B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 6, Issue 9 – April 18, 2024
Weather: A very humid day, the relative humidity at 99% at the start of the 10:30 game, temperature at 72 degrees, rising 79 with the humidity dropping to 82% at 11:30; into the 80s by the start of the 12:30 game. Mix of (mostly) clouds and sun throughout.
Games of Thursday April 18:
10:30 a.m., Gray (2-1) at Red (3-0):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 0 0 2 5 0 7 Red 1 2 0 5 0 X 8 Pitchers: Gray – Jack Kelly; Red – Gil Delossantos. Umpires: home plate – Scott Wright and Joe Roche; bases – Jack Spellman; scoreboard – Marvin Krabbenhoft. Perfect at the plate: Gray – David Kruse (2 for 2 with a walk and a double); Red – Tim Bruton (3 for 3 with a double) and Gil Delossantos (3 for 3).
A hard-fought battle for first place. Gil Dellossantos shut out Gray over the first three innings, aided by strong defensive play. In the first inning, following David Kruse’s one-out single, third baseman Adam Reddell made a tough catch in foul territory of Tommy Gillis’s pop. In the second, with runners on first and second and two out, right fielder Morgan Witthoft made an excellent play moving to his left to run down Johnny Lee’s fly ball. And in the third Gray turned a double play on Mark Dolan’s fly to left-center: Donald Drummer made the catch and followed with a strong relay to shortstop Tim Bruton, who pegged the ball to first baseman Eddy Murillo before Mike Mordecai could retreat to the bag.
Meanwhile, Red scored a bit in the early going, but not much. Red managed one run in the first as one-out singles by Tim Bruton and Rick Kahn put runners on the corners for Adam Reddell, who brought in Tim with a sacrifice fly to left-center. Boo Resnick led off the second with a single and was forced at second on Hal Darman’s grounder to shortstop David Kruse. Gil Delossantos singled to center field, Hal just beating Ken Brown’s throw to second base. Denny Malloy’s single loaded the bases for Donald Drummer, whose fly to left-center scored Hal. Tim Bruton followed with a single, Gil scoring to make it 3-0 in Red’s favor. Red did not score in the third, Jack Kelly working around Eddy Murillo’s two-out single.
Gray got on the board in the fourth, scoring twice with two out. David Kruse drew a one-out walk. Tommy Gillis drove a ball to deep left field, but Rick Kahn, back to the fence, made the catch for out number two. David took third on Gary Coyle’s single to center and scored on Don Solberg’s base hit. A Texas League single to right field by Donnie Janac drove in Gary, temporarily cutting Red’s lead to 3-2.
Red scored five times in the home half. Hal Darman lined a single to left field leading off, Gil Delossantos singled to center, and Denny Malloy drove a ball over left-center field Tommy Gillis’s head for a double, Hal scoring. Donald Drummer delivered his second sacrifice fly to left-center in as many at bats, Gil scoring and Denny taking third. Tim Bruton doubled down the left-field line, Denny scoring. Rick Kahn lined a ball off Jack Kelly’s shin and to the first base side, a single that scored Tim from second with the fourth run of the inning. (When Rick apologized, Jack, the toughest guy in the league, waved him off: “It’s all part of the game.”) Adam Reddell singled, Rick halting at second. Morgan Witthoft flied out to left-center for the second out, but Eddy Murillo came through with a clean two-out single to left field to bring in Rick with the fifth run.
Gray scored five times in the top of the fifth to once again make it a one-run game, the rally taking place after Gil Delossantos retired the first two batters, Johnny Lee on a fly to left field and Ivan Budiselic on pop to second. Mike Mordecai walked. Mark Dolan hit a hard grounder that short-hopped shortstop Tim Bruton and went through to left-center. Ken Brown’s single to right-center brought in Mike and sent Mark to third. David Kruse’s double to left-center scored both Mark and Ken. David scored on Tommy Gillis’s single to left field. Tommy took third on Gary Coyle’s opposite-field single to right-center. Don Solberg popped a ball to short right field that fell in safely, Tommy scoring the fifth run on the single.
