Game Day Gazette
July 6, 2026
If you like competitive balance or parity then the C division is the place for you. Early in the session, it looked like Gray was going to run away with the session crown and leave the other teams in the dust after winning their first three games. Two weeks later, we have a five-team race with only one game separating the top from the bottom. For the 2nd consecutive game day, the team with a lesser record came out on top and neither game was close in today’s action. Just goes to show that on any given Monday or Thursday, any team can win or lose the very definition of parity.
Calling all players! There is an SSUSA senior softball qualifier tournament in Waco on Thursday so lots of guys will be gone. This is your opportunity to get in an extra game. I encourage any of the Orange team players to show up since your team is on a bye. We will NEED lots of players to fill out the rosters as no one wants to see any forfeits.
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Red (1-3-0) vs. Orange (2-1-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Red– riding a one-game winning streak and hoping to turn their season around, Red tangled with the hottest team in the league, Orange. The game got off on a positive note as Patrick Schmidt lined a triple to left center to kick things off. John Flowers reached on an infield hit and took 2B on the errant throw to 1B as Patrick scored the 1st run. Terry Watts looped a single to right center and Ken Brown ripped a single up the middle to score John with the 2nd run. Mike Mordecai grounded to Adam Gordon at 3B, and he scrambled to get the force at 3B for the initial out. Sal Lopez drilled a hard grounder to 3B, and Adam made a nice backhand stop and touched the base for the 2nd out. Bobby Hawthorne smacked a single past Adam to drive in the 3rd run. Jack Kelly doing his best Rod Carew impersonation, poked a single to right center to bring in the 4th run. Butch Barber reached on an infield hit but Raul DeLeon flew out to right center to retire the side. 2nd – Jack Spellman flew out to left center to open the 2nd inning. Patrick lined a double down the left field line to get into scoring position. John fouled out for the 2nd out. Terry hit a routine grounder to 3B but Adam’s throw got past Jerry Mylius at 1B allowing Patrick to score and Terry to reach 2B. Ken reached an infield single as Terry stayed at 2B. Mike lined a single to left to load the bases with two men out. Sal fouled out to close out the frame.
Orange– down five, Orange quickly struck back with three runs in the 1st. Terry Thompson launched a ball over Bobby Hawthorne’s head to open the inning with a standup triple (since hardly anyone slides, aren’t they all “standup”). Jack Adams dropped one in front of Bobby for an RBI double. Bobby Miller recorded his first out since returning to the Orange lineup as he popped out to short. Jim Foelker drilled a single through the 5/6 hole to move Jack to 3B. He scored on Barry McRee’s single to shallow center field. Jerry Mylius singled down the 3B line to load the bases. Adam Gordon smacked a hard single past the shortstop to drive in the 3rd run. Luther Elmore grounded sharply up the middle, but Ken was shading him that way, and he started an inning ending 6U 6-3 double play. 2nd – P Tommy DeLeon made short work of the Orange lineup as he shut down the side in order in the 2nd getting Steve Kendig and Mickey Poole to ground out and retiring Gary Coyle on a 3rd strike foul ball.
End of 2nd Score: Red 5 Orange 3
Third Inning Recap:
Red– the bottom of the lineup came through with three more runs in the 3rd. Bobby lined to left and Steve almost made a great catch but could not hold the ball as he fell in for a single. Jack K. confounded the scouting report as he lopped a single to left center to move Bobby to 2B. Butch singled to the right side to load the bases with nobody out. Raul ripped a single to right center to bring in two runs. Jack S. followed with a sacrifice fly to medium deep right center that allowed Butch to score from 3B. Patrick bounced one up the middle and P Terry T. made an excellent stop and got the throw to 1B for the 2nd out. John followed with a groundout to 2B to retire the side.
Orange- P Tommy D. continued to befuddle the Orange hitters in the 3rd. Terry flew out to left center for the 1st out. Jack Adams popped out to 1B on an outstanding catch by Jack Spellman for the 2nd out. Bobby fouled out for the final out in a scoreless 3rd inning.
End of 3rd Score: Red 8 Orange 3
Fourth Inning Recap:
Red– continued to put pressure on Orange with another three-run inning. Terry ground out to 3B to lead off the 4th. Ken hit a routine grounder to short but the throw to 1B was wide allowing him to end up on 2B. Mike slashed a single up the middle to bring Ken around to score. Sal bounced into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Bobby picked up his 3rd hit in as many at bats with a line single to left. Jack K. completed his perfect 3-3 day with a perfect senior softball hit over the infield to right center to drive in the 2nd run. Butch blistered a single to right center to score Bobby with the 3rd run. Raul’s fly to LC ended the frame.
