Game Day Gazette
April 16, 2026
Nice to see the sun back on the field after a couple of gloomy days. The first baseman may not agree as it wreaked havoc on throws coming in from short and 3B. Anyway, it’s always a good day when you can avoid a rainout and play some softball (even if you go hitless in four at bats like the writer of this esteemed publication!)
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Green (5-3-0) vs. Red (0-8-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Green– several people have commented to me that the Green seems to always draw a high number of mercenaries. While that is true (as evidenced by drawing four in today’s game), their roster has been decimated by injuries and illness. Green has four players (Earl King, Trey Wall, Robby Vickery and Brian Rider) that have not played a single inning this year. As a result, Green only has ten available players for any game, assuming 100% of their players show up. The board is working on a solution to adjust roster sizes so that all teams have a similar number of available players. More to come on this next week.
Jack Spellman opened the game with a sharp single to right center. Paul Rubin grounded into a fielder’s choice to mercenary 2B, Bobby Miller, for the 1st out. Ken Mockler ripped a single past the shortstop, moving Paul to 3B. He scored on Tom Brownfield’s line single to right center. Luis Sanchez slapped a single to right to load the bases. Dean Hector bounced into a fielder’s choice out at 2B as the run scored from 3B. Tom Kelm hit a ball up the middle just out of P Jack Kelly’s reach to load the bases again. Mercenary, Peter Atkins, smacked a two-run single to left center before Jim Foelker grounded into a force out at 2B to close out the inning. 2nd – Mercenary, Terry Thompson lined a single to left to start the 2nd inning. Lucky Hoffman grounded to 3B, and Mike Mordecai fired to 2B to get the force for the 1st out. Jack flew out to center and Paul ground into another fielder’s choice to retire the side.
Red– after losing their first eight games of the season, Red was desperately seeking to get into the win column and their play in the first two innings reflected that. Unusual for Red, they had to pick up three mercenaries for this contest, and they scored with Bobby Miller, Patrick Schmidt and Jim Maloy. Terry Watts led off with a single up the middle followed by an infield single by Barry McRee. Ken Brown lined a shot to left field that Jim Foelker was able to grab for the 1st out. Bobby Hawthorne bounced into a fielder’s choice out at 2B for the 2nd out. Mike Mordecai delivered with a base hit to left to drive in Terry with the 1st run. Mickey Poole and Larry King followed with back-to-back singles to drive in the 2nd run. Jack Kelly grounded out to 1B to end the frame. 2nd– Butch Barber fouled out to open the 2nd inning but the next four batters reached. Bobby Miller doubled to left center and moved to 3B on Patrick Schmidt’s base hit to right. Jim Maloy dropped in a single to center to drive in Bobby. Terry and Barry had back-to-back singles to load the bases. Ken laced a single to left center to score Terry. Bobby H. wrapped up the inning with a line single down the 3B line to drive in two more runs and complete Red’s five-run inning.
End of 2nd Score: Red 7 Green 4
Third Inning Recap:
Green- P Jack Kelly set down the Green batters on one hit as he twirled a scoreless 3rd inning. Ken M. singled to start the inning but Tom B. and Luis were retired on flyball to left center and right field, respectively. Dean popped out to 2B to end the inning.
Red- failed to add to their lead as P Tom Kelm matched Jack’s artistry with his own shutdown inning. Mike M. went down on strikes and Mickey hit a comebacker to the mound for the 2nd out. Larry legged out an infield single, but Jack K. grounded into a fielder’s choice to retire the side.
End of 3rd Score: Red 7 Green
Fourth Inning Recap:
Green– Tom K. led off with a sharp single up the middle. His pinch runner (meP advanced to 3B on Peter’s double to center. It looked like both runners were going to be left stranded as Jim F. and Terry T. both popped out to 2B. But Lucky came up with the big hit as he laced a flyball to center to score both runs. Jack kept the inning alive with a sharp single to right center. Paul lined the first pitch to 3B, but Mike made a nice shoestring catch for the final out.
