B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 15 – May 1, 2023
Games of Thursday April 27 were cancelled due to overnight rain resulting in saturated fields. Today’s games were moved to Krieg field 2 due to continuing wet conditions at #3.
Weather: Another beautiful spring day: 70 degrees and sunny with 61% humidity at the start of the 10:30 game, warming to 75 degrees while the humidity fell to 42% by the start of the second game.
Transfer Portal: Maroon and Purple team exchanged catchers, Billy Hill moving to Purple, Marvin Krabbenhoft to Maroon. Billy actually took over as manager for Purple, as Gil Delossantos was absent today.
The next biggest news of the day was that the league instituted use of a pitcher’s screen. As B League president Jack McDermott explained via email, under the most excellent header “Everyone please take a deep breath and relax, we are not coming after your guns”:
To all B-Division senior softball players,
As most of you are aware, Tommy Deleon and Jack Kelly were hit by line drives last week. Safety is of the utmost importance for all players, especially our pitchers. As a result, the B-Division board is implementing a 2-week trial period in which all pitchers will use a pitching screen. After the 2-week trial period the board will determine next steps.
We will be using the same pitching screen rules that are used at Sun City in Georgetown including:
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If a batter hits the screen, it is not a ball or strike, it’s a dead ball.
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The batter can hit the screen multiple times and it’s still not a ball or strike.
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If a fielder hits the screen, it is a live ball unless it gets tangled in the net, in which case it’s a dead ball and the umpire will determine where the runners go.
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The pitcher is allowed to field the ball behind the net.
Board member Terry Thompson has purchased a pitching screen for use starting Monday, May 1st 2023 at 10:30 am.
Games of Monday May 1:
10:30 a.m., Gray (3-3) at Green (4-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 3 5 0 X 13 Green 4 0 0 0 0 4 Pitchers: Gray – Jerry Mylius; Green – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Gray – Peter Sundquist; Green – George Brindley, Hal Darman, and Eddy Murillo. Umpires: home plate – Scott Wright and Jack Spellman; bases – Dave Berra and Tom Kelm; scoreboard – Dave Berra. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Rick Jensen and Jim Maloy (each 3 for 3), Daniel Carvajal (3 for 3 with a double), and Frank Delmonte (2 for 2); Green – George Brindley and Tom Mecredy (each 2 for 2).
Green pitcher Chunky Wright made the inaugural screen-shielded pitch:
Gray scored four runs on six hits and two walks in the top of the first. With runners on first and second, one out, Rick Kahn hit a hard one-hopper up the middle that Chunky Wright made a terrific play on (proving that pitchers can still contribute defensively), only to have his throw to second for the force be bobbled, loading the bases for Daniel Carvajal, who delivered the inning’s big blow, a two-run double that brought home the game’s first runs.
In the bottom of the inning, Green lead-off hitter Mike Hill became the first batter to hit the screen, and then the first batter to hit it twice. Mike singled in that at bat, the first of six hits by Green in the inning, though they scored only four runs, as Jerry Mylius snagged a liner up the middle by Chunky Wright and threw to first to double up Jeff Fisher for the first two outs, then, after Tom Mecredy’s RBI single, got Boo Resnick to pop out to second.
Exchange of the day (I):
Eddy Murillo, after Jerry Mylius caught Chunky Wright’s line drive: “He can’t catch it from behind the net!”
Home plate umpire Scott Wright: “I’ll toss you right now.”
Gray kept hitting, scoring three runs on David Kruse’s double and five singles in the top of the second, then five more runs in the third, on seven singles while making just one out. But Green was done for the day, shut out by Jerry Mylius over the final four innings, not advancing a runner past second. In the bottom of the second David Kruse turned a 6u., 6-3 double play on Eddy Murillo’s one-out grounder.
Exchange of the day (II):
Dave Berra, presciently: “Eddy, you made the Picayune.”
Eddy Murillo: “I will on that.”
Gray did not score in the top of the fourth inning, but neither did Green in the bottom half, and with Gray ahead 13-4, the teams flip-flopped. George Brindley opened the buffet with a single, but the next three batters went out. Final score: Gray 13, Green 4, Gray defeating Green for the first time this season and extending its winning streak to four games.
