B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 28 – for July 15, 2024
Weather: Dave Berra reports that temperatures Monday were in the low mid-90s a bit after noon, with humidity somewhat less terrible.
Games of Monday July 15:
10:00 a.m., Maroon (1-4) at Green (3-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 0 1 2 1 2 4 10 Green 3 1 2 3 3 X 12 Pitchers: Maroon – Chunky Wright; Green – Tommy Delelon. Mercenaries: Maroon – Ken Brown, Tommy Gillis, Donnie Janac, and Rip Wright; Green – Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home plate – Dave Brown; bases – Richard Battle and Pat Scott. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Buddy Gaswint (4 for 4) and Rip Wright (3 for 3 with a double); Green – Jim McAnelly and Peter Sundquist (both 3 for 3) and Jack McDermott (4 for 4).
Tommy Deleon retired the side in order in the top of the first, Green’s first three batters hit safely and scored in the bottom half, and Green led the rest of the way, though Maroon battled and kept it close despite not winning an inning until the buffet.
Mike Garrison singled and scored Green’s first run on Paul Rubin’s triple, Paul then scoring on Mike Hill’s base hit. Paul followed with an RBI single in the second and also drove in a run with a force-out grounder in the bottom of the fifth.
Maroon managed to score a run on four singles in the top of the second, but left the bases loaded, a problem throughout the game – while Maroon scored in every inning, they also left two runners stranded in every frame from the third inning on. They got jammed up in the fourth inning when they had to take an out when Scott Wright, running for Marvin Krabbenhoft, had his place in the lineup come up while he was still on base – he tried to take a pinch-runner, but that’s a B League no-go, and he was called out.
Green hitters also left a number of runners stranded – ten over five innings – but came through with a number of two-out hits that drove in runs. In the third, consecutive singles by Daniel Baladez, Jim McAnelly, and Peter Sundquist resulted in two runs; in the fourth, Jack Crosley knocked a key two-out double to drive in Tommy Deleon’s pinch-runner from first with the third run of that inning; and in the fifth Jack McDermott and Tommy Deleon delivered run-scoring singles after the second out of the inning was recorded by Ken Brown fielding a ricochet off Chunky Wright’s shin on a hard shot back to the mound by David Pittard, Ken stepping on third for a force there.
Green’s three runs in that inning left them with a 12-6 lead entering the buffet. Maroon rallied for four runs on seven singles before running out of outs, the game ending with the tying runs on base when Chunky Wright lined out to third baseman David Pittard. Final score: Green 12, Maroon 10
11:00 a.m., Blue (3-2) at Orange (2-4):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 0 1 1 3 5 3 13 Orange 3 0 0 0 5 0 8 Pitchers: Blue – Jerry Mylius; Orange – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: none. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Doc Hobar (3 for 3 with a double).
Again the visiting team went down in order in the first inning, this time at Ray Pilgrim’s hands, and the home team jumped to a 3-0 lead, Doc Hobar leading off with a double and three singles and a walk following. But Orange’s bats went quiet over the next three innings, Jerry Mylius recording 12 outs over a 17-batter stretch from the bottom of the first to the first batter of the fifth, retiring Orange’s 3-4-5 hitters in order in the third.
Meanwhile, Blue was chipping away, scoring single runs in the second (on three singles) and the third (RBI double by George Brindley). George’s two-bagger followed one-out walks to Pat Scott and Jeff Fisher, but then Ray Pilgrim got George Romo to hit a two-strike foul for the second out. Steve Sandall lofted a fly to right field that looked like extra bases, but he was robbed by Larry Shupe. Jeff Broussard described Larry’s play to me as…
“…a spectacular catch, a diving, rolling effort, really good. Absolutely nobody thought he would catch it.”
Larry Shupe (file photo, with president emeritus Larry Bunton, right, and George Brindley in the background) made the defensive play of the day.
Blue grabbed the lead with three runs in the top of the fourth. Terry Thompson led off with a single, but was forced out at second on Richard Battle’s grounder to shortstop Rex Horvath. Dale Fugate continued his hot hitting with a double, Richard halting at third. If I’m reading Dave Berra’s scoresheet correctly, Billy Hill singled, but the other runners did not advance – guessing it was an infield hit to load the bases. Jerry Mylius grounded to shortstop, and George Romo threw home to force out Richard Battle. Pat Scott’s single drove in Dale, and then Jeff Fisher knocked a two-base hit to bring in Billy’s pinch-runner and Jerry.
