B League news for Thursday September 17, 2026

B League Picayune

Often in error, never in doubt.

Volume 8, Issue 50 – for September 17, 2026

Games of Thursday September 17:

10:00 a.m.: Purple (0-4) at Blue (2-2):

		1	2	3	4    BUFFET   FINAL
Purple		5	5	0	5	1	16
Blue		1	4	0	5	4	14

Pitchers: Purple – Ray Pilgrim; Blue – Lawrence Page. Mercenaries: Purple – Steve Browne, Clint Fletcher, and Alan Phillips; Blue – Anthony Galindo, David Pittard, and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home – Jack Kelly; bases – Mike Velaney and Jim McAnelly. Perfect at the plate: Purple – Shane Hill (2 for 2 with a walk and a double), Alan Phillips (3 for 3), and Jimmy Sneed (3 for 3 with a double); Blue – Tom Bellavia (4 for 4), Ddavid Brown (4 for 4 with a double), and Anthony Galindo and David Pittard (both 3 for 3 with a triple). 

Dave Berra’s weather report: 87 degrees, feels like 98; 67% humidity; wind from the East at 3 MPH; partly cloudy – Louisiana! (https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=lB0I6uxRglY)

David Brown’s recap:

It was a fun day at Krieg #6. Two high-scoring shootouts and also a game involving the Orange team. Before jumping into the summaries, I want to thank you for reading the newsletter the past couple of weeks. The good stuff (AI pictures and box scores) have been the always-great work of Jack Spellman, but I appreciate you reading my substandard summaries. Thanks to those of you who have texted or spoken to me about things that you found funny or weird or false. Based on my experience, I suspect that your feedback is the thing that keeps Jack on this beat. Speaking of Jack, huge thanks to that guy. Summaries took me several hours to complete. How he does the writing plus AI images plus box scores plus season and session standings plus future game reviews in 4-6 hours following every game day is amazing. Also big thanks to Dave Berra whose box scores with memory-jogging notes make the newsletter possible. Amazing work by the head of the peanut gallery.

10:00 Game – Purple at Blue

Purple led off the first inning and rocked the socks off the Blue defense. Patrick Schmidt, Jack McDermott, Jimmy Sneed, Ray Pilgrim, Mike Malay, Shane Hill, and Rick Jensen hit consecutive singles to push across five runs without making an out.

For Blue, David Brown led off with a ground ball to 3B Rick Jensen and then raced around to 3B when Rick’s throw to 1B eluded Shane Hill. Tom Bellavia hit a line drive single to center field to score David. P Ray Pilgrim then started to churn through Blue hitters by inducing a long fly out to mercenary Steve Browne in RCF, a ground ball to SS Jimmy Sneed, who tossed to Mike Malay at 2B to force out Tom, and a ground ball to 2B Mike Malay who threw to Shane Hill for the third out.

The mercenaries led off the 2nd inning for Purple, and they continued what the Purple players did in the 1st. Alan Phillips singled, Steve Browne walked, and Clint Fletcher singled to score a run and put runners on 1B and 3B. In their first run through the line-up, Purple hitters were perfect – 9-9 plus a walk. Purple finally made an out when Blue 1B Larry Young fielded a hot shot and beat Patrick Schmidt to the bag. Jack McDermott singled, Jimmy Sneed doubled, and Ray Pilgrim singled to complete another 5-run inning and give Purple a 10-1 lead.

Larry Young led off the bottom of the 2nd for Blue with a hard groundball to the 3-4 hole that Shane HiIl made a nice play on and then beat pinch runner David Brown to 1B for an out. A ground out to the pitcher left the inning at two outs and none on. Mercenary Anthony Galindo stepped up to the plate and hit a 102 MPH line drive to LF for a single. Mercenary Jeff Stone hit a lined single up the middle to put runners at 1B and 3B. Mercenary David Pittard singled to center field to plate Anthony and put runners on 1B and 2B. David Brown doubled, Tom Bellavia and Lawrence Page singled, and Donnie Janac walked before C Alan Phillips made a nice over-the-shoulder catch on a pop up behind the plate. Final tally for the two-out rally – six hits, a walk, and 4 runs.

