B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 24 – June 8, 2023
Games of June 5 were cancelled due to heavy overnight rain.
Weather: A bit sticky in the early going, 83 degrees with 63% humidity and partly cloudy at the start of the 11:30 game. A front arrived during the 12:30 game, bringing a light rain, with lightning to the west, but it actually cooled things down pretty pleasantly, and we were able to complete the day’s play. And our air quality was better than New York City’s, am I right?
Injured list:
Blue team: Stan Fisher – Dupuytren’s contracture
Gold team: Jeff Stone – broken left pinky finger
Maroon team: Rex Horvath – sciatica; Chris Villareal – hamstring
Purple team: Tommy Deleon – strained quadricep
Alvin Gauna – broken finger
Games of Thursday June 8:
10:30 a.m., Blue (5.5 – 8.5) at Purple (3.5 – 10.5):
1 2 3 4 5 6 BUFFET FINAL Blue 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 4 Purple 0 5 2 0 2 5 X 14 Pitchers: Blue – Spike Davidson; Purple – Joe Bernal. Mercenaries: Blue – Hal Darman, Jack Spellman, Mike Velaney, and Scott Wright; Purple – Joe Bernal and Rick Jensen. Umpires: home plate – Mick Parker; bases – Trey Wall. Perfect at the plate: Blue – Scott Wright (3 for 3); Purple – Jim Aaron (4 for with a double and a homerun), Gil Delossantos (2 for 2 with a walk). Homerun: Jim Aaron (over the fence)
Purple picked up Joe Bernal to pitch and rolled to a 14-4 victory behind him, snapping the team’s five-game losing streak. In a briskly played game that saw time remaining on the clock as the teams began the seventh/buffet inning, Joe allowed only 14 hits in seven innings of work, only one – Anthony Galindo’s triple in the top of the fifth – going for extra bases, and did not walk a batter. Neither team scored in the first inning, Jim Aaron starting a 6-4-3 double play, Rick Jenson on the pivot, to end the top half, Purple going out in order in the bottom. Blue scored the game’s first run on three two-out singles in the top of the second, but Purple took control with five runs in its half, Jim Aaron’s double followed by six singles, Blue making only one out in the frame.
Joe Bernal pitched a scoreless top of the third, working around a two-out single by Morgan Withhoft (line-drive hits his first three at bats), and Purple added two more runs in the home half, as Don Solberg led off with a triple and three of the next four batters singled. Blue got two runs on four consecutive one-out singles in the top of the fourth before another 6-4-3 double play ended the inning. Purple went out 1-2-3 in the home half.
With a single run in the top of the fifth (Anthony Galindo’s triple, followed by Morgan Withhoft’s third single), Blue cut Purple’s lead to 7-4. But they got no closer. Jim Aaron knocked a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth, a drive that hit off the top of the fence in left-center and bounced over, and then capped a five-run rally in the top of the sixth with his fourth hit of the game (and Purple’s seventh hit of the inning), an RBI single. Blue was unable to get a runner past first in either the sixth (Scott Wright singled with two out) or the seventh (Richard Battle singled with one out, but Joe Bernal retired Anthony Galindo on a drive to deep left field and Morgan Witthoft on a game-ending pop to second baseman Rick Jensen.) Final score: Purple 14, Blue 4
With Billy Hill (far left) and Larry Bunton (far right) looking on, Gil Delossantos presents Jim Aaron with a Pluckers coupon. Gil (2 for 2 with a walk) and Jim (4 for 4 with a double and a homerun) were both perfect on the day.
11:30 a.m., Gray (7-7) at Red (7-6):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gray 4 5 5 0 5 X 19 Red 1 2 0 1 4 0 8 Pitchers: Gray – Greg Lloyd; Red – Jack Kelly. Mercenaries: Gray – Scott Wright; Red – Richard Battle and Gil Delossantos. Umpires: home plate – Jack Crosley; bases – Adam Reddell. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Daniel Carvajal, David Kruse, and Mick Parker (all 4 for 4); Red – David Ferley and Paul Rubin (each 3 for 3) and Anthony Galindo (2 for 2).
Gray came out hitting and really never stopped, scoring 14 of a possible 15 runs over the first three innings, and then five more in the fifth, prompting a flip-flop after Red batted in the bottom half. Every batter in the Gray lineup had at least two hits, with 1-2 hitters Mick Parker and David Kruse and sixth hitter Daniel Carvajal all going 4 for 4. For the game Gray hitters went 29 for 39 (.744), which… good luck trying to defend that. Though Red did make one of the best defensive plays of the day in the top of the fifth inning, when right fielder Richard Battle gunned down Trey Wall trying to score the fifth run of the inning from second on Rick Jensen’s single, making a perfect throw to catcher Sam Baker that just beat Trey, whose foot came down on the line a fraction of a second after Sam made the catch. Gray still wound up scoring five times in the inning, Jim McAnelly delivering a two-out RBI line-drive single to left field.
