Game Day Gazette
August 25, 2025
Great turnout this morning and it was a good thing so many guys showed up early as the two teams in the 8:00 a.m. contest drew a total of seven mercenaries from the bucket. Thanks to Lucky Hoffman for sharing his new toy with the league players! Lucky recently purchased an official calibrated softball bat compression measuring tool and was testing bats prior to the start of the first game. News flash, the lower the compression, the hotter the bat so if you are using an older bat and the ball doesn’t seem to be flying off the bat, it may not be the batter! Check with Lucky to be sure…
Game 1 8:00 a.m. Senators (0-2-1) vs. Sultans (2-0-1)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Senators- as noted above, the Senators were down to six players this morning and drew the following from the bucket: Paul Rubin, Patrick Schmidt, Tom Kelm, Barry McRee and Lynn Simpson. Braves had a bye this morning but five of their players showed up and played in the first game. The makeshift lineup struggled out of the gate and the Senators were held to a single run in the 1st two innings. Jerry Mylius fouled out to start the game. Henry Flores singled but was erased on Raul DeLeon’s groundout to 3B. Denny Malloy lined out to short to end the frame. 2nd– Terry Watts opened the 2nd with a line single to right center. Will Scheerer flew out to right for the 1st out. Paul Rubin and Patrick Schmidt followed with back-to-back singles to bring in the 1st run, Tom Kelm grounded sharply to short, and Adam Gordon was able to turn an inning ending 6-4-3 double play to retire the side.
Sultans- the hottest team in the league continued to put up runs as they tallied four in the first two innings to take the lead. The Sultans welcomed back Chris Villareal to the lineup and as a result only needed to draw two players for this game (Bobby Miller and Jim Foelker). The first three batters (Donnie Janac, Gary Coyle and Don Roets) greeted Senator’s pitcher Raul DeLeon with singles to bring in the 1st run. Ray Pilgrim popped out to short for the 1st out. Jeff Broussard singled to load the bases. Chris Villareal grounded sharply up the middle and Paul was able to turn a 6U 6-3 double play to get out of the inning. 2nd- Adam Gordon and Lucky Hoffman led off the 2nd with back-to-back singles. Luther grounded into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out. Bobby Miller drove in both runners with a double to right. Jim Foelker’s base hit scored Bobby with the 3rd run. Donnie hit into a fielder’s choice and Gary bounced back to the pitcher to end the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Sultans 4 Senators 1
Third Inning Recap:
Senators- Barry McRee led off the 2nd with a line single to left. He was retired as Lynn Simpson grounded to 3B and Gary Coyle turned into a 5-4-3 double play (made easier as Lynn slipped coming out of the box). Jerry singled but Henry flew out to CF to close out the inning.
Sultans- Don grounded back to Raul to open the 3rd. Ray, Jeff and Chris followed with singles to load the bases. Adam singled to left to score Ray leaving the bases loaded. Lucky grounded to short and as Paul’s throw to Lynn beat Jeff to the plate for the 2nd out. Luther popped a ball to right field to bring in two runs. Bobby singled to load the bases for the 3rd time in the inning. Jim laced a single to right to drive in two more runs and complete the Sultans five run inning.
End of 3rd Score: Sultans 9 Senators 1
Fourth Inning Recap:
Senators– finally showed a little life as they battled back with a five-run inning of their own to stay in the game. Raul led off with a ground single up the middle. Denny drew a walk before Terry bounced into a fielder’s choice. Will singled to right to drive in the 1st run. Paul lined a single to left center to score the 2nd run. Patrick’s double to right scored Will and Tom finished up the inning with a line shot to CF that scored both runners and brought the Senators within three runs of the lead.
Sultans- showed no signs of letting up as they continued to pound the ball on their way to consecutive five-run innings. The first four batters (Donnie, Gary, Don and Ray) all reached on singles for the 1st run of the frame. Jeff bounced to short, and Paul was able to turn a 6U 6-3 double play to quickly get two outs. Chris lined a drive to right center to score the 2nd run. Adam followed with a base hit to left to drive in the 3rd run and Lucky smashed a ball through the 5/6 hole to drive in two more and complete the Sultan’s five-run inning.
End of 4th Score: Sultans 14 Senators 6
Fifth Inning Recap:
Senators– Barry ground out to short on a nice backhand stop by Adam for the 1st out. Lynn singled but was forced out at 2B on Jerry’s grounder to 2B. Henry and Raul had back-to-back hits to drive in the 1st run. Denny walked for the 2nd time in the game to load the bases. Terry came through with an RBI single for the Senators 2nd run. Will went down swinging to end the inning.
Sultans- I apologize to the “Kings of the Diamond” but I have no details on the Sultan’s fifth inning other to say they put up their third five-run inning in a row to pretty much put this one out of reach.
End of 5th Score: Sultans 19 Senators 8
Sixth “Open” Inning Recap:
Senators- facing an eleven-run deficit, the Senators could not mount much of a rally in the final frame. Paul reached on an infield single to start the inning. Patrick followed with a single. Tom lined out to Ray for the 1st out. Barry bounced into a fielder’s choice as the runner scored from 3B. Lynn went down on strikes as the Sultans remained undefeated in this session.
