B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 41 – August 17, 2026
Games of Monday August 17:
10:00 a.m.: Red (6-8) at Maroon (10-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 3 0 4 0 2 9 Maroon 4 5 5 0 X 14 Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Maroon – Daniel Baladez, Jim Foelker, Paul Rubin, and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Red – Trent Peacock and Ralph Villela (both 3 for 3); Maroon – Ken Brown (3 for 3 with a double) and Paul Rubin (2 for 2). Home run: Alan Phillips (inside the park) (3).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 86 degrees, fees like 94; humidity 65%; wind from the WSW at 5 MPH; sunny – pleasant, for me!
Maroon, held to one run over its final three innings this past Thursday, came out hitting today, building an early, insurmountable lead. Red jumped off to a 3-0 lead with six singles in top of the first, with one runner, Tim Coles, thrown out 10-2, Jim Foelker (accurate two-hop throw from right field) to Daniel Baladez (clean catch), trying to score on Trent Peacock’s single to right. With three in and two out, Candy Perez made a bid for a single up the middle, but Jeff Stone made a good play to snag his comebacker, throwing to first for the third out.
Maroon then won the inning, scoring four times in the home half, establishing a lead they never relinquished, on five singles and Ken Brown’s double.
Jeff Stone worked a scoreless top of the second, getting outs on fly balls to left fielder Steve Browne by Marvin Krabbenhoft; to right fielder Jim Foelker by Richard Battle; and, after Ralph Villela singled, to left-center fielder George Brindley by Mark Dolan. Maroon then scored five times in the home half, on five singles and Alan Phillips’s three-run inside-the-park home run, his third of the season, a drive to the fence in left-center, extremely well struck:
Red rallied for four runs in the top of the third, on four singles and a triple by Tommy Gillis, a ball he absolutely crushed to left-center. That got Red to within two runs, but Maroon wound up winning the inning with another five-spot in the home half, on five singles and Scott Wright’s two-out, two-run triple, which likely would have been a home run if Ken Brown hadn’t scored the fifth run ahead of Scott.
Neither team scored in the fourth. Jeff Stone held Red scoreless in the top half by fielding his position well. After Ralph Villela led off with a single, completing a 3-for-3 game, Jeff fielded Mark Dolan’s hard comebacker and started a 1-6-3 doube play. Anthony Galindo singled, but Jeff then snagged Tim Coles’s liner back to the box for the third out.
Trent Peacock retired Maroon in order in the bottom half, not allowing a ball out of the infield: Jeff Stone grounded out to second baseman Candy Perez and Alan Phillips to shortstop Ralph Villela, and Candy made a good catch to his backhand of Jack Spellman’s liner to the right of second base.
Red trailed by seven entering the buffet. Johnny Lee and Trent Peacock singled to open the frame, Trent completing a 3-for-3 game at the plate. Tommy Gillis popped out to shortstop. Candy Perez’s single to right-center drove in Johnny Lee’s runner (Ralph Villela, I believe), Trent advancing to third. Trent scored and Candy was out at second on Marvin Krabbenhoft’s force-out grounder to shortstop. The game ended with Ken Brown, who’d moved from right-center to second base in the fourth inning, making a good play to his right on Richard Battle’s hard grounder, and flipping to second for the force.
Final score: Maroon 14, Red 9
Trent Peacock was 3 for 3 at the plate, but took the loss and thus comes away with a No-tahni Award.
11:00 a.m.: Blue (6-7) at Green (10-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 0 1 1 3 0 1 6 Green 0 2 0 0 3 0 5 Pitchers: Blue – Joe Bernal; Green – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Blue – Jack Spellman and Ralph Villela; Green – George Brindley, Hal Darman, Tommy Deleon, Trent Peacock, Alan Phillips, and Jeff Stone. Umpire: home – Scott Wright; bses – Steve Browne. Perfect at the plate: Blue – David Brown (3 for 3 with a triple), Tom Bellavia (3 for 3), and Jack Spellman (2 for 2); Green – Alan Phillips (2 for 2).
Dave Berra’s weather update: 90 degrees, feels like 98; humidity 54%; wind from the SW at 5 MPH; sunny – heating up!
