B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 30 – June 23, 2025
Games of Monday June 23:
10:30 a.m., Orange (1-1) at Purple (1-0):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 4 0 0 0 0 9 Purple 0 3 1 1 1 4 10 Pitchers: Orange – Terry Thompson; Purple – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Orange – Ralph Villela and Scott Wright; Purple – Gary Coyle, Jim Foelker, Jack Kelly, Bobby Miller, Jack Spellman, and Phil Stanch. Umpires: home – Tommy Deleon; bases – Anthony Galindo. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Jack Spellman (2 for 2 with a double and a walk). Home run: Ken Mockler (over the fence) (1).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 86 degrees, feels like 93. Humidity 66%. Wind from the South 10 MPH. Partly sunny – nice summer day.
All Orange for the first inning and a half: The visiting Crush scored five times while making just one out in the top of the first, Ken Mockler’s over-the-fence three-run home run to right-center the big blow.
After the game, Ken Mockler received from Ray Pilgrim a Pluckers coupon for his three-run homer.
Terry Thompson worked a scoreless bottom half, walking Rick Jensen to start the frame, then retiring the next three batters, getting both Richard Battle and Fritz Hensel to hit ground ball force outs to shortstop David Brown. Orange kept hitting in the second, with mercenaries Ralph Villela and Scott Wright knocking one-out singles, Ralph then scoring on Daniel Carvajal’s sacrifice fly to Bobby Miller in left-center. Terry O’Brien followed with a triple that drove in Scott, and scored on Ray Pilgrim’s single. David Brown gapped the outfielders with a drive to center field; Ray’s pinch-runner scored Orange’s fourth run of the inning, but Gray escaped by putting David out: The relay from Bobby Miller to Jack Spellman was directed to third base; David beat the throw, but instead of running through, he cut the inside of the bag and took a couple steps toward home; third baseman Gary Coyle caught the relay and had David hung up – he made David commit for home, then made a chest-high throw to catcher Fritz Hensel to complete the 8-6-5-2, inning-ending putout.
It was impossible to imagine at that point, but Orange would not score again the rest of the game.
Purple got on the board with three runs in the bottom of the second on Jack Kelly’s lead-off walk, three singles, and Jack Spellman’s double to center (Larry Young urged me to try for three, but Ralph Villela’s relay went straight to David Brown, and I would have been out by about 30 feet if I’d tried it). The two-bagger drove in the first two runs, Spellman scoring the third on Gary Coyle’s single up the middle.
Jack Kelly held Orange scoreless over the third, fourth, and fifth while Purple scratched out one run in each frame, gradually cutting Orange’s lead. Ken Mockler led off the third with a single, but Jack retired the next eight batters. (Prior to the top of the fourth, with Orange’s mercenaries and then the top of the order due, I said, “I don’t think we’re going to hold them scoreless here.” Jack retired the side 1-2-3 and I’m now declaring myself out of the prediction business.) With two out and none on in the fifth, David Brown ripped another extra-base hit, this one to right field, and once again was thrown out trying for a home run, this time 10-4-2, Phil Stanch (who’d nearly caught David’s drive to begin with) to Rick Jensen to Fritz Hensel, who caught the well-directed peg with David’s foot still in the air.
Quote of the Day: Fritz Hensel: “David asked me if he was out. How the fuck am I supposed to know?”
Fritz’s runner scored Purple’s run in the third. Fritz and Larry Young walked to open the frame, but Larry, distracted by the chit-chat he was engaged in with base coach Mike Velaney, was doubled off first on Jack Kelly’s looper to first baseman Daniel Carvajal, an unassisted (L-3, 3u.) double play. Phil Stanch delivered a single to right-center that brought in Fritz’s runner.
In the bottom of the fourth, Bobby Miller led off with a double and scored on Jack Spellman’s ground single past second base. Purple wound up loading the bases on Rick Jensen’s walk and Fritz Hensel’s two-out single, but Terry Thompson got Larry Young to pop out to Daniel Carvajal at first to escape the jam.
