Game Day Gazette
March 10,2025
What an amazing day at the ballpark that we enjoyed on Monday! The weather started out a little on the cold side but like the softball that was being played, warmed up quickly and was enjoyable throughout. We had not only one but two walk-off hits as the underdogs came back from multi-run deficits to pull put dramatic victories. This is why we come to the ballpark as players and fans. Well done guys!
Special thanks to Anthony Galindo and the B league board for working with us to allow for a late start to the games on Monday as the game time temperature for the 9:00 a.m. game was still around 44 degrees.
Game 1 9:00 a.m. Senators (0-1-0) vs. Pioneers (0-1-0)
Epic battle between the two winless teams in the league. Neither team wanted to fall to 0-2 and they battled hard throughout the game to get that first win!
First & Second Inning Recap:
Pioneers- Scott Wright led off the game with a line drive single to right. Jack Adams flew out to left center for the 1st out. Mike Carroll and Butch Barber had back-to-back hits to score the 1st run. Gene Nelson (fourth left-handed batters out of the first five hitters!) drove in the 2nd run with a groundout to the right side to end the scoring for the Pioneers. 2nd– Raul DeLeon closed the door on the Pioneers in the 2nd, shutting them down without a run despite three hits in the inning. Raul induced three groundball outs while allowing hits by Mickey Poole, Bobby Miller (mercenary) and Patrick Schmidt (mercenary #2) to get out of the inning unscathed.
Senators– the winless diplomats came out on fire as the first four batters reached base. Greg Lloyd singled to open the frame and Denny Malloy moved him to 2B on a single. Raul DeLeon and Tim Coles cracked back-to-back doubles to score three more runs. Terry Watts flew out to RF for the 1st out of the inning but singles by Curt Ashmos, Jerry Mylius and Will Scheerer produced two more runs for the men in blue to complete their five-run inning. 2nd– Rick Parker lined a base hit to center to start the inning. Paul Rubin (mercenary) doubled to right. Donnie Janac lined a shot up the middle but new pitcher, Mike Carroll, snagged it for the 1st out. Greg was retired on a groundball to 2B but Denny came through with a two out RBI single to score the Senators only run of the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Senators 6 Pioneers 2
Third Inning Recap:
Pioneers- the settlers failed to score in the 3rd. Things got a little jumbled with the Pioneers lineup as two regulars showed up late (Buddy Gaswint and Sal Lopez). Jack had drawn two players but now had twelve vs. eleven for the Senators so Patrick Schmidt was ordered back to the stands after a brief discussion between managers. Scott and Jack got the inning off to a promising start with back-to-back singles. Mike C. and Butch hit into fielder’s choice groundouts before Gene went down looking on a called third strike to end the frame.
Senators- extended their lead with another five-run outburst as all six batters reached base in the inning. Tim singled to start the inning. Terry and Curt had back-to-back hits to score the 1st run. Jerry Mylius walked to load the bases ahead of RBI singles from Will and Rick. Paul finished the scoring with a two run single that was just out of Jack’s reach at shortstop.
End of 3rd Score: Senators 11 Pioneers 2
Fourth Inning Recap:
Pioneers- crawled their way back into the game with a four-run outburst keyed by a triple from Mickey and a double by Sal. Scott knocked in the final run of the inning with his 3rd hot of the game.
Senators- failed to score in the inning as Greg hit into a double play started by Jack after Donnie had led off the inning with a single. Denny had his third hit in as many at bats before Raul hit into an inning ending groundout to 2B.
End of 4th Score: Senators 11 Pioneers 6
Fifth Inning Recap:
Pioneers- needing five runs to tie and six to take the lead in their half of the buffet, the Pioneers exploded for eight runs on nine hits. Mike C. led off with a single followed by consecutive hits from Butch and Gene to plate the 1st run. Larry lined out to 3B for the 1st out, but Mickey responded with an opposite field double, driving in two more runs. Bubba’s single drove in the 4th run and Bobby M. brought in two more with an opposite field double. Buddy’s single score Bobby for the 7th run. Sal and Scott (completing a perfect 4-4 day) produced back-to-back singles to score the 8th run. The inning came to an abrupt end as Jack hit a hard grounder to Tim that was turned into a 6U 6-3 double play as the Pioneers seized a three-run lead.
Senators- needing three to tie and four runs to win, Senators wasted no time as Tim singled to start the inning. Terry walked and Curt singled to load the bases. Jerry drew another walk to force in the 1st run. Will’s single to right center drove in the 2nd run. Rick continued the hit parade with a clutch line drive shot to center to tie the score. Paul hit a line-drive up the middle past the pitcher for the walk-off hit as the Senators got their 1st win of the young season.
Final Score: Senators 15 Pioneers 14
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Sultans (1-1-0) vs. Keystones (2-0-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Keystones- both teams started out slowly in this one. The Keystones were unable to score in the 1st after Alex Valles opened the game with a single. He was forced out at 2B on Bobby Hawthorne’s groundout. Ken Brown hit into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out before Tommy DeLeon flew out to CF to end the inning. 2nd– Patrick Schmidt led off the 2nd with a line shot to right but was erased on Mike Mordecai’s infield out. The next three batters (Robby Vickery, Barry McRee and Margarito Canava) all produced hits leading to the first run of the game. Johnny Neville lined out to opposing pitcher Jack Kelly for the 2nd out and Jack struck out Morris Carter to retire the side.
