B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 14 – April 17, 2025
Weather report: Another good day for playing softball, our streak of pleasant spring weather continuing. It was 72 degrees and cloudy with 73% humidity at the start of the 10:30 game, a steady wind from the south at 14 MPH. It was up to 76 with 64% at the start of the 11:30 game, the sun breaking through occasionally, wind still from the south, around 12 MPH. It got up to 82 degrees for the start of the 12:30 game, mostly cloudy, humidity dropping to 52%, wind unchanged.
Games of Thursday April 17:
10:30 a.m., Gray (1-4) at Red (1-3):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 5 0 1 4 7 22 Red 5 5 0 1 1 0 12 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Red – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Gray – Peter Atkins; Red – David Brown, Larry Fiorentino, and Ray Pilgrim; Ken Mockler briefly subbed for Dale Fugate in the top of the fourth inning. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone and Tom Kelm; bases – Jim Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Peter Atkins (4 for 4 with a triple) and Paul Rubin (4 for 4 with a double and a walk).
You really only need to read the line score to get a feel for this game. Both teams scored five times in each of its first two at bats, did nothing in the third, and got one run apiece in the fourth, and then Gray put the game away in the late innings.
Gray came out hitting, knocking eight singles in the top of the first and seven more in the second, just about all of them well struck, while making just a single out in each frame. Red responded with five two-out runs in the bottom of the first, on Jim McAnelly’s walk, four singles, and David Brown’s rally-capping two-run double, and then scored five times without making an out in the second, Larry Fiorentino’s lead-off triple followed by six consecutive singles.
Pitchers Joe Bernal and Jack Kelly then found their footing. Each threw a scoreless third, Joe working around Peter Atkins’ two-out single in the top half, Jack walking Dale Fugate with one out in the home half but retiring mercenaries David Brown, on a ground-out force, and Larry Fiorentino, on a two-strike foul.
Each team’s lead-off batter hit safely and scored in the fourth: Tommy Gillis doubled for Gray and scored on George Romo’s two-base hit; Ray Pilgrim singled to start the bottom half, pinch-runner Mark Dolan took third on Jack Spellman’s pop-fly single and then scored on Anthony Galindo’s sacrifice fly to Paul Rubin in left-center. In the top half there was a brief delay and temporary substitution when Red first baseman Dale Fugate got his right middle finger in the way of shortstop David Brown’s throw on Morgan Witthoft’s grounder. Ken Mockler took over at first for the remainder of the inning while Dale got patched up, and played flawless defense, deftly handling no chances.
Joe Bernal got two quick outs to open the fifth inning, but the next five batters reached base, four scoring: Peter Atkins tripled and scored on Tommy Gillis’s single; Paul Rubin walked; Morgan Witthoft singled, Tommy and Paul both scoring and Morgan taking second on the throw in; and George Romo knocking a single to left to bring in Morgan.
That made it 15-11 in Gray’s favor. Red got one run back in the bottom half: Mark Dolan led off with a single, took third on David Brown’s single to right, and scored on Larry Fiorentino’s sacrifice fly to Morgan Witthoft in right-center.
Gray proceeded to put the game well out of reach in the top of the buffet, scoring seven times before the flip-flop was invoked. Johnny Lee grounded out to shortstop David Brown to start the inning, but the next seven batters singled. Again, no cheap hits, and Peter Atkins and Paul Rubin completed 4-for-4 games with their knocks. Morgan Witthoft’s hit was his fourth in five at bats, and he picked up his sixth RBI of the game with it. George Romo popped out to third baseman Ray Pilgrim for the second out, but Adam Reddell followed with his fourth hit of the game, rifling a two-run triple down the right-field line that put Gray up by ten.
Time to flip-flop. Jack Spellman led off the bottom of the inning with a single, but Jack Kelly retired the next three batters, getting Anthony Galindo to fly out to Paul Rubin in left-center, Jack McDermott to line out to shortstop George Romo, and Joe Bernal to ground into a game-ending 4-6 force, Boo Resnick to George Romo. Final score: Gray 22, Red 12, Gray escaping last place for the session, Red falling into the basement.
