B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 51 – for September 21, 2026
Department of Corrections: I missed that Jim Foelker had a perfect day at the plate for Gray in its September 10 game versus Red, going 4 for 4.
Games of Monday September 21:
10:00 a.m.: Gray (3-2) at Maroon (5-0):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 2 5 5 10 27 Maroon 5 4 5 5 3 23 Pitchers: Gray – Luis Sanchez; Maroon – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Gray – Daniel Baladez, Jack McDermott, Trent Peacock, and Ralph Villela; Maroon – Donnie Janac, Patrick Schmidt, and Jimmy Sneed; Hal Darman substituted for Fritz Hensel in the second inning. Umpires: home – Marvin Krabbenhoft; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Daniel Baladez and Ralph Villela (both 4 for 4), Daniel Carvajal (5 for 5), and Jack McDermott (4 for 4 with a double and a home run); Maroon - George Brindley (4 for 4 with a double), Steve Browne (4 for 4 with a home run), Fritz Hensel (walked in his only plate appearance), Donnie Janac and Jimmy Sneed (both 3 for 3), and Patrick Schmidt (3 for 3 with a triple). Home runs: Steve Browne (inside the park) (6) and Jack McDermott (inside the park) (3).
Dave Berra’s weather report: 89 degrees, feels like 97; 56% humidity; wind from the Southwest at 4 MPH; sunny – Fall is in the air (somewhere).
David Brown’s recap:
Fall was in the air at the softball field: 90+ degrees, 50+% humidity, and sunny with almost no breeze. The only things hotter than the weather were the offenses in the buffet innings which resulted in exciting finishes for the two games that were played. Unfortunately, player absences and late starts for the two early games led to the cancellation of the Orange vs Green game that was scheduled for 12:00.
10:00 Game – Gray at Maroon
Gray came out swinging with leadoff hitter Jim Foelker doubling, Clint Fletcher singling, Luis Sanchez doubling, and newly retired Daniel Carvajal singling to score 2 runs and put runners on 1B and 3B. Maroon P Jeff Stone induced back-to-back fouled 3rd strikes to hang a couple of K’s on the fence, but mercenaries Ralph Villela, Jack McDermott, and Trent Peacock singled to push across three more runs to give Gray a 5-run inning.
Maroon matched Gray’s onslaught with singles by Ken Brown, George Brindley, and Steve Browne; a sacrifice fly by Jeff Stone; and an RBI single by Alan Phillips. Gray P Luis Sanchez fielded a comebacker and threw to 3B to force out the lead runner for the second out of the inning. Fritz Henzel walked to load the bases, and then mercenaries Jimmy Sneed and Patrick Schmidt singled to score three runs and complete a 5-run inning for Maroon.
Mercenary Daniel Baladez started Gray’s second inning with a single. Jeff Stone got his third strike-out of the game on a called third strike. Clint Fletcher doubled to put runners on 2B and 3B, and Luis Sanchez scored both runners with a single to RF. Daniel Carvajal had his second single of the game, but Jeff stranded both Luis and Daniel by inducing a groundball to mercenary Donnie Janac at 2B, who threw to SS Jimmy Sneed at 2B, and then getting a pop out to Jimmy on the left side of the infield.
Donnie Janac led off the Maroon second inning with a single. The top of the Maroon order followed with four consecutive singles to score 2 runs and load the bases. Gray SS Ralph Villela caught a line drive to hold the runners and get the first out of the inning. Dale Fugate singled to score two more runs, but a ground ball to SS was turned into a double play, Ralph Villela to Daniel Carvajal to Jim McAnelly, 6-4-3.
Trailing 9-7, Gray sent their four mercenaries to the plate in the top of the third inning and they came through with three singles and a 4-6 fielder’s choice (Donnie Janac to Jimmy Sneed) that scored a run. The top of the Gray order then had four consecutive singles to complete a five-run inning.
Maroon’s three mercenaries responded with three singles to load the bases. Ken Brown hit a sacrifice fly to Trent Peacock in RF. George Brindley hit a line drive to RF that gapped the outfielders and scored a run. Steve Browne then hit a line drive down the right field line that went all the way to the corner of the field. The fastest player in the league easily rounded the bases for his 6th homer of the season, giving Maroon its second 5-run inning of the game. Quick note – Terry O’Brien (10), Ralph Villela (9), and Steve Browne (6) are the Top 3 in the 2026 HR race.