Orange did not score in the home half, Jerry Mylius working around Ray Pilgrim’s lead-off single, and then Blue piled on with five runs in the fifth. George Romo and Steve Sandall led off with doubles, George scoring, and Terry Thompson and Richard Battle followed with singles, Steve scoring. Dale Fugate popped out to second baseman Eddie Ortiz for the first out, but a walk to Billy Hill loaded the bases. Ray Pilgrim got Jerry Mylius to hit a two-strike foul, but Pat Scott and Jeff Fisher came through with two-out singles, Pat driving in Terry and Richard, Jeff delivering Billy Hill’s pinch-runner with the fifth run.
That briefly put Blue ahead 10-3, but Orange responded with five runs in the home half to get back into the game. Dave Berra, Doc Hobar, and Larry Fiorentino knocked consecutive one-out singles, Dave coming around to score, and then Peter Atkins and Rex Horvath both doubled, Doc, Larry, and Peter scoring. Eddie Ortiz hit a two-strike foul, but Ray Pilgrim’s single brought in Rex with the fifth run.
Blue led 10-8 entering the buffet and tacked on three more, with four consecutive hits after Ray Pilgrim retired George Brindley and George Romo to start the inning, on a pop to second and a fly to right-center. Steve Sandall and Terry Thompson singled, and both scored on Richard Battle’s double – the third hit of the game for each of the trio. Dale Fugate knocked his third hit of the contest, driving in Richard. Billy Hill took a called third strike, but Blue led 13-8 entering the bottom of the inning.
Matt Levitt and Fritz Hensel singled to make a promising start to the inning, but Jerry Mylius retired the next three hitters. He got Jim Maloy to hit a two-strike foul, Larry Shupe to ground into a force at second, and Dave Berra to ground out back to the box for the final out. Final score: Blue 13, Orange 8
Noon, Purple (2-3) at Red (3-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Purple 1 0 2 4 3 0 10 Red 0 0 3 0 2 0 5 Pitchers: Purple – Jeff Stone; Red – Donald Drummer. Mercenaries: Purple – George Brindley and Scott Wright; Red – Tommy Langa and Johnny Lee. Umpires: home plate – Larry Fiorentino; bases – Rex Horvath. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Tim Coles (3 for 3 with two doubles); Red – Tim Bruton (2 for 2 with a walk and a home run) and Morgan Witthoft (3 for 3). Home run: Tim Bruton (inside the park).
Another well-pitched game, tied 3-3 through three. Purple scored a single run in the top of the first, on singles by Peter Sundquist and Daniel Carvajal and a run-scoring force out at second, Boo Resnick fielding Jeff Stone’s grounder and beating Daniel to the bag while Peter scored. Tim Coles followed with a double, sending Jeff to third, but Donald Drummer retired Rick Jensen on a grounder to second to end the threat.
Red did not score in the home half, Jeff Stone working around a one-out walk to Tim Bruton, and neither team scored in the second. Purple went out 1-2-3 in the top half, Donald Drummer striking out Rick Kahn looking and Jim Foelker on a two-strike foul. Morgan Witthoft singled and Denny Malloy walked to start the home half, but Jeff Stone got Hal Darman to fly out to left-center and then snagged Boo Resnick’s liner back to the box and snapped a throw to first baseman Daniel Carvajal to double up Denny.
Purple extended its lead to 3-0 with two runs on four consecutive one-out singles in the top of the third. On the fourth, by Daniel Carvajal, Mike Velaney tried to go first-to-third, but was out on a 7-6-5 relay, Rick Kahn to Tim Bruton to Tommy Langa. Donald Drummer then got Jeff Stone to fly out to Bobby Miller in left-center for the third out.
Red got on the board and tied the game with three runs in the bottom half. Tommy Langa led off with a single, but Jeff Stone got Johnny Lee to hit a two-strike foul (I wasn’t present, but I know what cry went up from the Beer Garden) and Bobby Miller to pop out to third baseman Tim Coles. Tim Bruton then hit an inside-the-park home run – I don’t have any further detail, don’t know to which part of the field the ball was hit or if there was any play at home. Choose your own vicarious adventure.
Tim followed up his 10-for-10 day in three games last Thursday with another perfect day today – that’s 13 consecutive plate appearances that he’s reached base. (On July 8 Tim went 3 for 4 with a walk, grounding into a force play in his final at bat.) (Look, I know I’m repeating myself, but so is Tim.)
Red’s two-out rally continued when Rick Kahn singled, Donald Drummer walked, and Morgan Witthoft drove Rick in with a game-tying single. Denny Malloy squared up on a pitch and went the other way, but Peter Sundquist caught his line drive to left.
