B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 61 – October 26, 2026
Department of Corrections: I wrote that Lawrence Page doubled and took third on the throw home (a too-late attempt to gun down Larry Shupe, scoring from first) in the fifth inning of this past Thursday’s Blue-Green game, but Lawrence is adamant that he was going for the triple from the get-go. Due to Lawrence’s insistence that “the entire credibility of the annals of Austin recreational senior softball” depends on this being properly credited, I’m calling it a triple.
Games of Monday October 26:
We played at Krieg field 6 again, as sprinkler repairs on field 2 still have not been completed.
The day’s games were played with a 45-minute clock so we could get all the quicker to the league luncheon.
10:00 a.m.: Blue (7-6) at Maroon (8-5):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Blue 5 5 2 0 1 13 Maroon 0 0 5 5 0 10 Pitchers: Blue – Joe Bernal; Maroon – Jeff Stone. No mercenaries. Umpires: home – Chunky Wright; bases – Rex Horvath. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Ken Mockler (3 for 3 with a double) and Lawrence Page (3 for 3); Maroon – Dale Fugate (2 for 2 with a double) and Fritz Hensel and David Pittard (both 2 for 2).
Weather report: 68°, feels like 68°; humidity 59%; wind from the East at 3 MPH, high clouds – very pleasant.
The Lupes Tortillas pre-game fly-over was a stirring sight.
Maroon entered this game half a game ahead of Blue in the full-season standings, so this was a key contest for both teams as they look to secure a day-one bye in the end-of-season tourney.
Blue jumped to a 12-0 lead through two innings, as Joe Bernal retired Maroon’s first six batters in order in the bottom of the first two innings, while Blue scored five times in the top halves. In the first inning they got six straight one-out singles, four runs coming across, Joe Bernal delivering the fifth with a sacrifice fly to George Brindley in left-center field. They scored five more without making an out in the second. After Daniel Baladez and Donnie Janac led off with single, Larry Shupe drove both runners in with a double to right field, socked over the head of Ken Brown in right-center field. Larry scored on a line single to left field by J.C. Schmeil, who took second on the throw home; J.C. scored on Lawrence Page’s single to left-center, another line drive; and Lawrence scored the fifth run on Tom Bellavia’s line triple that gapped the outfielders in right-center field.
David Brown and George Romo led off the third inning with singles, David taking third on George’s hit, George taking second on an overthrow. David scored on Larry Young’s sacrifice fly to Alan Phillips in right field. Ken Mockler blooped a single to left-center field, George advancing to third. At that point, Blue batters were a combined 15 for 16 (.938 batting average) with two sacrifice flies. Jeff Stone found his groove at this point, however, getting the next two batters, Joe Bernal and Daniel Baladez, to ground out to second baseman Scott Wright, George scoring on Joe’s 4-6 force-out at second. Blue led 12-0 at this point.
Maroon’s bats came alive in the bottom of the third, as they scored five runs seven consecutive hits, by the bottom four and first three batters in the lineup, without making an out, on five singles, Dale Fugate’s two-out double, and Alan Phillips’s RBI triple.
Jeff Stone held Blue scoreless in the top of the fourth, working around back-to-back two-out singles by J.C. Schmeil and Lawrence Page, retiring Tom Bellavia on a fly to Ken Brown in right-center for the third out.
Maroon then scored five times again in the bottom of the fourth. Ken Brown grounded a ball past shortstop and legged out a double to start the inning, and the next five batters singled, four runs scoring. David Pittard advanced from second to third on Alan Phillips’s fly to left fielder Lawrence Page, then scored on Steve Browne’s double to left-center, over the heads of the outfielders, playing the line with the fifth run on third.
That cut Blue’s lead to 12-10 entering the buffet. David Brown led off the inning with a single up the middle, completing a 3-for-3 game. George Romo flied out to Steve Browne in left field. Larry Young grounded back to the box, Jeff Stone throwing to second for the force on David; J.C. Schmeil, running from home for Larry, beat the relay to first. Ken Mockler drove a ball to deep right-center field that gapped the outfielders and rolled to the fence, J.C. scoring easily while Ken wound up at second. Jeff got Joe Bernal to fly out to Ken Brown in right-center for the third out.