Pitching and defense dominated in this crisply played game. Neither team scored in the first inning: Tommy Deleon allowed Tom Bellavia a well struck single and walked Lawrence Page with two out in the top half, but got George Romo to fly out to left fielder Mike Garrison to strand them. Mike then led off the home half with a single, but Joe Bernal retired the next three batters: Boo Resnick on a fly to left field, Ivan Budiselic on a 3-6 force, and Rex Horvath on a 6-4 force.
Blue scored the game’s first run in the top of the second when David Brown led off with a triple to right-center and scored on Larry Young’s ground out to second baseman Jeff Stone. Singles by Donnie Janac and Jack Spellman sandwiched Larry Shupe’s pop to Jeff. Ralph Villela came up with two on, but Tommy Deleon got him to fly out to Mike Garrison in left, such a good outfielder.
Green took the lead with two runs in the home half. George Brindley, Jeff Stone, and Alan Phillips knocked consecutive one-out singles, George coming around to score. Jeff’s pinch-runner scored the go-ahead run on Trent Peacock’s force-out grounder up the middle, handled by David Brown, who stepped on second for the force there, but couldn’t get the throw to first in time to beat Trent. Hal Darman crossed up the scouting report, going oppo, but Donnie Janac (I think – David had Blue rotating positions, I definitely missed some of the permutations) snagged his liner for the third out.
Blue tied the game with a single run in the top of the third. Daniel Baladez and Tom Bellavia opened the inning with singles, Daniel’s pinch-runner (Ralph Villela, I think, though it might have been David Brown) taking third on Tom’s liner to right-center. Joe Bernal got the runner in with a force-out grounder to shortstop, Rex Horvath throwing to Jeff Stone for the first out. The inning ended with Jeff starting a 4-6-3 double play, solid pivot by Rex, on Lawrence Page’s hard grounder.
Joe Bernal retired Green in order in the bottom half: Tommy Deleon hit a two-strike foul, Mike Garrison flied out to Ralph Villela in right-center, and Boo Resnick grounded out to third baseman George Romo.
Blue then took the lead with three runs on five singles in the top of the fourth, the runs scoring on consecutive two-out hits by Larry Shupe, Jack Spellman, and Ralph Villela.
Joe Bernal worked another scoreless bottom half. Ivan Budiselic led off with a single, but Joe got the next three batters to fly out: Rex Horvath to Lawrence Page in left, Chunky Wright on a liner to Tom Bellavia in left-center, and George Brindley to Ralph Villela in right-center.
Tom Bellavia opened the fifth inning with his third straight line single, but Tommy Deleon got Joe Bernal to fly out to Mike Garrison in left and Lawrence Page to hit into another 4-6-3 double play.
Green then tied the game with three runs in the home half. Mercenaries Jeff Stone, Alan Phillips, Trent Peacock, and Hal Darman each singled to start the frame, with Hal’s liner past first base driving in Jeff’s runner – a nice piece of hitting. Tommy Deleon’s fly to right fielder Donnie Janac was deep enough to score Alan from third. Mike Garrison’s base hit drove in Trent with the tying run. Joe Bernal stranded the two remaining runners, getting Boo Resnick to fly out to Ralph Villela in right-center and Ivan Budiselic to pop out to third baseman George Romo.
The game was tied 5-5 entering the buffet. George Romo and David Brown singled to open the inning, Dave completing a 3-for-3 game. Larry Young singled to right-center and George tried for home, but he was cut down 9-6-2, Alan Phillips to Rex Horvath to Hal Darman, a beautifully executed relay. David took third on the play and scored on Donnie Janac’s force-out grounder to Rex at shortstop, Larry’s pinch-runner forced out 6-4. Larry Shupe drove a pitch to right-center, but Alan Phillips made an outstanding running catch for the third out.
Green came up needing one run to tie. Joe Bernal got Rex Horvath to pop out to shortstop David Brown in short left field for a key first out. Chunky Wright singled, his pinch-runner – Mike Garrison, I believe – representing the tying run. Joe got George Brindley to fly out to Ralph Villela in right-center for the second out. Jeff Stone came up and hit a sharp grounder to the right of second base – Jack Spellman got to it and flipped to Joe covering second for the game-ending force out.
Final score: Blue 6, Green 5
Noon: Gray (5-8) at Purple (4-10):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 3 1 0 1 0 12 17 Purple 5 0 0 5 5 3 18 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Gray – Anthony Galindo and Candy Perez; Purple – Jack Spellman and Ralph Villela. Umpires: home – Chunky Wright; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Clint Fletcher (5 for 5); Purple – Mike Malay (3 for 3 with a double), Jack McDermott (3 for 3 with a home run), and Ray Pilgrim, Patrick Schmidt, and Peter Sundquist (each 3 for 3 – Ohtani Award for Ray). Home run: Jack McDermott (inside the park) (3).
