B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 5, Issue 6 – March 23, 2023
Correction: In the buffet inning of the March 13 Red-Blue game at 11:30 it was Anthony Galindo, not Larry Fiorentino, who was thrown out at home after receiving conflicting instructions from the dugout (GO!) and the third-base coach (NO!). The Picayune regrets the error.
Games of Thursday March 16 and 20 were cancelled – March 16 due to forecast thunderstorms, March 20 due to cold. Today’s games were moved to Krieg field 8 due to sogginess at Krieg 3 and 4.
Weather: Pleasant temperature, 71 degrees at the start of the 10:30 game, only rising a bit, to 73 degrees, at 12:30. Started overcast and muggy (88% humidity), a lot of the cloud cover burned off and it was mostly sunny by the end of the third game, the humidity dropping to 83%.
Great set of games today, each a one-run contest walked off by the home team – the first three walk-offs of 2023 – with Purple posting its first victory (leaving us with no undefeated and no winless teams) in the season’s first extra-inning game.
Also, B League First Lady Lisa McDermott made her first appearance of the season.
Games of Thursday March 23:
10:30 a.m., Gray (2-1) at Green (1-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Gray 0 0 5 4 2 11 Green 1 0 5 5 1 12 Pitchers: Gray – Jerry Mylius; Green – Chunky Wright. Mercenaries: Green – James Chavana. Umpires: home plate – Dave Berra; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Gray – Frank Delmonte, Tom Brownfield, and Greg Lloyd (each 3 for 3); Green – Donnie Janac and Ray Pilgrim (each 3 for 3 with a double), Jeff Fisher (3 for 3), and James Chavana (2 for 2).
A pitchers’ duel in the early going, Chunky Wright punching out three batters while blanking gray over the first two innings, Jerry Mylius fanning four and allowing just a single run in the bottom of the first, when Donnie Janac doubled with one out and scored on Jeff Fisher’s two-out single to right. The offenses ignited in the third, each team scoring five times in that frame, Gray on five singles, Rick Kahn’s run-scoring ground out, and Jim Maloy’s two-run sacrifice fly (David Kruse scored from third and Mick Parker, pinch-running for Tom Brownfield, scored from second), Green on seven singles without making an out. (James Chavana, making his B League debut, led off with his a single to left in his first at bat.)
James Chavana singles in his first B League at bat.
Gray got four more runs in the fourth, as the first five batters singled, three scoring; the fourth run came in on Rick Jensen’s grounder to third baseman Clint Fletcher, who threw to second for the force. Clint then took hits away from both Mick Parker, whose liner popped out of Clint’s mitt, only to be re-caught, and David Kruse, on another liner following Frank Delmonte’s third single of the game. Green reclaimed the lead with five runs in its half, on four singles, Mike Hill’s walk, and Clint Fletcher’s double. Jeff Fisher drove in the fifth run with his third hit of the game, putting Green ahead 11-9.
Gray scored two quick runs in the top of the buffet to tie the game: Tom Brownfield led off with a single and scored on Rick Kahn’s triple, and Rick scored on Jim Maloy’s second sacrifice fly of the game, to left-center field, where Jeff Fisher made a sterling catch for the first out. The second out came when Alex Valles, taking a runner from the plate, ran past the commit line after hitting a grounder to shortstopo. Greg Lloyd and Jerry Mylius followed with singles to put runners on the corners, but Chunky Wright made a good play on Trey Wall’s single back to the box, throwing to first for the third out.
