B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 7, Issue 6 – March 20, 2025
Correction: I credited David Brown with umpiring home plate in Monday’s 11:30 game, but it was actually Tommy Deleon doing the duty. The Picayune regrets the error.
Weather report: It may be the first day of Spring, but it was a surprisingly chilly morning, temperature in the mid-40s at 9:30 a.m., resulting in game times being pushed back half an hour, with a change to Krieg field 5 due to flooding in right field on field 3 (broken irrigation pipe, somebody suggested, but that may be more speculation than fact.) (“Often in error…”) Temperature at 56 at the start of the first game, humidity at 23%, sunny with a prevailing (10 MPH) and occasionally gusting wind from the north pushing everything to and beyond right field. By the final game it had warmed to 67 degrees, but somehow was even drier (16% humidity) and just as windy. Sunny throughout.
Games of Thursday March 20:
11:00 a.m., Maroon (4-1) at Green (3-1):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 5 5 4 0 2 16 Green 3 0 4 1 4 12 Pitchers: Maroon – Jeff Stone; Green – Johnny Wimpy. Mercenaries: Maroon – Gary Coyle and Steve Hamlett; Green – Boo Resnick. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Tommy Gillis. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – Gary Coyle and Tom Kelm (both 3 for 3), Tony Garcia (2 for 2 with a tripe and two walks), Jim Maloy (3 for 3 with a double), Jeff Stone (4 for 4 with a double and a triple), and Scott Wright (4 for 4); Green – Tim Ccoles (4 for 4 with a triple), Doc Hobar (3 for 3 with a triple and a walk), and Boo Resnick (1 for 1).
Maroon batters came out on fire, scoring 14 of a possible 15 runs and going 19 for 24 with three walks over the first three innings, the 3 through 7 and 9th hitters in the batting order all perfect on the day. Maroon scored five runs on six singles and two walks in the top of the first; five runs on six singles, a walk, and Jeff Stone’s double in the second, all the runs scoring with two out; and four runs on six hits, including a triple by Tony Garcia and a double by Jim Maloy in the third. (Tony scored on his triple, but he had stopped at third and only came in when the relay home mishandled, so I consider it not a home run.)
Orange just couldn’t keep up. They scored three runs on Mike Garrison’s bases-loaded double in the bottom of the first, but were shut out in the second – Donnie Janac led off with a single but was erased on a 6-4-3 double play, Tony Garcia to Scott Wright (outstanding pivot) to Tom Kelm. Trailing by 11 entering the bottom of the third, Orange finally broke through, scoring four times on four hits, Chris Waddell driving in two with a double to left field, a drive over the outfielders and to the fence.
Johnny Wimpy then blanked Maroon in the top of the fourth. Gary Coyle led off with a single, but Johnny got new guy Steve Hamlett to ground into a 5-4 force, and shortstop Ralph Villela made a terrific play to his left to corral Ken Brown’s grounder up the middle, making a quick flip to second baseman Doc Hobar for the force. Bobby Miller completed a very rare-for-him 0-fer by hitting a two-strike foul to left field for the third out.
But Green only managed to shave one run off Maroon’s lead in the bottom half. Jeff Stone got two outs on grounders to open the inning. Doc Hobar and Tim Coles followed with back-to-back triples to right field, Doc scoring. Mike Garrison popped a ball that landed a foot or two behind third base, about a foot fair, then spun backwards toward home plate; it passed third base – that is, it got to the home-plate side of third base – still in fair territory, then spun into foul territory – that is, went foul between third base and home. It was never touched by a fielder. Kudos to umpires Jack Crosley and Tommy Gillis, who made the correct call that this was a fair ball, Mike safe at first with a single. Tim held at third, and both he and Mike were stranded when Johnny Wimpy flied out to left field.
Maroon led by six to start the buffet and needed just three batters to move the game into flip-flop territory: Tony Garcia walked leading off, Scott Wright singled, they both scored on Jeff Stone’s triple, Maroon led by eight, the teams flip-flopped.
Green had itself another good inning in the home half, scoring four times on five singles and Ralph Villela’s walk before running out of outs. The game almost ended when Scott Wright made a terrific play to his backhand of Tim Coles’s hard grounder to the right of second base, but first baseman Tom Kelm didn’t move to first on the play and Scott had nowhere to throw the ball. It was Tim’s fourth hit in as many at bats, and drove in the fourth run of the inning, but only delayed the inevitable. Jeff Stone fielded Mike Garrison’s grounder back to the box and threw to first for the final out. Final score: Maroon 16, Green 12, Maroon maintaining its hold on first place for the session by ending Green’s three-game winning streak.