Dave Berra’s weather update: hot, but not as humid.
Easily the day’s wildest game. Purple seemed to have matters well in hand, building a 14-5 lead, but a huge rally by Gray in the buffet meant Purple had to return to bat and win with a walk-off.
Gray got hits from its first four batters – three singles and a double by Scott Rokita – and jumped to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. Clint Fletcher drove in the first two runs and scored the third on Jim McAnelly’s base hit. Purple won the inning, however, scoring five times in the home half on five singles and doubles by Jimmy Sneed and Mike Malay, making just one out in the process.
Gray scored a single run in the second, as Anthony Galindo tripled leading off and came in on Paul Rubin’s base hit. That won the inning, as Jack Kelly retired the side in order in the bottom half: Rick Jensen grounded out to shortstop Scott Rokita; Jack Spellman flied out to Jim Foelker in left-center; and Ralph Villela grounded out to third baseman Clint Fletcher.
Neither team scored in the third. Ray Pilgrim got two quick outs to start the top half, retiring Jim Foelker on a fly to center field, Jack McDermott sprinting to his left to run down the ball, a terrific catch, and then getting Jim McAnelly to ground out to third baseman Jack Spellman – first baseman Mike Malay made a good play on Spellman’s low throw, hurried because Clint Fletcher was running from home for Jim. Mike Velaney and Jack Kelly followed with singles, but second baseman Rick Jensen made a very good play to his backhand of Anthony Galindo’s hard grounder to the right of second base, flipping to Jimmy Sneed for the inning-ending force at second.
Jack Kelly then retired Purple’s 1-3 hitters in order: Billy Hill hit a two-strike foul; Rick Kahn flied out to left fielder Anthony Galindo; and Jimmy Sneed flied out to Jim Foelker in left-center field, about ten feet from the fence.
Gray tied the game with a run in the top of the fourth. Candy Perez led off with a single. He was forced at second 6-4 on Paul Rubin’s grounder to shortstop Jimmy Sneed. Paul came around to score on singles by Scott Rokita and Clint Fletcher. (Clint’s, I think, was a fly to Jack McDermott in left-center that Jack came in on and attempted a basket catch on, but couldn’t hold onto.) A single by Luis Sanchez loaded the bases with one out, but Ray Pilgrim escaped the jam, getting Jim Foelker to ground into a 6u., 6-3 double play, nicely turned by Jimmy Sneed.
Purple then took control of the game with five runs in the bottom of the fourth, the last three scored after two were out. The first five batters singled, two runs scoring, but Peter Sundquist out at home 8-6-2 (Jim Foelker to Scott Rokita to Luis Sanchez) trying to score on Patrick Schmidt’s single up the middle – it was a perfectly executed relay, Peter out by a step. Rick Jensen grounded a ball to third baseman Clint Fletcher, who stepped on third for the force there, then threw past first base, Patrick and Rick advancing to third and second. Jack Spellman’s single up the middle scored them both, Spellman advancing to third on the mishandled throw home. Ralph Villela then came up and hammered an extra-base hit to right-center – Spellman walked home on the hit while Ralph unnecessarily circled the bases, as Spellman’s run was the fifth of the inning. Like Scott Wright in the 10:00 game, Ralph was deprived of a home run by the fifth run being scored ahead of him.
Ray Pilgrim held Gray scoreless in the top of the fifth. He got both Jim McAnelly and Mike Velaney to hit short pops that were snagged by catcher Peter Sundquist – as I recall, he caught Jim’s with his bare hand, while Mike’s came on a two-strike swing, so technically was a strikeout. Jack Kelly and Anthony Galindo followed with singles, but Ray got Candy Perez to fly out to Jack McDermott in left-center for the third out.
With Purple leading 10-5 entering the bottom of the final five-run inning, it was agreed that the teams would flip-flop if Purple scored three runs. In fact, they got four across without making an out. They loaded the bases on Billy Hill’s lead-off walk and singles by Rick Kahn and Jimmy Sneed. Jack McDermott then unloaded a drive to right-center field that perfectly split the outfielders, Paul Rubin in right-center and Candy Perez in right, and rolled to the fence for an inside-the-park grand slam, Jack’s third home run of the season:
That put Purple up 14-5, and the teams flip-flopped.