Green came up needing one run to win. Buddy Gaswint led off with a double to the fence in center field, and took third on Ray Pilgrim’s single, on a hard grounder to third that Trey Wall was able to knock down, keeping Buddy from scoring. Jeff Broussard’s pop to the right side fell in front of Gray second baseman Tom Brownfield, whose throw to first got past first baseman Frank Delmonte, Buddy racing home to score the winning run on the play. Final score: Green 12, Gray 11
11:30 a.m., Gold (1-1) at Maroon (1-1):
1 2 3 4 5 BUFFET FINAL Gold 1 3 0 2 5 1 12 Maroon 4 3 3 0 1 2 13 Pitchers: Gold – Joe Roche; Maroon – Tom Kelm. Mercenaries: Gold – Larry Fiorentino and Jim Maloy; Maroon – Sam Baker and Anthony Galindo. Umpires: home plate – Rick Jensen; bases – Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Gold – Mike Garrison (3 for 3 with a walk); Maroon – Peter Sundquist (3 for 3 with a double and two walks), Rex Horvath (3 for 3 with two doubles and a walk), and Scott Wright (3 for 3 with w walk).
Hard-fought game between two evenly matched squads. Maroon held the advantage in the early, taking the lead with four runs in the bottom of the first on five singles and two walks. Gold shortstop Tim Bruton made a terrific play that ultimately kept the fifth run from scoring. With one out and runners on first and second, Larry Shupe hit a hard grounder up the middle that Joe Roche got a piece of, deflecting it to Tim’s backhand; Tim was able to reverse his momentun, dive to his left to grab the ball, and flip to second for the force. Singles by Tom Kelm and Anthony Galindo got the fourth run in, but Tim was able to handle Sam Baker’s grounder and get an inning-ending force at second.
Gold had scored a single run in the top of the first when Mike Garrison walked with one out and came around on singles by Jack McDermott and Jack Spellman. Tom Kelm got two quick outs on grounders to the left side to start the second, but Gold managed to get three runs across on five consecutive singles, the first two by mercenaries Larry Fiorentino and Jim Maloy. Maroon reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the second with three runs on a lead-off walk by Peter Sundquist, a double by Rex Horvath, and three singles. Rex then turned a 6u., 6-3 double play after Joe Roche led off the third with a single. Gold wound up not scoring in that frame, and Maroon extended its advantage to 10-4 with three runs in its half, back-to-back doubles by Peter Sundquist and Rex Horvath the big hits.
Gold got back into the game starting in the fourth, scoring two runs in the top of the inning on Tim Bruton’s double and three singles, and keeping Maroon off the board in the bottom half, which ended with second baseman Larry Young making a fine play on Sam Baker’s grounder to his right, Larry bare-handing the ball and flipping to Tim Bruton for the force at second. Gold then scored five times in the top of the fifth inning, nine batters coming to the plate, eight reaching base, the only out coming on Tim Bruton’s run-scoring fly to left. That put Gold ahead 11-10. In the bottom half Peter Sundquist walked and came around with the tying run on singlels by Rex Horvath and Scott Wright (four time reaching base safely for each of them). Joe Roche retired the next three hitters, on an infield fly back to the mound, a liner to shortstop, and a force from shortstop to second.
So it was tied 11-11 entering the buffet. Larry Young led off by slashing a liner to the right side, only to be robbed of a hit by first baseman Johnny Lee, who made a tremendous leaping snag. (Johnny had robbed Joe Roche of a hit in the first inning on a nearly identical play). Joe Dayoc flied out to left for the second out. Oscar Ledesma knocked a single to center to extend the inning, and his pinch-runer (Jack McDermott, I think) scored from first on Larry Fiorentino’s second double of the game. Jim Maloy lofted a fly to deep left-center, but Peter Sundquist tracked it down for the third out.
Maroon came up needing one to tie, two to win. Larry Shupe led off with a single on a grounder to second base. Tom Kelm singled to left. Anthony Galindo drove a ball that one-hopped the fence in center field for a double, Larry scoring the tying run, Tom stopping at third. The runners held on Sam Baker’s grounder back to the box. Peter Sundquist then stepped up and smacked a no-doubt game-winning RBI single to left field. Final score: Maroon 13, Gold 12
12:30 p.m., Red (2-1) at Purple (0-2):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET EXTRA FINAL Red 4 0 5 5 5 0 19 Purple 5 4 5 0 5 1 20 Pitchers: Red – Jack Kelly; Purple – Rex Horvath. Mercenaries: Red – Larry Fiorentino; Purple - Reed Durant, Rex Horvath, and Peter Sundquist. Umpires: home plate – Scott Wright and Tom Kelm; bases – Tom Kelm and Larry Shupe. Homeruns: Ken Mockler (over the fence), Rex Horvath (over the fence), David Ferley (inside the park), and Larry Fiorentino (inside the park). Perfect at the plate: Red – David Ferley (3 for 3 witht a homerun and a walk) and Donald Drummer (2 for 2 with a double and a walk); Purple – Gil Delossantos and Tony Garcia (each 4 for 4).
