Game Day Gazette
May 4, 2026
Good to be back after a brief holiday in America’s heartland. Thanks to Dave Berra and Johnny Neville for keeping the scorebook while I was away. No recap of last Thursday’s action as I’m still trying to interpret their scoring! Highlights, Blue eked out a one-run victory vs. Green and Gray thumped Orange by a 12-6 margin.
The early returns on the recently completed player realignment are mostly positive. Gray continues to dominate but at least the games are closer. On a positive note, Green only had to draw one player for this morning’s game so that change appears to be working. Let’s try to be patient and give this the full session to see how things play out.
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:
All games for Monday May 11th are cancelled due to a city-wide training day for the City of Austin resulting in the park being closed. Good news, the games have been rescheduled for Tuesday, March 12th at Krieg. We will be following the same schedule with games being played on Tuesday rather than Monday.
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Green (1-1-0) vs. Gray (2-1-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Green– Paul Rubin led off the game with a hard grounder to shortstop Scott Wright. He made the stop but could not complete the throw and Paul reached with a single. Jack Spellman laced a single to left center to move Paul to 3B. Ken Mockler grounded sharply to Scott, and he turned an inning ending 6-4-3 double play (first of three double plays on the day). 2nd – Denny Malloy walked to open the 2nd. Dean Hector flew out to shallow center for the 1st out. Tom Kelm lined a single to center to put runners on 1B and 2B. New team member, Mickey Poole, drove a ball into the left center gap for a two-run double. At that point, I came in to pinch run for him. William Powell grounded to 3B, and Gary initially mishandled the ball. Thinking he was going to recover and make the throw to 1B, I kept running around 3B, Bad decision as Gary Coyle came home with the ball and I was out by several steps. Larry King bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.
Gray– Scott Wright led off with a line single to right center. Forgetting that he’s not as young as he used to be, he tried to stretch it into a double and Dean Hector’s throw beat him to the bag by a step for the 1st out. Mike Carroll slapped a single to right field and scored on Peter Atkins triple to deep center field. Gary Coyle smacked a single to left center to bring in Peter with the 2nd run. Ray Pilgrim’s singled to left and Lynn Simpson followed with a well-placed single to right to score Gary with Gray’s 3rd run. Phil Stanch singled to right to load the bases. P Luis Sanchez was able to avoid any further damage by retiring Jeff Broussard and Margarito Canava to end the inning. 2nd– Larry Coons led off the 2nd with a line drive single over 3B. David Safely followed with a shot to right center, and it appeared that Gray was off and running. Nick Roberts went down swinging for the 1st out. Luis got Scott to pop out to short and Mike to ground into a fielder’s choice to keep the game tied. Close play at 2B as Tim Coles fielded the ball and flipped that ball to Luis covering 2B, but Luis was not on the bag and quickly stepped back on the base to beat the runner from 1B. The call on the field was out, and home plate umpire Terry Watts concurred to end the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Green 3 Gray 3
Third Inning Recap:
Green– As noted earlier, Green only had to draw one player from the bucket but did have the good fortune of picking up Tim Coles. Tim opened the 2nd with a line single to left center. Paul singled and Jack drove in the 1st run with a single to right center. Ken crushed a single to bring in Paul with the 2nd run. Luis grounded into a fielder’s choice as Jack scored on the play. Denny reached on his 2nd walk to load the bases. Dean grounded to short and Scott just missed turning his 2nd double play as the 4th run crossed the plate on the play. Tom K. fouled out to retire the side.
Gray- stormed back with a big five-run inning fueled by the lower half of the lineup. Peter opened the frame with a double to right center. He scored on Gary’s single up the middle. Ray popped out to 2B for the 1st out. The next three batters (Lynn, Phil and Jeff) all reached on singles to right field to bring in two more runs. Margarito was retired on a fielder’s choice out at 3B, but Larry singled to bring in the 4th run. David ripped an RBI single to right to complete Gray’s five-run inning.
End of 3rd Score: Gray 8 Green 7
Fourth Inning Recap:
Green– Mickey led off the inning with a single up the middle. William followed with a base hit to right. Larry grounded to 3B and Gary just beat the pinch runner to the bag for the 1st out. Tim launched a high and outside pitch from Ray to the farthest reaches in right field for a huge three-run home run. Paul bounced a single up the middle but Jack made the mistake of hitting one to Scott (aka Derek Jeter) who deftly turned a 6U 6-3 double play to close out the inning.
Gray– Scott reached on a one-out single but was forced out at 3b on Mike’s grounder to short. Gray mounted a two-out rally with four consecutive hits. Peter had his third extra base hit in as many at bats with a double to right center to drive in Mike. Gary smacked a single up the middle (his 3rd hit of the day) to score Peter (tell me if you have seen this one before!). Ray singled to put runners on the corners and Lynn lined a hit to right to score Gary. Phil was finally retired on a flyball to right to end the frame.
End of 4th Score: Gray 11 Green 10
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Green- chasing one run with the heart of the lineup due to bat, things looked promising for Green. Ken led off with a ringing single to right center. Luis grounded to short and Scott got the force at 2B and just missed completing the double play as Luis beat the throw by a step. Denny reached on his 3rd walk of the game. Dean bounced to short and the slick fielding Scott gloved the ball, stepped on 2B and fired to 1B to complete the double play. However, Dean was initially called safe on the play. Upon further review, P Ray Pilgrim noticed that Dean failed to touch the base on his jaunt to 1B and he was called out to end the game.