Jack Kelly kept it a one-run game by holding Red scoreless in the bottom half. He got Boo Resnick to foul off a two-strike pitch. Hal Darman popped a ball behind shortstop; David Kruse made an excellent play going back to haul it in for the second out. Gil Delossantos completed a perfect day at the plate with a single up the middle, but Jack retired Denny Malloy on a fly to left-center.
Gray was chasing one run in the buffet. Donnie Janac led off with a roller to shortstop; Tim Bruton fielded it cleanly and made a strong throw to first, just beating Donnie on a bang-bang play for out number one. Jack Kelly looped a ball down the first-base side that Eddy Murillo caught in foul territory for out number two. And Frank Delmonte lined a ball down the third-base side that Adam Reddell snagged on the backhand, about six inches off the ground, for the final out. Final score: Red 8, Gray 7
11:30 a.m., Maroon (1-2) at Green (1-1):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 0 0 0 5 2 1 5 13 Green 4 1 0 2 0 3 0 10 Pitchers: Maroon – Chunky Wright; Green – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Maroon – Jim Malloy and Adam Reddell; Green – Morgan Witthoft. Umpires: home plate – Jack Kelly; bases – Tommy Gillis. Perfect at the plate: Green – Mike Garrison (3 for 3 with a walk and two doubles).
Maroon could get nothing going against Tommy Deleon in the early going, failing to advance a runner past first base over the first three innings, Ralph Villela continuing to play stellar defense at shortstop, with three assists, a putout on a force at second, and a pop fly catch over that stretch. Green jumped off to a quick lead, scoring four times in the first inning as the first three batters singled, Mike Garrison doubled to left, Jack Crosley hit a sacrifice fly to right-center, and David Pittard tripled to right. With the fifth run at third with one out, Chunky Wright worked out of the jam, retiring Tommy Deleon on a liner to second baseman Scott Wright and getting Trey Wall to hit a two-strike foul.
Green added a run in the second when hot-hitting Morgan Witthoft ripped a one-out double to left-center, then scored on Mike Hill’s two-out single to right-center. Green loaded the bases in the third on two walks and a single by Trey Wall – Scott Wright made a good play to his left to keep the ball from going into right field, saving a run – but Chunky Wright got Daniel Baladez to ground to third baseman Adam Reddell, who made a good play to his left and threw to second for the inning-ending force.
Maroon got on the board and tied the game with five runs in the fourth. It was a meat-and-potatoes rally: Anthony Galindo drew a lead-off walk, four of the next five batters singled (Jimmy Sneed to left-center; Joe Roche to right field, scoring Anthony; Alvin Gauna, after Marvin Krabbenhoft hit into a 4-6 force, to right-center, Jimmy scoring; and Chunky Wright up the middle, Marvin’s pinch-runner scoring), and Adam Reddell drove in the fourth and fifth runs with a double to right field.
Green got two back in the home half. Morgan Witthoft doubled down the line in left. After Ralph Villela grounded out to shortstsop Jimmy Sneed, Mike Hill tripled to right field, Morgan scoring. Left fielder James Chavana made an excellent catch, coming in and to his right, of Paul Rubin’s opposite-field fly. Mike Garrison, on a tear at the plate, doubled to left-center to drive in Mike Hill. Jack Crosley squared up a pitch and lined it to right, but right at Alvin Gauna, who made the tough catch.
Maroon tied the game with two runs in the top of the fifth. Scott Wright singled with one out. James Chavana hit a sinking line drive to left-center; Mike Garrison very nearly made a great shoestring catch of it, but couldn’t hold on; Scott raced to third, and James took second on the throw. Anthony Galindo’s single to left-center scored them both.
Green put two runners on in the home half, on a one-out single by Tommy Deleon and a walk to Trey Wall, but Chunky Wright got both Daniel Baladez and Morgan Witthoft to fly out to James Chavana in left.
Maroon took the lead for the first time with a run in the top of the sixth. With one out, Alvin Gauna’s base hit to left field skipped past the outfielders and he wound up on third with a triple. Chunky Wright’s single to left brought Alvin in with the go-ahead run. Two-out singles by Jim Malloy (to left field) and Scott Wright (on a pop in front of second baseman Mike Hill, no play possible with the runners off on contact) loaded the bases, but Mike Garrison nabbed James Chavana’s liner to left field to end the threat.
