Game Day Gazette
September 29, 2025
While I was away… lots of action in the four-game stretch that I missed! The Keystones won both of their contests last week and grabbed the lead in this fourth session. The Braves were missing their four tournament players (Bobby Miller, Paul Rubin, Doc Hobar and Tom Brownfield) and dropped both of their games last week to fall out of the lead. The Sultans dropped their only game in a close loss to the Keystones. The Pioneers went 1-0 for the week to move their record above .500. The Senators split a pair but remained in the cellar for this latest session. Special thanks again to Johnny Neville for continuing to keep the league stats and sharing that crucial information with me.
There is only one more game in the 4th session after today’s games and the race to the top remains close. Nice weather to start the day but things heated up quickly once the games began.
Game 1 8:00 a.m. Keystones (6-4-0) vs. Braves (6-5-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Battle for 1st place between the hottest team in the league (Keystones riding a three-game win streak) and the hottest team over the course of the season (Braves sporting a seven-game lead over the rest of the pack!).
Keystones– missing their quintessential leadoff man, Mike Hill, the Keystones needed to draw one player to complete their roster for this game (Raul DeLeon). John Flowers opened the game with a wicked shot past 1B Jeff Broussard for a single. Patrick Schmidt followed with a line shot to Doc Hobar at 2B and John strayed a little too far off 1B and was throw out to complete the double play. Ken Brown and Barry McRee reached on infield singles, but Tommy DeLeon grounded into a force at 3B to retire the side. 2nd– Mike Mordecai laced a single to Cf to start the 2nd inning. Bobby Hawthorne went down swinging for the 1st out. Margarito Canava grounded into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Robby Vickery extended the inning with a base hit to the right side. Johnny Neville bounced into a fielder’s choice to end the scoreless frame for the Keystones.
Braves- despite the return of their top three batters, the Braves still drew five (5) players this morning from the bucket including Peter Atkins, Jeff Broussard, Jack Adams, Butch Barber and Henry Flores. Someone failed to count the actual number of players needed to complete the 11-man lineup, so the Braves ended up with twelve players. Keystone manager, Morris Carter, was offered the chance to add another player but he declined and the Keystones played with 11 players. Doc Hobar opened the game in grand fashion as he smacked a ball between the two outfielders on the left side for a leadoff home run. Bobby Miller beat out an infield single on a hard grounder to 3B. Paul Rubin followed with a pop fly double to left to drive in Bobby with the 2nd run. Jim Foelker lined a ball to CF to drive in Paul with the 3rd run. Dave Berra ripped a single to CF to move Jim to 3B. Tom Kelm struck out but Brian reached on an infield single to load the bases. Peter Atkins ripped a two-run double to left center to complete the five-run 1st inning. 2nd– The mercenaries came through in the 2nd as hits by Jeff Broussard, Jack Adams and Butch Barber produced the first run of the inning. Henry Flores drove in the 2nd run with a sacrifice fly to right center. Doc followed with a long fly to left to drive in the 3rd run. Bobby smoked a double to left and moved to 3B on Paul’s infield single. Jim singled to bring in Bobby and Paul scored on Dave’s line smash up the middle to give the Braves their 2nd five-run inning and a ten-run lead after two innings.
End of 2nd Score: Braves 10 Keystones 0
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones- got on the scoreboard as Raul DeLeon and John led off with back-to-back singles. Patrick drilled a line shot over 1B for a double driving in both runners. Ken bounced out to 2B for the 1st out of the inning. Barry was retired on a bouncer to Tom Kelm for the 2nd out. Tommy and Mike followed with base hits to score Patrick with the 3rd run. Bobby bounced into a fielder’s choice at 3B to end the frame.
Braves- kept up their relentless attack and put up their 3rd consecutive five-run inning to extend the lead to 15-3. Tom and Brian opened the inning with back-to-back hits. Peter laced a double to LC to score both of their pinch runners. Jeff ground out to 2B for the 1st out. Jack and Butch followed with back-to-back doubles to the right side to bring in the 3rd and 4th runs. Henry bounced out to short for the 2nd out but Doc lined an RBI single to left center to complete the Braves five-run inning.
