Game Day Gazette
 March 9, 2026
After the forecasts for torrential rains over the weekend, we thought there was little chance that we would be playing this morning, However, there is a reason they always state forecasts in percentages. The day got off to a rough start with the impact of lost sleep due to daylight savings time, light rain and dense fog slowing traffic. But despite all of the challenges, we were able to get things started with only a fifteen-minute delay.
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Green (1-0-0) vs. Blue (0-2-0)
Special thanks to my new teammate, Jack Spellman, for keeping the scorebook for most of this game. As poet laureate for the Austin Senior Softball League and editor in-chief for the Picayune, only Jack truly appreciates how challenging it can be to keep the book in games you are playing. Thanks, Jack!
First & Second Inning Recap:
Blue- Newcomer Luis Sanchez took the bump for his first start of the new season and he was untouchable in the first two innings. Don Roets opened the game with a grounder to 2B, Jack Spelman made a nice backhand stop and got the speedy Don by a step. Jeff Broussard grounded out to short for the 2nd out. Mike Hill flew out to Rip Wright in right as   Blue went down in order in the 1st. 2nd– Donnie Janac lined a single to left for Blue’s first hit. Manager Johnny Neville made a lineup change that was not picked up by this reporter so the details of this inning may be a little off. I believe Tommy DeLeon was retired for the 1st out. Chris Hurst did single to put runners on 1B and 2B with one out. Luis buckled down and got Dave Berra to ground into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Lucky Hoffman fouled out to end the inning as Blue failed to score in the first two frames.
Green– Dean Hector led off the inning with a sharp single past the shortstop. Jack Spellman ground into a fielder’s choice on a nice stop by Jeff Broussard (first of many for the game!) for the 1st out. Paul Rubin lined a single to left center to move Jack’s pinch runner, Ken Brwon, to 3B. Tom Brownfield followed with a prodigious drive to right center for a bases clearing two-run triple. Ken Mocker grounded to 2B for the 2nd out as Tom opted not to try and score on the play. No matter, Luis ripped an RBI single to right center to drive in Tom with Green’s 3rd run. Rip bounced into a fielder’s choice at 2B to end the inning. 2nd– Denny Malloy was retired on a ground out to 2B to open the inning (Blue’s middle infield of Mike Hill and Jeff Broussard seemingly made every defensive play in this game!) Tom Kelm slapped a single to center and his pinch runner moved to 2B on William Powell single over 3B. The first of Green’s three mercenaries, Ken Brown, lined a shot up the middle but Tommy DeLeon made a fine defensive play to snag it and likely rob Ken of extra bases. Barry McRee followed with a grounder to short that Mike flipped to Jeff for the final out at 2B.
End of 2nd Score: Green 3 Blue 0
Third Inning Recap:
Blue- Johnny Neville opened the 3rd with a hard single past Ken Mockler at 3B to get the ball rolling for Blue. Alex Valles singled but Luis was able to get Jim Maloy to bounce into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out. Blue only drew two mercenaries for this game but they hit the jackpot with Bobby Miller and Doc Hobar. Bobby immediately paid dividends as he smoked a ball down the right field line for a two-run triple. Doc Hobar singled to right center to bring Bobby in with Blues 3rd run. But the inning was far from over as Don and Jeff followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Mike Hill hit a perfectly placed drive between right and right center to drive in both runners. Mike was thrown out a 3B on the place but it didn’t matter as the 5th run had already scored before the putout.
Green– Down by two runs, Green responded with a four-run outburst to regain the lead. Dean started a one-out rally with 2nd hit of the game. Jack Spellman hit a slicing liner down the right field line that skipped past the fielder and allowed Ken Brown to cruise around the bases for a two-run inside the park homer. Paul doubled to left center to keep the rally going. Tom B., who may be the hottest hitter in the league right now, blasted another shot   that gapped the outfielders for a run-scoring triple (his 2nd of the game). Ken M. drove a ball to deep center for a sacrifice fly as Tom came in with Green’s 4th run. Luis singled but was erased on Rio’s fielder’s choice groundout to retire the side.
End of 3rd Score: Green 7 Blue 5
Fourth Inning Recap:
 Blue– keeping the pressure on, Blue put up another five-run inning to grab the lead in this one. It seemed that every ball that was hit by Blue’s batters found a hole as they marched seven guys to the plate and all reached base. Tommy led off with a line single to left. Donnie smacked a single up the middle and Chris grounded one through the 5/6 hole to quickly load the bases. Dave and Lucky had back-to-back singles to bring in two runs. Johnny lined one over 2B to bring in two more runs. Alex capped off the inning with another RBI single as Blue grabbed a three-run lead.