Blue defensive guru Larry Young recommended that his teammates wear their gloves to the field in the top of the third.

The Purple line-up led off with a walk and then hit into a 6U, 6-3 double play. A single put a runner on 1B before a groundball to 2B Jeff Stone resulted in a 4-3 force out. The Larry gambit worked!

Trailing 10-5, Blue had an opportunity to even the game in the home half of the inning. Larry Young led off with a line drive that 2B Mike Malay caught knee-high. After a fly out to RCF, Anthony Galindo hit a 108 MPH line drive to CF that split the outfielders and reached the fence. Anthony reached 3B with a stand-up triple. A ground ball to P Ray Pilgrim resulted in a 1-3 put out and a shutdown inning. Tie game averted.

Purple started the top of the 4th inning with five consecutive singles to score three runs and put runners on 1B and 3B. A sacrifice fly to Anthony Galindo in RCF allowed Jimmy Sneed to score from 3B. Shane Hill then drove in the fifth run of the inning on a double down the left field line.

Trailing 15-5, Blue mounted a rally with three consecutive singles to open the inning which scored a run and put runners at the corners. Lawrence Page then channeled his inner Galindo and hit a bomb to the fence in LF. The hit scored two runs and left Lawrence at 3B. Ground outs to pitcher (1-3) and shortstop (6-3) scored Lawrence for the fourth run of the inning. Another two out rally (BB-1B-1B) brought in the fifth run of the inning and narrowed the score to 15-10. The final hit of the inning was a 112 MPH line drive by Anthony Galindo that went over LF Patrick Schmidt’s head and dented the fence. Anthony should be credited with his second home run of the season.

Purple led off the buffet with a walk and two singles to load the bases. A sacrifice fly to RCF extended the Purple lead to 16-10, but P Lawrence Page stranded the two remaining runners by inducing a pop out to SS and a ground out to 2B.

Needing six to tie and seven to win, Blue started 1B-3B-1B-1B-1B. The big hit was a triple by David Pittard, who completed a 3-3 day at the plate. David Brown and Tom Bellavia (both 4-4) joined David Pittard (and Anthony Galindo at 3-3) with perfect days at the plate. At this point, Blue’s prospects looked very positive with three runs scored, runners on 1B and 3B, and no outs. Purple had other plans and closed out the game with a catch on a line drive to 3B, a fielder’s choice (6-4) on a ground ball to SS that plated a run, and a fly out to Clint Fletcher in right field.

Final score: Purple 16, Blue 14

11:00 a.m.: Gray (3-1) at Orange (1-4):

		1	2	3	4	5    BUFFET   FINAL
Gray		1	2	0	0	5	0	 8
Orange		1	0	0	5	4	X	10

Pitchers: Gray – Luis Sanchez (innings 1-4) and Jack Kelly (inning 5); Orange – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Gray – Jack McDermott, Alan Phillips, David Pittard, and Scott Wright; Orange – David Brown, Steve Browne, Rex Horvath, and Trent Peacock. Umpires: home – Rick Jensen; bases – Patrick Schmidt. Perfect at the plate: Gray – David Pittard (2 for 2 with a walk); Orange – Steve Browne (2 for 2).

Dave Berra’s weather update: More of the same!

David Brown’s recap:

In the three games preceding their game today, the Orange offense had scored ten runs. Total. Not 10 runs/game, ten runs total. Struggles on offense likely explains why Manager Dave Berra chose to play defense first after winning the pre-game coin flip.

Jim Foelker led off for Gray and singled to LF. Mike Velaney followed with a single to RF. A fly out to Matt Levitt in LCF held the Gray runners at 1B and 2B. Luis Sanchez singled to load the bases, which allowed Jim Foelker to score on Jim McAnelly’s sacrifice fly to Steve Browne in RCF. Orange P Tommy Deleon escaped further damage by inducing a ground out to 1B Mark Hernandez, who beat pinch runner Clint Fletcher to 1B.

