B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 21 – May 23, 2023
Another short issue.
Games of Monday May 22:
10:30 a.m.: Gray (5-6) at Gold (6-4)
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 2 5 3 0 3 13 Gold 1 4 5 0 4 14 Pitchers: Gray – Jerry Mylius; Gold – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Gray – George Brindley (entered for Jim Maloy), Hal Darman, and Paul Rubin; Gold – Ray Pilgrim and Scott Wright (entered for Denny Malloy). Perfect at the plate: Gray – Rick Jensen and Mick Parker (each 4 for 4), Greg Lloyd (3 for 3 with a walk); Gold – Mike Garrison (4 for 4), Denny Malloy (1 or 1), and Scott Wright (3 for 3).
Based on reporting and scorebook by Dave Berra:
There were injuries in the early going, Gray’s Jim Maloy leaving the game after tweaking a groin muscle while trying to score on Jerry Mylius’s single in the top of the first (left fielder James Chavana threw Jim out to end the inning), Denny Malloy put out of commission when Mick Parker’s base hit to right in the top of the second ripped a fingernail and tore the webbing between Denny’s fingers, which, ouch. George Brindley took over for Jim; Scott Wright entered the game for Denny.
Gray led in the early going, scoring two runs on four singles and a walk in the first, then five runs on seven singles and Jerry Mylius’s bases-loaded walk in the second, all the scoring coming with two out. Gold kept it close, scoring four times in the bottom of the second on Larry Young’s lead-off walk and five singles, the last three with two out. Gray led 10-5 after scoring three times on five consecutive one-out singles in the top of the third, but Gold tied the game with five runs in the home half, on six singles and Joe Roche’s triple, the game’s only extra-base hit, which drove in the final two runs.
Neither team scored in the fourth inning. Trey Wall and Jerry Mylius led off the top half with singles, but Ray Pilgrim got two outs on force plays, then an inning-ending fly to left-center by Hal Darman. Mike Garrison led off the bottom half with a single, and took second on Larry Young’s two-out hit, but Jerry Mylius retired Joe Dayoc on a fly to left field, Trey Wall making an excellent play, moving to his right and holding on after tumbling to the ground.
Leading 10-9 entering the buffet, Gray added three runs, as the first five batters singled, though an out on the bases cost them. As Dave describes it: “George was caught in a pickle between 2nd and 3rd as the runner ahead of him stopped. Runner scored when the throw went to someone in the infield. George was eventually tagged out by someone after a bunch of throws.” Ray Pilgrim retired Trey Wall on a grounder to third and Jerry Mylius on a foul third strike to end the inning, Gray now ahead 13-10.
Gold had mercenary Ray Pilgrim leading off the home half, and then the top of the order, and everyone who came to bat hit safely: Ray, Tim Bruton, Jack McDermott, Scott Wright, Joe Roche, and Mike Garrison. That sequence resulted in three runs scoring, and left the bases loaded, the winning run on third, and no out for James Chavana. With the outfield drawn in, James lofted a deep fly that fell safe, driving in Scott with the winning run. Final score: Gold 14, Gray 13, Gold posting its third walk-off victory of the session.
11:30 p.m.: Red at Purple (3.5 – 6.5):
Jack Kelly reports:
“The final score was Red 12, Purple 10. That was after Purple scored three runs in the home team half of the buffet inning. My recollection is that the Red team scored four runs in the top of the first and then led for the whole game. What I remember best is that each time the Purple team got people on base and tried to make a run at us, the Red team defense pulled off several outstanding plays to thwart their efforts.”
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (8-3) at Blue (5.5 – 6.5):
Based on reporting by Tom Kelm and Anthony Galindo: Renaissance man Jack Kelly pitched for Maroon, having already, including C League action, played three games and umpired two, plus he subsequently reported the results of Red's game. Maroon jumped out to an early 4-0 lead, but Blue rallied took a 6-5 lead midway through the game. Maroon came back with five runs to take the lead 10-6. Bobby Miller's inside-the-park homerun in the bottom of the final five-run inning made it 10-7. Maroon got two runs in the top of the buffet; Blue scored three runs in the home half to make it close. Eddy Murillo had a good game, batting 3 for 4 or 4 or 4. Mike Velaney went 3 for 4 with a two-run double just inside the right-field line; Ken Brown also went 3 for 4. Mike Mordecai umpired at home, Terry Thompson on the bases. Final score: Maroon 12, Blue 10, Maroon extending its winning streak to five games.
Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Maroon 9 3 .750 — 137 115 +22 W5
Gold 7 4 .636 1.5 130 112 +18 W1
Red 7 5 .583 2 140 141 – 1 W2
Blue 5.5 7.5 .423 4 152 162 -10 L2
Gray 5 7 .417 4 147 130 +17 L1
Green 5 7 .417 4 129 150 -21 L1
Purple 3.5 8.5 .292 5.5 122 147 -25 L3
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Maroon 4-1 5-2 1 0-0 2-1 3-1
Gold 4-2 3-2 3 2-0 2-0 4-2
Red 4-2 3-3 1 0-0 2-2 1-1
Blue 1.5-5.5 4-2 0 1.5-0.5 2-2 0-1
Gray 2-3 3-4 1 0-2 2-2 1-3
Green 2-4 3-3 1 0-1 2-3 1-0
Purple 2-5 1.5-3.5 0 0.5-0.5 0-2 0-2
[Purple and Blue tied their game of May 11; it is counted as half a win and half a loss in the standings.]
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 2 1 0 2.5 1 8.5
Gold 1 X 2 3 1 0 1 8
Gray 2 1 X 1 1 0 2 7
Green 1 0 1 X 0 3 3 8
Maroon 2 2 1 3 X 3 0 11
Purple 0.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 5.5
Red 2 1 1 1 2 2 X 9
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 8.5 7 9 9 5 10.5 8 57
Schedule for Thursday May 25:
10:30 a.m.: Gray (5-6) at Gold (6-4), Red umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Red (6-5) at Purple (3.5 – 7.5), Gold umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Maroon (8-3) at Blue (5.5 – 6.5), Purple umpiring
Green has the bye – players from that team will have priority out of the bucket.
Preview: Red needs to defeat Maroon at 10:30 in order to keep alive its hopes of winning the session. If Red wins and Gold is able to hold off Purple at 11:30, Maroon’s lead will be down to half a game. Gray has a +17 run differential, Green is at -21, but they have identical records coming into the 12:30 game; the winner will move into fourth place. With five dates remaining in the session, only one thing is certain: time will tell.