11:30 a.m., Maroon (2-2) at Green (1-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 2 1 0 5 5 13 Green 0 2 5 0 4 11 Pitchers: Maroon – Jeff Stone; Green – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Maroon – Ken Mockler and Jack Spellman; Green – Adam Reddell (replaced Doc Hobar in the fourth inning). Umpires: home – Jack Kelly; bases – Tommy Gillis. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Ivan Budiselic (1 for 1 with two walks) and Jeff Stone (3 for 3 with a double); Green – Doc Hobar (2 for 2) and Rick Kahn and Johnny Wimpy (both 3 for 3 with a double).
This was a good battle, both teams playing well on defense and rallying from deficits. Ken Brown and Bobby Miller opened the game with back-to-back doubles for Maroon, Ken scoring easily, and Bobby then moved to third on Scott Wright’s fly to right fielder Phil Stanch, who’s become a solid, dependable outfielder, and then scored on Jeff Stone’s single. Jeff then blanked Green in the bottom half, working around Doc Hobar’s one-out single.
Ivan Budiselic walked to start the second and came around to score, advancing one base at a time on Ken Mockler’s single, Jack Spellman’s fly to Donnie Janac in right-center, and Ken Brown’s sacrifice fly, also to Donnie. Green got on the board in the bottom of the inning with four consecutive one-out hits. Singles by Rick Kahn, Donnie Janac, and Johnny Wimpy loaded the bases for Chunky Wright. At shortstop, I heard someone in the outfield say something to the effect of “Chunky’s a singles hitter, play in,” which of course was Chunky’s cue to rip a line drive over the head of Bobby Miller in left-center for a double, Rick and Donnie scoring. Jeff Stone stranded Johnny and Chunky, however, getting Billy Hill to line out back to the box and Ralph Villela to fly out to Jim Maloy in right field.
Maroon did not score in the top of the third. Jeff Stone led off with a single, but was erased on a 6-4-3 double play, started by Ralph Villela and nicely turned by Johnny Wimpy, on Jim Maloy’s hard, two-hop grounder.
Green grabbed the lead with five runs in the bottom of the third, on five singles, Rick Kahn’s two-out double, and a run-scoring force out for the fifth run, Maroon unable to complete a double play on Chunky Wright’s grounder to shortstop. One of the singles, I think by Johnny Wimpy, came on a hard grounder to third base that clipped Ivan Budiselic on one of the fingers of his throwing hand. For the second time in as many games, an infielder had to get patched up. It did give us this, though:
Quote of the Day: Ivan Budiselic, as he bandaged his split finger: “Great idea, Scott [Wright]: ‘Put Ivan at third!’” (Well delivered, could have used more bitterness.)
Green led 7-3 through three. Maroon immediately reclaimed the lead with a five-run inning of its own, all the scoring in the top of the fourth coming after two were out. With one out Ivan Budiselic drew his second walk. Ken Mockler flied out to Mike Garrison in left, but the next five batters reached base: Jack Spellman on a dinky pop-fly single; Ken Brown on a bases-loading walk; Bobby Miller singled, two runs scoring and Ken racing to third; Scott Wright’s single brought in Ken; and Jeff Stone’s double to the fence in right-center scored both Bobby and Scott, and also completed a 3-for-3 day at the plate by Jeff, who then protected the lead by throwing a scoreless bottom half, working around singles by Billy Hill and Adam Reddell, who’d entered the game for Doc Hobar, who’d had to depart for an appointment. (Don’t talk to me about run-on sentences, I don’t want to hear it.)