In the fifth, Jack Kelly walked leading off, his runner advanced on Phil Stanch’s ground out to first baseman Daniel Carvajal, and then scored on Bobby Miller’s second double. A walk to Jack Spellman and a single by Gary Coyle loaded the bases, but Terry once again wriggled out of the jam, getting Rick Jensen to fly out to Scott Wright in right-center.
Orange led 9-6 entering the buffet. A single by Terry Thompson and a walk by Marvin Krabbenhoft put runners on first and second with one out, but Jack Kelly got out of the mess, first retiring Boo Resnick on a short pop to the right of the mound that Jack corralled himself, then getting Ralph Villela to pop out to second baseman Rick Jensen.
Purple needed three to tie, four to win in the home half. Richard Battle led off with a single, and Fritz Hensel drew his second walk of the game. I believe Gary Coyle ran for Fritz, might have been Bobby Miller. Larry Young lined a single up the middle, Richard scoring to make it 9-7. (Jack Spellman ran from home for Larry, and managed to yell at him loud enough to prevent him running to first.) Jack Kelly, with Rick Jensen running for him from home, popped a two-strike pitch into short right field for a hit, Fritz’s runner scoring, making it 9-8. Terry Thompson got Phil Stanch to hit a two-strike foul for the first out. Jim Foelker grounded a ball between third base and shortstop that David Brown moved to his right for, only to have the ball come up on his glove on its last hop, everyone safe and the bases loaded on the infield single. Bobby Miller then stepped up and lined a single to right-center: Spellman scored the tying run, with Rick Jensen following with the game-winner, Purple walking off an improbable victory.
Final score: Orange , Purple 10
11:30 a.m., Blue (0-1) at Maroon (1-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Blue 4 5 3 0 5 17 Maroon 5 3 5 5 X 18 Pitchers: Blue – Tommy Deleon; Maroon – Tom Kelm. Mercenaries: Blue – Mike Malay, Terry O'Brien, and Adam Reddell; Maroon – Tommy Gillis, Jack McDermott, and Rolando Rodriguez. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Joe Dayoc (2 for 2 with a walk) and Terry O'Brien (3 for 3); Maroon – Ken Brown and Tony Garcia (both 4 for 4 with a double), Rolando Rodriguez (3 for 3), and Scott Wright (3 for 3 with a double).
The hitters dominated this game, with Maroon scoring 18 of a possible 20 runs over the first four innings while making a total of just nine outs. Blue put up crooked numbers in its first three at bats and trailed by just one through the third.
Blue opened the game with four runs in the top of the first on six singles. A dropped throw at third base on what would have been an inning-ending 6-5 force on a grounder by Tommy Deleon extended the inning, and Joe Dayoc and Adam Reddell delivered run-scoring hits to the left side to drive in the third and fourth runs. Maroon trumped that with five runs in the home half on six singles and Tommy Gillis’s two-out double that drove in the fourth and fifth runs.
Blue won the second inning, in the top half scoring five runs on three singles, doubles by Jim Foelker and Jimmy Sneed (Jimmy’s a drive off the fence in left-center), walks to Tommy Deleon and Joe Dayoc that loaded the bases, and Adam Reddell’s line drive sacrifice fly to Bobby Miller (I think) in left-center, then holding Maroon to three runs on six singles in the bottom of the inning. Jack McDermott led off with a pop-fly single to left field, but was gunned down 7-4, Terry O’Brien to Mike Malay, trying for a double.
Maroon then won the third inning. Blue’s first three batters singled to load the bases. Mike Malay scored on Steve Sandall’s sacrifice fly to Ken Brown in right-center, and Tom Bellavia drove in Terry O’Brien and Jim Foelker with a two-out, line single up the middle. Maroon then scored five times in the home half, all with two out. Tommy Langa led off with a single through the 5/6 hole. Both Tommy Gillis (high fly) and Jack McDermott (liner) hit balls caught by Tom Bellavia in left-center. Rolando Rodriguez singled to left. Ken Brown drove in both Tommy and Rolando with a pop-fly double to right field. Bobby Miller tripled to right to drive in Ken. Tony Garcia singled to right to drive in Bobby. And Scott Wright ripped a hit down the right side that scored Tony from first with the fifth run.