The Shootout at Krieg continued in the 4th inning as Gray scored five runs without making an out on six singles and a Jack McDermott double.
Maroon responded in kind with three singles, two doubles, and a triple to score five without making an out. The doubles belonged to Jeff Stone and Dale Fugate, and the triple was a line drive down the right field line by Patrick Schmidt that went to the same spot as Steve Browne’s in the previous inning. Patrick circled the bases and deserves to be credited with his second home run of the season despite the fact that the fifth run scored in front of him.
The buffet started with Maroon leading 19-17. Luis Sanchez and Daniel Carvajal led off with singles for Gray. A lineout to 2B put an out on the board with no runs scored, but the Gray offense sent eleven batters to the plate creating the following sequence: 1B-1B-HR-1B-1B-1B-FC-1B-1B-1B-
The teams flip-flopped when the last Gray single produced a 27-19 lead. Daniel Baladez led off for Maroon and hit a single to complete a perfect day at the plate (4-4). Ken Brown swung and missed on two pitches from Luis Sanchez, which stunned the crowd. Three singles and a double pushed across four runs, but the game ended on a second strikeout and a ground out to SS Jimmy Sneed, who flipped to Daniel Carvajal at 2B.
The five-inning game produced 50 runs on 66 hits and nine players who were perfect at the plate (Daniel Carvajal, Ralph Villela, Jack McDermott, Daniel Baladez, George Brindley, Steve Browne, Jimmy Sneed, Patrick Schmidt, and Donnie Janac). This one goes on the list of craziest games of 2026!
Final score: Gray 27, Maroon 23 – Gray snaps Maroon’s six-game winning streak.
11:00 a.m.: Red (3-2) at Blue (2-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 3 1 3 3 5 15 Blue 0 2 2 5 7 16 Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Blue – Jeff Stone. Mercenaries: Red – Daniel Carvajal, Mike Garrison, Jim McAnelly, Jack McDermott, and Jimmy Sneed; Ivan Budiselic substituted for Jimmy Sneed in the buffet inning; Blue – George Brindley, Steve Browne, Alan Phillips, Steve Sandall, and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home – Clint Fletcher; bases – Jack Crosley. Perfect at the plate: Red – Jimmy Sneed (3 for 3 with a double) and Ralph Villela (3 for 3 with a walk and a double); Blue – George Brindley and Alan Phillips (both 3 for 3), David Brown (3 for 3 with a walk, a double, and a triple), and Lawrence Page (4 for 4 with a double).
Dave Berra’s weather update: Sucks
David Brown’s recap:
Have you ever been to a concert where the opening act comes out and kills it and then the headliner follows with a pretty lackluster set? To be fair, Game 2 was never going to live up to the crazy of Game 1. In addition, 13 players who played in Game 2 had played in Game 1. On a hot day, the energy levels of many of the repeat players was necessarily lower. But sometimes, the encore can sometimes save the second act.
Ralph Villela led off for Red with a double to LCF. Mark Dolan followed with a single to LF. A hard-hit ground ball to mercenary 3B Alan Phillips was turned into an out when he threw to his Maroon teammate (and Blue mercenary) George Brindley at 2B. Another nice defensive play happened on the next at bat when C Larry Shupe caught a pop up on the 3B line approximately 15 feet from the plate. With two outs and one run in, Johnny Lee singled to RF and mercenaries Jimmy Sneed and Daniel Carvajal singled to score three runs before mercenary P Jeff Stone got a strikeout on two swings-and-misses.
Daniel Baladez led off for Blue and hit a fly ball that was caught by mercenary LF Jack McDermott. Lawrence Page doubled on a hit to RF and David Brown followed with a walk to put runners on 1B and 2B. P Trent Peacock completed a shutout inning by fielding a ground ball and starting a 1-6-3 double play with SS Jimmy Sneed on the pivot.