11:30 a.m., Maroon (4-2) at Red (2-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 0 1 5 0 1 5 Red 3 3 3 0 X 9 Pitchers: Maroon – Joe Bernal; Red – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Maroon – Anthony Galindo, Eddy Murillo, and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home plate – Jeff Fisher; bases – Tim Balke. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Paul Atkins (3 for 3 with a double), Eddy Murillo (2 for 2), and Jeff Stone (1 for 1 with a walk); Tom Kelm would have been 3 for 3, but ran past the commit line on his third at bat and lost a hit; Red – Donald Drummer (2 for 2) and David Ferley (1 for 1 with a walk). Homerun: (inside the park).
Maybe it was the screen, maybe the vociferous mockingbird in the tree behind the visitors dugout, but veteran hurlers Joe Bernal and Jack Kelly uncharacteristically struggled with their command today, combining to walk eight batters. Jack walked five, but mostly got away with it, having just one bad inning, the top of the third, when he gave up five runs on two walks and three singles (would have been four, but for Tom Kelm running past the commit line). Jack still almost got out of the inning, making an excellent play to record an out at first on Larry Shupe’s sharp grounder back to the box, but Marvin Krabbenhoft delivered a two-out single to left-center to bring in the fourth and fifth runs.
That briefly tied the game, Red having taken control with three runs on four hits in each of the first two innings. Ken Mockler drove in four of those runs, blasting a two-run triple to right field in the bottom of the first and a two-run single to right-center in the second. Each of those innings ended with Maroon turning a double play. In the first, Scott Wright and Jeff Stone (I think it was) collaborated on a 6-4-3 double play. In the second, with no out, the bases loaded, and one run in, EDDY MURILLO, who will never remember that I wrote this, made a terrific play on Terry Thompson’s hard grounder to third base, fielding the ball cleanly, stepping on third to force out Donald Drummer, and throwing home to double up David Ferley.
Red broke the 6-6 tie with another three-spot in the bottom of the third, on four singles and Hal Darman’s double. Another defensive gem minimized the damage, Ken Brown in right-center running down Gregory Bied’s liner for the second out. Maroon was unable to score in the fourth, and Red was shut out in its half, EDDY MURILLO starting an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. That left Maroon chasing three to tie entering the buffet. They got one run on three singles before Jack Kelly retired the final two batters, bringing the game to an end at the ungodly early hour of 12:28 p.m. Final score: Red 9, Maroon 7
12:30 p.m., Gold (5-0) at Purple (1-5):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gold 2 0 3 0 3 0 8 Purple 1 1 1 3 5 X 11 Pitchers: Gold – Jeff Stone; Purple – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Purple – George Brindley, Anthony Galindo, and David Kruse. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Daniel Baladez. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Tim Bruton (4 for 4), Joe Roche (2 for 2 with a double and a walk), and Jack Spellman (3 for 3); Purple – Don Solberg (3 for 3). Homerun – David Kruse (inside the park).
Quote of the Day: Jack McDermott in the Gold dugout prior to the 12:30 game: “A dollar to anyone who hits the screen.”
An excellent pitchers duel between Gold’s Jeff Stone and Purple’s Tommy Deleon, neither team every leading by more than three runs. Gold was on top in the early going, scoring twice on three singles and Joe Roche’s double in the top of the first, and adding three in the third on a walk and five singles. Gold was shut out in the second thanks to the defensive play of the day, George Brindley in right field charging in to catch Rip Wright’s sinking liner, then throwing to first to double up James Chavana, who, like everyone looking on, could not imagine that George would be able to make the catch. Meanwhile, Jeff Stone held Purple to single runs in each of the first three innings: Ralph Villela returned to action and doubled in his first at bat in the bottom of the first, then scored on Adam Reddell’s single; David Kruse led off the bottom of the second with a line drive hit to right field that skipped past Denny Malloy to the fence, David circling the bases for an inside-the-park homerun; and in the third Don Solberg, who I don’t think has made an out since mid-April, led off with a single and came around on Tommy Deleon’s base hit and Billy Hill’s RBI force out.
Johnny Lee presents David Kruse with a Pluckers coupon after David connected for the day’s only homerun.
Gold did not score in the top of the fourth, as third baseman Mike Mordecai robbed Joe Dayoc of a hit with a dive to his left to snag of Joe’s liner to the 5-6 hole. Purple then tied the game with three runs in the home half, on four singles and two runner-advancing fly balls. Gold went ahead with three runs in the top of the fifth, another meat-and-potatoes rally consisting of four singles, a walk, and an RBI ground out.