Chunky Wright got two quick outs on flies to start the bottom of the inning, James Chavana catching Ralph Villela’s fly to left, Jim Malloy making a good play on Mike Hill’s drive to right-center. Paul Rubin tripled to the opposite field, gapping James Chavana and Anthony Galindo. Mike Garrison hit a hard grounder down the third-base side; Adam Reddell made a good play to knock it down – while he had no play on Mike, he saved a run, if only temporarily, as Jack Crosley followed with a triple to right field, both Paul and Mike scoring. Jack scored when David Pittard doubled, also to right field. Tommy Deleon grounded back to the box, but Green was leading 10-8 entering the buffet.
Maroon had the heart of its order up, and the first five batters hit safely: Anthony Galindo and Jimmy Sneed doubled, and Joe Roche, Marvin Krabbenhoft, and Alvin Gauna singled. Anthony, Jimmy, and Joe scored, Maroon taking the lead, 11-10. Chunky Wright hit a sharp grounder to third base that David Pittard made a good play on, getting the force at third for the first out of the inning. When Tommy Deleon gave him nothing to hit, Adam Reddell took the walk, loading the bases. Jim Maloy grounded a ball to the 5-6 hole that Ralph Villela got to, throwing to third for the force there, Alvin scoring on the play to make it 12-10. Scott Wright came up and drilled a single to right field – it was Scott’s fourth hit of the game, but the first one he legitimately squared up on. Adam scored on the hit, Maroon’s lead extended to 13-10. James Chavana fouled off a two-strike pitch for the third out.
Green needed three runs to tie. Trey Wall led off and worked the count to 3-2, the two balls coming on flat-pitch calls by plate umpire Jack Kelly. Not gonna lie, the 3-2 pitch looked about as flat as the first two balls, and Trey took it, but Jack called it a strike, later admitting he might have blown the call. It was a big first out. Daniel Baladez popped out to third baseman Adam Reddell. Morgan Witthoft singled to left field, yet another line drive off his hot bat. Ralph Villela grounded a ball to the left side; Adam Reddell made a quick move to his left, fielded the ball cleanly, and threw to Scott Wright at second for the game-ending force. Final score: Maroon 13, Green 10
David Brown’s mom! Gracing us again with her attendance.
12:30 p.m., Blue (1-1) at Purple (1-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Blue 0 0 1 5 5 0 11 Purple 4 4 3 5 3 X 19 Pitchers: Blue – Terry Thompson; Purple – Jeff Stone. Mercenary: Purple – Tommy Gillis. Umpires: home plate – Jack Crosley; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Jeff Fisher and Dale Fugate (each 3 for 3); Purple – Gregory Bied (4 for 4 with a home run), Jim Foelker (4 for 4), Jeff Stone (2 for 2 with a double and two walks), and Mike Velaney (2 for 2 with two walks). Home run: Gregory Bied (inside the park)
Purple built an insurmountable lead in the early going, scoring three or more runs in every inning while shutting out Blue over the first two and allowing just a singleton in the third. Blue got singles by the first two hitters in the first and the first and third hitters in the second, but couldn’t get the lead runner in from third: Jeff Stone got three outs in the air in the first inning, and benefitted from a baserunning mistake in the second, when Lucky Hofman, taking a runner from home, ran past the commit line on his ground-ball force out, resulting in an inning-ending double play.
Purple scored four times in each of the first two innings, the first six batters reaching in the first on four singles and a walk, and in the second rallying on five singles, a walk, and Clint Fletcher’s sacrifice fly to left-center.
Blue got on the board in the third, when Pat Scott, to the strains of “White Lightning,” legged out a triple to left field with one out, then scored on David Brown’s single. Purple won the inning, however, scoring three in the home half. The first two came across on Gregory Bied’s inside-the-park home run to right field. Peter Sundquist followed with a walk and scored from first on Clint Fletcher’s base hit; Clint took second and third on the throw home, but was called out on appeal, I think for missing second base.
Gregory Bied receives his Plucker’s coupon from manager Rick Jensen following his inside-the-park two-run homer in the bottom of the third.
