B League Picayune
Often in error, never in doubt.
Volume 8, Issue 52 – September 24, 2026
Games of Thursday September 24:
10:00 a.m.: Maroon (5-1) at Green (2-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Maroon 4 5 5 0 1 15 Green 5 0 0 4 4 13 Pitchers: Maroon – Jeff Stone; Green – Trent Peacock. Mercenaries: Maroon – Jim Foelker and Jeff Grandcolas; Green – Trent Peacock, Luis Sanchez, Patrick Schmidt, Mike Velaney, and Ralph Villela. Umpires: home – David Brown; bases – Donnie Janac and Larry Shupe. Perfect at the plate: Maroon – George Brindley and Steve Browne (both 3 for 3 with a double); Green – Larry Fiorentino (4 for 4 with a triple) and Luis Sanchez (3 for 3). Home run: Scott Wright (inside the park) (3).
ChatGPT’s weather report: 84°F, feeling around 92°F, 72% humidity, a light easterly breeze, and partly/mostly cloudy skies.
A hard-fought game, Maroon building an early lead and then holding off Green’s furious late comeback.
Both teams came out hitting, Maroon needing just four batters to score a quick four runs: Steve Browne led off the game with a double and scored on George Brindley’s single, George taking second on the throw home; Ken Brown doubled in George with the second run; and Scott Wright smacked a two-run inside-the-park home run, his third of the season.
Scott Wright staked Maroon to a 4-0 lead with a two-run inside-the-park homer in the top of the first, his third of the season.
Trent Peacock then retired the next three batters on ground balls, Jeff Stone on a grounder to second baseman Mike Velaney, Fritz Hensel and Alan Phillips on balls hit to shortstop Ralph Villela. (Mike and Ralph in the middle of the Green infield need a Johnny Lee-level collective nickname, like the Flying Vs, or the V Squadron, the V-8s, V-Men… I’m workshopping it.)
Green grabbed the lead with five runs on seven hits in the bottom of the first: six singles, the last three with two out, and a triple by Larry Fiorentino, who drove in the first two runs and scored the third.
Maroon took control of the game by scoring five times in the top half of both the second and third innings while blanking Green in the bottom halves. In the second, five singles and a double by new guy Jeff Grandcolas (I failed to take a picture of Jeff; look for it in the next edition) in his first B League at bat got the job done, Maroon making just one out. In the third, Jeff Stone led off with a double, and a single by Fritz Hensel and a walk drawn by Alan Phillips loaded the bases. Dale Fugate drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to Larry Fiorentino in right-center field. Steve Browne, running for Fritz, alertly tagged up and scored on a pop hit by Jeff Grandcolas and caught behind first base by Luis Sanchez. (Foreshadowing: this wasn’t the most unusual sacrifice fly of the day.) Jim Foelker drew a walk, and Steve Browne singled, driving in Alan, with Jim and Steve advancing on the throw home. George Brindley then singled in the fourth and fifth runs.
Green put two runners on base in both the bottom of the second and third, but in each case Jeff Stone stranded the runners. In the second, after shortstop George Brindley made a tremendous catch going back and to his right into short left field to grab Mike Garrison’s short fly for the second out, Ivan Budiselic and Larry Fiorentino both singled. But Jeff got Gary Coyle to ground a ball to the right of second base, Scott Wright fielding the ball and tagging the bag for the inning-ending force out. An inning later, Ralph Villela singled with one out and Luis Sanchez singled with two out, but Jeff got Trent Peacock to ground into 6-4 force.
Maroon led 14-5 entering the fourth inning, but was unable to add to its lead. Scott Wright singled with one out, but Ralph Villela and Mike Velaney (the Velvet Vs, V Force, The Vise… still working on it) turned a truly beautiful double play: Jeff Stone made a bid for a hit with a sharp grounder to the 5-6 hole, but Ralph moved to his right, made a clean backhanded play, and fired to Mike at second; Mike then made a textbook pivot to throw to first baseman Luis Sanchez to complete the 6-4-3 twin killing.
Jeff Stone retired Mikes Velaney and Garrison (Mikes Squared, the M&Ms, the Mighty Mikes, the Mikenado…) to start the bottom of the fourth, but the next five batters hit safely, four singles and a two-run double by Ralph Villela, four runs scoring, Maroon’s lead cut to 14-9 entering the buffet.
