B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 4 – March 13, 2025
Weather report: Mostly sunny throughout, with some high clouds during the final game. Temperature started in the low 70s and move through the 80s, close to 90 by the time we finished. Low humidity, around 15%. Light breeze from the south, 6 to 9 MPH.
Games of Thursday March 13:
10:30 a.m., Red (1-2) at Blue (1-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Red 0 0 5 1 3 9 Blue 5 5 1 4 X 15 Pitchers: Red – Donald Drummer; Blue – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Red – Donnie Janac and Chris Waddell; Blue – Ray Pilgrim. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone and Tom Kelm; bases – Jim Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Red – Dale Fugate (3 for 3 with a triple); Blue – George Brindley (2 for 2 with a double and a walk), Tommy Deleon and Jimmy Sneed (both 3 for 3), and Rip Wright (2 for 2 with a walk).
Tommy Deleon shut out Red in each of the first two innings, catching Jack Spellman looking at a called strike three to open the game, a pitch that just clipped the outside edge of the mat, and then stranding Tim Bruton at second after Tim doubled, retiring both Anthony Galindo and Gary Coyle on flies to Don Solberg in right-center field. In the second Dale Fugate tripled with one out, but he, too, was stranded, as Tommy got Jim McAnelly to ground out 4-3 to George Brindley and Donald Drummer to fly out to Steve Sandall in left field.
Meanwhile, Blue scored five times in each of its first two at bats, knocking the ball all over the yard and building an insurmountable lead. They collected five singles and a double by Don Solberg in the first inning while making just one out, and six singles and a double by George Brindley in the second, George’s two-bagger and the last three singles all coming with two out. The first out of the inning came on a 10-4-5 relay, Chris Waddell to Jack Spellman to Gary Coyle, that caught Tommy Deleon’s pinch-runner, George Brindley, trying for third on a single to right.
Red kinda, sorta got back into the game in the third inning, scoring five times on seven hits in the top half, with Anthony Galindo and Gary Coyle bashing back-to-back doubles to drive in three runs, then holding Blue to a single run in the home half. Donald Drummer retired the first two batters, Don Solberg robbed of a Texas League single by Tim Bruton, who ranged into short center field to run down Don’s pop, then allowed consecutive singles to Tommy Deleon, Rip Wright, and Ray Pilgrim (the bottom three batters in the Blue lineup went a combined 7 for 8 with a walk). Tommy’s runner scored on Ray’s hit, but Rip was out at home on a 9-4-6-2 relay, Rolando Rodriguez to Jack Spellman to Tim Bruton to Jim McAnelly, Tim making a terrific throw home from behind second base.
Picayune editor Jack Spellman, at third base in the top of the third, directs his minions aboard the Goodyear blimp to take some high-resolution pictures of the day’s actions. They produced nothing worth publishing. Stupid minions. [Photo credit: Scott Wright]
But Red effectively gave that back an inning later, managing just one run on three singles in the top of the fourth, and allowing Blue four runs on five singles and two walks in the bottom half, which ended with shortstop Tim Bruton making another outstanding defensive play, moving to his left to corral Ray Pilgrim’s hard grounder up the middle and flipping to second for the force.
Red was chasing nine runs entering the buffet. The first four batterrs singled and advanced one base each, Anthony Galindo scoring. Jim Foelker made a good play on Jim McAnelly’s fly to right field for the first out. Donald Drummer singled, Gary Coyle and Roland Rodriguez scoring. Chris Waddell flied out to Tom Bellavia in left-center for out number two. A single by Donnie Janac loaded the bases for the top of the lineup, but Jack Spellman got under a pitch and flied it out to right field; Jim Foelker barely had to move to gather it in for the final out. Final score: Blue 15, Red 9
Today was Tommy Deleon’s birthday, and his son Ryan came out to watch him pitch Blue to victory.
11:30 a.m., Maroon (3-0) at Orange (0-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 5 2 1 5 X 13 Orange 0 1 1 2 7 11 Pitchers: Maroon – Tom Kelm; Orange – Gary Bowles. Mercenaries: Orange – Tommy Gillis. Umpires: home – Donald Drummer; bases – Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Ken Brown (3 for 3 with two doubles), Tom Fink (2 for 2), Tony Garcia and Tom Kelm (both 3 for 3 with a double), and Jeff Stone (3 for 3); Orange – Tommy Gillis (3 for 3) and Ray Pilgrim (4 for 4 with a double).
Orange had trouble generating offense in the early going, stranding two runners in each of the first three innings while scoring just single runs in the second (Tommy Gillis singled in Larry Shupe) and third (Daniel Carvajal’s sacrifice fly delivered Terry O’Brien). Maroon meanwhile took a decisive lead, scoring five times on seven singles while making just one out in the first, and adding two more in the second on two singles and three consecutive doubles, by Ken Brown, Bobby Miller, and Tony Garcia. Maroon only got two runs from those eight total bases due to two outs on the bases: new guy Tom Fink overran second base and was tagged out (I didn’t see the play, so I may not be describing it accurately) on Ken’s hit, and Bobby Miller was thrown out 8-6-5, Clint Fletcher to David Brown to Ray Pilgrim, trying to stretch his double into a triple.
Maroon scored a single run in the top of the third on Tom Kelm’s two-out RBI single, and led 8-2 entering the fourth.
Know Your B-Leaguer: Tom Fink, leading off the fourth inning. Marvin Krabbenhoft is catching for Orange. Tom made his B League debut today and went 2 for 2, his single in the fourth sparking a five-run rally, as Ken Brown followed with his second double of the game and Bobby Miller lofted a fly to fairly deep right field. Larry Shupe made a good catch of the ball, at his shoetop, and wound up on the ground, which allowed both Tom and Ken to score – a rare two-run sacrifice fly for Bobby, who dove in four runs in this game after knocking in eight for Maroon on Monday. Five of the next six batters singled to push in the third, fourth, and fifth runs.