Gray then proceeded to put together one of the best rallies of this season. They had the top of the order up, and the first four batters reached base: Paul Rubin walked; Scott Rokita and Clint Fletcher singled – I think Clint’s was another fly to Jack McDermott that Jack coldn’t hold onto – loading the bases; and Luis Sanchez took a walk, Paul scoring. Jim Foelker fouled a pitch back, and catcher Peter Sundquist made a terrific, twisting catch, fighting the sun in his eyes, for the first out. The next five batters singled: Jim McAnelly, Mike Velaney, Jack Kelly, and Anthony Galindo drove in one run each, Gray careful to play station-to-station ball and not make outs on the bases. Candy Perez’s single drove in two runs, cutting Purple’s lead to 14-12. Ray Pilgrim then got Paul Rubin to hit a two-strike foul for the second out.
Scott Rokita singled, Anthony scoring to make it 14-13. Clint Fletcher singled, and Candy scored, though just barely – the throw in I think had him beaten, but Peter Sundquist couldn’t hold on, and Candy was safe with the tying run while Clint took second on the throw. (That was Clint’s fifth hit of the game.) Luis Sanchez singled, Scott scoring the go-ahead run. Jim Foelker singled, Clint scoring to make it 16-14 Gray. Jim McAnelly singled, Luis (or it might have been a pinch-runner) scoring to make it 17-14 Gray. Mike Velaney hit a short hump-back liner toward the 5-6 hole that third baseman Jack Spellman was able to field on the hop and scoop a throw to Rick Jensen covering second for, finally, the third out.
Purple came up with its final five-run inning still in progress, no out, none on, four runs in. They got the fifth run in with four consecutive singles (talk about station to station), by Mike Malay, Peter Sundquist, Ray Pilgrim, and Patrick Schmidt, all four of them completing 3-for-3 games. Mike scored the fifth run of the inning, cutting Gray’s lead to two runs.
On to Purple’s buffet inning. Rick Jensen led off with a walk. Jack Spellman came up and hit a soft liner (estimated exit velocity: 20 miles an hour) past first base and into right-field for a truly cheap double, Rick advancing to third. Rick and I held on Ralph Villela’s infield hit – I believe it was a grounder to the 5-6 hole, Scott Rokita got to it but had no chance of throwing out Ralph. That loaded the bases for Billy Hill, who pulled a 2-2 pitch down the third-base side. Clint Fletcher fielded it on one hop and threw home, trying for Rick, who’d broken on contact. The throw sailed past catcher Luis Sanchez and to the backstop, Rick safe, and when I saw no one was coming in to cover the mat, I followed Rick in, scoring the tying run while Ralph alertly took third on the play. Rick Kahn came up, and here’s his swing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
His fly to Candy Perez wasn’t super deep, but plenty enough for Ralph, who easily beat the throw home to scoring the winning run, Purple walking off its third straight victory.
Final score: Purple 18, Gray 17, Gray now 1-6 in one-run games this session.
Ray Pilgrim pitched Purple to victory and was 3 for 3 at the plate, earning his seventh Ohtani Award of the season, presented to him by the pop combo Mrs. Green Apple.