The first two games were just a warm-up for this one, a tremendous battle. Red scored four times in the first, the last three on Ken Mockler’s homerun over the fence to center field, Ken’s first homer of 2023. (Krieg 8’s fences our 300 feet out, so no cheap shots here.)
Ken Mockler receives his first Plucker’s gift certificate of the 2023 season.
Purple came right back with five runs in its half, on five singles, a walk, and an over-the-fence homerun by Rex Horvath. Jack Kelly had almost gotten out of the inning when the preceding batter, Larry Bunton, grounded to third with one out and the bases loaded. Daniel Baladez fielded the ball cleanly and tagged third for the out there, then threw home. If Donald Drummer was maybe an inch taller, he might have been able to stretch for the throw, high and a bit to his left, while maintaining contact with the matt; but he’s not and he couldn’t and Mike Mordecai was safe and Rex came up.
Rex Horvath receives his Plucker’s gift certificate after hitting his first homerun of the season.
Quote of the Day (I): Rex Horvath: “Be sure to note it was wind-aided.” [Editor’s note: see above re: distance to the fence.]
Quote of the Day (II): Don Solberg: “I ain’t gonna hit one out ’cause I don’t like wings.”
Donald Drummer and Scott Sovereen drew walks to start the second, but Rex Horvath got out of the inning without damage, inducing a two-strike foul from Jack Kelly and a grounder to first base from Larry Fiorentino that Adam Reddell turned into a picture-perfect 3u., 3-6 double play, taking his time to make an accurate throw to shortstop Tony Garcia. Purple scored four times in the bottom half on a lead-off walk to Peter Sundquist and five singles, extending its lead to 9-4.
Each team scored five times in the third, Red on six straight one-out hits, the big blow David Ferley’s inside-the-park homerun that split the left and left-center fielders. The final two runs came across on Hal Darman’s knock to left-center that would have been a double if Hal had been running for himself; instead it was technically an out, as Hal ran past the commit line, though the runners ahead of him did come around to score. Purple came right back, scoring its five with two out: Reed Durant knocked a sacrifice fly to left-center for the first run an second out, Gil Delossantos and Tony Garcia followed with singles, Don Solberg singled, and Adam Reddell and Mike Mordecai took advantage of deep-positioned outfielders by dropping pop-fly singles just past the infield.
Red posted another five-spot in the top of the fourth, on six more hits and a walk to Gregory Bied. The hits included Donald Drummer’s lead-off double and Larry Fiorentino’s two-run triple. Jack Kelly then worked a 1-2-3 bottom half, which meant the game was tied 14-14 entering the buffet.
Red’s first four batters singled to start the top half, two scoring. Scott Sovereen’s sacrifice fly to Reed Durant in left field brought in a third run. Rex Horvath fanned Jack Kelly for out number two. Larry Fiorentino came up and ripped a liner to left field, to the fence, and legged out a two-run inside-the-park homerun, putting Red up 19-14. Gregory Bied singled, but Rex punched out Paul Rubin for his fourth strikeout of the game.
David Ferley and Larry Fiorentino both had the same reaction to being awarded Pluckers coupons: “You’re giving these out for inside-the-park homeruns?” Hell yes.
