B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 50 – October 2, 2023
Weather: Beautiful day: 81 degrees with 62% humidity at the start of the 10:30 game, some wispy clouds to start. A little bit of cloud cover during the 11:30 game, then sunny and a bit warmer, but with pleasant breezes, as we finished up.
Injured list:
Blue team: Eddy Murillo, burst artery in his leg.
Maroon team: Ken Brown, torn hamstring.
Games of Monday October 2.8:
10:30 a.m., Green (0-3) at Maroon (2-1):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Green 1 1 5 0 0 0 2 2 11 Maroon 0 2 1 5 0 1 0 0 9 Pitchers: Green – Tommy Deleon; Maroon – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Green – George Brindley and Tim Coles. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Jack Spellman and David Ferley. Perfect at the plate: Green – Gary Coyle (3 for 3 with a walk); Maroon – Chris Villareal and Mike Velaney (each 2 for 2).
With the rover in use and two good veteran pitchers backed by solid defense, no surprise that this was a low-scoring game – each team managed just one five-run inning, and never scored more than twice in any other inning. Clint Fletcher led off the game by drawing a walk and scoring from first on Mike Hill’s double to right field, but Joe Bernal retired the next three hitters on groundballs, to shortstop Rex Horvath (excellent catch of a low throw to his right by first baseman Johnny Lee), rover (Scott Wright, I think), and third base (Peter Atkins, who had a tremendous game in the field). Ken Brown led off the bottom of the first with a single, but Tommy Deleon retired the next three batters, on two grounders for force outs and a fly to right-center.
Quote of the Day (I): Johnny Lee, on seeing George Brindley playing first for Green: “Look at that four-foot first baseman!”
Green got a single run again in the second, as Gary Coyle drew a leadoff walk, took third on Jeff Fisher’s single to right, and scored on a force out at second. Maroon tied with two in the home half: Johnny Lee singled (would have been extra bases, but he’d taken a runner from home) and Pat Scott doubled to start the inning; after Joe Bernal lined out back to the box, Peter Atkins’ fly to right-center scored Johnny Lee’s pinch-runner, and Marvin Krabbenhoft’s line single to right scored Pat.
Quote of the Day (I): Johnny Lee, to pinch-runner Peter Sundquist after gapping the outfielders: “Wait! Come back! I’ll run!”
Green posted its five-run inning in the third, without making an out: four singles, Don Solberg’s triple to right field, and a drive by Tommy Gillis high off the fence in left-center that brought in Don. Maroon got one run back in the bottom half, on three one-out singles.
Joe Bernal worked a scoreless top of the fourth. Gary Coyle led off with a grounder to the 5-6 hole – Rex Horvath fielded it, but had to hurry his throw, which slipped from his hand and, hilariously, wound up closer to home than first base. (Clean single, Rex really had no chance of getting Gary, who ALWAYS busts his tail down the line.) Joe Bernal turned Jeff Fisher’s grounder up the middle into a 1-rover-3 double play. Boo Resnick drew a walk, but second baseman Tom Kelm made an excellent play to his left on Tommy Deleon’s hard grounder to the 3-4 hole and threw to second for the inning-ending force.
Maroon grabbed the lead with five runs in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Scott Wright singled, Rex Horvath doubled to left, and Johnny Lee lined a single to left to drive them both in. Pat Scott grounded a ball up the middle, normally a single, but fielded by rover Clint Fletcher; Peter Sundquist, running for Johnny Lee, made contact with second baseman Tim Coles on the play – I couldn’t hear the discussion, but it looked like Peter called himself out for the contact. Didn’t matter, as Maroon still scored five times – Joe Bernal and Peter Atkins both walked, Marvin Krabbenhoft drove in two runs with a single to left-center, and Dave Jaffe singled to left to bring in Peter.
Neither team scored in the fifth. In the top half, after Tim Coles led off with a single, Peter Sundquist in left-center made a diving catch of George Brindley’s line drive, a tremendous play. Third baseman Peter Atkins then made two great plays to end the inning, first snagging Clint Fletcher’s hard grounder, notwithstanding a tricky hop, and throwing to second for a force, then grabbing Mike Hill’s liner. In the bottom half, Tommy Deleon gave up a one-out single to Chris Villareal, retired Larry Shupe on a foul pop behind third base (excellent play by Gary Coyle, fighting the sun), allowed a single to Mike Velaney, then got Billy Hill to hit into a 5-4 force out.