Mercenary Mike Garrison led off the second inning with a single to LF and was erased on a fielder’s choice when Jeff Stone fielded a ground ball and threw to SS David Brown at 2B. Ralph Villela walked to put runners on 1B and 2B, and then Mark Dolan hit an RBI single to LF. P Jeff Stone got his second strikeout of the game with a fouled third strike, and then stranded two runners by inducing a fly out to mercenary Steve Browne in RCF.
Blue came to bat trailing 4-0 and started their turn with a ground out, SS Jimmy Sneed to 1B Johnny Lee. Mercenaries Steve Browne and Steve Sandall singled to put runners on 1B and 3B. Jeff Stone hit a groundball that 2B Mark Dolan fielded and threw to SS Jimmy Sneed for the 4-6 fielder’s choice. Steve Browne scored Blue’s first run on the play. George Brindley singled to put runners on 1B and 2B ahead of Alan Phillips, who hit the first of his three cannon-shot line drives, this one through the 5-6 hole. Alan’s hit scored the runner from 2B. For the second time in the game, Trent Peacock fielded a groundball up the middle and ended the inning, this time with a putout at 1B.
Johnny Lee led off the third inning with a walk, and his pinch runner moved to 2B on a single by Jimmy Sneed. Daniel Carvajal hit a deep fly to LCF that Lawrence Page caught. Mercenary Jim McAnelly hit an infield single to load the bases. Mike Garrison hit a bouncer to the 5-6 hole that SS David Brown fielded and threw to Daniel Baladez at 3B for a force out. The runner at 3B scored on the play. Jack McDermott and Ralph Villela had RBI singles to LCF before Daniel Baladez made a running catch on a pop up near the foul line in front of 3B.
Blue scored two runs in the third inning on three singles and a double and pulled to within 7-4.
In the fourth inning, Red scored three runs on three singles and a double. The double was a fly ball to CF by Jimmy Sneed that reached the fence. Johnny Lee also hit a ball to the fence that would have been a double if he had not taken a pinch-runner from home. Jeff Stone prevented a fourth run from scoring by inducing two pop outs to SS and one to 2B.
Trailing 10-4 and with the understanding that the next inning would be the buffet, George Brindley, Alan Phillips, Daniel Baladez, Lawrence Phillips, David Brown, and Donnie Janac hit consecutive singles to score three runs and load the bases. Larry Shupe hit a sacrifice fly to Jack McDermott in LF to bring in a fourth run, and then Steve Browne completed the five-run inning with a line-drive hit to RF.
In the buffet, Gray increased their one-run lead to six with an impressive rally that started with singles by Jack McDermott and Ralph Villela and walks by Mark Dolan and Marvin Krabbenhoft. Blue finally got Johnny Lee out on a short fly ball to RF that outfielder Alan Phillips caught waist-high after a long run. 2B George Brindley then made an equally impressive defensive play as he fielded a groundball to the 3-4 hole at the edge of the infield and threw to Donnie Janac at 1B. Daniel Carvajal pushed across the fifth run of the inning with a single to LCF before Daniel Baladez got the final out on a pop up to 3B.
Blue came up to bat needing six to tie and seven to win. The home half of the buffet started promisingly with a Steve Sandall double. A ground ball to P Trent Peacock resulted in a 1-3 put out. (Side note – Trent had a very good defensive game with four outs resulting from ground balls that he fielded.) George Brindley scored Steve with a single to center field and then took 2B on Alan Phillips’ third consecutive line drive to LF. Daniel Baladez loaded the bases with a short fly ball to CF and Lawrence Page emptied them with a double on a hard groundball to RF. David Brown had a triple on a hit that was nearly identical to the one that Lawrence had.
At this point, Red led 15-14. Playing in his fourth game of the day, Donnie Janac asked George Brindley to pinch-run for him. Donnie lined a game-tying single to CF and, caught up in the euphoria of the moment, nearly beat George to 1B. Donnie was called out for passing the commit line, which left the score tied with two out and none on. David Brown pinch-ran from home for Larry Shupe. Larry’s line drive was almost caught by Jack McDermott in LCF and Larry almost ran past the commit line with four Blue players yelling for Larry to stop. With the disaster averted, Steve Browne moved David to 3B on a single to RCF. Steve Sandall then stepped to the plate and hit his second double of the inning to score the winning run. Improbable win for Blue and a heartbreaker for Red.