Final Score: Sultans 19 Senators 9
Game 2 9:00 a.m. Keystones (1-2-0) vs. Pioneers (1-0-2)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Keystones-looking for redemption after Thursday’s loss to the Braves, the Keystones came out on fire in this one. Mike Hill and Patrick Schmidt singled to open the game. Ken was retired on a nice catch by Mike Carroll in right center for the 1st out. Barry drove in the first run with a line single to left. Tommy DeLeon followed with a base hit to left to drive in the 2nd run. Mike Mordecai drilled a ball past short to score the 3rd run. Greg Tolander popped out to short for the 2nd out. Johnny Neville singled to bring in the pinch runner for the 4th run of the inning. 2nd– The mercenaries (Raul DeLeon, Jim Foelker and Will Scheerer) opened the 2nd for the Keystones. Raul singled but Jim was retired on a pop fly to 3B. Will smacked a single to right and the top of the Keystone’s order took it from there. Mike laced a single to left to drive in the 1st run. Patrick hit into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Ken lined a single to right center to bring in the 2nd run. Barry and Tommy followed with back-to-back singles to left to bring in two more runs. Mike finished off the five-run frame with a hard single to left as the Keystones raced to a nine-run advantage.
Pioneers– the Pioneers struggled coming out of the starting gate in this one as Tommy DeLeon shut them out over the 1st two frames. Jack Adams opened the inning with a ground out to 2B. Mike Carroll and Mickey Poole followed with singles to get things going. But Tommy was able to get Tim Heher (sorry for multiple misspellings of your name!) and Alex Valles to fly out to CF to end the threat. 2nd– the first two batters in the 2nd (Chris Hurst and Sal Lopez) each grounded out to Ken Brown at 3B (amazing how the ball finds Ken wherever he is playing in the field. Tommy finished off the scoreless 2nd by getting Larry King to foul out to retire the side.
End of 2nd Score: Keystones 9 Pioneers 0
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones– Greg led off the 3rd with a perfect bunt in front of the plate to reach 1B (yes, technically bunting is illegal in our league, but Greg hides it so well with his swing). Johnny followed with a line single to right. Morris walked to load the bases. Raul delivered a two-run single with a shot up the middle. Jim popped out to 1B on a nice catch by Chris. Will followed with a line drive double down the right field line to drive in the 3rd run. Mike H. singled to bring in the 4th run. Patrick bounced into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Singles from Ken, Barry and Tommy resulted in the 5th run as the Keystones took a commanding fourteen run lead.
Pioneers- refused to give up and battled back with four runs in the inning. Paul led off the inning with a double. Donnie ripped a triple that got past the left fielder to drive in Paul with the Pioneer’s first run of the game. Don smacked a base hit to right to score Donnie with the 2nd run. Jack popped out to 3B for the 1st out. The next play had lots going on so stay with me. Mike C. was at the plate, and he crushed a ball to left center. In his excitement, he took off running on what was sure to be an extra base hit. The problem was, he had asked for a pinch runner from the plate, so he was ruled out on the play. Meanwhile, Don was heading towards 2B and Patrick got to the ball quickly and made a strong throw to the base to try to get him. The throw sailed and ended up hitting off the top of Don’s head and caroming into right field. Don was too stunned (and bleeding) to recover and advance to 3B. After checking to make sure he was ok, Don valiantly elected to tough it out and stay in the game. Mickey followed with a double to left center to score Don. Tim Heher singled to move Mickey to 3B and he scored on Chris’ hit to left for the 4th run of the inning.
End of 3rd Score: Keystones 14 Pioneers 4
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones- perhaps the Keystones were worn out from all of the running of the bases in the 1st three innings, but they were quickly shut down on the 4th. Mike M. popped out to 1B to start the inning. Greg drew a walk but Johnny and Morris each popped out to 2B (nice catches by Larry) to end the inning.
Pioneers- Larry fouled out to open the inning. Paul singled but was doubled off 1B as Donnie popped a ball in the infield. It did not look like Tommy was going to be able to get the ball but he reached out at the last moment to make the catch and I was caught in no man’s land for the final out of the frame.
End of 4th Score: Keystones 14 Pioneers 4
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Pioneers- with the Pioneer’s down by ten runs, the team flip flopped, and the Pioneer’s took their final turn at bat. Don led off with a single but was forced out at 2B on Jack’s grounder to 3B. Mike lined out to short ahead of Mickey’s single. Tim H. flew out to CF to end the game as the Pioneers went down to defeat for the 1st time in this session.
Final Score: Keystones 14 Pioneers 4
Session Four Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 4th Session |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Sultans |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0.875 |
60 |
45 |
15 |
– |
|
Keystones |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0.500 |
50 |
43 |
7 |
1.50 |
|
Braves |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0.500 |
40 |
42 |
-2 |
1.50 |
|
Pioneers |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0.500 |
24 |
31 |
-7 |
1.50 |
|
Senators |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0.125 |
55 |
68 |
-13 |
3.00 |
Sultans have a firm grip on the lead for this session and continue to play inspired senior softball. Three teams trail by 1.50 games so they’re certainly not out of it.
Full Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season To-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
25 |
12 |
0 |
0.676 |
508 |
393 |
115 |
– |
|
Keystones |
17 |
19 |
0 |
0.472 |
432 |
430 |
2 |
7.50 |
|
Sultans |
16 |
19 |
1 |
0.458 |
411 |
444 |
-33 |
8.00 |
|
Pioneers |
15 |
18 |
2 |
0.429 |
352 |
385 |
-33 |
8.00 |
|
Senators |
15 |
18 |
1 |
0.441 |
419 |
460 |
-41 |
8.50 |
Schedule for August 28, 2025
Game 1 8:00 a.m. (H) Pioneers (1-1-2) vs. (V) Senators (0-3-1)
Game 2 9:00 a.m. (H) Sultans (3-0-1) vs. (V) Braves (2-2-0)
Keystones have a bye on Thursday (which means only nine of their players will show up!) so their players will have priority in the draw. Given that the combatants in the first game have historically drawn the most players, we will need all hands-on deck come Thursday.
Will the Sultans start to separate from the pack with a win over the Braves? Will the Senators finally get in the win column and take down the Pioneers? All will be revealed on Thursday!