It was 13-12 in Maroon’s favor entering the fourth. Blue put the potential tying run on base when Joe Dayoc singled down the third-base side with one out. Adam Reddell came up and lined a ball to the left side that looked and sounded off the bat like a hit, but shortstop Tony Garcia made a great play on the ball, making a clean backhanded catch on the short hop and flipping to Tommy Langa for the force at second; Tommy pivoted and threw to first to complete a terrific 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.
Maroon then increased its lead to 18-12 by scoring five times in the home half, on four singles and doubles by Don Solberg (fly to right), Tommy Langa (ground ball past third base, fair by inches), and Tony Garcia (liner to right-center that drove in Ken Brown with the fifth run – both Ken and Tony were 4 for 4 in the game).
Blue was chasing six as it started the buffet. Mike Malay led off with a line single to left-center. Tom Bellavia ran for him. Singles by Terry O’Brien (completing a 3-for-3 game) and Jim Foelker loaded the bases. Steve Sandall singled to left, Tom and Terry scoring, Steve picking up his fourth and fifth RBI of the game (he drove in a run in each of his first three plate appearances, and two more in his fourth). Jimmy Sneed doubled, Jim scoring to cut Maroon’s lead to 18-15, Steve stopping at third. Tom Bellavia’s knocked a fly to Ken Brown in right-center; both runners tagged up and advanced, Steve scoring and Jimmy taking third. Daniel Baladez ripped a single to left field to bring in Steve, making it a one-run game. Tom Bellavia ran for Daniel at first, taking possession of the base, for a moment nobody (including, I think, Tom) clocking that Tom had run for Mike Malay at the start of the inning. But Tony Garcia realized it, and pointed it out, and when he realized it, too, Tom totally owned it. So that was the second out. Tommy Deleon then grounded out to second baseman Tommy Langa to end the game.
Hat tip to Tom for his sportsmanship. And in truth I think it was more likely than not that Maroon would have won in the bottom of the buffet even if Blue had managed to tie or go ahead. Final score: Maroon 18, Blue 17
Exchange of the Day: T-Bone walked past the first-base-side bleacher, an intense, brooding look on his face, like a young Taylor Kitsch, supposing Taylor Kitsch could have a thought in his head.
Bobby Miller: “Get that look off your face.”
T-Bone: “Or what?”
Tell him, T-Bone.
12:30 p.m., Gray (2-0) at Red (1-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 4 5 4 1 19 Red 0 5 1 5 0 11 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Red – Donald Drummer. Mercenaries: Gray – David Brown; Red – Daniel Baladez, Don Solberg, and Ralph Villela. Umpires: home – Scott Wright; bases – Tommy Langa. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Jim Aaron, David Brown, and Morgan Witthoft (each 3 for 3 with a double), Jack Crosley (3 for 3), and Paul Rubin (4 for 4 with a double and a triple); Red – Daniel Baladez and Don Solberg (both 2 for 2), Jack McDermott (3 for 3 with a double), Rolando Rodriguez (3 for 3), and Ralph Villela (2 for 2 with a double and a triple).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 91 degrees, feels like 100. Humidity 51%. Wind from the South 8 MPH. Mostly sunny.
Was it too much to ask for a third one-run game? Yes, it was. Gray just hit and hit and hit in this one – they made just seven outs while scoring 19 runs on 27 hits, none of them cheap. The first seven batters of the game hit safely, five singles and doubles by Paul Rubin (sliced down the left-field line, classic Rubin swing) and Jim Aaron (drive to left-center), the only out in the top of the first Mike Malay’s sacrifice fly to Don Solberg in left field, plenty deep enough to score Jack Crosley with the fifth run.
Red did not score in the home half, Jack Spellman grounding into a 6u., 6-3 double play turned by David Brown after Jack McDermott singled leading off.
Gray then scored four times in the top of the second on six singles. Red actually won the inning, scoring five times on five singles and doubles by Ralph Villela and Jack McDermott, Jack driving in the fourth and fifth runs.
Gray effectively put the game out of reach in the third inning, scoring five times in the top half without making an out, on three singles and doubles by Morgan Witthoft, Hal Darman (a two-strike drive over Jack McDermott’s head in left-center), and David Brown, and then holding Red to a single run on a walk and two singles in the home half.