End of 3rd Score: Braves 15 Keystones 3
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones- Tom shut down the Keystones in the 4th holding them to a single hit. Margarito led off the inning with a soft liner to 3B. Robby grounded out to 2B for the 2nd out. Johnny reached on an infield single. Raul grounded sharply up the middle and Tom was able to make the play and retire him to end the inning.
Braves– completed their “perfect” offensive display with their 4th consecutive five run inning. Bobby and Paul opened the frame with line singles over short. Jim popped out to the pitcher for the 1st out. Dave singled to score Bobby with the 1st run. Tom grounded into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Brian completed a perfect 3-3 day at the plate with a single just past 2B to load the bases. Peter drove in two more runs with a ringing double to left center (giving him six RBIs for the day!). Jeff capped off the scoring with an RBI single to give the Braves their unprecedented 4th consecutive five-run inning.
End of 4th Score: Braves 20 Keystones 3
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Keystones- chasing seventeen runs to tie the game, things did not look good for the men in Red. They continued to fight and scratched out a couple of runs (details a little hazy so let’s just leave it at that!) to close the final gap to fifteen runs in a dominant victory by the Braves!
Final Score: Braves 20 Keystones 5
Game 2 9:00 a.m. Pioneers (4-3-3) vs. Sultans (3-4-3)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Pioneers– struggled to mount any offense against mercenary pitcher, Raul DeLeon, in the 1st two innings. Jack Adams led off the 1st with a line single. Sal Lopez lined out to Gary Coyle at 3B for the 1st out. Butch grounded back to the pitcher and Raul made the throw to 2B for the force to retire Jack. Scott Wright singled up the middle as Butch motored around to 3B. He scored the only run on Mike Carroll’s line single to right center. 2nd– Raul retired the first two batters in the inning before Chris Hurst and Mike Mordecai came up with back-to-back singles. Greg Lloyd lined out to Raul to end the scoreless inning for the Pioneers.
Sultans– Donnie Janac continued to stay hot at the plate with a line single to center to open the game for the Sultans. Gary Coyle grounded up the middle and Sal was able to get the force at 2B for the 1st out. Peter Atkins popped out to the pitcher for the 2nd out. Jeff Broussard lined a double to left to score Donnie with the 1st run. Phil Stanch singled to right to move the pinch runner to 3B and he scored on Don Roets single up the middle. Adam Gordon capped off the scoring with a single to left to drive in Phil with the 3rd run of the frame. Lucky Hoffman popped out to 3B to end the inning. 2nd–Luther Elmore led off the 2nd with a clean single to right center. Ray Pilgrim ground out to short for the 1st out. Raul DeLeon smacked a ground single through the 5/6 hole to score Luther’s pinch runner. Donnie singled and Gary followed with a two-run double on a shot to left center. Peter drove him home with a single to right center but was throw out at 2B on a nice relay from the outfield. Jeff and Phil singled but were left stranded as Don bounced into an inning ending groundball to the pitcher.
End of 2nd Score: Sultans 7 Pioneers 1
Third Inning Recap:
Pioneers-the first three batters (Jack, Sal and Butch) all singled to push across the first run of the inning. Scott knocked in the 2nd run with a sacrifice fly to deep right field. Mike Carroll laced a double to right center to bring in the 3rd run. Raul was then able to strike out the final two batters to limit the damage to three runs.
Sultans- Adam led off the inning with a pop fly single to center. Lucky went down swinging and Luther popped out to short as Sal got two quick outs on the Sultans. Ray and Raul responded with back-to-back hits to score Adam for the only run of the inning.
End of 3rd Score: Sultans 8 Pioneers 4
Fourth Inning Recap:
Pioneers– At this point, I came in to relieve Tom Kelm as the home plate umpire so he could set his lineup for the 10:30 B league game. Alex Valles led off with a sharp single to right center. Chris followed with a grounder that Adam had to go far to his left to reach and he was able to get the force at 2B for the first out. Mike M. grounded to short, and Adam flipped the ball to Don for the force at 2B. Don’s throw to 1B to complete the double play beat the runner but field umpire Jim Foelker ruled that 1B Jeff Broussard had dropped the ball and the runner was safe. Jim and I reviewed the play, and the runner was ruled out to complete the inning ending double play.