It was 8-7 Maroon entering the buffet. Maroon’s first four batters – Jim Maloy, Tom Kelm, Steve Hamlett, and Ivan Budiselic – singled, Ivan driving in Jim and Tom’s pinch-runner. Steve took third on Ken Mockler’s line out to Donnie Janac in right-center. Jack Spellman lined a ball up the middle that Chunky Wright missed snagging by inches; it rolled to the fence in center for a two-run triple. Ken Brown followed with a pop into short right field; Johnny Wimpy made a good play to run it down, moving back and to his left; Spellman tagged up and ran almost to the commit line, looking to draw a throw home; as I’d hoped, it was offline and skipped past catcher Billy Hill, and I was able to score what turned out to be Maroon’s fifth and final run of the inning.
Green came up needing six to tie. They made a good go of it. Mike Garrison and Rick Kahn led off with singles up the middle, Rick completing a 3-for-3 day at the plate. Donnie Janac popped out to second baseman Scott Wright. Johnny Wimpy lined a double to right field, both Mike and Rick scoring. (Johnny was also 3 for 3 in the game.) Chunky Wright hit a ball off the handle and on the ground to shortstop, and Jack Spellman couldn’t get a handle on it, as it kicked off my leg and into short left field for a single, Johnny advancing to third. Billy Hill grounded into a 6-4 force for the second out – Scott Wright had no chance of doubling up Mike Garrison running from home. Ralph Villela came up and walloped a triple to right-center, Johnny and Mike both scoring, cutting Maroon’s lead to two runs. Adam Reddell was next, and he lofted a fly, but got a bit under it, and Bobby Miller, playing deep in left-center, was able to track and catch it about five feet in front of the fence for the final out. Final score: Maroon 13, Green 11
12:30 p.m., Blue (4-0) at Purple (3-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 1 1 3 3 0 2 10 Purple 3 4 5 0 0 X 12 Pitchers: Blue – Tommy Deleon; Purple – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Purple – Jim Maloy and Adam Reddell. Umpires: home – Chunky Wright; bases – Ralph Villela. Perfect at the plate: Blue – George Brindley (4 for 4) and Steve Sandall (4 for 4 with a double); Purple – Jim Maloy (3 for 3).
In a well-played game (Rick Jensen instructed me to lead), the session’s two leading teams squared off in the day’s main bout. It was a terrific game. Steve Sandall opened it with a line single to center, and Tom Bellavia followed with a sinking line drive to left-center, only to be robbed of a hit by Matt Levitt, who came in hard and made a tumbling catch, somehow managing to hold on to the ball despite a hard landing; Steve didn’t think Matt had made the catch, and got doubled up, 8-4-3, Matt to Rick Jensen to Mark Hernandez, another play that’s in the running for my defensive-plays-of-the-season list. Blue still managed to post a run in the inning, as George Brindley, Don Solberg, and Tom Brownfield followed with singles, George scoring.
Purple grabbed the lead with three runs in the home half, on a single by Matt Levitt (beating out a grounder to the 5-6 hole), a double to right by Larry Fiorentino (Matt scoring from first), a double to left-center by Rex Horvath (Larry scoring), and a line single up the middle by Mark Hernandez (Rex scoring).
The second inning was almost a repeat of the first, without the spectacular outfield catch-double play. With one out in the top half, Daniel Baladez knocked a Texas League single to left field and Jim Foelker followed with a short pop between the pitcher and the first-base line that landed fair by about four feet and just died. Joe Dayoc grounded to third baseman Adam Reddell, who tagged third for the second out. Steve Sandall lined a single past third base to drive in Jim.
Purple then scored four times in the bottom of the inning, the first five hitters reaching on three singles, by the bottom three batters in Purple’s order, Spike Davidson, Adam Reddell, and Jim Maloy to load the bases, and then back-to-back run-scoring walks to Matt Levitt and Larry Fiorentino. Tommy Deleon got Richard Battle to pop a ball into short left field, shortstop George Brindley making a good play back and to his right to run it down for the first out. Rex Horvath’s line single through the 5-6 hole delivered Jim and Matt with the third and fourth runs. The fifth was stranded when the side went out on a nicely turned 6-4-3 double play, George Brindley to Tom Brownfield to Daniel Baladez, on Mark Hernandez’s grounder.