Red– clinging to a one-run lead, Red failed to score in the frame. Butch led off with a groundout to 2B. Bobby M. singled but Patrick flew out to right for the 2nd out. Jim M. popped a ball behind short, and Jack S. made a spectacular back hand catch to end the inning.
End of 4th Score: Red 7 Green 6
Fifth Inning Recap:
Green– broke this one open with a five-run inning, Ken led off with his 3rd hit of the game but was forced out at 2B on Tom B.’s grounder to 3B. Luis and Dean followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Tom K. singled in the 1st run. Peter and Jim F. hit flyballs to center and left that each fell in for hits as the normally reliable Patrick Schmidt was unable to make the catches. Terry T. finished off the five-run frame with a ringing single to left to drive in two more runs.
Red– Luis Sanchez came in to relieve starting pitcher Tom Kelm to start the inning. Terry W. led off with a single but was forced out at 2B on Barry’s grounder to short. Ken B. doubled to right center to put both runners in scoring position. Bobby H. lined a single over 3B to bring Barry around to score the first run. Mike lined a ball to short and Jack made another strong defensive play with a shoe-string catch of his own. He then alertly fired back to 1B and his throw just beat Bobby back to the bag for an inning ending double play.
End of 5th Score: Green 11 Red 8
Sixth “Open” Inning Recap:
Green- Lucky lined out to 3B to open the frame. Jack smacked a single to right center but again, Paul grounded sharply to short and Ken made a great reaction on the 2nd hop to easily get the force at 2B. Down to their last out, Green rallied to put up four more runs in the inning. Ken finished off a perfect 4-4 day at the plate with a mammoth shot to deep center field that allowed Paul to score from 1B. Tom B. and Luis followed with back-to-back doubles for two more runs. Dean’s single moved Luis to 3B and he scored on Tom K. shot up the middle. Peter ended the inning with a long fly to right center that appeared to gap the fielders, but at the last moment, Terry W. reached the ball and made the catch for the final out.
Red- Luis shut down Red in the final inning, getting the final three batters without giving up a hit to seal the win for Green.
Final Score: Green 15 Red 8
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Gray (9-2-0) vs. Orange (5-3-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Gray– great to see Gary Coyle back in the lineup after an extended absence due to injury. Tim Coles also was on hand as Gray’s murderer’s row was at full strength for this one. Scott Wright singled through the right side for a leadoff single. Peter Atkins lofted a flyball to left that soared over Tom Brownfield’s head for a two-run inside the park home run. Gary Coyle singled in his return to the lineup and Tim Coles smoked a double to left center to drive him home. Tim scored on Ray Pilgrim’s line single to left center. P Terry Thompson was able to prevent any further damage as he retired the next three batters to hold Gray to four runs. 2nd– Terry retired the first two batters in the 2nd but Larry Coons delivered a two-out single to left and turned the line up over to the big guns! Scott singled ahead of Peter’s two-run double to left center. Gary smacked a single to right center to score Peter, but Tim went down looking (sun got in his eyes, wind speed and direction changed, you name it!) to retire the side.
Orange- already down seven, Orange failed to mount any offense in the first two frames. Adam Gordon bounced back to Ray for the 1st out. Terry Thompson singled down the 3B line. Patrick Schmidt grounded into a fielder’s choice for the 2nd out. Bobby Miller followed suit with a sharp grounder to 2B that Scott gloved and flipped to 2B to retire the side. 2nd– P Ray Pilgrim set down Orange in order in the 2nd getting Jim Foelker to line out to short, Greg Tolander on a groundball to 3B and striking out Rick to end the frame.
End of 2nd Score: Gray 7 Orange 0
Third Inning Recap:
Gray- P Terry T. impressively shut down the powerful Gray lineup on a single hit and no runs in the 3rd. Ray was retired on a groundball to 3B after refusing a walk. Mike Carroll grounded out to short. Lynn Simpson singled to right, but Phil Stanch was robbed on a hump back liner to 2B that Bobby M. went totally airborne to grab for the final out.