Final Score: Gray 11 Green 10
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Orange (1-1-0) vs. Red (1-1-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Orange– Terry Thompson led off the late game with a single to left center. He was forced out at 2B on Jack Adams grounder to short. Bobby Miller laced a double to left center to move Jack to 3B. Jim Foelker drilled a ball over short to drive in both runners. Steven Kendig singled to keep things going. P Jack Kelly was able to shut down the next two batters (Adam Gordon and Barry McRee) to escape any further damage. 2nd– Jack proceeded to retire the side in order in the 2nd getting Bubba Barnett on a comebacker, Luther Elmore on a foul out and Rick Parker on a ground ball to 3B.
Red- Doc Hobar reached on an infield single to start the inning. Patrick Schmidt singled past 2B with Doc moving to 3B. Ken Brown lifted a flyball down the right filed line that dropped in for a double. Doc easily scored and Patrick made a valiant attempt to do so but was thrown out at the plate for the 1st out. Ken did advance to 3B on the play at the plate and he scored on Terry Watt’s groundout to 2B. Bobby Hawthorne went down on strikes to end the inning. 2nd– Sal Lopez led off the 2nd with a sizzling drive past 3B for a single. Mike Mordecai bounced into a force out at 2B for the 1st out. Butch Barber grounded to Bobby Miller a t 2B and he tagged Mike running to 2B for the 2nd out Jack Kelly ended the inning with a pop out to Bobby at 2B,
End of 2nd Score: Orange 2 Red 2
Third Inning Recap:
Orange- broke out with five big runs to take control of this one. Jerry Mylius started things off with a single to right. Terry smacked a single to center and Jack followed with an RBI single to left center. Bobby ripped a double to right center to bring in two more runs. Jim slashed a run scoring single to left center to keep the inning going. Steven flew out to right center for the only out of the inning. Adam and Barry had back-to-back singles to load the bases for Bubba. He came through with a single just past 2B to drive in the 5th run.
Red- P Terry Thompson pitched his 2nd consecutive shutout inning in the 3rd. Morris Carter grounded out to 3B to open the frame. Lucky Hoffman reached as Jim F. could not hold on the ball after a long run on Lucky’s pop fly to shallow center. Doc singled but Patrick grounded to 3B and Adam got the force for the 2nd out. Ken hit an absolute bomb to straight-away center, but Barry was playing deep and went up to take away a sure three run homer for the defensive play of the day!
End of 3rd Score: Orange 7 Red 2
Fourth Inning Recap:
Orange-failed to add to their lead in the 4th. Luther grounded out to 3B to start the inning. Rick reached on an infield single, but Jerry fouled out for the 2nd out. Terry popped out to short to retire the side.
Red- P Terry T. continued to befuddle Red’s lineup as he twirled his 3rd consecutive shutout inning. Terry Watts flew out to shallow center field to start the inning. Bobby ground out to short for the 2nd out. Sal and Mike followed with back-to-back singles to left center but Terry got Butch to pop up to 2B to end the threat.
End of 4th Score: Orange 7 Red 2
Fifth Inning Recap:
Orange– pounded out six consecutive hits to start the inning to extend the lead to nine runs. Jack opened the frame with a single to right center. Bobby smashed a triple (his 3rd extra base hit in as many at bats) down the left field line to drive in the 1st run. Jim crushed a ball to deep center over the fielder’s head for a two-run homer. Steven doubled and moved to 3B on Adam’s single to left field. Barry lined a single to left to score Steven. Jack somehow managed to stop the bleeding as he retired the next three batters, but the damage was done.
Red– Terry shut down the bottom of Red’s lineup in order in the 5th. Jack grounded to 1B, Morris bounced out to short and Lucky fouled out to end the inning. With Red down by nine runs and the clock approaching 10:30 a.m., the teams agreed to an early flip flop and Red stayed in for their buffet.
End of 4th Score: Orange 11 Red 2
Sixth “Open” Inning Recap:
Red– finally broke through and scored a couple of runs but it was too little too late. Doc single to start the frame but was erased on Patrick grounder to short. Ken rapped a double to put runners on 2B and 3B. Terry W. came through with a two-run single to give Red a slim chance to pull off the comeback. Bobby singled to left but Sal popped out to 3B and Mike bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the contest.
Final Score: Orange 11 Red 4
Current Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 2nd Session |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Gray |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0.750 |
42 |
39 |
3 |
– |
|
Orange |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0.667 |
31 |
17 |
14 |
0.50 |
|
Green |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0.000 |
37 |
34 |
3 |
1.50 |
|
Red |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0.333 |
27 |
30 |
-3 |
1.50 |
|
Blue |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0.333 |
24 |
41 |
-17 |
1.50 |
Gray in a familiar position atop the leader board with Orange only a half-game back. The remaining three teams are tied with 1-2 records.
Season-to-date Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season to-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Gray |
13 |
3 |
0 |
0.813 |
201 |
138 |
63 |
– |
|
Green |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0.583 |
155 |
124 |
31 |
4.00 |
|
Orange |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0.583 |
135 |
105 |
30 |
4.00 |
|
Blue |
4 |
8 |
0 |
0.333 |
84 |
153 |
-69 |
7.00 |
|
Red |
1 |
11 |
0 |
0.083 |
112 |
167 |
-55 |
10.00 |
Next Games: Thursday May 7, 2026
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Green (1-2-0) vs. Orange (2-1-0)
Battle for 2nd place in the season to-date standings.
Blue has umpiring duties for this one.
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Blue (1-2-0) vs. Red (1-2-0)
Which team will even up their record and which one will descend to the cellar…all will be revealed on Thursday!
Green will be taking on the umpire responsibilities in this game.
Gray will have a bye on Thursday so their players (along with the unassigned players) will have priority in the draw.