Game Day Gazette
June 2, 2025
Nice to be back at the ballpark after the Memorial Day holiday and Thursday’s rain out. Today’s games included what are probably the longest and shortest games of the season. Go figure!
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Keystones (2-4-0) vs. Braves (4-2-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Apologies to Mike Mordecai of the Keystones! Somehow when I wrote down the Keystones lineup, I missed Mike’s name, so I was unable to give him credit for any of his exploits at the plate. We’ll assume he had a perfect 4-4 day at the plate and leave it at that!
Keystones-didn’t miss a beat as they came out storming the gate and put up consecutive five run innings. In the 1st, the Keystones had six singles and a walk to plate five runs without making an out. Mike Hill led off the game with a line single. John Flowers and Patrick Schmidt followed with back-to-back hits to load the bases. Ken Brown laced a drive to right to bring in the first two runs of the game. Bobby Hawthorne walked to reload the bases. Tommy DeLeon singled to bring in two more runs and Margarito Canava wrapped up the inning with a run scoring single to left for the 5th run. 2nd– Robby Vickery opened the 2nd with a looping single to right. Alex Valles went down looking on a pitch that was testing the 12-foot height limit. Greg Tolander reached on a “bunt” single, and Johnny Neville walked to load the bases. Mike H. singled to drive in two runs and the Keystones were off and running. John delivered a single to drive in the 3rd run. Patrick popped out to short on a nice running catch for the 2nd out. Ken followed with another shot to right for his 2nd two RBI hit to complete the 2nd five-run inning for the Keystones.
Braves- facing an early ten run deficit, the Braves gamely fought back with three runs in the first and four in the 2nd to keep things close. Doc Hobar ground out to short to open the game for the 1st out. Paul Rubin doubled down the left field line before Lynn Simpson was retired on a flyball to CF for the 2nd out. Jim Foelker ripped a single to score Paul with the Braves 1st run. Tom Kelm singled to put runners on 1B and 3B. Dave Berra’s single brought in both runners, but the inning ended on a well-struck flyball by Joe Dayoc. 2nd– Brian Rider opened the 2nd with a ground out to short. The Braves, missing several players including Bobby Miller and Tom Brownfield, picked up three mercenaries (Gary Coyle, Ray Pilgrim and Donnie Janac) from the Sultans (taking advantage of their priority status in the draw). Gary Coyle lined a single and scored on Ray Pilgrim’s booming triple to CF (narrowly missing getting thrown out at 3B and Mike M. could not handle the throw). Donnie Janac singled to bring in Ray with the 2nd run. Doc popped out to 2B for the 2nd out. Paul double up the middle to bring in Donnie with the 3rd run. Lynn followed with a single to score Paul before Jim ground out to end the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Keystones 10 Braves 7
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones-P Tom Kelm cooled off the smoking Keystone bats in the 3rd as he got Bobby and Tommy to ground out to short and 2B, respectively for the 1st two outs. Margarito followed with a single but his pinch runner from the plate (Patrick) had already run for Tommy in the same inning, so he was called out (C league limits a pinch runner one turn per inning) to retire the side.
Braves- Tom K. ground out to 3B to start the inning but the next seven batters reached base as the Braves put up a five-spot to take a 12-10 lead. Dave, Joe and Brian singled to kick off the inning and load the bases. Gary singled to drive in two runs. Back-to-back singles by Ray and Donnie produced a 3rd run and Doc’s pop fly single to right brought in the final two runs to finish off the inning.
End of 3rd Score: Braves 12 Keystones 10
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones- scratched out a single run in the 4th on singles by Mike M. and Greg followed by a line single over 1B by Johnny Neville.
Braves- Paul led off the inning by taking a called 3rd strike on a pitch that looked flat (oops, my bad!). Lynn singled and Jim lined out to Mike H. at short for the 2nd out. Tom K. singled to put runners on the corners. Dave and Joe followed with RBI singles as the Braves stretched their lead to four runs.
End of 4th Score: Braves 15 Keystones 11
Fifth Inning Recap:
Keystones– Mike H. led off the inning with a single. John hit a one-hopper to new 1B, Scott Wright (came in to replace Lynn who left the game as he was unable to catch his breath. Thankfully, he was ok but did not return to the game). Scott touched 1B for the out and his throw to 2B beat Mike to complete the 3U 3-6 double The next three batters (Patrick, Ken and Bobby) singled to bring a run across before Tommy flew out to CF to retire the side.
Braves– Gary and Ray led off with back-to-back singles before Donnie ground out to 3B. Doc walked to load the bases. Paul’s sizzling groundball up the middle scooted past Patrick and rolled to the fence for an inside the park grand slam homerun. Scott, Jim and Tom followed with base hits to add the 5th run and give the Braves a seemingly commanding l20-12 run heading into the buffet.
End of 5th Score: Braves 20 Keystones 12
Sixth (Open) Inning Recap:
Keystones- there is a saying that no lead is safe in senior softball and that was definitely the case on this day. The Keystones, who had been held to two runs over the last three innings after their initial ten run outburst, exploded for eleven runs in the buffet to take the lead. I don’t know if it was spending too much time in the hot sun or the frustration of seeing every hitter for the Keystones reach base, but I was unable to recall much of the details from this inning. I don’t recall which batters were retired but the Keystones marched fifteen batters to the plate in what became the longest game of the season and grabbed a 23-20 lead over the shell-shocked Braves!