Maroon came up needing three to tie, four to win against Joe Bernal – good luck with that. Joe got George Brindley to ground back to the box, an easy 1-3 putout. Tony Garcia popped up to first base, Larry Young making the catch in fair territory for the second out. Ken Brown grounded a ball to Joe’s back hand that Joe gloved, but couldn’t get a handle on, Ken beating it out for a single. Scott Wright came up and drove a pitch to right-center, but got a little under it, and Tom Bellavia made the game-ending catch.
Final score: Blue 13, Maroon 10, Blue leapfrogging Maroon for first place in the full-season standings.
10:45 a.m.: Green (5-7) at Gray (8-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Green 4 1 0 2 1 8 Gray 0 5 0 5 X 10 Pitchers: Green – Spike Davidson; Gray – Luis Sanchez. Mercenaries: Gray – Rich Bredehl, Alan Phillips, George Romo, and Ralph Villela. Umpires: home – Scott Wright and Jeff Stone; bases – David Pittard and Steve Browne. Perfect at the plate: Green – Ivan Budiselic and Spike Davidson (both 3 for 3) and Doc Hobar and Terry O'Brien (both 3 for 3 with a double); Gray – Rich Bredehl, Jim McAnelly, and George Romo (all 2 for 2) and Paul Rubin (3 for 3).
Weather report: 71°, feels like 71°; humidity 52%; wind from the ESE at 4-5 MPH, high clouds.
Another close, hard-fought game, neither team ever ahead by more than three runs after the first inning. Green broke on top with four runs in the top of the first, on five singles, Terry O’Brien’s RBI double, and Mike Garrison’s sacrifice fly to left fielder Paul Rubin. Paul led off the bottom of the inning with a ground single past shortstop and into center fielder, but was erased on a 6u., 6-3 double play turned by Rex Horvath on Bobby Miller’s grounder up the middle. Spike Davidson then got Luis Sanchez to ground out to second baseman Terry O’Brien.
Gray tied the game in the second. Luis Sanchez held Green to one run in the top half. He struck out Boo Resnick looking to start the inning, on an unhittable two-strike pitch that clipped the front edge of the mat. Doc Hobar singled to right field. Steve Sandall flied out to right fielder Rich Bredehl; Rich threw to first, looking to double up Doc, but the throw sailed past Daniel Carvajal, and Doc was able to advance to second. He then scored on Terry O’Brien’s ground single into right field. Mike Garrison lofted a fly to left field, down the line, but Paul Rubin ranged over and caught it, just fair, for the third out.
Gray then scored five runs in the home half to tie the score. Daniel Carvajal led off with a line single to center field, a ball that Larry Fiorentino almost made a terrific shoestring catch on, but wasn’t able to hold on to the ball. Jim McAnelly and Mike Velaney followed with singles, loading the bases. Daniel scored Gray’s first run on Ralph Villela’s sacrifice fly to Steve Sandall in left-center, Jim’s pinch-runner Bobby Miller also moving up. Bobby scored and Mike took second on George Romo’s Texas League single to center field. Ralph ran for George, and he and Mike both moved up on Alan Phillips’s fly left-center, another catch by Steve Sandall. Rich Bredehl’s single, another Texas Leaguer behind second base, nearly run down by Terry O’Brien, brought in both Mike and George, the third and fourth runs of the inning. Rich took second on Paul Rubin’s line single past third base, then scored on Bobby Miller’s base hit – Bobby lined a ball that Terry got a glove on but wasn’t able to catch; I think if Terry had gone to second, he had a chance at forcing out Paul, but he was oriented toward first and went that way, only for Bobby to beat first baseman Chunky Wright to the bag.
The score remained 5-5 as neither team scored in the third inning. Spike Davidson singled to the 5/6 hole with one out, his runner from home, Mike Garrison, beating the throw to first, but Mike was erased and the inning ended with a terrific around-the-horn double play: Rex Horvath hit the ball hard down the third-base side, and George Romo made a terrific play to his backhand to field it cleanly, then made a strong throw to second baseman J.C. Schmeil, whose relay to first beat Rex handily – outstanding play all around. Spike Davidson worked around singles by Luis Sanchez and Jim McAnelly in the bottom half.