Orange– Jim F. broke up P Tommy’s streak of retiring seven (7) straight batters with a single to center. Barry was retired on a routine flyball to left center for the 1st out. Jerry grounded into a fielder’s choice with a very close play at 2B to get Jim on the force. Adam’s pop up to short ended the 3rd consecutive shutout inning for the men in Orange.
End of 4th Score: Red 11 Orange 3
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Red-Jack S. lined a single to right center to open the buffet. Patrick laced a single to left to move Jack to 3B. John ripped a double to right to score Jack S. Patrick, giving some bad coaching advice, tried to score from 1B on the play and was throw out on a nice relay from Bobby Miller to Luther for the 1st out. Terry W.’s single moved John to 3B and he scored the 2nd run on Ken’s sacrifice fly to right center. This gave Red a ten-run lead, so the teams flip flopped and Orange came up for their final at bat.
Orange-Luther opened the buffet with a pop fly to short. Steve and Gary followed with back-to-back singles. Mickey smoked a line drive single to left to finally get Orange back on the scoreboard. Terry lined a sharp single to left center to drive in the 2nd run. Jack A. was retired on a flyball to medium center field for the 2nd out. Bobby took out his frustration from his earlier at bats and crushed a ball to deep center field. It looked like this one would easily get over John’s and bring in 2-3 runs. However, John never gave up on the ball and made a last second lunge towards it making what I would claim is the most outstanding defensive play of the 2026 season. John Flowers take a bow. What a catch! Game over!!!!
Final Score: Red 13 Orange 5
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Blue (2-2-0) vs. Gray (3-1-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Blue- in the C division reenactment of the Civil War, Blue faced off against Gray with the session lead on the line. Blue needed reinforcements for this one and drew four players out of the bucket as Bobby Miller, Jack Spellman, Steve Kendig and Barry McRee joined the Blue man group. Tommy DeLeon opened the game with a groundout to 3B. Mike Hill lined a single to right center for the first hit of the game. Tim Coles followed with a ringing single down the 3B line. Raul DeLeon grounded a single through the 5/6 hole to load the bases. Henry Flores stepped up and lined a two-run single down the left field line. Donnie Janac smacked a single up the middle to bring in the 4rd run. Dave Berra popped out to 2B to temporarily derail the rally, but mercenary Bobby Miller unloaded with a deep flyball to left center for a bases clearing two run triple. 2nd– the mercs continued to fuel the Blue offense in the 2nd as Jack Spellman led off with a single to right center. Steve Kendig followed with a drive to right center that fell just in front of Sal Lopez and skipped past him for an RBI triple. Barry McRee slapped a single to center to bring in Steve with the 2nd run. The top of the lineup failed to deliver as Tommy bounced into a fielder’s choice and Mike lined out to 3B for two quick outs. Tim smoked a dive down the left field line for a triple to drive in the 3rd run before Raul was retired on a grounder to 2B.
Gray- like their counterparts, Gray was playing shorthanded in this one and drew five players from the bucket (Ken Brown, Patrick Schmidt, John Flowers, Sal Lopez and Tom Kelm). Skipper Peter Atkins and assistant coach Scott Wright missed today’s game thrusting Ray Pilgrim into a managerial role. David Safely moving from the #9 hitter to lead off for today’s battle. David worked a walk from P Tommy Deleon to start the frame. Mike Carroll slashed a base hit to right. Gary Coyle’s hard shot up the middle drove in Gray’s first run. Margarito Canava looped a single to left center to drive in the 2nd run. Larry Coons followed with a sacrifice fly to left center to bring in the 3rd run. Ray Pilgrim went down swinging for the 2nd out. Ken Brown lined a single to left but Tommy retired Patrick Schmidt on a flyball to center to get out of the inning. 2nd– John Flowers, still basking in the glow of his incredible catch on the earlier game, lined a single to right to open the 2nd. Sal lined a shot to 3B and Tim made a nice backhand catch on the ball. John ventured a few steps off the base to see if Tim would make the play (big mistake!) as Tim proceeded to throw a BB to Jack Spellman to complete the double play. Tom Kelm reached on an infield hit. David ripped a double to right center to bring in Tom’s pinch runner with the first run. Tommy avoided any further damage as he struck out Mike to close out the frame.
