B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 9 – March 31, 2025
Weather report: It was 67 degrees with 66% humidity as C League finished its games at 10:15 a.m., unexpectedly early, overcast with a light wind from the north at 10 MPH. Over the course of the day the sun burned off the cloud cover and it warmed into the mid-70s, humidity dropping to 45%. A very nice day, though the sun was tough on the outfielders.
Games of Monday March 31:
10:30 a.m., Blue at Gray:
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 5 5 0 3 2 X 15 Gray 0 0 0 3 0 2 5 Pitchers: Blue – Tommy Deleon; Gray – Lupe Albrado (innings 1 and 2) and Jack Kelly (innings 3, 4, and buffet). No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Spike Davidson, Dave Berra, and Rex Horvath; bases – Larry Fiorentino and Mike Velaney. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Jim Foelker (3 for 3) and Steve Sandall (4 for 4); Gray – Adam Reddell (2 for 2 with a walk). Home run: George Brindley (inside the park)
Blue jumped to a quick, decisive lead, scoring five times in each of its first two innings, Gray not getting all the way through its lineup once before finding itself behind by double digits. Blue scored five on six singles and Tom Bellavia’s double in the top of the first, even the one out a very hard hit ball, Jimmy Sneed lining out to left fielder Tommy Gillis. Lupe Albrado got two quick ground outs to start the second, but the next five batters, the top of Blue’s lineup followed with hits: Steve Sandall singled; Jimmy Sneed doubled; Tom Bellavia singled, Steve and Jimmy scoring; Tom Brownfield singled; and George Brindley lined a ball to the gap in right-center that rolled to the fence, George racing around the bases for a three-run inside-the-park home run, George’s second of the season.
Tommy Deleon presents a Pluckers coupon and hoists a brew to George Brindley after George’s three-run inside-the-park homer put Blue up 10-0.
Tommy Deleon, meanwhile, kept Gray off the board, working around singles in the bottom of the first by Tommy Gillis and Adam Reddell, and a one-out single in the second by Dave Jaffe.
Neither team scored in the third. Jack Kelly took over on the mound for Gray and was helped by two excellent catches by his outfielders. Left fielder Tommy Gillis grabbed a sinking liner off the bat of Jim Foelker to start the inning, and, after Don Solberg singled, Morgan Witthoft in right-center made a nice running catch to his right of David Pittard’s fly. Tommy Deleon threw a third scoreless inning in the bottom half, working around Lupe Albrado’s one-out single.
Blue pushed its lead to 13-0 with three runs in the top of the fourth, its first three batters reaching and scoring. Tommy Deleon and Steve Sandall led off with singles, Tommy’s pinch-runner (Don Solberg, I think) and Steve both scoring on Jimmy Sneed’s double to left-center. Jimmy then advanced and scored on back-to-back flies to Paul Rubin in left-center by Tom Bellavia and Tom Brownfield. The inning ended with Jack Kelly making a terrific play on George Brindley’s hard grounder back up the middle, throwing to first for the third out.
Gray finally got on the board in the bottom of the third, its first five batters reaching base: Tommy Gillis doubled (a ball he hammered down the left field side; it curved to the left and landed about two feet fair and one-hopped the fence) and scored on George Romo’s single. Adam Reddell walked and Jack Crosley singled, loading the bases. Morgan Withhoft’s single to left-center drove in George and Adam. Dave Jaffe flied out to Tom Bellavia in left-center for the first out. Tommy Deleon then escaped the inning by way of a classic oddball B League double play. Hal Darman hit a pop in front of third baseman David Pittard; home plate umpire Rex Horvath immediately called it an infield fly; and the runners took off, thinking the ball could not be caught, but David made a good first step and got to it; David threw to second, not in time to get Jack Crosley returning to the bag, but George Brindley’s relay beat Morgan back to first, for an F-5, 5-4-3 double play.
Blue scored two runs on three singles and David Pittard’s walk in the top of the fifth, and Tommy Deleon retired the side in order in the bottom half. With Blue winning by ten, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet.
Tommy Deleon retired two of the first three hitters, Paul Rubin knocking a single after Jack Kelly popped out to second and Tommy Gillis flied out to left-center. George Romo, Adam Reddell, and Jack Crosley followed with hits, Paul and George scoring, but the game ended with Steve Sandall in left field hauling in Morgan Witthoft’s fly. Final score: Blue 15, Gray 5
11:30 a.m., Purple at Orange:
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Purple 3 0 0 5 5 X 13 Orange 1 0 4 0 0 0 5 Pitchers: Purple – Spike Davidson; Orange – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenary: Orange – Jim Maloy. Umpires: home – Dave Berra; bases – Daniel Baladez. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Larry Fiorentino (three walks), Mark Hernandez, Pat Scott, and Mike Velaney (all 3 for 3), and Matt Levitt (2 for 2 with a walk); Orange – Clint Fletcher (2 for 2 with a walk) and Larry Shupe (2 for 2).