Blue scored three runs in the top of the third. Lead-off singles by George Brindley and Don Solberg put runners on the corners. George scored on Tom Brownfield’s sacrifice fly to Larry Fiorentino in right-center. David Pittard’s single to right field sent Don to third. Tommy Deleon lofted a fly to short right field that Larry Fiorentino made an excellent play on, charging hard and to his left to run it down, his momentum toward home convincing Don not to test his arm. Daniel Baladez came up and put a great swing on a 2-2 pitch up and in, socking it over the outfielders’ heads to the fence in left-center, both Don and David scoring.
Purple still won the inning, scoring five times in the home half. The first four batters singled, two runs scoring on Adam Reddell’s hit, and then Jim Maloy smacked a triple to center to score two more. Tommy Deleon got Matt Levitt to pop out to shortstop George Brindley and Larry Fiorentino to hit a foul fly to right field on a two-strike pitch, but Richard Battle grounded a single past shortstop to bring in Jim with the fifth run.
That turned out to be the end of Purple’s scoring – the question was whether Blue would be able to erase the 12-5 deficit. They cut it to 12-8 with three runs in the top of the fourth. Steve Sandall led off with a double to right field and scored on Tom Bellavia’s single, also to right, Tom taking second on the late throw home. George Brindley’s single, again to right field, scored Tom. Don Solberg looped a Texas League single to left-center, George taking third. A walk to Tom Brownfield loaded the bases. Dave Pittard lined a ball to the right of second base, but was robbed of a hit by Rick Jensen, who made a nice backhanded grab for the first out. Tommy Deleon came up; after some back and forth, David Pittard ran for him from home – Tommy’s usual runner, George Brindley, was on third; Steve Sandall volunteered to run, but was only four batters down in the lineup. Tommy grounded a ball to second; Rick Jensen threw to shortstop Rex Horvath for the force on Tom Brownfield (or his runner, I’m not sure); Rex had no shot at throwing out David at first, so he tried for Don Solberg advancing to third, but his throw to Adam Reddell plunked Don in the back, and Don was safe while George scored. It prompted this:
Exchange of the Day:
Rex Horvath: “Sorry, Adam [Reddell], I was trying to throw over [Don’s] head.”
Don Solberg: “Why are you apologizing to him? You hit me.”
Excellent.
Purple did not score in the bottom of the fourth. David Pittard made a nice cross-diamond throw after fielding Rex Horvath’s lead-off grounder to third base for the first out. Mark Hernandez followed with a single, but Tommy Deleon retired both Rick Jensen and Fritz Hensel.
Neither team scored in the fifth. Jim Foelker led off the top half with a single, but was erased on a 6-4-3 double play, Rick Jensen making a nice pivot on the play. Steve Sandall grounded a ball to third baseman Adam Reddell, whose throw pulled Mark Hernandez off the bag at first, Steve collecting his fourth hit in as many at bats. But he was forced out at second on Tom Bellavia’s grounder to shortstop to end the inning.
I finally got off my ass and started taking some pictures of the action in the bottom of the fifth. Tommy Deleon got two quick outs to start the frame, getting Spike Davidson to hit a two-strike foul fly to left field and Adam Reddell to ground out to second baseman Tom Brownfield.
Here’s Daniel Baladez stretching for Tom Brownfield’s throw for the second out. Purple manager Larry Young supervises the action.
Jim Maloy completed a 3-for-3 game with a Texas League single to short left field.
Here’s Jim Maloy’s follow-through on his third hit of the game. Chunky Wright is umpiring, Joe Dayoc is the catcher.
The inning ended with Tommy retiring Matt Levitt on a two-strike foul down the third-base side. (No picture.)
So Blue needed four runs to tie in the top of the buffet. George Brindley led off with a single to left field, his fourth hit in as many at bats. Don Solberg flied out to Jim Maloy in right field, George tagging up and taking second on the play. Tom Brownfield (to right field) and David Pittard (off the pitcher and into center field) followed with singles.
Jim Maloy and Larry Fiorentino cross paths on Tom Brownfield’s hit, Larry making the play.