Braves– now down by three runs, the Braves were unable to muster much of a rally in the buffet inning. Tommy retired Dave and Joe on ground balls to quickly get two outs. Brian came through with a two-out single to provide a glimmer of hope for the Braves. Gary singled to put runners on 1B and 2B. Ray’s hard-hit ball went right to Mike H. at SS and he was able to get the force at 2B to end the game as the Keystones came away with an improbable victory for the ages!
Final Score: Keystones 23 Braves 20
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Senators (3-3-0) vs. Pioneers (4-3-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Mercenaries played a big role in this game as the Pioneers continued to struggle with injuries (Jack Adams cracked rib being the latest!) and were only able to field six of their own players for this one. As a result, the Pioneers had to draw five players (Jim Foelker, Paul Rubin, Mike Hill, Donnie Janac and Ray Pilgrim) for this game.
Senators- Terry Thompson led off the game with a single and moved to 2B on Henry Flores single down the 3B line. Raul DeLeon flew out to deep LC for the 1st out. Tim Coles followed with a drive to left that Jim Foelker was able to haul in for the 2nd out. Terry Watts was retired to end the scoreless 1st for the Senators. 2nd-Jerry Mylius ground out to 2B to start the 2nd inning. Curt Ashmos and will Scheerer followed with singles, but P Sal Lopez was able to retire Rick Parker and Roger Geras to complete the 2nd scoreless inning for the Senators.
Pioneers– Scott Wright led off the game for the Pioneers with an inside the park home run! Sal Lopez and Mike Carroll followed Scott’s blast with back-to-back singles. Gene singled to drive in the 2nd run for the Pioneers. Mickey Poole’s line single to left brought in the 3rd run. Larry King hit into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out of the inning. Jim Foelker singled to bring in the 4th run, and Paul Rubin wrapped up the scoring with a single up the middle to plate the 5th run. 2nd-Mike Hill doubled leading off the 2nd and was followed by an RBI double by Donnie Janac. Ray brought Donnie in with a line single to left. Scott singled before Sal popped out to 3B for the 1st out. Mike Carroll proceeded to crush a two-run double to right center. Gene grounded out for the 2nd out. Mickey lined a single to left and Larry followed with a base hit to bring in the 5th run as the Pioneers stormed out to a ten-run lead.
End of 2nd Score: Pioneers 10 Senators 0
Third Inning Recap:
Senators– were unable to get their offense untracked in the 3rd. Ken Brown (Senator’s lone mercenary) led off with a hard shot up the middle that was gloved by Sal and his throw to 1B beat Ken for the 1st out. Terry T. followed with a base hit, but he was forced out at 2B on Henry’s grounder to SS. Raul ended the inning by flying out to Donnie in CF.
Pioneers– added four more runs in the 3rd to take a commanding 14-0 lead. Jim singled to lead off but was forced out at 2B on Paul’s fielder’s choice groundout. Mike and Donnie singled to load the bases. Ray singled to bring in two runs. Scott had his 3rd hit if the day to drive in the 3rd run. Sal continued the hit parade with a single and Gene finished off the scoring with a base knock resulting in the 4th run coming across.
End of 3rd Score: Pioneers 14 Senators 0
Fourth Inning Recap:
Senators-finally got on the scoreboard with a single run in the 4th. Tim led off the inning with a sharp single up the middle. Jerry followed with a base hit and Tim scored on Curt’s RBI single to left.
Given the thirteen-run lead and a need to get back on schedule after the extended early morning game, the teams agreed to an early flip flop and the Senators had their final at-bat.
Fifth Inning Recap:
Senators-Ken singled with one out and moved to 3B on Terry T.’s single and a throwing error by yours truly. Henry was retired for the 2nd out, but Raul singled up the middle to drive in both runners. Tim hit a flyball to CF that I was able to catch for the final out as the Pioneers moved into first place for the session with a 14-3 victory.
Final Score: Pioneers 14 Senators 3
2nd Session Standings:
As a result of their loss to the Keystones, the Braves now trail the session leading Pioneers by .50 games. All the other teams have identical 3-4-0 records are only 1.50 games out of the lead so anyone can still win in this session.
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 2nd Session |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Pioneers |
5 |
3 |
0 |
0.625 |
95 |
88 |
7 |
– |
|
Braves |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0.571 |
94 |
78 |
16 |
0.50 |
|
Sultans |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0.429 |
84 |
78 |
6 |
1.50 |
|
Keystones |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0.429 |
88 |
101 |
-13 |
1.50 |
|
Senators |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0.429 |
85 |
101 |
-16 |
1.50 |
Full Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season To-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
13 |
6 |
0 |
0.684 |
265 |
202 |
63 |
– |
|
Pioneers |
11 |
9 |
0 |
0.550 |
226 |
232 |
-6 |
2.50 |
|
Senators |
9 |
10 |
0 |
0.474 |
244 |
259 |
-15 |
4.00 |
|
Keystones |
8 |
11 |
0 |
0.421 |
243 |
256 |
-13 |
5.00 |
|
Sultans |
7 |
12 |
0 |
0.368 |
226 |
255 |
-29 |
6.50 |
Next Games: Thursday June 5, 2025
For those that rely of the Game Day Gazette for the next scheduled game, please know that this information is also available on the ASSL website.
Game 1 8:30 a.m. (H) Keystones (3-4-0) vs. (V) Pioneers (5-3-0)
Game 2 9:30 a.m. (H) Sultans (3-4-0) vs. (V) Braves (4-3-0)
Senators have the bye on Thursday so their players will have priority in the draw.
Paul Rubin