Sultans- the Sultans were forced to adopt the “next man up” approach after Peter Atkins went down with an injury at the end of last week’s game. We wish Peter a speedy recovery as he is likely to be out for 5-6 weeks. The Sultans did not fare any better at the plate in their first two frames as they failed to score and only generated three hits. Chris Villareal (welcome back!) and Ray Pilgrim had hits in the first inning but in each case, were forced out on fielder’s choice grounders. Don Roet’s managed to get the only hit for the Sultans in the 2nd inning.
End of 2nd Score: Keystones 1 Sultans 0
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones- started heating up in the 3rd, scoring five runs on six hits. Bobby H. had a one-out single followed by back-to-back hits by Ken and Tommy, scoring the 1st run. Patrick was retired on a deep flyball to right center to Chris V. for the 2nd out. Mike M. drove in the 2nd run with a base hit and Robby doubled down the right field line to score two more runs. Barry wrapped up the scoring with an RBI single to drive in Robby with the 5th run.
Sultans- responded by putting up five runs of their own to keep this a one-run game. Lucky Hoffman singled leading off, but Chris Hurst and Jeff Broussard were both retired on groundball outs. Jack Kelly started the two-out rally with a line drive hit to RF. The top of the Sultan’s batting order took it from there. Chris V.’s single was followed by walks to Gary and Adam to force in the 1st run of the inning. Ray Pilgrim delivered a big two-run single, and Donnie Janac finished off the scoring with an RBI single of his own.
End of 3rd Score: Keystones 6 Sultans 5
Keystones- the bottom of the order led by Johnny and Morris keyed the four-run inning for the Keystones, leading off with back-to-back singles. After one out, Bobby H. smacked a single to left to score the 1st run. Ken’s double to right center drove in two more runs. Tommy singled to score Ken with the 4th run before Patrick fouled out to retire the side.
Sultans- what was now becoming a hit fest, the Sultans swatted their way to another five-run inning to knot the score. After one out, Rip Wright and Don both singled but Ray hit a hard smash to 3B that Mike Mordecai was able to gather and make the unassisted put out at 3B for the 2nd out. Lucky then crushed a ball to left center for an RBI double. Chris H. singled to move up the base runners and Jeff came through with another hit to score Lucky. Jack continued to swing a hot bat with an RBI double to right before Chris V. put a bow on this five-run inning with a hit to score Jack’s pinch runner.
End of 4th Score: Keystones 10 Sultans 10
Fifth Inning Recap:
Keystones- in the buffet, the Keystones combined some good fortune with some timely hitting to score six runs. Mike, Robby and Ray Saldana all had hits to start the inning and get the first run across. Johnny singled with one out to load the bases. Morris hit a slow roller at Adam who threw to the plate trying to get the force at home. His throw was wide, forcing Jeff to come off the plate and he collided with the runner come home from 3B (can’t recall the actual runner as I don’t track pinch runners) taking an elbow to the ear and had to leave the game.
Important safety tip- safety is the #1 priority in our game. We run around like kids playing the game we love but can never forget that we are in bodies that are 65 years and older. The rules are in place to protect ourselves and others. As a baserunner, you should always look to avoid contact with the defensive player. If you fail to do so, you can and should be called out. In this particular case, the runner that collided with Jeff should have been called out for running too close to the actual plate (confirmed the call with umpire emeritus Terry Watts). The home plate/scoring line is purposely drawn near the fence to avoid this type of collision!
Alex hit into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Bobby H. singled in the 4th run . Ken drove a ball to deep right center and cruised into 3B with a two-run triple to finish the scoring for the Keystones as they grabbed a six-run lead.
Sultans- facing a six-run deficit, the Sultans would not go down without a fight. Gary led off with a single. Adam and Ray followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Donnie kept things going with an RBI single for the 1st run. Phil Stanch did likewise as the Sultans crept within four runs. Rip drilled a ball to right field that brought in two more runs and the lead was now down to two runs. Don Roets, playing in front of his wife, daughter and granddaughter, stepped up and drilled a ball over 2B that split the outfielders and rolled all the way to the fence. Don proceeded to fly around the bases for a walk-off three run homer (and the crowd went wild!). This was one of the most exciting plays I have seen in m y time with the league. Congrats, Don!
Final Score: Sultans 17 Keystones 16
Session #1 Standings:
Keystones  2-1-0
Sultans     2-1-0
Braves      1-1-0
Senators    1-1-0
Pioneers    0-2-0
Next Games: Thursday March 13, 2025
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Keystones (2-1-0) vs. Senators (1-1-0)
The two teams with the brightest jerseys will go head-to-head in this contest. Which is Orange and which is Red, no one really knows but does it really matter.
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Pioneers (0-2-0) vs. Braves (1-1-0)
Pioneers are still looking for their first win and the Braves try to bounce back from their loss to the Keystones.
Sultans will have a bye for Game 3 so their players will have priority in the draw.