Joe Bernal frustrated Green again in the sixth. After Donnie Janac went out 5-3, another clean play by Peter Atkins, Don Solberg ripped a one-out double to right field. Peter Atkins then robbed Tommy Gillis of a hit through the 5-6 hole, fielding a hard grounder on the short hop and throwing to first for the out, Don having to hold at second. Gary Coyle singled sharply to left-center, and Don had to hold at third. Jeff Fisher went opposite field, but Peter Atkins grabbed Jeff’s liner for the third out.
Quote of the Day (III): Joe Bernal, coming off the mound at the end of the inning: “Don’t be talkin’ about my Peter!”
Ahem. Maroon got a run in the home half of the sixth, as Peter Sundquist doubled, took third on Scott Wright’s grounder to the right side (Scott out 4-3 on a great play by Tim Coles), and scored on Rex Horvath’s double high off the fence in left.
Green trailed by two entering the buffet, and scored two, but only two, even though the first five batters hit safely. Boo Resnick and Tommy Deleon opened the inning with singles, and Boo scored on Tim Coles’ single to left field and Tommy’s pinch-runner on George Brindley’s single to right field. That tied the score at 9-9. Clint Fletcher followed with a base hit to left center, but Maroon got the first out of the inning on a perfect 8-6-2 relay, Peter Sundquist to Rex Horvath to Marvin Krabbenhoft, that cut down Tim trying to score. Mike Hill’s single loaded the bases. Donnie Janac’s grounder up the middle would usually be a hit, but rover Mike Velaney fielded it, stepped on second, and threw to first for an inning-ending R-unassisted, R-3 double play.
Maroon needed one run to win, but Tommy Deleon worked a perfect inning, thanks to second baseman Tim Coles, who ranged to his left to get to Pat Scott’s grounder, throwing to first for out number one; fielded Joe Bernal’s grounder and threw him out for the second out (fancy footwork on the play by first baseman George Brindley, who had to scramble to get to the base after initially moving toward the grounder); and then caught Peter Atkins pop for the third out.
Peter Atkins lining up his swing…
…Tim Coles made the catch that sent the game into overtime.
On to the extra inning. Maroon started with Donnie Janac on second, one out, one-pitch rules in effect. Don Solberg took a one-pitch walk. Tommy Gillis drove a pitch to deep left field that sent Dave Jaffe back to the fence, where he made a tremendous catch. Donnie had taken a step off second, but both base umpire David Ferley and I in the stands saw Donnie go back and tag the base before taking off and coming all the way around to score the go-ahead run. (A number of Maroon players didn’t see the retreat and were certain Donnie had left early, but I’m here to tell you he did not.) Don Solberg took second on the play, and scored on Gary Coyle’s line single to right field. Jeff Fisher walked, but Joe Bernal got Boo Resnick to foul off a pitch for the third out.
Maroon started the bottom half with Peter Atkins on second, one out, needing two runs to tie. Tommy Deleon got Marvin Krabbenhoft to foul off a pitch for the second out. Dave Jaffe put a good swing on the ball, but Peter Sundquist in left-center was perfectly positioned and caught Dave’s fly for the final out. Final score: Green 11, Maroon 9, Green posting its first victory of the session in the first extra-inning game of the session.
11:30 a.m., Gold (2-1) at Red (2-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gold 2 0 1 4 4 5 16 Red 2 5 3 0 5 2 17 Pitchers: Gold – Gil Delossantos; Red – Jack Kelly. Umpires: home plate – George Romo and Richard Battle; bases – Jack Crosley. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Joe Dayoc and Joe Roche (each 4 for 4); Red – Sam Baker (3 for 3), George Brindley (4 for 4 with a double), David Ferley (3 for 3 with a double and a triple), and Paul Rubin (2 for 2 with a double and a walk)
Another barn-burner. Each team scored twice in the first, Gold on Larry Bunton’s double and three singles, Red on doubles by Gregory Bied and George Brindley to start the home half, and a single by David Ferley. After Jack Kelly worked a scoreless top of the second, allowing a harmless two-out single to Joe Dayoc, Red took control with five runs on six singles and Gregory Bied’s sacrifice fly to right-center in the bottom half. Gold got a run on four two-out singles in the top of the third, but left the bases loaded when George Brindley corralled Mike Garrison’s line drive to left field.