Green went ahead with two runs in the top of the fourth inning, but hurt themselves by taking a page out of the Gray team playbook and running into a couple of outs. Ivan Budiselic singled to open the inning. He was forced out at second on Chunky Wright’s grounder to shortstop Ralph Villela. Ralph wasn’t able to field Boo Resnick’s hard grounder, which went through for a single, Chunky taking third. Doc Hobar lined a ball to right-center, past Alan Phillips; Chunky scored, and Boo tried to follow, but a strong 9-6-2 relay (Alan to Ralph to Jim McAnelly) cut him down for the second out. Doc took third on the throw home, then scored on Steve Sandall’s triple to center field. I’m not 100% certain what happened next, but I think it was something like this: Terry O’Brien lined a ball to left field that fell in front of Paul Rubin; Steve started for home, passed the commit line, then thought the ball was caught (which would have been the third out, but maybe he’d lost track of the outs), and returned to third base. Home umpire Jeff Stone called him out for passing and then returning over the commit line, which I take to mean that Steve hadn’t made it all the way to the home line. In any case, the third out, Green limited to two runs.
Gray took control of the game in the home half by scoring five runs on eight consecutive singles, not making an out, taking a 10-7 lead into the buffet.
Mike Garrison led off the buffet with a triple to right-center field, over Alan Phillips’s head. Larry Fiorentino lined a single to right field, Mike scoring, but was thrown out 10-6, Rich Bredehl to Ralph Villela, trying for a double. Spike Davidson singled up the middle, completing a 3-for-3 game. Luis Sanchez caught Rex Horvath looking at a called strike three for the second out. Ivan Budiselic singled, getting the potential tying run on base, but the game ended with Chunky Wright grounding out 4-3 to second baseman Mike Velaney.
Final score: Gray 10, Green 8
Green pitcher Spike Davidson was 3 for 3 with an RBI at the plate, but had to settle for a No-Tahni Award.
11:30 a.m.: Orange (4-9) at Purple (5-8):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Orange 5 0 5 5 5 20 Purple 0 1 5 5 8 19 Pitchers: Orange – Tommy Deleon; Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Orange – Lawrence Page and Scott Wright; Purple – George Brindley. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone; bases – Ralph Villela. Perfect at the plate: Orange – Jeff Grandcolas (4 for 4 with three doubles) and Mark Hernandez, Dave Schneider, and Jack Spellman (all 4 for 4); Purple – George Brindley and Shane Hill (both 3 for 3) and Mike Malay (3 for 3 with a walk).
Weather report: 72°, feels like 72°; humidity 49%; wind from the ESE at 3-5 MPH, high clouds.
Luncheon Day concluded with a high-scoring battle, Orange managing to hold off Purple’s furious late rally and hold on for a much-needed win.
Orange scored five times on six hits – five singles and an RBI double by Jeff Grandcolas – in the first while making just one out. Tommy Deleon then blanked Purple in the bottom half, working around a two-out walk to Mike Malay.
Ray Pilgrim shut out Orange in the second thanks to two terrific plays by first baseman Shane Hill. Hal Darman led off with a single, shortstop Jimmy Sneed unable to get a handle on his grounder up the middle. Scott Wright absolutely scorched a ball down the first-base side; Shane fielded it cleanly on his backhand, stepped on first, and then threw to second to double up Hal, an outstanding 3u., 3-6 double play. Lawrence Page singled, but was forced out at second 3-6, Shane making a play to his right on Tommy Deleon’s hard grounder and throwing to second.
Purple got on the board and won the inning with a single run in the bottom of the second. Ray Pilgrim singled with one out, and his pinch-runner, I believe Patrick Schmidt, took third on Shane Hill’s single to right. Joe Roche grounded a ball up the middle that shortstop Jack Spellman fielded just behind second base; I stepped on the bag for the force, but my throw to first was too late to double up Joe, and Patrick scored. Tommy Deleon caught Rick Jensen looking at a called strike three to end the inning.
The batters totally took over for the final three innings. Both teams scored five times in both the third and the fourth, Orange while making two outs in each inning, Purple making just one in each:
Top of the third: Orange scored five on four singles, Jeff Grandcolas’s two-run double, and Matt Levitt’s walk, Scott Wright driving in the fourth and fifth runs following Mark Hernandez’s suggestion “Scott, don’t be that guy.”