Sultans- created some separation in this game as the Sultans pounded out six hits and scored five runs in the inning. Gary led off with a single and scored on Peter’s double to left center. Jeff capped off a perfect day at the plate with his third hit to drive in Peter with the Sultan’s 2nd run. Phil single and Don lined a ball to left center that gapped the fielders resulting in a two-run triple. Adam popped out to short and Lucky walked before Luther lined a single to bring in the 5th run of the frame.
End of 4th Score: Sultans 13 Pioneers 4
Fifth Inning Recap:
Pioneers– Greg singled to right to start the inning. He was retired on Jack’s groundball to 3B. Sal ripped a single to left field. Butch bounced out to 2B with the runners advancing to 2B and 3B. Scott smoked a double to right center to score both runners. Mike Carroll completed his perfect 3-3 day at the plate with a ringing double to right center to score Scott with the 3rd run.
Sultans- from my perspective from behind the plate, the Sultans were hammering the ball all day and took it to another level in the 5th. Ray and Raul started the inning with line singles. Donnie smashed a double to left center to drive in the 1st run. Gary drove a ball to the left center field fence for a three-run homer. Not to be out done, Peter followed with a towering fly to right center as the Sultans enjoyed back-to-back homers to finish up their 2nd five-run inning of the game.
End of 5th Score: Sultans 18 Pioneers 7
Sixth “Open” Inning Recap:
Pioneers- down by eleven runs, the Pioneers put together a mini-rally but came up short. Bubba singled to lead off the open inning. Alex popped out to 3B for the 1st out. Chris ground into a fielder’s choice and there were quickly two outs. Mike M. tripled to drive in the 1st run. Greg drew a walk and Jack singled to left to bring in Mike with the 2nd run. Sal lined a single to left to score Greg with the 3rd run. Butch fouled off a pitch and worked a full count but he went down looking on a well-placed pitch from Raul to end the game.
Final Score: Sultans 18 Pioneers 10
Session Four Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 4th Session |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
7 |
5 |
0 |
0.58333 |
162 |
152 |
10 |
– |
|
Keystones |
6 |
5 |
0 |
0.545 |
125 |
130 |
-5 |
0.50 |
|
Sultans |
4 |
4 |
3 |
0.500 |
146 |
140 |
6 |
1.00 |
|
Pioneers |
4 |
4 |
3 |
0.500 |
111 |
117 |
-6 |
1.00 |
|
Senators |
3 |
6 |
2 |
0.364 |
151 |
156 |
-5 |
2.50 |
The Braves’ are back on top after their commanding win over the Keystones.
Full Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season To-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
30 |
15 |
0 |
0.667 |
630 |
503 |
127 |
– |
|
Keystones |
21 |
22 |
0 |
0.488 |
507 |
517 |
-10 |
8.00 |
|
Senators |
18 |
22 |
2 |
0.452 |
515 |
548 |
-33 |
9.50 |
|
Pioneers |
18 |
22 |
3 |
0.453 |
443 |
485 |
-42 |
9.50 |
|
Sultans |
17 |
23 |
3 |
0.430 |
497 |
539 |
-42 |
10.50 |
Next Thursday October 2, 2025 Games:
8:30 a.m. (H) Sultans (4-4-3) vs. (V) Senators (3-6-2)
9:30 a.m. (H) Pioneers (4-4-3) vs. (V) Keystones (6-5-0)
Braves will have a bye, and their players will have priority in the draw.
Thursday will mark the end of the 4th session. If the Keystones handle their business and beat the Pioneers, they will end up in a first-place tie with the idle Braves. The Sultans and Pioneers will both be fighting to finish the session above .500 and the Senators are looking to play the role of spoiler this week.
Have a great week!
Paul