Here’s David Pittard’s excellent form on his hit.
Tommy Deleon knocked what looked like a clean hit to right-center, but Larry Fiorentino charged the ball, fielded it on one hop, and made a strong, accurate throw to Rex Horvath covering second to beat David to the bag, for the second out. That left runners on the corners with two out. Daniel Baladez grounded a ball to third base, but slowly enough that Adam Reddell had no play anywhere, Daniel picking up his third RBI of the game as the runner scored from third.
Daniel Baladez beats the ball into the ground for his third hit of the game. The first two were more impressive, but they all count. Fritz Hensel is catching, Chunky Wright is umpiring, and I detect an international man of mystery in the background.
Jim Foelker came up with the tying run on first, looking for his fourth hit, but Spike Davidson got him to hit a short pop down the third-base side that Adam Reddell caught for the final out.
Adam Reddell squeezes the final out. From left: Adam; pitcher Spike Davidson; shortstop Rex Horvath; George Brindley, running for Tommy Deleon; and left fielder Richard Battle. Final score: Purple 12, Blue 10
Session 2 standings:
| Session 2 | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Blue | 4 | 1 | .800 | 0 | 67 | 51 | 16 | L1 |
| Purple | 4 | 1 | .800 | 0 | 61 | 54 | 7 | W3 |
| Orange | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1 | 69 | 49 | 20 | W3 |
| Maroon | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1 | 65 | 67 | -2 | W2 |
| Gray | 2 | 4 | .333 | 2.5 | 63 | 82 | -19 | W1 |
| Green | 1 | 4 | .200 | 3 | 66 | 70 | -4 | L4 |
| Red | 1 | 4 | .200 | 3 | 62 | 80 | -18 | L3 |
| Home | Visitor | Walk-off | Extra-inning | Flip-flop | 1-run games | |||
| W-L: | W-L: | wins: | wins: | W-L: | W-L: | |||
| Blue | 3-0 | 1-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Purple | 2-1 | 2-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Orange | 1-1 | 2-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 0-0 | ||
| Maroon | 2-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-0 | ||
| Gray | 1-2 | 1-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 1-1 | ||
| Green | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-1 | ||
| Red | 0-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-2 | 0-1 |
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | X | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Gray | 1 | X | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Green | 0 | 1 | X | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Maroon | 1 | 2 | 2 | X | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Orange | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Purple | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 1 | 8 |
| Red | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | X | 5 |
| TOTAL: | 4 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 42 |
2025 season home run leaders:
Bobby Miller – 4
Tim Coles – 3
Anthony Galindo – 3
George Brindley – 2
Tim Bruton – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Tom Belavia – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Tony Garcia – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Rex Horvath – 2
Mike Malay – 1
Terry O’Brien – 1
Jimmy Sneed – 1
Jack Spellman – 1
Jeff Stone – 1
Mike Velaney – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Schedule for Monday April 21:
10:30 a.m.: Maroon (3-2) at Orange (3-2), Blue umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Blue (4-1) at Red (1-4), Maroon umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (4-1) at Green (1-4), Red umpiring
Gray has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Orange and Maroon are both 3-2 for the session, but Orange has posted a +20 run differential while Maroon is under water at -2. Orange has the home-field advantage at 10:30 as well. B League is all about the upsets, though. Red and Green, both 1-4 and tied for last for the session, have a chance to catch up to session leaders Blue and Purple, both 4-1, in 11:30 and 12:30 games. Monday is Patriots Day and Marathon Monday in Massachusetts – will Ethiopians and Kenyans continue to dominate both the men’s and women’s races, or is this the year Sully from Southie pulls off the upset the Townies have been waiting on for so long? It’d be wicked pissah, but one thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Reminder that the Bobby Fund Burger Potluck and Reunion is scheduled for Monday April 28. Please reach out to past Austin Senior Softball players and invite them to participate.
This Miken mitt was left behind last Monday – let B League president Anthony Galindo know if it’s yours.