 Green– whether it was Tommy’s pitching or Green’s bats going cold, the Green Wave failed to score any runs in the inning. Denny led off the inning with a single and moved to 2B on Tom K.’s hit to center. However, Tommy was able to get the next three batters (William, Ken B. and Barry) to ground into fielder’s choice outs at 2B with Mike and Jeff looking like Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve in their prime!
End of 4th Score:Â Blue 10 Green 7
Fifth Inning Recap:
 Blue- Round II for the mercenaries as Bobby singled and scored on Doc’s double down the right field line. Don smacked a single to right center to drive in Doc with the 2nd run as Blue stretched their lead to five runs.
 Green- Tommy continued to stifle the Green batters in the 5th. New guy, David Safely, went down swinging to open the frame. Dean flew out to Bobby in center and Jack was retired on a flyball to right as Green went scoreless for the 2nd consecutive inning!
 End of 5th Score: Blue 12 Green 7
 Sixth “Open” Inning Recap:
 Blue– was unable to build on its five-run lead. Donnie completed a perfect 3-3 day with a leadoff single, but Luis was able to retire Chris on a fielder’s choice and Dave on a popup to the shortstop. Lucky followed with a fielder’s choice ground out at 2B to end the inning.
Green- chasing five runs to tie the game, Green failed to muster much of a rally. Paul led off with a two-strike single to left. Tom B. reached on a pop fly single to shallow center that Mike was unable to locate (ok, so he’s not perfect!). Ken M. hit a sizzling grounder through the box to drive in Paul and leave runners on 1B and 2B with nobody out. Luis bounced into a force at 2nd (first time he has been retired since his debut in last week’s game!) for the 1st out. Fittingly, the game ended on a groundball off Rip’s bat to short. Mike fielded the ball cleanly, flipped to Jeff and he fired to 1B to complete the game ending double play. Blue wins and gets in the win column for the first time in the 2025 season. Congrats!
Final Score:Â Blue 12 Green 8
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Orange (1-0-0) vs. Gray (2-0-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Gray- early season battle between two unbeaten teams as Gray was looking for its 3rd win of the season. Scott Wright flew out to right to open the game. Gary Coyle reached on an infield single. Peter Atkins was retired on a nice running catch by Jim Foelker on a flyball to left. Tim Coye got Gray on the scoreboard with a triple to center field. Ray Pilgrim ripped a single past the shortstop to bring in Gray’s 2nd run. Phil Stanch looped a perfectly placed ball down the right field line for a triple to keep Gray’s two-out rally alive. Lynn Simpson singled past 2B to bring in Phil with the 4th run of the inning. 2nd– The bottom of Gray’s lineup came up big with singles by Margarito Canava and Larry Coons to set up the top of the order for a big inning. Scott drove in the 1st run with a single to right center. Gary lined a base hit up the middle to bring in the 2nd run. Peter smacked a hustling double to left center to drive in Scott with the 3rd run. Tim drove in two more runs with a bases clearing single to complete the five-run inning.
Orange– after giving up nine runs in the first two innings, Orange needed to respond or risk getting blown out of this one. To their credit, they did respond with seven runs over the first two frames to make this a game. Bobby Miller started the Orange crush attack with a double to right center. Jack Adams drew a walk as Ray Pilgrim struggled to find the plate. Patrick Schmidt crushed a ball to center field to drive in Bobby. Jack hesitated coming around 3B and was thrown on at the plate on a nice relay from Peter to Tim to Larry. Patrick advanced to 3B on the play and scored on Jim Foelker’s groundout to Tim at shortstop. Steven Kendig hit a hard smash down the 3B line that Gary backhanded and his strong throw beat Steven to 1B to retire the side. 2nd– The first two Orange hitters (Terry Thompson and Jerry Mylius) were retired on infield pop ups, and it looked like Ray was going to coast through the inning. That proved not to be the case as the next six batters reached base in route to a five-run inning. Bubba Barnett walked followed by back-to-back hits by Greg Tolander and Luther Elmore to load the bases. Morris Carter drew a big walk to force in the 1st run of the inning, Bobby smacked a two-run double to right center followed by Jack’s two-run single to left center to complete the five-run inning.