Orange made a few interesting changes to their batting lineup, including leading off with Tommy Deleon, who singled on a low line drive between Gray P Luis Sanchez and 2B Mike Velaney. Adam Reddell hit a high fly ball to LF that was caught by mercenary Jack McDermott. Mark Hernandez singled to CF, which allowed Tommy’s pinch runner, Matt Levitt, to get to 3B and then score on a sacrifice fly to Jim Foelker in RCF. Luis Sanchez got out of the inning by fielding a ground ball and throwing to mercenary SS Scott Wright who was covering 2B.

Gray led off the 2nd inning with their mercenaries (Jack McDermott, Alan Phillips, Scott Wright, and David Pittard), and the mercenaries produced a run and runners on 1B and 3B with a 5-3 groundout (3B Adam Reddell to 1B Mark Hernandez) and three consecutive singles. A ground ball to mercenary SS David Brown scored Scott Wright from 3B as David tossed the ball to mercenary 2B Rex Horvath for the 6-4 fielder’s choice. Mike Velaney singled to put runners on 1B and 2B, but Tommy struck out Clint Fletcher to strand the two runners.

Orange trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the 2nd. Three Orange batters hit the ball hard (two line drives to LF and a line drive to 2B) and all three balls were caught before hitting the ground which resulted in a 1-2-3 inning.

Luis Sanchez started the Gray 3rd inning with a single. The next better hit a line drive that SS David Brown caught and threw to 1B where Mark Hernandez had slipped in behind Luis. Mark applied the tag before Luis could get back to the bag to complete an unconventional L-6, 6-3 double play. With two outs, the next Gray hitter hit a chopper to the 3-4 hole. Mark Hernandez left his position to snag the bounding ball and was too far away to beat the runner to 1B. Having seen Mark’s conundrum, 2B Rex Horvath raced to 1B and took a toss from Mark to get the 3-4 put out. Very nice play by both infielders.

The Orange offense was only slightly more productive than Gray’s in the 3rd inning as Steve Browne’s single was sandwiched by a fly out to Clint Fletcher in LCF, a pop out to Mike Velaney at 2B, and ground ball to P Luis Garcia, who threw to SS Scott Wright for a 1-6 fielder’s choice.

Gray failed for a second straight inning to expand their 3-1 lead. Mercenary Jack McDermott led off the inning with a single, but was erased on a 6-4 fielder’s choice. A 6U fielder’s choice produced a second out. After a walk, Tommy Deleon turned a comebacker into a 1-3 ground out and the third out of the inning.

Adam Reddell led off the bottom of the 4th inning with a base hit to LF, but was erased on a 6-4 fielder’s choice on a very nice backhand by SS Scott Wright in the 5-6 hole. And then, out of nowhere, Orange scored five runs on consecutive singles by Don Solberg, Jack Crosley, and Matt Levitt; back-to-back walks by Hal Darman and David Brown; and a single by Rex Horvath.

Trailing for the first time in the game, the Gray offense came out hitting. Singles by Mike Velaney, Clint Fletcher, Luis Sanchez, Jim McAnelly, and Jack Kelly scored two runs and loaded the bases with no outs. Bidding to clear the bases and push across the fifth run of the inning, Jack McDermott hit a long fly ball to straightaway CF. From his position in LCF, Matt got a good jump on the ball and ran full speed before extending his glove late and making the catch of the day. Luis Sanchez converted the fly out into a sacrifice fly by tagging and scoring. Alan Phillips then hit a sinking line drive to LCF that Matt raced in on and caught below his knees on another great play. Back-to-back singles by Scott Wright and David Pittard scored two runs and allowed Gray to match Orange’s outburst.

Trailing 8-6 in the bottom of the final five-run inning, Orange picked up where they left in the 4th with consecutive singles by Steve Browne, mercenary Trent Peacock, Tommy Deleon, and Adam Reddell. Adam’s hit to CF drove in two runs to tie the game. Mark Hernandez got the go-ahead RBI on a groundball to SS that resulted in a fielder’s choice (6-4), and Matt Levitt’s RBI single to LF pushed the lead out to 2. The inning ended on a pop up behind the plate that was caught by C Luis Sanchez, who had exchanged positions with P Jack Kelly in the fifth inning.