Gray hurler Greg Lloyd did an excellent job of keeping Red in check, holding Red batters to 12 hits and two walks (to consecutive batters, Sam Baker and Richard Battle, in the bottom of the second) in 30 plate appearances (.429 average, .466 on-base percentage). Those walks set up Anthony Galindo’s two-run single, which brought in David Ferley (perfect 3 for 3 on the day) and Sam Baker. David doubled leading off the bottom of the fourth and scored, then singled in Red’s final run of the game in the fifth, after Daniel Baladez tripled. Four runs in that frame cut Gray’s lead to 19-8, not close enough to stop a flip-flop. Red went out 1-2-3 in the buffet. Final score: Red , Gray 19, Red 8, Gray finishing the session (they have the bye on Monday) with an 8-7 record, prompting cheers for mediocrity.
Quote of the Day: Rick Jensen: “The St. Crispin’s Day Speech* worked again.”
* This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
12:30 p.m., Gold (9-4) at Green (6-8):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gold 4 3 5 3 0 4 19 Green 2 0 5 0 5 2 14 Pitchers: Gold – Jack Kelly; Green – Greg Lloyd. Mercenaries: Gold – Daniel Baladez, Jack Kelly, and Don Solberg; Green – Greg Lloyd. Umpires: home plate – Scott Wright; bases – David Ferley. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Joe Dayoc (4 for 4) and Don Solberg (4 or 4 with two triples); Green – Mike Hill (4 for 4). Homeruns: Tim Bruton and Jack Spellman (both inside the park).
Concern at the beginning of the game about whether we’d be able to get it played, with storm clouds rolling in from the west and our radar apps hinting at a deluge, but we played through to completion. Tim Bruton led off the game with a drive to right field that rolled to the fence, Tim circling the bases to score the game’s first run on the day’s first inside-the-park homer. Gold added three more in the inning (James Chavana doubled in Jack McDermott, Mike Garrison scored on Larry Young’s grounder to shortstop, and Joe Dayoc started off his 4-for-4 day with an RBI single that scored James), and wound up never relinquishing that early lead.
Green’s first four batters singled in the bottom of the first, Clint Fletcher scoring on Gary Coyle’s hit and Mike Hill on Jeff Fisher’s sacrifice fly to right fielder Don Solberg, but the rally was cut short when second baseman Tim Bruton made a terrific play on Ray Pilgrim’s hard grounder just to the right of second base – Tim fielded the ball cleanly and in a single smooth motion stepped on the bag for the force at second and fired to first for the 4u., 4-3 double play.
Gold built up its lead with three runs in the second (Don Solberg led off with a triple, four singles followed), retiring Green in order in the bottom half. Both teams scored five times in the third, Gold on six singles and Daniel Baladez’s sacrifice fly, Green on seven singles. Don Solberg tripled again in the fourth inning, driving in two runs; he was held up at third by Dave Berra, coaching third base, and a good thing, too, as Clint Fletcher’s relay home was right on the money. Don wound up scoring on Daniel Baladez’s double. Jack Kelly worked a scoreless bottom half, working around singles by Boo Resnick and Mike Hill, getting three outs on grounders to shortstop. (One of those was hit by Clint Fletcher, a very hard one-hopper that I fielded cleanly and then flipped to Tim Bruton, a good leading throw, and Tim made a strong throw to first, and holy cow, Clint beat that relay easily – I don’t think I realized until that moment just how fast Clint runs.)
It was 15-7 in favor of Gold entering the last five-run inning. Gold did not score in the top half, Greg Lloyd working around Mike Garrison’s one-out single, and then Green got back into the game with five runs on eight singles in the home half. That made it 15-12 heading into the buffet. Gold got a run on three singles to start the frame, by Joe Dayoc, Jack Kelly, and Don Solberg (Joe and Don completing perfect games at the plate). Daniel Baladez popped out to Greg Lloyd for the first out. Tim Bruton grounded to shortstop Mike Hill, who got the force at second, Jack Kelly’s pinch-runner scoring when Tim beat the relay to first. Jack Spellman then lined a ball to center field, directly at left-center fielder Jeff Fisher, playing in straightaway center; Jeff broke in a step, then tried to reverse, but the ball carried over him and rolled to the fence, and Spellman circled the bases for two-run inside-the-park homerun, Gold’s final runs scoring the same way as its first.