Red won the fourth inning 5-4, each team collecting six hits and a sacrifice fly – all singles by Gray, Donald Drummer’s double and Ralph Villela’s triple opening the bottom half for Red. But Red still trailed by seven entering the buffet.
To start the buffet, David Brown singled and scored on Paul Rubin’s triple, both of them completing perfect days at the plate. That put Gray up by eight, and the teams flip-flopped. Jack Kelly then threw a scoreless bottom half, working around singles by Rolando Rodriguez (completing his second 3-for-3 game of the day) and Jim McAnelly, getting Donald Drummer to hit a two-strike foul for the final out.
Final score: Gray 19, Red 11
Session 3 standings:
| Session 3 | Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Gray | 3 | 0 | 1.000 | 0 | 41 | 24 | 17 | W3 |
| Purple | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.5 | 27 | 14 | 13 | W3 |
| Maroon | 2 | 1 | .667 | 1 | 30 | 40 | -10 | W1 |
| Orange | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 | 31 | 28 | 3 | L2 |
| Red | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 | 33 | 41 | -8 | L1 |
| Green | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2.5 | 18 | 24 | -6 | L2 |
| Blue | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2.5 | 18 | 27 | -9 | L3 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Gray | 1-0 | 2-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Purple | 2-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | ||
| Maroon | 2-0 | 0-1 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | ||
| Orange | 0-1 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-2 | ||
| Red | 0-2 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-0 | ||
| Green | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | ||
| Blue | 0-0 | 0-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-1 | ||
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | X | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| Gray | 3 | X | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 12 |
| Green | 1 | 2 | X | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 12 |
| Maroon | 2 | 4 | 3 | X | 2 | 2 | 1 | 14 |
| Orange | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | X | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Purple | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | X | 2 | 13 |
| Red | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | X | 11 |
| TOTAL: | 10 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 14 | 87 |
2025 season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 4
Tommy Gillis – 4
Bobby Miller – 4
George Brindley – 3
Anthony Galindo – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
David Brown – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Mike Garrison – 2
Doc Hobar – 2
Rex Horvath – 2
Matt Levitt – 2
George Romo – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Tony Garcia – 1
Buddy Gaswint – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Ken Mockler – 1
Terry O’Brien – 1
Ray Pilgrim – 1
Jimmy Sneed – 1
Jeff Stone – 1
Mike Velaney – 1
Ralph Villela – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Scott Wright – 1
Hit for the cycle:
Scott Wright – June 5
Schedule for Thursday June 26:
10:30 a.m.: Red (1-2) at Blue (0-2), Maroon umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Maroon (2-1) at Orange (1-2), Red umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (2-0) at Green (0-2), Orange umpiring
Gray has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Big day coming up Thursday. First, from the great Billy Hill:
In appreciation of your support and prayers, for my wife Amy, my family will provide snacks Thursday the 26th after the last game. Please hang around and say Hi to her.
Thanks, Billy & Family
Also Thursday, prizes for the Central Texas Food Bank raffle will be awarded, with displays of Short Porch bats and Beebe cleats. (Note: the display Beebes will be in sizes 9.5, 11, 11.5, and 12 – if you wear this size and like the display model, you can purchase it on the spot!)
Oh, and there will games. First-place Gray has the bye. Purple can tie for first place with a win over Orange at 12:30. Red and Blue see who can get untracked at 10:30 – notably, Red has yet to defeat Blue this season, the only match-up that has yet to have both teams get at least one win. At 11:30, Maroon, which has a league-worst -10 run differential despite being 2-1 in the session, can move to half a game out of first with a win against Orange, which is 1-2 with a +3 run differential for the session, go figure.
On June 26, 363, the Roman Emperor Julian was killed during a retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian was proclaimed Emperor by troops on the battlefield. Will Purple team commemorate this event with a reenactment following Thursday’s games, with Larry Young portraying Julian and Mike Velaney Jovian, and Rick Jensen reciting the St. Crispin’s Day speech? One thing is certain: only time will tell.