Purple seized control of the game in the bottom of the fifth. Tommy Deleon led off with a single. One out later, David Kruse and Anthony Galindo ripped back-to-back doubles, Tommy’s pinch-runner and David scoring. Jack McDermott tracked down George Brindley’s fly to left-center for the second out, but Doc Hobar and Ralph Villela punched singles, Anthony scoring, and Adam Reddell absolutely crushed a drive to center field to score Doc and Ralph with the fourth and fifth runs – Adam probably could have made third on the play, but didn’t even have to reach second with Ralph racing home to end the inning. (Dave Berra and I credited Adam with a double.)
That left Purple needing three to tie entering the buffet. We didn’t get any. Dave Berra grounded out to shortstop David Kruse, first baseman Adam Reddell making a nice scoop of a low throw. Tim Bruton singled, his fourth hit in as many at bats, but was forced at second on Mike Garrison’s grounder to David Kruse. The game ended with Jack McDermott grounding out to second baseman Doc Hobar. Final score: Purple 11, Gold 8, Purple posting its first victory of the season against Gold – all three of today’s games were won by the team with the worse record starting the day (props to the Roster Committee).
Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Gold 5 1 .833 — 77 59 +18 L1
Gray 4 3 .571 1.5 99 82 +17 W4
Maroon 4 3 .571 1.5 85 73 +12 L1
Green 4 3 .571 1.5 83 86 – 3 L1
Red 3 4 .429 2.5 80 85 – 5 W1
Blue 2 5 .286 3.5 90 109 -19 L2
Purple 2 5 .286 3.5 69 89 -20 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Gold 2-0 3-1 2 2-0 1-0 3-0
Gray 1-1 3-2 1 0-2 2-1 1-1
Maroon 1-1 3-2 0 0-0 2-1 0-1
Green 2-3 2-0 1 0-1 1-2 1-0
Red 2-2 1-2 0 0-0 1-1 0-1
Blue 0-4 2-1 0 1-0 1-2 0-1
Purple 2-3 0-2 0 0-0 0-1 0-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 1 2 0 0 2 0 5
Gold 1 X 1 2 1 0 1 6
Gray 1 1 X 1 1 0 2 6
Green 1 0 1 X 0 2 3 7
Maroon 1 1 0 2 X 2 0 6
Purple 0 1 1 0 1 X 1 4
Red 2 0 0 0 2 1 X 5
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TOTAL: 6 4 5 5 5 7 7 39
Schedule for Thursday May 4:
10:30 a.m.: Purple (2-5) at Gray (4-3), Blue umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Blue (2-5) at Gold (5-1), Gray umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Green (4-3) at Maroon (4-3), Gold umpiring
Red has the bye – players from that team will have priority out of the bucket.
Preview: The teams Purple looks to maintain its May Momentum ® at 10:30 versus Gray, which now has the league’s longest active winning streak. Blue, coming off the bye, faces a Gold team that just lost for the first time since Session One. And the winner of the 12:30 match between Green and Maroon will end the day in second place, either alone or tied with Gray.
Keggy’s Korner:
Bruce Barnett checks in:
B League Senior Softball Players:
… Regarding the Burger Cookout & Funds raised for the Bobby Fund: [Last fall] you had $4146 in the Bobby Fund to help Senior Softball Players. You helped players pay fees this Spring to the tune of $490, leaving $3656 in the fund; then a player needed $600 in help, leaving the Bobby Fund with $3056. One player that you helped pay his fees paid the Bobby Fund back $260, bringing the Bobby Fund today to $3316.
Last year I was only able to have 1 Burger Cookout for the Bobby Fund, but planning on 2 this year – one in June once I return from a trip to Washington state, probably the 2nd full week of June, probably the 12th or 15th, and the other probably in October when it is cooler.
As you see the Bobby Fund is not hurting for funds at this time, so I propose the Burger Cookout be just that: a Burger Cookout to Celebrate Senior Softball & the Bobby Fund which has helped Senior Softball players to the best guess of more than $26,000 since it started in 2016. Donations will always be accepted to help, but the Bobby Fund is in very good shape for now. I say this because I have been witness to every time a player has needed special help to fight cancer, help bury a player, or pay medical & other bills; you the players in both B & C leagues have always gone above & beyond in you generous support of fellow players.
I will send another email regarding the Bobby Fund Burger Cookout closer to the June cookout as a reminder and ask for help in providing food and drink items for the cookout.
Please let me know of any concerns or questions.
Your Bobby Fund
Burger Cook
Bruce Barnett
512-923-4409