Gold skipper Dave Berra, center, presents Tim Bruton (left) and Jack Spellman (right) with Pluckers coupons for their inside-the-park homeruns. Not gonna lie, it’s fun being on the receiving end.
Chasing seven runs, Green got two on four singles before running out of outs, the game ending with Jack McDermott in left-center corralling Boo Resnick’s fly. Final score: Gold 19, Green 14
Standings – Session Two:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Maroon 10 4 .714 — 158 135 +23 L1
Gold 10 4 .714 — 173 145 +28 W4
Gray 8 7 .533 2.5 187 152 +35 W3
Red 7 7 .500 3 154 173 -19 L2
Green 6 9 .400 4.5 160 182 -22 L1
Blue 5.5 9.5 .367 5 163 187 -24 L4
Purple 4.5 10.5 .300 6 159 180 -21 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Maroon 5-1 5-3 1 0-0 2-1 3-1
Gold 5-2 5-2 4 2-0 2-0 5-2
Gray 3-3 5-4 2 0-2 4-2 2-3
Red 4-3 3-4 1 0-0 2-3 1-1
Green 3-5 3-4 1 0-1 2-3 1-1
Blue 1.5-6.5 4-3 0 1.5-0.5 2-2 0-1
Purple 3-6 1.5-4.5 0 0.5-0.5 0-3 0-3
[Purple and Blue tied their game of May 11; it is counted as half a win and half a loss in the standings.]
2023 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 2 2 1 0 2.5 1 8.5
Gold 2 X 2 4 1 1 1 11
Gray 2 1 X 2 1 1 3 10
Green 1 0 1 X 1 3 3 9
Maroon 2 2 1 3 X 3 1 12
Purple 1.5 1 2 0 1 X 1 6.5
Red 2 1 1 1 2 2 X 9
_____________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 10.5 7 9 11 6 12.5 10 66
Schedule for Monday June 12:
10:30 a.m.: Purple (4.5 – 10.5) at Green (6-9), Gold umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Gold (10-4) at Maroon (10-4), Green umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Blue (5.5 – 9.5) at Red (7-7), Maroon umpiring
Gray has the bye – players from that team will have priority out of the bucket.
Preview: This will be the final set of games for Session Two. Purple, having ended its losing streak today, looks to maintain its momentum in the 10:30 game, versus Green; a Purple victory combined with a Blue loss to Red at 12:30 will result in Purple and Blue tying for last place for the session. Red with a victory will tie idle Gray for third place for the session. The session title will be decided between Gold and Maroon at 11:30, both teams entering with 10-4 records. Who will finish first? Only one thing is certain: time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
B League president Jack McDermott checks in:
As most of you know, we changed the courtesy runner from the plate rule last year to limit the runner to a single only. The rule states exceptions for an over the fence home run, a ground rule double, or as awarded by the umpire for any obstruction. The rule was written by a nonprofessional rule writer, (yours truly), and that last part was supposed to be a catch all, apparently it didn’t catch anything. The following will serve as an official amendment to the exceptions:
for an over the fence home run, the runner may advance all four bases with a run scored, for a ground rule double, the runner will be awarded 2nd base, an extra base may be awarded by the umpire for any obstruction or for an overthrown ball that lands out of the field of play, (into the dugout or thrown over the fence).
Thanks,
Jack McD
And here’s C League’s Bruce Barnett:
Good Morning B League Austin Senior Softball Players
Thursday June 15th we will have the FIRST ANNUAL WELCOME BACK BURGER COOKOUT. Hopefully if it is successful we can do this once each year to rekindle friendships and share a burger or hotdog with our fellow softball friends from years past.
PLEASE CONTACT ANY FORMER SOFTBALL PLAYERS AND INVITE THEM TO JOIN US!
The following will be provided. Burgers, Hotdogs, buns for both, cheese, mustard, mayo, ketchup, onions, tomatoes, spicy peppers for those that want spicy burgers, plates, forks, spoons, paper towel for napkins, bottles of water. If you want to bring something to share please let me know so I can provide table space.
If you want to bring something to share, please do, but please let me know via reply or text (512-923-4409) what you will bring and if you need a power plug so we can provide enough table space and electrical plugs if needed.
I hope to have 2 grills available propane and electric (if I can get a small generator to use).
Please reply with any questions, comments or concerns regarding the FIRST ANNUAL WELCOME BACK BURGER COOKOUT!
This is not for donations – as previously mentioned, you have $3316 in the Bobby Fund to help fellow softball players. If you want to donate anyway, it will not be refused, but that’s not the intention of this burger cookout.
Your Burger Cook
Bruce Barnett
512-923-4409