Chasing five, Purple had its first six batters reach base to start the bottom half, on five singles and Peter Sundquist’s second base on balls, four runs scoring. Adam Reddell drove in the tying run with a sacrifice fly to left field. Mike Mordecai’s third single of the game advanced Don Solberg, the potential winning run, to second. Don Roets grounded to second, with Scott forced out, Don Solberg advancing to third. Marvin Krabbenhoft lofted a fly to left-center; Gregory Bied got a good jump on the ball and was able to move in and catch it.
On to the first extra-inning of the 2023 season. Paul Rubin started the top of the inning at second base, with one out. George Brindley and David Ferley took one-pitch walks, loading the bases. Ken Mockler swung and popped Rex’s pitch in front of the mound; plate umpire Tom Kelm called it an infield fly immediately and loudly and clearly, for out number two. When the ball fell in front of Rex untouched, Paul took off from third – I didn’t get a chance to ask him, but I think Paul had heard the infield-fly call, was just trying to make something happen. In the event, Rex pounced on the ball and made a good throw home to catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft, Paul out by a couple steps to end the inning.
Marvin then started the bottom of the inning at second with one out. Larry Bunton grounded a ball to first baseman Donald Drummer; Larry’s pinch-runner beat Donald to first on a very close play, Marvin able to take third. Rex Horvath came up and flied to David Ferley in medium right-center; Marvin I’m pretty sure won’t mind my saying he’s not a fast runner, but he tagged up and got himself across the home line before the relay home to score the winning run. Final score: Purple 20, Red 19
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Standings – Session One:
Games Runs Runs Run W/L
W L Win %: behind: for: allowed: differential: streak:
Blue 2 1 .667 — 42 34 + 8 L1
Maroon 2 1 .667 — 40 42 – 2 W2
Gray 2 2 .500 .5 44 36 + 8 L1
Red 2 2 .500 .5 61 57 + 4 L1
Green 2 2 .500 .5 55 60 – 5 W2
Gold 1 2 .333 1 35 40 – 5 L2
Purple 1 2 .333 1 44 52 – 8 W1
Home Visitor Walk-off Extra-inning Flip-flop 1-run games
W-L: W-L: Wins: W-L: W-L: W-L:
Blue 1-0 1-1 0 0-0 0-0 0-0
Maroon 1-0 1-1 1 0-0 1-0 1-0
Gray 1-1 1-1 0 0-0 1-0 0-1
Red 2-0 0-2 0 0-1 0-0 0-1
Green 1-1 1-1 1 0-0 0-2 1-0
Gold 1-1 0-1 0 0-0 1-1 0-1
Purple 1-1 0-1 1 1-0 0-0 1-0
2022 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
Blue Gold Gray Green Maroon Purple Red TOTAL
Blue X 0 1 0 0 1 0 2
Gold 0 X 0 1 0 0 0 1
Gray 0 1 X 0 0 0 1 2
Green 0 0 1 X 0 1 0 2
Maroon 0 1 0 1 X 0 0 2
Purple 0 0 0 0 0 X 1 1
Red 1 0 0 0 1 0 X 2
______________________________________________________________
TOTAL: 1 2 2 2 1 2 2 12
Schedule for Monday March 30:
10:30 a.m.: Green (2-2) at Red (2-2), Maroon umpiring
11:30 a.m.: Maroon (2-1) at Purple (1-2), Gold umpiring
12:30 p.m.: Blue (2-1) at Gold (1-2), Purple umpiring
Gray has the bye – players from that team will have priority out of the bucket.
Preview: Keggy’s rooting for Purple and Gold to win at 11:30 and 12:30, so’s we can have five teams tied at 2-2. If either or both of Maroon and Blue win, they’ll take over first place; if they both fall, then the winner of the Green-Red game at 10:30 will end the day in first.
Keggy’s Korner:
Just a reminder that you can read current and past editions of this year’s Picayune at: https://austinseniorsoftball.com/picyuane/. New editions show up online shortly after they hit your email in-box. (“Shortly” meaning, when I get to it; probably not till tomorrow morning.) The front page of the site (https://austinseniorsoftball.com/) features a red banner with late-breaking news of cancellations, etc.