Orange- looking to get back in the game, Paul looped a one-out double to left. He scored the 1st run for Orange on Tom Brownfield scalding hit to right center. Tom Kelm went down on strikes, but the top of the lineup came alive. Adam and Terry T. had back-to-back singles to bring in another run. Patrick’s single drove in Adam with the 3rd run. Bobby hit a pop fly to shallow right and by all rights, it should have dropped in for a run-scoring double. But the ageless one, Scott Wrigtht, refused to give up on the ball and made a fantastic catch to save at least one if not two runs.
End of 3rd Score: Gray 7 Orange 3
Fourth Inning Recap:
Gray-blew this one open as the bottom three in the lineup led the way. Art Monzingo, Margarito Canava and Larry opened the frame with successive singles to load the bases. Scott and Peter followed with back-to-back RBI singles. Gary and Tim each stroked run-scoring singles to bring in two more runs. Ray singled and Mike was retired but Lynn drilled a single to right field to bring in the 5th run of the inning.
Orange– in a repeat of the 2nd inning, Jim F. lined out to short and Greg grounded out to 3B for two quick outs leading off the inning. Rick lined a ball past 3B for a two-out double. Ken singled to drive him in. Paul popped a soft liner over 3B for a single to put runners on 1B and 2B, Tom B. grounded to 3B, and Gary beat Ken to the base for the out to end the inning.
End of 4th Score: Gray 12 Orange 4
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Orange– with Gray up by eight and the time at 10:28 a.m., the teams decided to do an early flip flop and Orange moved ahead with their buffet inning. The first two batters hit into routine ground outs, and it looked to be pretty much over. However, Orange showed some life as Terry T. and Patrick started the mini rally with back-to-back singles. Bobby hit a flyball to shallow center to score Terry. Jim F. laced a single to left center to drive in Patrick with the 2nd run. Greg took a called third strike on an extremely close call to end the game.
Final Score: Gray 12 Orange 6
Session 1 Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 1st Session |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Gray |
10 |
2 |
0 |
0.833 |
159 |
99 |
60 |
– |
|
Green |
6 |
3 |
0 |
0.667 |
118 |
90 |
28 |
2.50 |
|
Orange |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0.556 |
104 |
90 |
14 |
3.50 |
|
Blue |
3 |
6 |
0 |
0.333 |
60 |
112 |
-52 |
5.50 |
|
Red |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0.000 |
87 |
137 |
-50 |
8.50 |
As Gray will have a bye on Monday (which surely means we will get rained out), we should take a moment to celebrate their run to the title in the 1st session. They are the only team to play the full slate of twelve games (see my comment above regarding rainouts!) and they put up a gaudy 10-2 record to finish at least two games ahead of the nearest competitor. But with success comes a cost and the board is working on ways to improve the overall competitive balance in our league. Cries of “break up” Gray can be heard after every resounding victory and while that is not our goal, there will be some roster changes across the C division in the 2nd session. More to come on this topic…
Next Games: Monday April 20, 2026
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Blue (3-6-0) vs. Orange (5-4-0)
Important game for Blue as a win puts their overall winning percentage at .400 and takes them out of the rebalancing draft. A loss and they along with Red will each be selecting a player from one of the three other teams with winning records. Tanking in C league, perish the thought, but assuming we don’t get washed out on Monday there will be lots of interest in the outcome of this one.
Green has umpiring duties for this one.
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Green (6-3-0) vs. Red (0-9-0)
A quirk in the schedule results in these two teams meeting three times over the last four game dates. All teams are scheduled to play every other team three times in each session and these two had not met until a few weeks ago. The only thing on the line in this one is pride. Can Red finally get a win and does Green want to finish 2nd ahead of Orange in the session?
All will be revealed on Monday!
Blue will be taking on the umpire responsibilities in this game.
As noted above Gray will have a much-deserved bye on Monday so their players (along with the unassigned players) will have priority in the draw.