Fritz Hensel drew a walk to start the inning, and his pinch-runner (Steve Browne again, I believe) came around and scored on back-to-back one-out singles by Dale Fugate and Jeff Grandcolas. Trent Peacock got out of the jam by getting Jim Foelker to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, another nice turn by Villela and Velaney (Va-Va-Voom, V-for-Victory, something something Churchill…).
Green was chasing six entering the bottom of the buffet, and got hits to start the frame by its first four batters, mercenaries Luis Sanchez, Trent Peacock, and Mike Velaney, and then Mike Garrison at the top of the lineup. That got two runs across. Ivan Budiselic grounded into a 4-6 force, Scott Wright to George Brindley, for the first out. Singles by Larry Fiorentino (completing a 4-for-4 game) and Gary Coyle drove in a run each, getting Green to within two runs. Chunky Wright drove a pitch to left field, but Steve Browne made a good running catch for the second out. A single by Ralph Villela loaded the bases, putting the tying run in scoring position and the winning run on first. But Jeff Stone got Patrick Schmidt to hit a two-strike foul to end the game.
Final score: Maroon 15, Green 13
11:00 a.m.: Blue (3-3) at Orange (2-4):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Blue 0 5 4 0 1 10 Orange 2 1 0 5 3 11 Pitchers: Blue – Jeff Stone; Orange – Tommy Deleon. Mercenaries: Blue – George Brindley, Mark Dolan, Jim Foelker, Patrick Schmidt, Jeff Stone, and Peter Sundquist; Orange – Jeff Grandcolas, Jack McDermott, and Alan Phillips. Umpires: home – Chunky Wright; bases – Mike Garrison. Perfect at the plate: Blue – George Brindley (3 for 3), Mark Dolan (2 for 2 with a triple), and Jeff Stone (3 for 3 with a double); Orange – Tommy Deleon and Mark Hernandez (both 3 for 3 – Ohtani Award for Tommy Deleon).
ChatGPT’s weather update: 89°F, feeling 98°F, 60% humidity, east wind 5–7 mph, with considerable cloud cover but intermittent sun.
This game was very much decided by the nine mercenaries who filled out the lineups. Blue’s six hired guns scored all of their runs, while Orange’s three combined to go 6 for 7 with two sacrifice flies and a triple, scoring four runs and driving in six.
Tommy Deleon held Blue scoreless in the top of the first inning. He retired David Brown on a grounder to shortstop, then allowed consecutive singles to Donnie Janac and Daniel Baladez, but escaped the jam when third baseman Jeff Grandcolas made a nice play on Larry Shupe’s grounder down the line, fielding it cleanly, stepping on third for the force there, and then making a strong cross-diamond throw to double up Larry.
Orange won the inning with two runs in the home half. Tommy Deleon led off with a single. Jack Spellman’s first swing since returning from Europe resulted in a line drive to right-center that took a squirrelly hop and skipped past Patrick Schmidt, resulting in a cheap RBI triple. Spellman then scored on Mark Hernandez’s opposite-field single. Jeff Stone then retired the next three batters.
Blue grabbed the lead in the top of the second with five runs on seven singles, a couple of them seeing-eye grounders, a couple others Texas Leaguers, all of them line drives in Dave Berra’s scorebook. Orange got a single run back in the bottom half when Jeff Grandcolas tripled with one out, then tagged up and scored on Jack McDermott’s fly to Patrick Schmidt in right-center.
Blue increased its lead to 9-3 with four runs in the top of the third, all coming with two out after a 6-4-3 double play erased Daniel Baladez, who’d singled to start the frame. Alan Phillips, playing second base for the first time in B League, made a really nice pivot and throw on the play. The next five batters hit safely: Jeff Stone and George Brindley singled; Peter Sundquist doubled both runners in, then scored on Jim Foelker’s single; and Mark Dolan smacked a triple that gapped the left- and right-center fielders.
Jeff Stone blanked Orange in the bottom of the third, working around a lead-off single by Tommy Deleon and one-out base hit by Mark Hernandez. Jeff got Don Solberg to ground to shortstop David Brown, who started an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play, George Brindley on the pivot.
With the top of Blue’s lineup coming up, Orange needed a shutdown inning from Tommy Deleon in the top of the fourth, and Tommy delivered. He got David Brown to hit a playable ground ball to shortstop, only for Jack Spellman, who had all the time in the world, to shank the throw to first, David safe with a single. Unfazed, Tommy retired Donnie Janac on a fly to Jack McDermott in right-center, then got Daniel Baladez to hit a bouncer up the middle that Spellman was able to field on the short hop and turn into a 6u., 6-3 double play, Orange’s third of the game.