Gray trailed 10-8 entering the buffet and Jim Foelker brought the tying run to the plate by singling to start the inning. Tommy Deleon kept Jim at 1B by inducing a line out to SS, a pop out to SS, and a fly out to RCF. Orange scored double digits for the first time in two weeks and headed off for the weekend with a victory.

Final Score: Orange 10, Gray 8

Noon: Red (3-1) at Green (1-3):

		1	2	3	4    BUFFET   FINAL
Red		1	3	5	4	4	17
Green		5	5	5	3	X	18

Pitchers: Red – Trent Peacock; Green – Spike Davidson. Mercenaries: Red – Daniel Baladez, Jim Foelker, Mark Hernandez, Matt Levitt, and Adam Reddell; Scott Wright came in for Adam in the bottom of the second inning after Adam was injured making a play; Green – George Brindley and Jeff Stone. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – David Brown. Perfect at the plate: Red – Daniel Baladez (3 for 3), Adam Reddell (1 for 1), and Scott Wright (3 for 3 with a double); Green – Gary Coyle (3 for 3 with a triple), Spike Davidson and Doc Hobar (both 3 for 3 – Ohtani Award for Spike), Mike Garrison (3 for 3 with a double), and Steve Sandall (2 for 2 with a walk). Home run: George Brindley (inside-the-park grand slam) (2).

Dave Berra’s weather update: The same.

David Brown’s recap:

When you do a Google search for “The world’s most potent offense,” you are directed to the 1999 St Louis Rams whose Kurt Warner-led offense was called the Greatest Show on Turf. If you clarify that you want the most potent senior softball offense, the answer becomes “the 2026 Green team.” Despite missing current HR leader Terry O’Brien, the Green team put on an offensive show for those of us who stuck around for the last game of the day. Remarkably, the Red offense hung in and made a game of it despite missing their fearless leader, Ralph Villela.

Red lead-off hitter Mark Dolan started the game with a pop out to Green 3B Gary Coyle. Anthony Galindo followed with a 103 MPH double that gapped LF Mike Garrison and LCF Steve Sandall. Anthony scored the first run of the game on a single by Trent Peacock. Spike Davidson got the second out of the inning when he caught a line drive that Johnny Lee tried to hit through the middle of the infield. Donald Drummer hit a fly ball to LF Mike Garrison who made the catch to end the inning.

Doc Hobar led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a line drive single to LF. Steve Sandall, Rex Horvath, Mike Garrison, Gary Coyle, and Spike Davidson followed with singles to score four runs and put runners on 1B and 3B. Ivan Budiselic tried to hit a ball through the middle of the infield but Red P Trent Peacock made a nice play and threw to 1B to record the Green’s first out. Boo Resnick then hit a squibber toward mercenary 2B Mark Hernandez who was unable to stop the ball when it took a crazy hop to his left, which allowed Gary Coyle to score the 5th run of the inning.

Red played this game with five mercenaries, and all five batted in the 2nd. Adam Reddell led off with a single. Mark Hernandez followed with a single to put runners on 1B and 2B. Jim Foelker flew out to mercenary George Brindley in RCF. Matt Levitt had an RBI single to LF, and Daniel Baladez loaded the bases with an infield single. Mark Dolan singled to drive in Mark Hernandez’ pinch runner. Anthony Galindo made his only out of the day on a fly ball to LF Mike Garrison. Matt Levitt tagged up and scored from 3B, but a base-running snafu resulted in the third out of the inning. Jim Foelker, who was pinch-running for Daniel Baladez, chose not to tag up from 2B, but Mark Dolan chose to tag and run from first to second. When Mark reached 2B, Jim had to try for 3B. Rex Horvath had taken the throw from Mike Garrison and now ran toward Jim before throwing to Gary Coyle at 3B. Gary tagged Jim to end the inning. Three runs scored, but Red cost themselves the opportunity to score more.