Another relatively low-scoring affair, both teams turning double plays in each of the first two innings. Purple broke on top with three runs in the top of the first, on four singles and Larry Fiorentino’s base on balls. Fourth run was on third base and fifth was on first with one out, but Ray Pilgrim escaped the jam thanks to shortstop David Brown, who turned a smooth-as-silk 6u., 6-3 double play on Rick Jensen’s grounder up the middle.
Clint Fletcher led off the bottom half with a grounder to third base, beating out an infield hit as Rex Horvath’s cross-diamond throw pulled first baseman Mark Hernandez’s foot off the bag. Ken Mockler’s single put runners on first and second. Peter Atkins hit a hard grounder back to the box that Spike Davidson got a piece of, deflecting and slowing it enough that second baseman Mike Velaney was able to make an outstanding diving play to his backhand to glove the ball, then flip to Rick Jensen covering for the force at second. Clint took third on the play and scored on Ray Pilgrim’s Texas League single to left field. Daniel Carvajal followed and grounded to the 5-6 hole; Rick Jensen fielded the ball and threw to third to force the lead runner, and Rex Horvath alertly threw to second in time to beat Ray, for an inning-ending 6-5-4 double play.
Mike Velaney led off the second with a single, but was erased on a 1-6-3 double play, David Brown on the pivot. David then fielded Spike Davidson’s grounder and threw him out.
Purple turned an only-in-B League double play in the bottom of the second. Terry O’Brien and Marvin Krabbenhoft led off with singles. Mike Malay grounded a ball to the 5-6 hole; shortstop Rick Jensen misplayed it, retrieved it, and tried for the lead runner, but his throw sailed past Larry Young, taking over from Rex Horvath for the inning. Terry ran through the base; Peter Atkins, running for Marvin, must have thought Terry was heading for home because he, Peter, proceeded to run for third, standing on the bag when he got there. Larry chased down the overthrow and, per Rick’s request, threw to Rick, who had the presence of mind to tag Peter. Meanwhile, Terry took off for home. Rick, taking care to be sure Terry passed the commit line, then threw to catcher Fritz Hensel. As I scored it, it was a 6-5-6-2 double play. As I understand home umpire Dave Berra’s ruling on the field, Peter was out even though he was on the bag because he didn’t have possession of the base, which was virtually occupied by Terry due to his running through and not retreating to tag the bag and advance. Terry was out both because he advanced without retreating and tagging the base and also because Rick’s throw home beat him anyway. (That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.)
Quote of the Day: Dave Berra: “Now I know why Tommy (Deleon) didn’t want to umpire.”
In the top of the third Matt Levitt walked with one out and took third on Pat Scott’s double to left-center, but they were both stranded as Ray Pilgrim got Richard Battle to ground a two-strike pitch foul down the third base side, then retired Rex Horvath on a fly to Clint Fletcher in right-center.
Orange then took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third, all scored after two were out. Larry Shupe led off with a a single and was forced out on Jim Maloy’s grounder to shortstop. Clint Fletcher singled, Jim stopping at second. Ken Mockler lined out to Larry Fiorentino in right-center, the runners holding. Peter Atkins ripped a double to right-center, Jim scoring. Ray Pilgrim’s single to left field brought in Clint and Peter. Daniel Carvajal’s single sent Ray to second, and Terry O’Brien’s single through the 3-4 hole brought Ray in.
Trailing 5-3, Purple went to work, reclaiming the lead with five runs on seven singles and Larry Fiorentino’s bases-loaded walk in the top of the fourth. Orange loaded the bases in the home half on David Brown’s double, Larry Shupe’s single, and a two-out walk to Clint Fletcher, but Spike Davidson escaped the jam by getting Ken Mockler to fly out to Pat Scott in left-center.
Purple then scored five again, on eight consecutive singles without making an out, in the top of the fifth, and Spike Davidson worked another scoreless frame in the bottom half, working around Daniel Carvajal’s ringing two-out double to the base of the fence in left field.
With Purple up by eight, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Mike Malay singled with one out, but the game ended with Purple turning its third double play, another weird one: David Brown grounded to third base, and Rex Horvath threw to first to get him, and Mark Hernandez was then able to turn and throw to second to nail Mike, for a 5-3-4 twin killing. Final score: Purple 13, Orange 5
12:30 p.m., Green at Red:
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 3 2 5 0 12 22 Red 2 5 3 0 3 13 Pitchers: Green – Chunky Wright; Red – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Green – Johnny Lee, Adam Reddell, and Scott Wright; Red – George Brindley and Mark Hernandez. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Ken Mockler. Perfect at the plate: Green – Adam Reddell (2 for 2 with a double and two walks); Red – Joe Bernal (4 for 4), Mark Hernandez (3 for 3), and Jack Spellman (4 for 4 with a double and a triple).