Red’s first five hitters in the bottom half knocked hits – a single, doubles by David Ferley, Paul Rubin, and Scott Sovereen, and a single by Daniel Baladez – three runs scoring, and I would have told you at this point that the rout was on, with Red leading 10-3, the fourth and fifth runs of the inning on base, and none out. But Gil Delossantos stranded the runners, getting three straight outs on balls in the air: pop to second, fly to short right-center, pop to shortstop.
Gold got back into the game by scoring four runs on five singles in the top of the fourth, then holding Red scoreless in the bottom half, Gil retiring three straight batters after allowing Sam Baker a lead-off single.
James Chavana led off the fifth with a single, then was forced at second on Gil Delossantos’s grounder to shortstop. Each of the next five Gold batters – Mike Garrison, Denny Malloy, Rip Wright, Joe Dayoc, and Larry Young – singled, four runs scoring and Tim Bruton coming up with the fifth on second. Tim lined a ball up the middle that caromed off Jack Kelly’s helmet and deflected surprisingly high in the air toward first base. Denny Malloy, running for Larry Young, had to hold up to see whether first baseman Terry Thompson could catch the ball on the fly, and then, when Terry played it on the hop, had to take off from a flat-footed start for second. Terry, with great presence of mind, threw toward second, to the left of Denny to make sure he didn’t hit him; shortstop Jack Spellman came off the bag to catch the throw, then tagged the base before Denny could reach it. The runner from second – Mike Garrison, I think, running for Joe Dayoc – had moved to third. I checked him, then gave the ball back to Jack Kelly. Jack, or somebody, realized Tim hadn’t run to first, I think because he was upset at his liner clipping Jack. So Jack stepped on first to complete the double play (L-1, 3-6-1 in your scorebook, the latest in the 2023 season’s series of goofy double plays) and end the inning. (Kudos to Tim and also to Peter Sundquist in game one for their sportsmanship.)
Red came up in the bottom half trailing 11-10, but went back ahead as the first five batters hit safely, four singles and a triple by David Ferley (completing three-quarters of a cycle in his three at bats), three runs scoring. Gil Delossantos got Daniel Baladez on a liner to left fielder James Chavana (well struck, but James was perfectly positioned) and Mike Mordecai on a pop to first baseman Joe Roche, but Terry Thompson and Gene Nelson (playing his first B League game in some months) delivered line singles to drive in the fourth and fifth runs, putting Red ahead 15-11 heading into the buffet.
Third baseman Daniel Baladez ranged about 15 feet in front of third base and into foul territory and grabbed Larry Bunton’s pop to start the top of the inning, but Gold’s three through eight hitters followed with singles, four runs scoring to tie the game. With Denny Malloy and Mike Garrison on first and second, Rip Wright popped a ball to the right side; home plate umpire Richard Battle called it an infield fly, though I don’t think everyone heard the call in the moment. The ball fell untouched and the runners advanced to second and third, but Rip was out number two. Joe Dayoc grounded to third base; Daniel Baladez thought he had a force somewhere, but did not, and held the ball as Mike scored the go-ahead run on what you have to score a single. Larry Young came up and knocked an actual single up the middle, but David Ferley charged the ball and came up throwing, and his peg to second beat Joe to the base for the third out, rendering Larry’s hit a fielder’s choice.
Red came up in the bottom half needing one to tie and two to win, with its bottom three hitters due. Sam Baker led off with a single, completing a perfect day at the plate, and Hal Darman lined a hit to left-center. Jack Kelly popped out to first baseman Joe Roche, the runners holding on the infield fly. Gregory Bied drew a walk, loading the bases for George Brindley, 3 for his first 3. George made it 4 for 4, roping a single to center field that scored both Sam and, running for Hal, Paul Rubin with the tying and winning runs. Final score: Red 17, Gold 16
12:30 p.m., Blue (2-1) at Gray (1-2):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 1 5 5 1 4 X 16 Gray 1 0 1 2 3 0 7 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Gray – Greg Lloyd. Mercenaries: Blue – Tim Bruton and Scott Wright; Gray – Ralph Villela. Umpires: home plate – Dave Berra and Terry Thompson; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Tim Bruton and Larry Fiorentino (each 3 for 3) and Jack Crosley (4 for 4 with a double); Gray – Ralph Villela (3 for 3 with a double).