Green Manager Chunky Wright led off the bottom of the 2nd inning with a single to LF. Mercenaries George Brindley and Jeff Stone as well as Doc Hobar and Steve Sandall followed with singles to push across two runs while loading the bases. Rex Horvath hit a pop up near fence just beyond the visitor’s dugout. Mercenary Adam Reddell hustled over and made an outstanding catch to record only the second out of the game against Green. Unfortunately, Adam aggravated his knee injury on the play and was subbed out for Scott Wright. Mike Garrison doubled to drive in two runs and Gary Coyle singled to drive in the fifth run of the inning. Through two innings, the Green offense had 14 hits, 10 runs, and only 2 outs.

After spotting Green a 10-4 lead, Red got their offense revved up in the 3rd. Trent Peacock led off with a single and his teammates followed with a 1B-1B-2B-1B-1B-1B-1B sequence to score five without making an out. The double was off the bat of Scott Wright, who had taken Adam Reddell’s spot in the batting order.

Green opened the home half of the 3rd inning with back-to-back singles before making only their third out of the game on a fouled third strike. A walk loaded the bases for George Brindley, who hit a shot to RF that gapped mercenary outfielders Jim Foelker and Trent Peacock. Jim retrieved the ball from the fence, but by that point, George was nearly to 3B. The ball reached 2B Mark Hernandez when George was 20 ft from home and coasting in for a grand slam. George now has two home runs this season.

A 1-3 ground out resulted in two outs and no one on, but the top of Green’s batting order went 1B-BB-BB-1B to complete their third consecutive five-run inning.

Trailing 15-9 in the top of the 4th, Red needed a big inning to keep pace with the Gang of Green. Mark Dolan led off with a single and Anthony Galindo followed with a 101 mph line drive that nearly took Gary Coyle’s head off. A fly out to George Brindley in RCF and a ground ball to SS Rex Horvath, who flipped to 2B Jeff Stone to force out Anthony, put the Red team in the precarious position of having two outs with only one run scored. The middle of the resilient Red offense went 1B-1B-BB-1B to score four runs and give themselves an opportunity for another five-run inning. A pop up down the left field line appeared likely to fall and score another run, but Rex Horvath made a long run and nifty catch to get the third out of the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Green looked to add to their 15-13 lead as the buffet inning loomed. Gary Coyle led off with a triple on a line drive to CF that eluded the Red outfielders. Gary scored on a Spike Davidson single, and then the Green offense loaded the bases with back-to-back singles. A fly ball down the left field line by Chunky Wright looked like a base hit during most of its flight but Matt Levitt moved in quickly and caught the ball for his third outstanding catch of the day. Spike’s pinch runner was able to tag and score from 3B on the catch. George Brindley then hit a pop up to short center field. The outfielders were playing too deep to get to the ball, but SS Scott Wright raced out and caught the ball on a dead run 30-40 feet from the infield grass. Scotty’s look of surprise and then glee were worth the price of admission. Of course, admission to our games is free, so I guess that means that Scott’s looks are worthless.

A fly out to Jim Foelker in RCF ended the inning for Green and limited them to 3 runs and an 18-13 lead entering the buffet.

Needing five to tie and six to take the lead, Red came out hitting. Three consecutive singles to open the inning scored a run and put runners on 1B and 3B. Red scored their second run on a ground ball to 2B, but they gave up an out in the process as Jeff Stone tossed to Rex Horvath to record a fielder’s choice at 2B. Three consecutive singles plated two runs to draw Red within one, 18-17. With runners at 1B and 2B, Mark Hernandez hit a fly ball to CF that Steve Sandall caught and threw quickly to Rex Horvath who was standing on 2B. The Red baserunner at 2B, Donald Drummer, had bluffed that he was going to tag and go to 3B, but he had gotten too far off 2B to return before Rex received Steve’s throw. Donald’s only choice was to make a run for 3B and he found Gary Coyle standing there with the ball that Rex had thrown to him. Donald was tagged out 70 ft from home plate where he would have been the tying run.

Red made a game of it but Green’s offensive onslaught was borderline insane. Green had 23 hits and 3 walks in 33 plate appearances. Five of the eleven Green hitters were perfect at the plate as the team scored 18 of a possible 20 runs that they could score in 4 innings. Crazy stuff.