Noon, Gray (2-2) at Blue (2-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 5 2 1 4 1 13 Blue 2 0 4 5 0 11 Pitchers: Gray – Joe Bernal; Blue – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Gray – Joe Bernal; Blue – Anthony Galindo, Rick Jensen, and Jack Spellman. Umpires: home – Jeff Stone; bases – Jim Maloy. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Jack Crosley (3 for 3 with a triple), Tommy Gillis and Adam Reddell (both 4 for 4), Johnny Lee (3 for 3), and Morgan Witthoft (3 for 3 with a walk); Blue – Tom Bellavia (3 for 3), Tom Brownfield (3 for 3 with a double), Steve Sandall (2 for 2 with a walk), and Don Solberg (3 for 3 with two triples).
This was a very weird game. It felt throughout like Gray should be winning by blowout, but Blue kept it close thanks to some oddball defensive plays and the hitting of the top half of its lineup, and actually had a decent chance in the buffet.
Gray scored five times in the first, on two walks, George Romo’s three-run double, and five singles. (I singled out the top of Blue’s lineup, but Gray’s 1-4 hitters reached base in 15 of their 16 plate appearances, and scored ten of the team’s runs.) That established a lead they never gave up. Blue’s 1-4 hitters went a combined 11 for 11 with a walk, scoring two runs in the first inning, four in the third, and two in the fourth, but the rest of the Gray lineup combined to go just 4 for 17, and the mercenaries were particularly useless, going 1 for 6.
Gray knocked six singles in the top of the second, but came away with only two runs, thanks to what may have been the most ridiculous double play in B League history. Boo Resnick led off with a single. Joe Bernal knocked a single to right field. Jim Foelker initially juggled the ball, and Boo tried for third base, but Jim made a quick throw to second baseman Anthony Galindo, whose throw to third baseman Rick Jensen beat Boo by a step. Joe started for second on the throw to third, but Rick snapped a throw to Jack Spellman covering the bag; Joe retreated, but was caught in a rundown between Spellman and first baseman Tom Brownfield, who eventually tagged Joe out. The play went 10-4-5, 5-6-3-6-3, just as we’d mapped it out beforehand, and there were two out and none on as the top of the lineup came up for the second time. Tommy Gillis, Paul Rubin, Adam Reddell, and Morgan Witthoft each singled, Tommy and Paul scoring.
Joe Bernal retired Blue in order in the bottom of the second, and he may have done it on three pitches. Daniel Baladez in his first at bat of the season grounded to shortstop George Romo, Jack Spellman flied out to Jack Crosley in right field (on the first pitch), and Anthony Galindo flied out to Morgan Witthoft.
Jack Crosley then led off the third with a triple to right-center, his third three-bagger of the week (his teammates were going nuts as he rounded the bases). Jack held on Dave Jaffe’s ground out to shortstop, then scored on Johnny Lee’s single to right-center. Boo Resnick followed with a single up the middle; Johnny Lee’s pinch-runner (Dave, maybe? Not sure) initially stopped at second, but when Tom Bellavia’s throw to the infield deflected off second baseman Anthony Galindo’s glove and continued on toward the first base line, the runner tried for third; first baseman Tom Brownfield recovered the ball and threw to third ahead of the runner, for an 8-4-3-5 out (again, as had been planned).
The top of Blue’s lineup came up in the third and did its thing: Steve Sandall and Tom Bellavia singled; Tom Brownfield doubled them both in with a drive to the fence in left-center; Don Solberg tripled in Tom; and Jim Foelker singled in Don. That cut Gray’s lead to 9-6, though they immediately gave themselves some breathing room by scoring four times in the top of the fourth.