Orange then got back into the game by scoring five times in the home half, all coming after two were out. Jack Crosley led off with a single, but Jeff Stone caught Matt Levitt looking at a called strike three, an unhittable pitch that just clipped the back inside corner of the mat, then got Hal Darman to ground into a 5-4 force. But the next six batters, beginning with mercenaries Jeff Grandcolas, Jack McDermott, and Alan Phillips, knocked singles, five runs coming across.
Leading 9-8 entering the buffet, Blue managed to plate only one run in the top half. With one out, Jeff Stone doubled. He took a pinch-runner, David Brown, I believe, who scored on George Brindley’s single to right-center field; the throw in to second by Jack McDermott glanced off Jack Spellman’s glove, popping into the air and landing a couple of feet behind the shortstop; George thought it was going to keep moving away, and took off for second, but the ball died, and I was able to retrieve it and make a quick flip to Alan Phillips – Alan deked George a bit, I think, making it look like he, Alan, wouldn’t get to the bag in time, but he very much did get there (and, mind you, this was Alan’s first time playing the position), and George was out by a step-plus.
The play resulted in the second out of the inning, but also the quote of the day, reported by David Brown, uttered by Jim Foelker, himself renowned as a guy who will occasionally run into an out: “Ah, one of my prize students – I give that effort an A-minus.”
Tommy Deleon then walked Peter Sundquist, I suspect semi-intentionally. Jim Foelker came up and popped a ball up just behind second base, Spellman moving back and making the catch on the grass to end the inning.
Orange came up needing two to tie, three to win. Don Solberg and Jack Crosley opened the inning with singles. Jack Spellman ran for Jack Crosley. Jeff Stone got Matt Levitt to pop out to shortstop David Brown for the first out. Hal Darman, with Matt Levitt running for him from home, knocked a sharp single up the middle, loading the bases. Jeff Grandcolas went oppo, his fly to right field caught by Donnie Janac for the second out, Don Solberg tagging up and scoring, Spellman advancing to third. Jack McDermott’s single up the middle brought in Spellman with the tying run, Matt Levitt advancing to third. Alan Phillips stepped up and drove a pitch to deep left field; Jeff Foelker got to the ball, but his feet slipped a bit as he went to make the catch – he told me afterward he needs new, better cleats – and the ball fell in safely, Matt scoring the winning run for a walk-off Orange victory.
Final score: Orange 11, Blue 10
Tommy Deleon earned his sixth Ohtani Award of the season, going 3 for 3 at the plate while pitching Orange to victory.
Jeff Stone was also 3 for 3, including a two-base hit, but had to settle for a No-Tahni Award.
Noon: Purple (1-4) at Red (3-3):
1 2 3 4 BUFFET FINAL Purple 2 5 5 1 3 16 Red 2 0 1 5 0 8 Pitchers: Purple – Ray Pilgrim; Red – Trent Peacock. Mercenaries: Purple – David Brown, Mike Garrison, Mark Hernandez, and Jeff Stone; Red – Daniel Baladez, Matt Levitt, Don Solberg, Jack Spellman, and Scott Wright. Umpires: home – Jack Crosley; bases – Alan Phillips. Perfect at the plate: Purple – David Brown (3 for 3), Mike Malay (4 for 4 with a double), and Mike Garrison, Rick Jensen, and Jeff Stone (all 3 for 3); Red – Marvin Krabbenhoft, Johnny Lee, and Trent Peacock (all 3 for 3).
ChatGPT’s weather update: 91°F, feeling 100°F, humidity in the low-to-mid 50s, an easterly breeze, mostly cloudy.
Nine more mercenaries! Thanks to them, and to umpires Jack Crosley and Alan Phillips, for sticking it out through a miserably humid early afternoon.
Purple scored in every inning and built up a comfortable ten-run lead before Red finally mounted a too-little-too-late comeback.
Both teams scored two runs and turned a double play in the first inning. Jack McDermott and Mike Malay opened the game with singles and both scored, Jack on Peter Sundquist’s single and Mike on Ray Pilgrim’s double-play ground out, a 6u., 6-3 play. In the home half, Ralph Villela and Trent Peacock singled before and after Mark Dolan’s fly out to Peter Sundquist in left field, and then both scored on Marvin Krabbenhoft’s drive to center that gapped the outfielders – would have been a two-run double or triple except Marvin had taken a runner from home. Johnny Lee followed with a single, but Ray Pilgrim got Scott Wright to ground into a 4-6-3 double play – Scott squared up on a pitch and hit a very hard one-hopper, but Rick Jensen fielded it cleanly to his forehand and threw to David Brown, who made a picture-perfect pivot.