2026 standings:
| Session 3 standings: | ||||||||
| Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | ||||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Maroon | 11 | 4 | .733 | 0 | 194 | 163 | 31 | W1 |
| Green | 10 | 5 | .667 | 1 | 215 | 198 | 17 | L2 |
| Blue | 7 | 7 | .500 | 3.5 | 139 | 129 | 10 | W2 |
| Orange | 7 | 7 | .500 | 3.5 | 179 | 180 | -1 | W1 |
| Red | 6 | 9 | .400 | 5 | 180 | 192 | -12 | L2 |
| Gray | 5 | 9 | .357 | 5.5 | 157 | 167 | -10 | L3 |
| Purple | 5 | 10 | .333 | 6 | 173 | 208 | -35 | W3 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | Last 5 | ||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | games: | ||
| Maroon | 6-2 | 5-2 | 3 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 5-1 | LWWLW | |
| Green | 4-5 | 6-0 | 1 | 1-0 | 4-1 | 3-2 | WWWLL | |
| Blue | 3-3 | 4-4 | 2 | 1-1 | 4-2 | 3-2 | LLLWW | |
| Orange | 5-2 | 2-5 | 3 | 0-2 | 1-1 | 3-3 | WLWLW | |
| Red | 4-3 | 2-6 | 0 | 1-0 | 2-4 | 2-2 | WLWLL | |
| Gray | 3-2 | 2-7 | 0 | 1-1 | 2-2 | 1-6 | LWLLL | |
| Purple | 2-7 | 3-3 | 2 | 0-0 | 2-5 | 2-3 | LLWWW |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 24 | |
| Gray | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 13 | |
| Green | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 19 | |
| Maroon | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 23 | |
| Orange | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 17 | |
| Purple | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 12 | |
| Red | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 15 | |
| TOTAL: | 11 | 21 | 17 | 12 | 18 | 24 | 20 | 123 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 10
Ralph Villela – 8
Steve Browne – 4
Tony Garcia – 4
Trent Peacock – 4
David Brown – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
Alan Phillips – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
Richard Battle – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Rick Kahn – 2
Jack McDermott – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Scott Wright – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
George Brindley – 1
Ivan Budiselic – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Jim Foelker – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Tommy Gillis – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
David Pittard – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Patrick Schmidt – 1
Hit for the cycle:
Ralph Villela – May 26
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 8 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16, June 22, June 25, June 29, July 9)
Ray Pilgrim: 7 (March 5, March 23, March 26, June 1, July 2, July 9, August 17)
Tommy Deleon: 5 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30)
Spike Davidson: 4 (May 4, July 2, July 20, August 6)
Trent Peacock: 2 (March 9, August 3)
Jeff Stone: 2 (March 2, July 9)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Jack Kelly: 1 (August 3)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Schedule for Thursday August 20:
10:00 a.m.: Green (10-5) at Orange (7-7), Maroon umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Maroon (11-4) at Gray (5-9), Orange umpiring
Noon: Purple (5-10) at Blue (7-7), Gray umpiring
Red has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Maroon’s win today eliminated Blue mathematically from being able to win the Session 3 title. It’s now a two-team race, Maroon leading Green by one game. Green has three games left in the session, Maroon two. Orange, coming off the bye, can play spoiler by defeating Green at 10:00 on Thursday. If they do (despite trailing the season series 5-1 so far), and Maroon defeats Gray at 11:00 (Maroon leads the season series 4-1), Maroon will clinch. A win by Green and a loss by Maroon will leave them tied. For all that, the day’s best game might come at noon, when a surging Purple team faces the first-half powerhouse Blue in a game that will set the tone for Session 4. Blue leads the season series 4-1. There’s a lot to celebrate Thursday – it’s the 89th birthday of C League’s Morris Carter, it’s International Hawaiian Pizza Day (editorial aside: boo!), it’s National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day, National Bacon Lover’s Day, and National Lemonade Day (aside: hurray!). All of which are fine. Will I be celebrating one of these, or National Hazy IPA Day? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Good luck to Ken Brown as he departs for Daegu, South Korea, for the 2026 World Masters Athletics Championships.
Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day.
I’m combining BCAD with Lost & Found:
This mitt was left behind – Dave Berra has it, will bring it Thursday.
And this (single) key was on the table on the first-base side. Dave’s got it.
Podcast review: Song Exploder
Created in 2014 and hosted by the musician Hrishikesh Hirway, this podcast’s premise is for a musician to take one of their songs apart and explain how it was made. Hirway uses isolated tracks from the original recording to illustrate decisions in the songwriting, arranging, and recording processes. Each episode concludes with the song played in its entirety. Guests range from major stars (U2, Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney) to indie and alternative acts, mostly rock, hip-hop, and folk. Quality of any episode is highly dependent on how coherently and incisively an artist can talk about their work, which… not everyone is as well spoken as Johnny Lee, let me tell you – I mean, Suki Waterhouse, deeply disappointing. But Jeff Tweedy, pretty great. Generally, Hirway is a pretty good interviewer, and usually gets some interesting insights from the artists. Once a month or so he puts out an episode of Key Change, a recurring spin-off series in which he asks a guest “What piece of music changed your life, and why?”, with pretty good results. New England content: Occasional – excellent Dropkick Murphys episode (#96), and the ubiquitous Noah Kahan (#247). Canadian content: A bit more, including a great Arcade Fire episode (#134). Listening speed: 1X. Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧 🎧