It would have been five except for the best defensive play of the season to date. The top of Gray’s lineup opened the inning with six consecutive singles, three runs scoring. With the bases loaded and none out, Dave Jaffe hit a drive to left field that off the bat looked like a certain extra-base hit. But Steve Sandall turned and raced back and to his left, and at the last moment stuck his glove up high, and made one of the best catches I’ve seen in the 12 seasons I’ve played in this league. And the play wasn’t over. Steve stumbled and fell to the ground; runners Morgan Witthoft at third base and George Romo at second had moved on contact, but now they retreated and tagged up. Morgan scored. Steve got back to his feet and made a strong throw to shortstop, and Jack Spellman’s relay to third baseman Rick Jensen beat George by a step, for an SF-7, 7-6-5 double play, as is outlined in instructional videos.
Four runs were in, and Johnny Lee followed with a single, but a force at second ended the inning.
Blue then scored five times in the home half, all with two out. Daniel Baladez led off with a single, but his pinch-runner was forced at second on Jack Spellman’s weak grounder to second. Anthony Galindo doubled, the one hit of the day by Blue’s mercenaries, Spellman stopping at third. Rick Jensen looped a ball to the right side; second baseman Dave Jaffe, moving to his left, ran it down, a very good play, but with Dave’s momentum taking him away from home, Spellman was able to tag up and score. Then Blue’s 1-4 hitters again came through: Steve Sandall, Tom Bellavia, and Tom Brownfield singled, Steve coming around to score, and Don Solberg hit his second triple in as many at bats, driving in the two Toms with the fourth and fifth runs.
Entering the buffet, Blue improbably trailed by just one run. Singles by Joe Bernal, Tommy Gillis, and Adam Reddell loaded the bases with one out. Morgan Witthoft singled, Joe scoring. George Romo hit a hard grounder to shortstop that Jack Spellman fielded cleanly; my feed to Anthony Galindo was low, but Anthony made a great turn and a strong throw to beat George and complete the 6-4-3 double play, the third DP turned by Blue in the game, the first that was anything like a normally executed play.
As I do, I got my right middle finger in front of a ground ball in the third inning, and tore it up pretty good, which is why I one-handed George’s grounder in the buffet.
Blue needed just two to tie in the bottom of the buffet, but Joe Bernal wasn’t having it. He got Jim Foelker to ground out to third baseman Adam Reddell to start the frame. Tommy Deleon singled. Rip Wright came up and drove a ball to right-center; Morgan Witthoft got an excellent jump on the ball and made a fine running catch to his left. Thinking the ball would fall, Steve Sandall, running for Tommy, was halfway to second when Morgan made the catch; Steve reversed course, but a strong throw to first beat him to the bag, for a game-ending F-9, 9-3 double play (as Gray undoubtedly practices all the time). Final score: Gray 13, Blue 11
1:00 p.m., Purple (2-2) at Orange (0-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Purple 1 1 2 5 1 10 Orange 3 3 5 2 X 13 Pitchers: Purple – Spike Davidson; Orange – Ray Pilgrim. Mercenaries: Orange – Tim Bruton and Adam Reddell. Umpires: home – Tommy Deleon; bases – Steve Sandall. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Larry Fiorentino (3 for 3); Orange – David Brown and Ken Mockler (both 3 for 3).
I only just realized, sitting down to recap this game, that Orange posted its first win of the season today. It was a meat-and-potatoes win, Orange playing well on both sides of the ball.
Ray Pilgrim held Purple to single runs in each of the first two innings. Matt Levitt led off the game with a single, and came around on hits by Larry Fiorentino and Mark Hernandez. Mark’s hit was a hard grounder to the 5-6 hole that glanced off third basesman Adam Reddell’s glove and into left field; Matt scored and Larry tried to follow him in, but was cut down on a relay from (I think) left fielder Clint Fletcher to shortstop David Brown to catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft, who made a clean catch of David’s throw as Larry’s foot was still in the air above the home line – score it 5-7-6-2, another complicated relay in a day full of them.
Orange took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the first on four singles, Terry O’Brien’s double, and Ray Pilgrim’s line-drive sacrifice fly to left field. That was the first out. The second was a fine play by both third baseman Rick Jensen, on Peter Atkins’s grounder, and first baseman Mark Hernandez, who made a sweep tag on Peter for the out.
Purple got just a single run again in the second, Richard Battle drawing a lead-off walk, taking second on Fritz Hensel’s single, third on Mike Velaney’s 6-4 force out, and scoring on Rick Jensen’s base hit.
Rick Jensen suggested I take a picture of Purple in the field, as this was the first time this season the entire roster was in attendance. Also, it documents a rare B League game taking place at Krieg 5.