Orange got two runs back in the home half, on Gary Bowles’s second walk and four singles.
With Maroon leading 13-4, the teams flip-flopped for the buffet. Orange, a bit late, found its offense, knocking nine hits, three of them doubles (by Larry Shupe, Terry O’Brien, and Ray Pilgrim), the last seven coming in a row after two were out. Seven runs scored, making for a respectable final score: Maroon 13, Orange 11
12:30 p.m., Gray (1-1) at Purple (1-1):
1 2 3 BUFFET FINAL Gray 3 3 5 1 12 Purple 1 5 3 0 9 Pitchers: Gray – Lupe Albrado (innings 1-2) and Jack Kelly (innings 3-buffet); Purple – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Purple – Anthony Galindo, Ray Pilgrim, and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Jack Crosley, Dave Jaffe, and Johnny Lee (all 3 for 3) and Adam Reddell (3 for 3 with a double); Purple – Fritz Hensel (1 for 1 with a walk),Rick Jensen (2 for 2), Matt Levitt (2 for 2 with a walk and two doubles), Ray Pilgrim (2 for 2 with a double), and Pat Scott (2 for 2 with a walk).
Gray jumped to a quick lead,scoring three runs on five singles in the top of the first, Gray starting pitcher Lupe Albrado then holding Purple to one run in the home half – Matt Levitt led off with a double, took third on Larry Fiorentino’s fly to Morgan Witthoft in right-center, and tagged and scored on Mark Hernandez’s fly to Jack Crosley in right.
Gray scored three times again in the second, loading the bases on singles for Adam Reddell, who cleared them with a ringing two-out double to left-center. Purple came roaring back to tie the game in the bottom half, scoring five runs without making an out on three walks, three singles, and Ray Pilgrim’s double.
Gray responded with a five-run rally of its own in the fourth, knocking eight singles.
Jack Kelly then took over on the mound for Gray in the bottom of the fourth. Larry Fiorentino greeted him with a triple to right field and scored on Mark Hernandez’s second sacrifice fly, this one to Tommy Gillis in left field. Four of the next five batters singled, and two scored, but Jack stranded two runners by getting Anthony Galindo to foul off a two-strike pitch.
Time ran out just as the inning ended – I thought we were moving on and off the field pretty promptly, but we only got four innings in – and the game proceeded to the buffet. Gray got five singles in the top of the frame, but came away with just one run: George Romo was forced out 9-6, Anthony Galindo to Jack Spellman, on Johnny Lee’s base hit, and Gray left the bases loaded, so they went into the bottom of the inning protecting a three-run lead.
Jack Kelly blanked Purple to earn himself the save. Jack Spellman led off and flied out to Dave Jaffe in right field. (Rick Jensen’s pre-game pep talk to Purple’s mercenaries backfired badly.) Matt Levitt hit his second double and advanced to third on Pat Scott’s single, both of them completing perfect days at the plate. But Jack got Larry Fiorentino to hit a two-strike foul and Mark Hernandez to pop up to shortstop George Romo for the final out. Final score: Gray 12, Purple 9
Standings – Session One:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Maroon 4 0 1.000 –- 67 47 +20 W4
Blue 2 1 .667 1.5 49 36 +13 W1
Green 2 1 .667 1.5 38 34 + 4 W2
Gray 2 1 .667 1.5 39 41 – 2 W2
Purple 1 2 .333 2.5 37 49 -12 L1
Red 1 3 .250 3 60 64 – 4 L3
Orange 0 4 .000 4 45 64 -19 L4
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Maroon 2-0 2-0 1 0-0 2-0 1-0
Blue 1-0 1-1 0 0-0 1-0 0-1
Green 0-1 2-0 0 0-0 1-1 0-0
Gray 1-1 1-0 0 0-0 0-1 0-0
Purple 1-1 0-1 1 0-0 0-0 1-0
Red 1-1 0-2 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Orange 0-2 0-2 0 0-0 0-2 0-0
2025 total victories (read across) and losses (read down) – includes Session 1 and the end-of-season tourney:
Blue Gray Green Maroon Orange Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 0 1 0 0 0 1 2
Gray 0 X 0 0 1 1 0 2
Green 0 0 X 0 1 0 1 2
Maroon 1 1 0 X 1 1 0 4
Orange 0 0 0 0 X 0 0 0
Purple 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1
Red 0 0 0 0 1 0 X 1
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 1 1 1 0 4 2 3 12
2025 season home run leaders:
Bobby Miller – 4
Tim Bruton – 2
George Brindley – 1
Tim Coles – 1
Larry Fiorentino – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Schedule for Monday March 17:
10:30 a.m.: Blue (2-1) at Purple (1-2), Green umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Green (2-1) at Gray (2-1), Blue umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Red (1-3) at Maroon (4-0), Grayumpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Orange has the bye and gets to regroup. Red, winless since Opening Day, will try to hand Maroon its first loss of the season at 12:30. (Monday is Evacuation Day in Massachusetts, which I’m hoping will confer an advantage for New Englanders.) Sure and it must be that Green will defeat Gray at 11:30 on St. Patrick’s Day. I have nothing witty to say about Blue and Purple at 10:30.
Keggy’s Korner:
While we’ve been dealing with the vicissitudes of Austin’s late winter weather, some have decamped for pleasant times elsewhere.
Mark Dolan and his lovely wife Melissa have been enjoying spring training with the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter, Florida.
And Sam and Jeff Broussard, lower right, have been vacationing in Paris, France.