Bottom of the third: Purple scored five runs on six singles and Rick Kahn’s triple. The only out was a good running catch in left-center by Matt Levitt on Jimmy Sneed’s drive.
Top of the fourth: Jimmy Sneed made a really good play to start the inning: Lawrence Page hit a sharp grounder back to the box that Ray Pilgrim deflected toward shortstop; Jimmy grabbed the ball barehanded and came up throwing, just beating Lawrence to the bag. Eight of the Orange’s next nine batters singled, five runs scoring, the fifth on Scott Wright’s single, Mark Hernandez again stressing, “Scott, don’t be that guy.”
Bottom of the fourth: Purple scored five runs on seven singles, once again the only out coming on a good catch by Matt Levitt in left-center, on a ball hit by Jack McDermott.
Orange led 15-11 going into the buffet. Lawrence Page led off again and again was robbed of a hit by Jimmy Sneed, who ranged in back of third base to run down Lawrence’s bid for a Texas League single. Tommy Deleon drew a walk. Jack Spellman and Mark Hernandez both singled, Tommy’s pinch-runner, Matt Levitt, coming around to score. Jeff Grandcolas doubled, Spellman scoring. Don Solberg singled, Mark’s pinch-runner scoring. Matt Levitt grounded into a 6u. force out to Jimmy Sneed. Dave Schneider ripped his fourth hit of the game, both Jeff and Matt (from first base) scoring. That put Orange ahead by nine runs, 20-11, and the flip-flop was called. (Spellman, Hernandez, Grandcolas, and Schneider all completed 4-for-4 games with hits in the buffet, Jeff collecting his third double; Spellman, Hernandez, and Grandcolas also all scored each of the four times they reached base.)
Purple then came up and very nearly pulled off a comeback to match Gray’s from this past Thursday – in fact, they did match it, scoring eight runs, but that was one short of what they needed to tie the game.
Purple’s first six batters, lineup numbers 5 through 10, reached base to start the frame, on three singles and, as Tommy Deleon suffered a bout of wildness, three walks. That brought four runs across and got the top of the order up. Patrick Schmidt lined a ball to shortstop Jack Spellman for the first out. Jack McDermott made a bid for an opposite-field hit, but was robbed by Scott Wright, who made a tremendous lunging play to his left to glove Jack’s lined one-hopper, then made a strong throw to second to force out George Brindley – play of the day, in my opinion.
Purple was down to its last out, but kept pressing. Mike Malay singled, completing a perfect day at the plate (3 for 3 with a walk), Rick Jensen scoring, Orange’s lead cut to 20-16. Jimmy Sneed singled, Jack McDermott scoring, Orange lead down to three runs. Rick Kahn wants me to write that he lashed a double, but it was more a pop fly than a line drive… never mind, Rick lashed a double to right-center, both Mike’s pinch-runner (Patrick Schmidt, I believe) and Jimmy scoring, Orange’s lead now down to 20-19. Ray Pilgrim came up and lined a ball to left field, but it hung up for Don Solberg, who was well positioned to come up a couple of steps and make the game-ending catch, Orange (barely) holding on to win.