Purple then took an insurmountable lead with a pair of five-run innings, its four mercenaries all hitting hitting safely in both frames, scoring seven runs among them. David Brown, Jeff Stone, Mark Hernandez, and Mike Garrison opened the second with singles, Mike driving in David and Jeff with the first two runs. Mark’s pinch-runner scored the third on Jack McDermott’s sacrifice fly to Matt Levitt in left-center. Mike Malay doubled, sending Mike Garrison to third. A single by Peter Sundquist brought in Garrison with the fourth run, Malay taking third. Then came the play of the day.
Ray Pilgrim hit a short foul pop that catcher Marvin Krabbenhoft made a truly great play on, twisting around and catching the ball with his back to the playing field. Everyone who witnessed the play was deeply impressed by Marvin’s quick reflex and athleticism, and he wound up in conversation with the third-base-side peanut gallery about it. Meanwhile, however, Mike Malay, noting that no one was paying attention to him, tagged up and scored – he was a couple steps from the home line, with Marvin well in back of the home mat, before anyone realized what was going on. It was, flat out, the smartest play I’ve witnessed this season – Mike’s not fast, is why nobody clocked his move, and he took advantage of Red’s defensive complacency. Bravo! Here’s an AI rendering, but believe me, it doesn’t do the play justice:
It was a sacrifice fly to the catcher, almost certainly the shortest sacrifice fly in B League history, clocking in at negative-five feet, and probably the cheapest RBI Ray Pilgrim has ever recorded. It was the fifth run of the inning, and left Purple leading 12-2. It certainly deserves a B League Bingo Card space of its own, but a play this weird is basically unimaginable in advance. I think next year I’ll just assign a space “Unimaginably weird play.”
Ray retired Ralph Villela and Mark Dolan on a pop to second baseman Rick Jensen and a grounder to third baseman Jeff Stone to start the third. Singles by Trent Peacock, Marvin Krabbenhoft, and Johnny Lee resulted in a run, but the inning ended with Scott Wright flying out to Jack McDermott in right-center.
Purple got that run back with one of its own in the top of the fourth, on three singles, the last two, by Rick Jensen and Patrick Schmidt, coming after two were out.
Trailing by ten, Red finally put together a solid rally, scoring five runs on seven singles in the bottom of the fourth while making a single out, Peter Sundquist making a fine catch of Ralph Villela’s drive to left field.
(I’m not sure who hit the ball – it might have been Marvin Krabbenhoft in third inning, or one of the seven batters who singled in the fourth – but someone on Red got a hit on a fly to Jack McDermott that I still can’t believe Jack didn’t catch; it reached Jack at shoulder height, he hardly had to move for it, yet somehow it sailed past him – possibly it knuckled. Just a weird hit.)
Leading by five entering the buffet, Purple scored three runs on five singles, and Jack Crosley called for the flip-flop with two outs. With their hits in the inning, David Brown, Jeff Stone, Mike Garrison, and Mike Malay all completed perfect days at the plate; Rick Jensen didn’t bat in the inning, but he was also a perfect 3 for 3 for Purple.
Trailing by eight, Red went out quietly in the bottom of the buffet. Johnny Lee led off with a single, completing his 3-for-3 game. Scott Wright again flied out to Jack McDermott in left-center. Jack Spellman hit a chopper down the third-base side; Jeff Stone made a good play to field the ball on the short hop and throw to second for the force. Don Solberg singled, extending the inning, but the game ended on Matt Levitt’s grounder to shortstop David Brown, who tossed to Rick Jensen covering second for the final out.
Final score: Purple 16, Red 8
Trent Peacock absorbed the loss for Red, but was 3 for 3 at the plate, earning a No-Tahni Award.