Final score: Blue 16, Red 15
Scene of the day:
Don Solberg: Are you okay to go to lunch?
Donnie Janac: Yeah. The A/C will help.
Don: You better not collapse because I’m not doing CPR on you…
Noon: Green (2-3) at Orange (2-4):
Per Dave Berra, this game was cancelled because:
a.) It was hot.
b.) Game would have started after 1:00.
c.) Each team needed five players with only three in the bucket.
d.) It was hot; everyone was gassed!
Session 4 standings:
| Session 4 standings: | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Maroon | 5 | 1 | .833 | 0 | 90 | 60 | 30 | L1 |
| Gray | 4 | 2 | .667 | 1 | 97 | 77 | 20 | W1 |
| Blue | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2 | 74 | 62 | 12 | W1 |
| Red | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2 | 90 | 90 | 0 | L2 |
| Green | 2 | 3 | .400 | 2.5 | 65 | 71 | -6 | W2 |
| Orange | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3 | 40 | 78 | -38 | W1 |
| Purple | 1 | 4 | .200 | 3.5 | 64 | 82 | -18 | 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: | ||
| Maroon | 3-1 | 2-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 0-0 | WWWWL | |
| Gray | 3-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | WLWLW | |
| Blue | 3-1 | 0-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 1-0 | LWLLW | |
| Red | 2-0 | 1-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-2 | LWWLL | |
| Green | 2-0 | 0-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | LLLWW | |
| Orange | 1-1 | 1-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 0-0 | WLLLW | |
| Purple | 0-3 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | LLLLW | |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 28 | |
| Gray | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 18 | |
| Green | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | |
| Maroon | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 29 | |
| Orange | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 20 | |
| Purple | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 15 | |
| Red | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 19 | |
| TOTAL: | 16 | 25 | 21 | 14 | 23 | 29 | 24 | 152 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 10
Ralph Villela – 9
Steve Browne – 6
Trent Peacock – 5
Tony Garcia – 4
David Brown – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
Jack McDermott – 3
Alan Phillips – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
Richard Battle – 2
George Brindley – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Rick Kahn – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Scott Wright – 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
Bobby Miller – 1
David Pittard – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Patrick Schmidt – 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: 6 (May 4, July 2, July 20, August 6, August 20, September 17)
Tommy Deleon: 5 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30)
Jeff Stone: 3 (March 2, July 9, September 8)
Trent Peacock: 2 (March 9, August 3)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Jack Kelly: 1 (August 3)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Luis Sanchez: 1 (September 8)
Schedule for Thursday September 24:
10:00 a.m.: Maroon (5-1) at Green (2-3), Blue umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Blue (3-3) at Orange (2-4), Green umpiring
Noon: Purple (1-4) at Red (3-3), Orange umpiring
Gray has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: A suddenly vulnerable-seeming Maroon team had its Session lead cut to one game Monday, and faces a surging Green team, looking to extend its winning streak to three games, at 10:00. Maroon leads the season series 5-2. At 11:00, Blue and Orange put their one-game winning streaks on the line, with Orange fortified by the addition of David Schneider to its roster. Blue leads the season series 4-3. Purple and Red have the noon game, Purple coming off its first win of the session, Red, which leads the season series 4-3, looking to end a two-game losing streak. Thursday is National Punctuation Day; will I celebrate by overusing semicolons? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Podcast review: Oh What a Time…
The premise of this delightful British podcast is to take an historical event or theme (utopias, Australia, national anthems, surgery), dig up some oddball stories, and ask whether living in the past was really as awful as it sounds. Hosted by Tom Craine, Chris Scull, and the truly hilarious Welsh comedian Elis James, the show is deliberately informal and meandering, with the trio bickering, interrupting, and derailing their trains of thought – basically it’s three wiseasses riffing on history and agreeing that they would have hated living in the Middle Ages. (James harping on about not being able to do the necessary jobs of past centuries is always a highlight; he basically posits that all he could have done was be a bad jester.) I particularly enjoy the One Day Time Machine segment. New England content: Not much, it’s very UK-centric, with lots of jokes about Wales. Canadian content: Ditto. Listening speed: 1X. Rating: 