Well, they can’t all be close and full of drama. After each team scored just once in the first inning on three consecutive one-out singles, Blue took over, posting two straight five-run innings while holding Gray to a single run in the bottom of the third. Blue knocked seven singles in each frame while making just a single out in the top of the second. Gray’s singleton in the third came on four singles, with Spike Davidson getting a pair of outs in the air (fly to short left-center and a pop to second) to leave the bases loaded.
Blue led 11-2 after three, and it proved too big a hole for Gray to escape, though they did match Blue 5-5 the rest of the way. Jack Crosley ripped a double and scored in the top of the fourth; Doc Hobar’s two-base hit drove in two runs in the home half. Blue scored four times in the top of the fifth on seven singles, with what would have been the fifth run thrown out on a perfect 8-6-2 relay, Tony Viera to David Kruse to Jim McAnelly, Spike Davidson’s pinch-runner – Larry Fiorentino, I think – out at home. The third out of that inning came on Richard Battle’s hard grounder to the right side, deflected by third baseman Rick Jensen to shortstop David Kruse, who snapped a throw to second baseman Doc Hobar for the force at second, an excellent play on a day chock full of them.
Gray got three runs in the bottom of the fifth, the rally capped by Ralph Villela’s two-run double to left. With Gray trailing 16-7, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. In that inning, home plate umpire Dave Berra listened to his body, a bit under the weather and somewhat overheated, and wisely asked for relief, provided by Terry Thompson. Spike Davidson retired the side in order, 6-3, 5-3, fly to left-center, to secure the victory. Final score: Blue 16, Gray 7
Standings – Session Four:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 3 1 .750 — 53 40 +13 W3
Red 3 1 .750 — 50 42 + 8 W2
Gold 2 2 .667 1 63 52 +11 L2
Maroon 2 2 .500 1 41 42 – 1 L1
Green 1 3 .250 2 42 56 -14 W1
Gray 1 3 .250 2 32 49 -17 L2
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 1-0 2-1 0 0-0 1-0 1-1
Red 2-1 1-0 2 0-0 1-0 2-1
Gold 1-1 1-1 0 0-0 1-0 0-2
Maroon 1-2 1-0 1 0-1 0-0 2-1
Green 0-1 1-2 0 1-0 0-1 0-0
Gray 0-2 1-1 0 0-0 0-2 1-1
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 6 6 5 3 2.5 5 27.5
Gold 2 X 3 7 4 1 4 21
Gray 2 5 X 3 4 2 6 22
Green 3 3 4 X 4 4 4 22
Maroon 5 5 3 4 X 3 4 24
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 4 3 3 5 3 3 X 21
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 17.5 23 21 24 19 15.5 24 144
Schedule for Thursday October 5:
10:30 a.m.: Maroon (2-2) at Blue (3-1), Gold umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Gray (1-3) at Gold (2-2), Green umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Green (1-3) at Red (3-1), Gray umpiring
Preview: The home teams enter with the better record in all three games Thursday. Victories by Maroon over Blue (carrying a three-game winning streak; Maroon leads the season series 5-3) at 10:30, Gold over Gray at 11:30 (Gray leads the season series 5-3), and Green over Red at 12:30 (Red leads the season series 5-4) would result in a four-way tie for first, again. Will the road warriors pull off upsets and tighten the session standings? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
The great Archie Baker paid a visit to Krieg today. Here he is with Johnny Lee and Jeff Fisher. (Photo credit: Tommy Deleon.)
A 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. (“Shortly” meaning, when I get to it; probably not till the next morning.) The front page of the site (https://austinseniorsoftball.com/) features a red banner with late-breaking news of cancellations, etc., which I mention because the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday is not great. And you can see the schedule for upcoming games at: https://austinseniorsoftball.com/schedule/