Orange’s first five batters singled in the second, three scoring. Ray Pilgrim hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but second baseman Mike Velaney was playing him almost directly behind the bag; Mike fielded the ball cleanly, stepped on second for the force there, and alertly threw to third to double up Ken Mockler advancing from second – a smart, heads-up 4u., 4-5 double play by Mike.
Purple finally put up a crooked number in the third, scoring two runs on three singles, Rex Horvath’s walk, and Mark Hernandez’s sacrifice fly to deep left field, hauled in by Clint Fletcher. But Orange increased its lead to 11-4 with five runs on seven singles in the bottom half.
Purple got back into the game with five runs in the top of the fourth on Mike Velaney’s lead-off double, Larry Young’s walk, and four singles. (Larry Fiorentino’s hit drove in Pat Scott from first for the fifth run; probably an extra-base hit, but Larry didn’t need to advance past first.)
Orange’s first four batters in the bottom of the fourth hit safely – Peter Atkins doubled on a fly to right-center that Larry Fiorentino couldn’t hold on to, and Marvin Krabbenhoft, David Brown, and Larry Shupe singled – two runs scoring. Spike Davidson got the next three batters to hit infield pops: Tim Bruton to shortstop Rex Horvath; Adam Reddell to second baseman Larry Young (Larry lost the ball in the sun, but it was declared an infield fly); and Clint Fletcher to Rex, who also battled the sun but managed to make the catch.
That left Purple chasing four runs headed into the buffet. Rex Horvath and Mark Hernandez singled to open the inning, but Ray Pilgrim got the next two batters, Richard Battle and Fritz Hensel, to ground into 6-4 forces. Mike Velaney singled, driving in Rex. Rick Jensen lined a ball to the right side, but second baseman Terry O’Brien grabbed it for the final out. Final score: Orange 13, Purple 10
Standings – Session One:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Maroon 5 1 .833 –- 94 74 +20 W1
Green 3 2 .600 1.5 67 65 + 2 L1
Gray 3 2 .600 1.5 67 69 – 2 W1
Blue 2 3 .400 2.5 67 60 + 7 L2
Red 2 3 .400 2.5 75 75 0 W1
Purple 2 3 .400 2.5 58 69 -11 L1
Orange 1 4 .200 3.5 58 74 -16 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Maroon 2-1 3-0 1 0-0 3-0 1-0
Green 0-2 3-0 0 0-0 1-2 0-0
Gray 1-2 2-0 0 0-0 0-1 0-0
Blue 1-1 1-2 0 0-0 1-0 0-1
Red 1-1 1-2 0 0-0 0-0 0-1
Purple 2-1 0-2 1 0-0 0-0 1-0
Orange 1-2 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 1 X 0 0 1 1 0 3
Green 0 1 X 0 1 0 1 3
Maroon 1 1 1 X 1 1 0 5
Orange 0 0 0 0 X 1 0 1
Purple 1 0 0 0 0 X 1 2
Red 0 0 0 1 1 0 X 2
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 3 2 2 1 4 3 3 18
2025 season home run leaders:
Bobby Miller – 4
Tim Coles – 3
Tim Bruton – 2
Tom Belavia – 1
George Brindley – 1
Donald Drummer – 1
Larry Fiorentino – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Mike Garrison – 1
Rex Horvath – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Chris Waddell – 1
Chunky Wright – 1
Look at the excellent new Beebes being sported by Rick Jensen (left) and Scott Wright (right).
Schedule for Monday March 24:
10:30 a.m.: Gray (3-2) at Red (2-3), Purple umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Purple (2-3) at Green (3-2), Gray umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Orange (1-4) at Blue (2-3), Green umpiring
Maroon has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Penultimate games of Session One. Maroon, which has the bye, has clinched at least a tie for first; only Green has a chance of tying, and will need to win both Monday versus Purple, at 11:30, and next Thursday against Blue to do so. Gray and Red, both striving to finish the session above .500, battle in the first game. Orange will try to keep its momentum going at 12:30 versus Blue. March 20, in addition to being the first day of Spring, is International Day of Happiness. I was happy playing in the sunshine with my softball friends today. Will I be able to maintain my good spirits despite my boo-boo finger? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
League president Anthony Galindo sends word of these items recently left behind from our games. See Anthony about the tee; the other items are in the cart.