Session 4 standings:
| Session 4 standings: | Games | Runs | Runs | Run dif- | W/L | |||
| Wins | Losses | Win %: | behind: | for: | allowed: | ferential: | streak: | |
| Maroon | 6 | 1 | .857 | 0 | 105 | 73 | 32 | W1 |
| Gray | 4 | 2 | .667 | 1.5 | 97 | 77 | 20 | W1 |
| Blue | 3 | 4 | .429 | 3 | 84 | 73 | 11 | L1 |
| Red | 3 | 4 | .429 | 3 | 98 | 106 | -8 | L3 |
| Orange | 3 | 4 | .429 | 3 | 51 | 88 | -37 | W2 |
| Green | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3.5 | 78 | 86 | -8 | L1 |
| Purple | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3.5 | 80 | 90 | -10 | W2 |
| 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 | 3-1 | 3-0 | 0 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 0-0 | WWWLW | |
| Gray | 3-0 | 1-2 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-0 | 1-1 | WLWLW | |
| Blue | 3-1 | 0-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 2-0 | 1-1 | WLLWL | |
| Red | 2-1 | 1-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 1-2 | WWLLL | |
| Orange | 2-1 | 1-3 | 1 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 1-0 | LLLWW | |
| Green | 2-1 | 0-3 | 0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 1-1 | LLWWL | |
| Purple | 0-3 | 2-1 | 0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 0-0 | LLLWW | |
2026 total victories (read across) and losses (read down):
| Blue | Gray | Green | Maroon | Orange | Purple | Red | TOTAL | |
| Blue | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 28 | |
| Gray | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 18 | |
| Green | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | |
| Maroon | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 30 | |
| Orange | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 21 | |
| Purple | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 16 | |
| Red | 3 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 19 | |
| TOTAL: | 17 | 25 | 22 | 14 | 23 | 29 | 25 | 155 |
2026 season home run leaders:
Terry O’Brien – 10
Ralph Villela – 9
Steve Browne – 6
Trent Peacock – 5
Tony Garcia – 4
David Brown – 3
Tim Coles – 3
Mike Garrison – 3
Jack McDermott – 3
Alan Phillips – 3
Jack Spellman – 3
Scott Wright – 3
Richard Battle – 2
George Brindley – 2
Larry Fiorentino – 2
Tommy Gillis – 2
Rick Kahn – 2
Scott Rokita – 2
Paul Rubin – 2
Pat Scott – 2
Jimmy Sneed – 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: 6 (April 6, April 30, June 11, July 6, July 30, September 24)
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 28:
10:00 a.m.: Red (3-4) at Maroon (6-1), Gray umpiring
11:00 a.m.: Gray (4-2) at Purple (2-4), Maroon umpiring
Noon: Green (2-4) at Blue (3-4), Purple umpiring
Orange has the bye, with priority for its players out of the bucket.
Preview: Maroon extended its Session 4 lead over idle Gray with a win today, and will look to keep the momentum going at 10:00 Monday versus Red, looking to end its three-game losing streak. Maroon leads the season series 7-0 – its the only season series in which one team has yet to win. At 11:00, Gray returns from the bye looking to extend its one-game winning streak versus Purple, which has won two in a row. Gray leads the season series 5-3. Either Green or Blue will put an end to a one-game losing streak at noon. Blue has dominated the season series, winning 8 of the 9 games the teams have played. Monday is a busy day: it is both World Daughters Day and National Sons Day, which just seems like bad coordination, and also National Drink Beer Day (wait, I thought that was every day?) and, unfortunately, World Rabies Day. What I want to know is, is somebody going to start a B League betting pool to monetize Fat Bear Week? One thing is certain: Only time will tell.
Keggy’s Korner:
Lisa McDermott checks in:
Thank you so much for all of the generous donations that were received today and those that were made online through the donation link. We are blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful friends!! Jack and I will be gone next week but if anyone else has donations, you can give them to George Brindley and I’ll collect when we return.
Pictures of Goku over the years; the last one is from Spirit Night at Sonic last night.
Podcast review: First America
This history podcast is hosted and reported by Rebecca Nagle, a journalist, writer, and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, and examines the founding and history of the United States by centering Native nations and U.S.–Indian relations, rather than treating Native history as a peripheral subject. Excellent interviews with Native historians including Ned Blackhawk, Maggie Blackhawk, Phil Deloria, and Nick Estes. Episodes examine such subjects as the Declaration of Independence, the Boston Tea Party and the colonists’ use of Native imagery, the Revolutionary War, the development of the U.S. military and federal government, and the seizure of Native land. It’s not a super happy story, but it’s hopeful and a corrective to rah-rah history that gives short shrift to the First Peoples. New England content: fair amount, especially in the episodes examining the Revolution; later episodes are more focused on the Plains and Oklahoma tribes. Canadian content: A bit. Listening speed: 1X. Rating: 🎧 🎧 🎧