Final score: Green 18, Red 17

Spike Davidson earned his sixth Ohtani Award of the season, pitching Green to victory while going 3 for 3 with two RBI at the plate.

Note: Per Picayune cub reporter Lisa McDermott, Johnny Lee coined two nicknames today – “Magic Marker” for Mark Dolan and “Persnickety Ricky” for Rick Jensen. Two truly outstanding sobriquets, either one of which would be enough to check off box I-2 on the 2026 B League Bingo card. Together… 

… Johnny Lee has done it again.

		B LEAGUE BINGO 2026
B	I	N	G	O
Hit for the cycle (Ralph Villela – May 26)	Mad beef re: infield fly rule (July 30)	Triple play	Ken Brown scores from first on single	Walk-off grand slam
Jim Aaron home run for last-place team	Acclaim and adoption of Johnny Lee-created nickname (Sept. 17 – Magic Marker Dolan)	Batter takes a runner from home, runs past the 1B commit line (April 6)	Both teams score 5 runs in each of the first 3 innings	Spellman plays 5 games (C and B) in one day (July 6)
New guy pops a hammy (Trent Peacock – August 6)	Double play, second out at home (March 12)	David Brown makes a great defensive play up the middle	7-inning game (August 10 – Blue vs. Maroon)	3-pitch half-inning (Jeff Stone – April 23)
3 Ohtani Awards in 1 day (July 6)	Over-the-fence home run at Krieg 2 (April 16)	Base runner hit by batted ball (March 23)	Don Solberg throws out a runner trying for an extra base (August 20)	Rick Jensen delivers St. Crispin’s Day speech
Line drive hits Jack Kelly, he brushes it off (March 30)	Ralph Villela hits 2 inside-the-park home runs in one game	Team flip-flops opponent but loses game (July 20 – Red d. Blue )	Inside-the-park home run at Krieg 3	Shutout (Joe Bernal, Blue vs. Purple, July 27)

Session 4 standings:

 

Session 4 standings:				Games	Runs	Runs	Run dif-	W/L
	Wins	Losses	Win %:	behind:	for:	allowed:	ferential:	streak:
Maroon	5	0	1.000	0	67	33	34	W6
Gray	3	2	.600	2	70	54	16	L1
Red	3	2	.600	2	75	74	1	L1
Blue	2	3	.400	3	58	47	11	L2
Green	2	3	.400	3	65	71	-6	W2
Orange	2	4	.333	3.5	40	78	-38	W1
Purple	1	4	.200	4	64	82	-18	W1
	Home	Visitor	Walk-off	Extra-inning	Flip-flop	1-run games	Last 5
	W-L:	W-L:	wins	W-L:	W-L:	W-L:	games:
Maroon	3-0	2-0	0	0-0	2-0	0-0	WWWWW
Gray	3-0	0-2	1	0-0	0-0	1-1	WWLWL
Red	2-0	1-2	1	0-0	1-0	1-1	WLWWL
Blue	2-1	0-2	0	0-0	2-0	0-0	WLWLL
Green	2-0	0-3	0	0-0	0-1	1-1	LLLWW
Orange	1-1	1-3	0	0-0	0-3	0-0	WLLLW
Purple	0-3	1-1	0	0-0	0-1	0-0	LLLLW

2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):

 

	Blue	Gray	Green	Maroon	Orange	Purple	Red	TOTAL
Blue		4	8	4	4	4	3	27
Gray	3		2	2	3	5	2	17
Green	1	4		2	6	5	5	23
Maroon	3	4	5		3	7	7	29
Orange	3	5	1	4		4	3	20
Purple	3	3	2	1	3		3	15
Red	3	5	3	0	4	4		19
TOTAL:	16	25	21	13	23	29	23	150