Six of the first seven Purple batters singled to open up the fourth inning, Red recording one out on a 6-5 force. Four runs were in and the fifth, in the person of George Brindley, on third with one out and the top of the order up. Peter Sundquist hit a fly to left field – I’m guessing it wasn’t very deep, because Rick Kahn made the catch and then threw directly home to catcher Rip Wright, no cutoff, and beat George to the plate for an inning-ending F-7, 7-2 double play. (The Picayune supports sending the potential fifth run from third with two out. If you’re never out trying for the extra base, you’re not being aggressive enough.)
Still, Purple led 7-3, maintained that advantage by holding Red scoreless in the home half (Hal Darman led off with a single, but Jeff Stone retired the next three batters), and then added to it with three runs in the top of the fifth on three singles, Tim Coles’s second double of the game, and Rick Jensen’s sacrifice fly to right-center.
Red got two back in the bottom half. Tim Bruton singled with one out and scored from first on Donald Drummer’s two-out double. Donald then scored on Morgan Witthoft’s single. Tim and Morgan completed perfect games at the plate with their hits.
Purple led 10-5 entering the buffet. They did not add to the lead, Donald Drummer retiring the side in order in the top half. Jeff Stone was nearly as effective in the bottom half. He got Hal Darman to ground back to the box to start the frame. Boo Resnick singled. Tommy Langa grounded to third baseman Tim Coles, who threw to second for the force. Johnny Lee singled to extend the inning and bring up the top of the order. But the game ended on Bobby Miller’s line drive to left-center, caught by Jim Foelker for the final out. Final score: Purple 10, Red 5, Purple defeating Red for the first time this season.
Standings – Session Three:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Gray 4 1 .800 — 62 56 + 6 W4
Green 4 2 .667 .5 85 68 +17 W2
Blue 4 2 .667 .5 78 66 +12 W2
Red 3 3 .500 1.5 74 72 + 2 L2
Purple 3 3 .500 1.5 51 61 -10 W3
Orange 2 5 .286 3 77 86 – 9 L4
Maroon 1 5 .167 3.5 56 74 -18 L5
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Gray 1-1 3-0 1 0-0 1-1 1-0
Green 2-1 2-1 1 0-0 2-0 1-0
Blue 2-1 2-1 1 0-0 0-0 1-1
Red 1-2 2-1 1 0-0 1-0 1-1
Purple 1-2 2-1 1 0-0 0-2 1-1
Orange 1-3 1-2 0 0-0 1-1 0-1
Maroon 1-2 0-3 0 0-0 0-1 0-1
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 1 1 2 4 1 2 11
Gray 3 X 2 2 4 0 3 14
Green 2 1 X 3 2 3 2 13
Maroon 1 2 3 X 3 0 2 11
Orange 0 0 1 1 X 2 2 6
Purple 3 1 2 3 2 X 1 12
Red 3 1 2 1 2 3 X 12
_______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 12 6 11 12 17 9 12 79
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 5
Gregory Bied – 2
Ken Brown – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
David Brown – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Larry Fiorentino – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
David Kruse – 1
Denny Malloy – 1
Eddie Ortiz -1
David Pittard – 1
Paul Rubin – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Thursday July 18:
10:00 a.m.: Red (3-3) at Maroon (1-5), Gray umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Gray (4-1) at Purple (3-3), Maroon umpiring
Noon: Green (4-2) at Blue (4-2), Purple umpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Red and Maroon, two of the more mercenary-dependent teams of late, and both in the midst of losing streaks, face off at 10:00, one to emerge with a W. Gray and Purple, with the longest extant winning streaks (four and three games, respectively), meet at 11:00. If Purple prevails, the winner of the Green-Blue contest at noon will move into first place. That games matches the two teams with the session’s best run differentials and best offenses (measuring by runs-per-game). Will Gray be knocked out of first place? One thing is certain: only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Mike Mordecai emcees and plays at the Elephant Room (https://elephantroom.com/calendar) Mondays from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Your semi-regular reminder that you can read current and past editions of this year’s Picayune at: https://austinseniorsoftball.com/picyuane/. New editions show up online shortly after they hit your email in-box. (I’ve been pretty good about updating the web site soon after sending out the email version.) The front page of the site (https://austinseniorsoftball.com/) features a red banner with late-breaking news of cancellations, etc. And you can see the schedule for upcoming games at: https://austinseniorsoftball.com/schedule/