winning streak on the line against Maroon, also 1-0 so far in Session Two, at 12:30. Will I still be mourning UT’s tough loss to UCLA in the women’s Final Four? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Umpire chip status:
David Brown: 2 green chips (1 green + 2 red chips)
Rex Horvath: 1 green chip
Rick Jensen: 2 green chips
Jim McAnelly: 2 green chips
Jack McDermott: 1 green chip
Adam Reddell: 2 green chips
George Romo: 1 green chip
Jeff Stone: 3 green chips
Peter Sundquist: 1 green chip (2 red chip)
Rip Wright: 1 green chip
Scott Wright – 1 green chip (2 red chips)
Larry Young: 1 green chip
George Brindley: 1 red chip
Ken Brown: 1 red chip
Clint Fletcher: 1 red chip
Jim Foelker: 1 red chip
Marvin Krabbenhoft: 1 red chip
Tommy Langa: 1 red chip
Jim Maloy: 1 red chip
Trent Peacock: 1 red chip
Steve Sandall: 1 red chip
Larry Shupe: 1 red chip
Mike Velaney: 1 red chip
Larry Young: 1 red chip
(1 green chip for umpiring a full game behind the plate. 1 red chip for umpiring a full game on the bases. 2 red chips = 1 green chip. 1 green chip gets a player priority out of the bucket.)
Keggy’s Korner:
Lost and found today: this mitt and this book:
Podcast review: Astronomy Cast
Astronomy Cast is just what it says, a podcast about all aspects of astronomy, from theoretical physics to space exploration. It’s hosted by journalist Fraser Cain and astrophysicist Dr. Pamela Gay, who are basically the nerdiest, friendliest kids you went to high school with. They’ve been doing this podcast since 2006, each half-hour installment diving into some aspect of what’s happening (or happened, up to 13.8 billion years ago) in the world of astronomy. I’m a sci-fi guy, so this hard-science emphasis is really helpful and informative, without being overwhelmingly technical. Fraser and Pamela have an easy rapport and infectious enthusiasm for the subject. They’re at 789 episodes and counting, I’ve heard and enjoyed them all. New England content: not a whole much – sometimes a meteorite lands in northern Maine or a solar eclipse is visible in the Connecticut River Valley. Canadian content: Fair amount, as Fraser is Canadian, albeit from British Columbia, which I grant you almost doesn’t count. He talks about the rain a lot. Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