Final score: Orange 20, Purple 19
Session 4 standings:
| Session 4 standings: | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Gray | 9 | 4 | .692 | 0 | 195 | 181 | 14 | W2 |
| Blue | 8 | 6 | .571 | 1.5 | 167 | 134 | 33 | W3 |
| Maroon | 8 | 6 | .571 | 1.5 | 183 | 156 | 27 | L3 |
| Red | 8 | 6 | .571 | 1.5 | 177 | 178 | -1 | W1 |
| Green | 5 | 8 | .385 | 4 | 150 | 155 | -5 | L2 |
| Purple | 5 | 9 | .357 | 4.5 | 188 | 199 | -11 | L2 |
| Orange | 5 | 9 | .357 | 4.5 | 129 | 186 | -57 | W1 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | Last 5 | ||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins | W-L: | W-L: | W-L: | games: | ||
| Gray | 6-2 | 3-2 | 2 | 1-0 | 1-0 | 4-1 | WWLWW | |
| Blue | 5-2 | 3-4 | 2 | 0-1 | 3-0 | 2-3 | WLWWW | |
| Maroon | 4-5 | 4-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 3-4 | 0-1 | LWLLL | |
| Red | 4-2 | 4-4 | 3 | 0-0 | 3-1 | 3-2 | WLWLW | |
| Green | 2-3 | 3-5 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1-2 | WLWLL | |
| Purple | 1-7 | 4-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-3 | 0-3 | WLWLL | |
| Orange | 2-3 | 3-6 | 1 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 2-0 | LLWLW |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 33 | |
| Gray | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 23 | |
| Green | 1 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 26 | |
| Maroon | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 32 | |
| Orange | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 23 | |
| Purple | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 19 | |
| Red | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 24 | |
| TOTAL: | 19 | 27 | 26 | 19 | 28 | 34 | 27 | 180 |
2026 full-season standings:
Won Lost Win % GB Blue 33 19 .635 0.0 Maroon 32 19 .627 0.5 Green 26 26 .500 7.0 Red 24 27 .471 8.5 Gray 23 27 .460 9.0 Orange 23 28 .451 9.5 Purple 19 34 .358 14.5
2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 10
Ralph Villela – 10
Steve Browne – 6
Mike Garrison – 6
Trent Peacock – 5
George Brindley – 4
Tony Garcia – 4
Jack McDermott – 4
David Brown – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Alan Phillips – 3
Pat Scott – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
Scott Wright – 3
Richard Battle – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Rick Kahn – 2
Bobby Miller – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
Ivan Budiselic – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Jim Foelker – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Mike Malay – 1
David Pittard – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Patrick Schmidt – 1
Peter Sundquist – 1
Hit for the cycle:
Ralph Villela – May 26
Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 8 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16, June 22, June 25, June 29, July 9)
Ray Pilgrim: 8 (March 5, March 23, March 26, June 1, July 2, July 9, August 17, August 27)
Spike Davidson: 7 (May 4, July 2, July 20, August 6, August 20, September 17, October 5)
Tommy Deleon: 6 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30, September 24)
Trent Peacock: 4 (March 9, August 3, October 8, October 22)
Jeff Stone: 4 (March 2, July 9, September 8, October 19)
Luis Sanchez: 3 (September 8, September 28, October 8)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Jack Kelly: 1 (August 3)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
David Pittard: 1 (October 15)
Schedule for Thursday October 29:
10:30 a.m.: Gray (9-4) at Red (8-6), Maroon umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Maroon (8-6) at Orange (5-9), Red umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (5-9) at Green (5-8), Orange umpiring
Blue has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: With the proviso that this is a rec league, the games don’t matter, as we enter the final stretch of the season, just five dates remaining, all these games matter so much. Gray and Red square off at 10:30, with Red leading the season series 4-2. Red is half a game ahead of Gray in the full-season standings, which places them in the #4 seed, which will get a home game on Day 1 of the end-of-season tourney. Gray has won its last two games and is in first for Session 4 by a game and a half. Red won today and move to half a game back for Session 4, and half a game ahead for tourney Seed 4, with a win. At 11:30, Maroon faces Orange in a season series that is tied 4-4. With a win, Maroon ties idle Blue for first place for the full season with a 33-19 record. Maroon has dropped its last three games, while Orange had lost three of four before winning today. Purple and Green have the 12:30 game, with Green leading the season series 6-2. Both teams have lost their last two games, so somebody will get back on track. Green, Purple, and Orange are all striving to avoid finishing last in Session 4. Thursday is National Oatmeal Day. Will everyone eat a hearty, healthy breakfast before the day’s action, or just hope that Tommy Deleon brings some HEB doughnuts? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
The end-of-season luncheon was, the Picayune says, a rousing success – excellent food, lots of past and present players, friends, and family. It was great to see the founding generation of Austin Senior Softball represented by such luminaries as Buck Gardner, Roger Geras, Buster Good, and Jerry Callen. Hats off to B and C League presidents George Brindley and Paul Rubin for their efforts in pulling this together.
Tom Kelm with Jerry “Top Gun” Callen
Lisa McDermott news:
- Here’s Lisa on her “Girls Trip, Time to Get Wicked” East Coast jaunt:
- Here’s the tattoo Lisa picked up in Salem, Massachusetts:
- And Lisa has this message:
Shame on the sneaky snakes who chose to get into the desserts that obviously had not been out to be feasted upon. Very disappointing behavior.
It’s not too late to buy tickets for the Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area raffle at: https://forms.gle/