Blue broke through in the fourth inning, scoring five runs on eight singles while making only one out, on Gregory Bied’s fine catch of Dave Brown’s liner to right-center. But Purple matched that with five runs in the home half, taking advantage of a stretch of wildness by Terry Thompson, who walked four of the first five hitters, then gave up a single to Jim Foelker, a sacrifice fly to left-center by Tommy Gillis, and a single by Gregory Bied, his fourth hit in as many at bats.
Blue kept hitting in the fifth, scoring five again, on seven straight hits, the first six singles and the coup de grace Jerry Mylius’s opposite-field, two-run double.
That cut Purple’s lead to 16-11, and when Terry Thompson got two quick outs to start the bottom half, on fly balls to left-center fielder Pat Scott by Peter Sundquist and Clint Fletcher, it looked Blue might get to the buffet within striking distance. But the next six batters reached base, and three scored, on this sequence: Jeff Stone double to right field. Mike Velaney single through the 5-6 hole, Jeff scoring. Rick Jensen walk. Rip Wright single to right-center, loading the bases. Tom Kelm walk, forcing in Mike. Jim Foelker single, completing a 4-for-4 day and driving in Rick. George Romo fielded Tommy Gillis’s grounder and stepped on third for the out there, but Purple’s lead was eight runs entering the buffet.
Blue had the top of its order up, but Jeff Stone retired Pat Scott on a liner to Gregory Bied in right-center, then caught Dave Brown looking at a called strike three. George Brindley and George Romo each singled, but shortstop Rick Jensen ranged to his right and back to take in Terry Thompson’s pop for the final out. Final score: Purple 19, Blue 11
Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Red 4 0 1.000 — 71 56 +15 W4
Purple 2 1 .667 1.5 48 39 + 9 W2
Gray 2 2 .500 2 48 48 0 L1
Maroon 2 2 .500 2 59 64 – 5 W1
Green 1 2 .333 2.5 38 38 0 L1
Blue 1 2 .333 2.5 37 48 -11 L2
Orange 0 3 .000 3 45 53 – 8 L3
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Red 1-0 3-0 0 0-0 2-0 1-0
Purple 1-1 1-0 0 0-0 0-1 0-0
Gray 2-0 0-2 1 0-0 0-0 2-2
Maroon 1-2 1-0 1 0-0 0-1 1-0
Green 0-2 1-0 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Blue 1-1 0-1 1 0-0 0-0 1-0
Orange 0-1 0-2 0 0-0 0-0 0-2
2024 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 0 0 1 1 1 1 4
Gray 1 X 1 0 1 0 1 4
Green 1 0 X 0 0 0 0 1
Maroon 0 2 2 X 0 0 0 4
Orange 0 0 1 0 X 0 1 2
Purple 1 0 1 1 1 X 0 4
Red 0 1 1 1 1 1 X 5
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 3 3 6 3 4 2 3 21
Season home run leaders:
Tim Coles – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Gregory Bied – 1
Tim Bruton – 1
Jack Crosley – 1
Jeff Fisher – 1
Clint Fletcher – 1
Eddie Ortiz – 1
Dave Pittard – 1
Morgan Witthoft – 1
Schedule for Monday April 22:
10:30 a.m.: Maroon (2-2) at Orange (0-3), Blue umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Blue (1-2) at Red (4-0), Maroon umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Purple (2-1) at Green (1-2), Red umpiring
Gray has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: The recent roster adjustments seem to have accomplished their intended result, evening up the relative strength of the league’s seven teams. Red is in first for the session, thanks to its offense (17.75 runs per game), but its run prevention (14 runs against per game) is middling. Gray has the best run prevention (12/game), but also the weakest offense (also 12 runs/game). Green is just a tick ahead/behind that, 12.67 runs scored and allowed per game. All of which is to say, I have no idea who will win Monday’s games. With the weather heating up and injuries starting to be a factor, will mercenaries make a significant difference? Only one thing is certain: Time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Upcoming B League musicians’ performances:
Mike Mordecai has a weekly gig Mondays, 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m., at the Elephant Room: https://elephantroom.com/calendar
Boo Resnick’s band, Hotcakes, will be playing Donn’s Depot this Saturday night, April 20.
Throwback pictures!
Would you just look at these handsome devils: B Leaguers Billy Hill (left) and Dave Berra (right).