End of 2nd Score: Gray 9 Orange 7
Third Inning Recap:
Gray- there does not appear to be any way to stop Gray’s offense as they continued to rake, putting up five more runs on seven hits in the inning. Ray singled to start things off and he moved to 3B on Phil’s double. Lynn drove in the 1st run with a single to e=right center. Mike knocked in the 2nd run with a sharp single to left. Margarito kept the hit parade going with an RBI single to left center. Larry made the 1st out as he grounded to 3B and Gary was able to get the force at 2B. David reached on an infield single to score Mike from 3B. Scott put a cheery on top of Gray’s 2nd straight five-run inning with a wicked single to right to score Larry with the final run.
Orange– down by seven, Orange was feeling the pressure to put up a crooked number or fall hopelessly behind in this one. The inning got off to a promising start as Patrick led off with a single to right field. Ray gave up his 3rd walk in as many innings as Jim took a free pass. With runners on 1B and 2B, both Steven and Terry hit routine groundballs to Gary at 3B for easy fielder’s choice outs. Jerry lined out o Tim to end the scoreless inning for Orange.
End of 3rd Score: Gray 14 Orange 7
Fourth Inning Recap:
 Gray– well, the good news for Orange is that Gray did not score five runs in the 4th! However, they did put up three to further extend their lead. Gary flew out to center and Peter flew out to left to start the frame. Tim laced a double to right center to start the two-out rally. Ray ripped a hard single through the 5/6 hole to score Tim. Phil continued to confound the Orange defense with his 3rd opposite field extra base hit of the game to move Ray to 3B. Lynn lined a double to center field to score both runners. The number four through seven batters for Gary were a combined 12-12 for the day as all four (Tim, Ray, Phil and Lynn) were all perfect at the plate and drove in a whopping ten runs on the day. Mike singled and advanced to 2B on the throw to the plate before Margarito went down swinging to end the inning,
 Orange– Bubba led off the inning with a single to center. Greg reached on an infield hit to 3B. Luther bounced into a 6U 6-3 double play to thwart the Orange rally. But Morris came through with a beautiful line drive single over 2B to score Bubba with the only run of the inning.
End of 4th Score: Gray 17 Orange 8
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Orange- I had the honor of stepping in to cover Jack Spellman as the infield umpire in this final frame. A decision that I would quickly regret! Jack opened the inning with a ringing double down the left field line. Patrick singled to move Jack to 3B and advanced to 2B on the throw from the outfield. Jim reached on an infield single but for some reason, Jack did not attempt to score from 3B on the play (perhaps because there were no outs!). However, Patrick took off from 2B until he realized 3B was already occupied. After a brief rundown, he was called out for the first out of the inning. Steven doubled to drive in both runners. Terry grounded to short but Tim but his throw pulled Mike off the bag and the runner was called safe. After some vehement discussion, the call was overturned by home plate umpire Tom Kelm. Not sure how the rest of the inning played out but there were two more close calls at 1B on which the runner was rules safe as Orange put up three runs. The game ended as Greg bounced into a fielder’s choice out at 2B (no controversy on this one!).
Final Score: Gray 17 Orange 11
Session 1 Standings:
| ASSL C league 2025 1st Session | ||||||||
| Win | Loss | Ties | Win % | Â Scored | Given up | Â Diff. | Games Behind | |
| Gray | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 47 | 22 | 25 | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â – |
| Green | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | 22 | 15 | 7 | Â Â Â Â 1.50 |
| Orange | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.500 | 27 | 28 | -1 | Â Â Â Â 1.50 |
| Blue | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | 26 | 38 | -12 | Â Â Â Â 2.00 |
| Red | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.000 | 11 | 30 | -19 | Â Â Â Â 2.50 |
 Next Games: Thursday March 12, 2026
 Game 1 8:30 a.m. Gray (3-0-0) vs. Green (1-1-0)
Before Green stumbled in Monday’s matchup with Blue, this looked to be a battle of the league front runners. Can anyone go toe to toe with the mighty Gray squad. Green has a number of injured players on their roster, so this is likely to come down to the quality of the mercenaries that are drawn…
 Game 2 9:30 a.m. Red (0-2-0) vs. Orange (1-1-0)
Red is looking to get in the win column while Orange looks to right the ship after falling to Gray on Monday.
All will be revealed on Thursday!
Blue will have a bye on Monday so their players (along with the unassigned players) will have priority in the draw.
We hope to see Jim Aaron or John Flowers soon, even though you guys have chosen not to belong to a specific team, we miss you and want to see you at the field!
There is a strong chance of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday which may impact on our ability to play on Thursday. I will try to update you on the status of the games as early as possible. Hopefully, the daylight savings hangover will be gone by then!
Don’t forget the next Bobby Fund cookout is scheduled for Monday March 23rd. Don’t miss it!
Paul