A good battle through four innings, and then it went ker-blooey in the buffet for Red.
Green broke on top with three runs on five singles in the top of the firsts, then held Red to two runs on four hits, Anthony Galindo’s double and three singles, in the bottom of the frame.
Adam Reddell, leading off, and Ralph Villela, with one out, doubled in the second, and both scored, Ralph driving in Adam and then scoring on Mike Garrison’s single. Red exploded for five runs without making an out in the home half, on five singles, Donald Drummer’s lead-off double, and Jack Spellman’s triple.
Green matched that with its own five-run outburst in the top of the third: the first six batters singled and three scored; Mike Garrison brought in the fourth with a sacrifice fly to left field; and Chris Waddell singled in the fifth.
So it was 10-10 through three. Then neither team scored in the fourth despite getting two lead-off hits. Green got lead-off singles by Rick Kahn and Donnie Janac in the top half. Joe Bernal got Chunky Wright to hit a two-strike foul and Scott Wright to fly out to Mark Hernandez in right field, Mark battling the sun and making a nice basket catch, the runners both tagging and advancing. A walk to Adam Reddell loaded the bases, but Joe got Johnny Lee to hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Mark Dolan, who made a good play sticking with it and tossed to Joe covering second for the out.
In the bottom half Gary Coyle and Joe Bernal singled to start the inning, but Chunky Wright retired the next three batters, getting Mark Dolan to ground into a 6-4 force (Gary advancing to third), Dale Fugate to ground back to the box (Gary holding), and Jim MacAnelly to pop out to shortstop Ralph Villela (Gary stranded).
Entering the buffet, I retroactively regretted not paying closer attention to this sign I encountered on my way to Krieg earlier in the day:
Green diversted Red pretty good in the top of the buffet, taking full advantage of a couple of defensive misplays, sending 15 batters to the plate before the flip-flop was finally called, with 12 runs in. Joe Bernal actually retired Ralph Villela to start the inning, on a liner to shortstop. Mike Garrison followed with a double, and the next three batters singled – one of those was a soft grounder to third baseman Gary Coyle that Gary fielded cleanly, only to have his throw to second not be caught. Donnie Janac flied out to Donald Drummer in left for the second out, but Red couldn’t get the third, the next NINE batters all hitting safely. One of those hits (might have been Chris Waddell’s double) was a high fly to left-center that Anthony Galindo almost got to, only to lose it in the high sun. Rick Kahn slashed a two-run triple to right-center that put Green ahead by a dozen runs, and Red agreed to flip-flop.
Just to note, none of Green’s seven rostered players were perfect at the plate, but neither did any of them make more than one out, as a group going 24 for 33 (.727) with four different batters knocking a double each and Rick Kahn his three-bagger (.909 group slugging percentage). Chris Waddell had four hits and drove in a run with each one of them.
Red managed three runs on five hits in the bottom of the buffet, Mark Hernandez, Jack Spellman, and Joe Bernal completing perfect days at the plate – Mark, as did Green mercenary Adam Reddell, had two perfect games at the bat today – before finally running out of outs. Final score: Green 22, Red 13, Red’s three-game winning streak ended.
Session 2 standings:
| Session 2 | Games | Runs | Runs | Runs dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 15 | 5 | 10 | W3 |
| Green | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 22 | 13 | 9 | W1 |
| Purple | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | — | 13 | 5 | 8 | W3 |
| Maroon | 0 | 0 | — | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | L1 |
| Orange | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 5 | 13 | -8 | L3 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 13 | 22 | -9 | L1 |
| Gray | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 | 5 | 15 | -10 | L2 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | Wins: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Green | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Maroon | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Orange | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Red | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Gray | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | X | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Gray | 1 | X | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Green | 0 | 1 | X | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Maroon | 1 | 1 | 1 | X | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Orange | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Purple | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | X | 1 | 5 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | X | 4 |
| TOTAL: | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 27 |
2025 season home run leaders:
Bobby Miller – 4
Tim Coles – 3
George Brindley – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tom Belavia – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Tommy Gillis – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Schedule for Thursday April 3:
10:30 a.m.: Red (0-1) at Purple (1-0), Orange umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Orange (0-1) at Blue (1-0), Red umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Gray (0-1) at Maroon (0-0), Blue umpiring
Green has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Rooting for results that will leave five teams at 1-1 while wondering who will be the first B Leaguer to acquire and use a tornado bat? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
C League Brian Rider misplaced his wallet at Krieg 3 this morning. If you have it, or saw it, let Paul Rubin or me know.