2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 10
Ralph Villela – 9
Steve Browne – 5
Trent Peacock – 5
Tony Garcia – 4
David Brown – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
Alan Phillips – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
Richard Battle – 2
George Brindley – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Rick Kahn – 2
Jack McDermott – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 2
Scott Wright – 2
Peter Atkins – 1
Tom Bellavia – 1
Joe Bernal – 1
Ivan Budiselic – 1
Mark Dolan – 1
Jim Foelker – 1
Anthony Galindo – 1
Doc Hobar – 1
Mike Malay – 1
Bobby Miller – 1
David Pittard – 1
George Romo – 1
Luis Sanchez – 1
Steve Sandall – 1
Patrick Schmidt – 1

Hit for the cycle:
Ralph Villela – May 26

Ohtani Awards (winning pitcher + perfect at the plate):
Joe Bernal: 8 (March 2, March 19, March 30, April 16, June 22, June 25, June 29, July 9)
Ray Pilgrim: 8 (March 5, March 23, March 26, June 1, July 2, July 9, August 17, August 27)
Spike Davidson: 6 (May 4, July 2, July 20, August 6, August 20, September 17)
Tommy Deleon: 5 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30)
Jeff Stone: 3 (March 2, July 9, September 8)
Trent Peacock: 2 (March 9, August 3)
Rex Horvath: 1 (March 30)
Jack Kelly: 1 (August 3)
Lawrence Page: 1 (March 26)
Luis Sanchez: 1 (September 8)

Schedule for Monday September 21:
10:00 a.m.: Gray (3-2) at Maroon (5-0), Red umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Red (3-2) at Blue (2-3), Gray umpiring
Noon: Green (2-3) at Orange (2-4), Blue umpiring

Purple has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.

Preview: Had Maroon returns from a bye date looking to extend its winning streak to seven games at 10:00 versus Gray, which wants to end that streak and cut Maroon’s session lead to a single game. Maroon leads the season series 4-2. At 11:00, either Red or Blue will end its brief losing streak – one game, today, for Red, two games for Blue. These teams have split the six games they’ve played so far this season. An interesting match-up at noon will see Orange (one-game winning streak) at home versus Green (two-game winning streak). These teams are separated by just half a game in Session 4, but Green’s run differential is 32 better than Orange’s, and Green leads the season series six games to one. I’m hoping Adam Reddell’s injury won’t keep him out of the lineup. If I had more time and any contacts who could put me in touch with the sports “medicine” specialists of the former East Germany, I’d make a side quest to Saxony on Adam’s behalf, but alas, it is not to be. In conclusion, Germany is a land of contrasts.

Keggy’s Korner:

Skipping the podcast review this time, in favor of Kayak Polo World Championship Report:

It’s been a splendid week in Duisberg, Germany, site of the 2026 Canoe (I give in) Polo World Championships. We arrived Monday, and spent Tuesday doing reconaissance – figuring out the bus system and how to get ourselves to the venue, mostly. Duisberg is nice, and the people here are charming and friendly and uniformly amazed that we’ve traveled so far to visit their fair city. If I had to compare it to a US city, it would be Erie, Pennsylvania – a trade hub that’s scene better days and isn’t anyone’s idea of a tourist destination, but is actually pretty nice.

We found the Duisberg SportPark and were there in time for Team USA’s friendly versus Malaysia at 5:00, but weren’t allowed in because the day’s official games had ended; not even a request by Team USA’s men’s coach to the lady guard worked to get us in because rules are rules and Germans are nothing if not the world’s greatest followers of rules. “Like, shipping six million people on trains to death camps was by the rules, right?” is something I definitely did not say out loud. (Something I did say in Nuremberg while trying to get directions from the lady at the information kiosk in the main train station, when she professed to not know which rally grounds we wanted to go to: “The rally grounds where the Nazis held their rallies.” Believe me when I tell you, the information fraulein was not happy with this.) (We figured it out, and the museum there is top notch and in no way sugarcoats who and what the Nazis were.)

We wound up watching the friendly versus Malaysia through a chain-link fence at the southern end of the water park.

Keggy Junior warming up for the friendly.

The tourney officially began Wednesday, with the USA women (ranked 23rd in the world entering the tourney) playing their first match versus Spain (ranked fifth) at 8:35 a.m. Spain won 11-0.

Game two, at 2:25 p.m., USA played Japan pretty tough, but fell again, 7-1.