End of 2nd Score: Blue 8 Gray 4
Third Inning Recap:
Blue- Henry popped out to 3B to open the 3rd. Donnie singled but was erased on Dave’s grounder to 3B for the 2nd out. Bobby started a two-out rally with a single up the middle. Jack drove in a run with a single to right. Steve followed up his first triple with a repeat performance as his drive to right center got past Sal for a two-run triple. Ray got Barry to pop out to 2B to retire the side.
Gray- Tommy settled down and began a streak of three consecutive shutout innings by retiring the side in order in the 4th. Gary bounced out to 3B, and Margarito flew out to left center for two quick outs. I had to step out for a moment, so the results of the next play are as told by Terry Watts. The batter, Larry Coons, lined an apparent single to left center. Larry, thinking he had a pinch runner from the plate, did not take off with the hit. By the time he realized it was up to him to get to the base, the outfielder had relayed the ball into Mike and his throw to 1B beat the runner for the final out.
End of 3rd Score: Blue 11 Gray 4
Fourth Inning Recap:
Blue- Tommy opened the 4th with a drive down the right field line. Jack S. running hard from the plate was able to circle the bases for a joint inside the park home run. The next three batters s (Mike, Tim and Raul) singled to drive in the 2nd run. Henry walked to load the bases. Donnie looped a ball down the 1B line for an apparent single, but catcher David S. had called out infield fly rule when the ball was in the air. Donnie stopped running thinking he was an automatic out. Several issues with this play! First and foremost, only the umpires can make an infield fly call. This ball was clearly not catchable from the get-go so Jack Adams, as home plate umpire, did not make the call. David could have been called for interference and Donnie awarded 1B, but Jack let the play go on and Donnie did reach 1B ahead of the late throw. Today’s lesson… players on defense should not be making calls, that is why we have umpires! Dave reached on an infield single to push another run across. Bobby bounced into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out of the inning as Henry crossed the plate with the 5th run.
Gray -Ray led off the 4th with a deep flyball to left center that Donnie tracked down for the 1st out. Ken singled but was forced out at 2B on Patrick’s sizzling grounder to 2B on a nice play by Raul. John ended the inning with a pop fly out to 1B.
End of 4th Score: Blue 16 Gray 4
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Down by twelve runs, the teams flip flopped and Gray remained at the plate for their buffet inning.
Gray– Tommy continued to dominate on the mound with his 3rd straight shutout inning, Sal ground out to 3B, and Tim’s strong throw beat him to the base for the 1st out. Tom bounced out to 2B for the 2nd out. David grounded sharply to 2B, and Raul knocked the ball down. His throw to 1B was low and away but Jack Spellman, showing his versatility in the field, made a great back hand stab at the ball just ahead of the pinch runner for the final out.
Final Score: Blue 16 Gray 4
Current Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2026 3rd Session Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Gray |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.600 |
45 |
51 |
-6 |
– |
|
Blue |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.600 |
60 |
53 |
7 |
– |
|
Green |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0.000 |
61 |
55 |
6 |
0.50 |
|
Red |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0.400 |
39 |
43 |
-4 |
1.00 |
|
Orange |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0.400 |
43 |
46 |
-3 |
1.00 |
Only one game separates the five teams in the tightest session race we have seen in the 2026 season.
Season-to-date Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2026 Season to-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Gray |
18 |
9 |
1 |
0.643 |
325 |
274 |
57 |
– |
|
Green |
14 |
8 |
0 |
0.636 |
301 |
227 |
68 |
1.50 |
|
Orange |
11 |
12 |
1 |
0.458 |
249 |
233 |
19 |
5.00 |
|
Blue |
10 |
13 |
0 |
0.435 |
194 |
273 |
-86 |
6.00 |
|
Red |
6 |
17 |
0 |
0.261 |
207 |
269 |
-58 |
11.00 |
Three teams still have a legitimate chance of catching the front-running Gray squad and do not count out Red as this writer thinks a multi-game winning streak is not out of the question for this group.
Next Games: Thursday July 9, 2026
Game 1 8:00 a.m. Red (2-3-0) vs. Blue (3-2-0)
Both teams coming off big wins on Monday. Can Red build on their current two-game win streak and reach the .500 level? Or will Blue use Monday’s big win over Gray to springboard them to another victory and possibly the session lead? All will be revealed on Thursday.
Green has umpiring duties for this one.
Game 2 9:00 a.m. Green (2-2-0) vs. Gray (3-2-0)
My guess is the quality of the player draw will heavily impact the outcome of this game. Green will have 1st pick and that could be huge. Looking for lots of Orange sprinkled with Green and Gray in the late game.
Red will be taking on the umpire responsibilities in this game.
Orange will have a bye on Thursday so their players will have priority in the draw.