Game Day Gazette
March 06,2025
As the old adage goes… on any given Monday or Thursday anything can happen…
The battle between the two unbeatens (Braves vs. Keystones) lived up to the hype and the Sultans rose from the mat after their opening game defeat to knock off the Senators to knot their record at 1-1. We also had two guys picked up as mercenaries in the late game despite the fact that most of the rosters currently carry 13-14 players so remember that on your bye week.
Game 1 – 8:30 a.m. Braves (1-0-0) vs. Keystones (1-0-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Keystones- Patrick Schmidt started the game with a routine grounder to short but Paul Rubin’s throw to 1B was high and outside as Patrick reached base safely. John Flowers single moved Patrick to 2B. Alex Valles hit into a fielder’s choice for the first out. Ken proceeded to line a hit to right field (the first of many for the day) to score Patrick. Bobby Hawthorne drove in the 2nd run with a clean single to left. Mike Mordecai completed the scoring with a ground single to the left side for the 3rd run of the inning.
Margarito Canava led off the 2nd with a single but was erased on Barry McRee’s fielder’s choice grounder. Johnny Neville singled to right, but Tom Kelm struck out Morris and coaxed Patrick into an inning ending ground out to short to close out the inning.
Braves– leadoff man extraordinaire, Bobby Miller, singled to start the Braves attack. Paul lined out to Ken Brown in left field for the 1st out. Doc Hobar legged out an infield single and Keith followed with a shot to left to score Bobby. Jim Foelker’s hitting groove continued as he smacked a two-run double to left center to score Doc and Keith.
Dave Berra fouled out to start the 2nd. Brian Rider, Joe Dayoc and Billy Hill all singled to load the bases. Tom Kelm came through with an RBI single to left to score the 1st run. Bobby doubled to left and the ball skipped past Ken and allowed all three baserunners to score. Paul scratched out an infield ahead of Doc’s RBI double to right to finish off the Braves five-run inning.
End of 2nd Score: Braves 8 Keystones 3
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones- the Kops stormed back with four runs to close the gap to one run. John and Alex led off with back-to-back singles. Ken Brown doubled to right (sound familiar!) to score John. Tommy DeLeon singled to bring in two more runs. Bobby H. kept the hit parade going with another drive to left. Mike hit into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out. Robby’s opposite field shot drove in the 4th run. Margarito extended the inning with yet another hit but Tom was able to retire Barry and Johnny to avoid any further damage.
Braves- Keith Kreitman singled to lead off the inning. Jim Foelker was finally retired on an flyball to center for the 1st out. Lynn Simpson grounded into an out as Keith moved to 2B. Bob Steckler smoked the next pitch to left center for a triple to score Keith. Dave Berra finished off the scoring by grounding a hit up the middle to score Bob.
End of 3rd Score: Braves 10 Keystones 7
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones- ramping up the pressure, the Keystones put up five runs in the 4th to grab the lead. Morris singled to open the inning, and his pinch runner scored on Patrick’s triple that went to the fence in right center. John singled to score Patrick. After one out, the next five batters (Ken, Tommy, Bobby, Mike, and Robby) all hit singles as the Keystones put up five runs.
Braves- Joe flew out to open the inning. Billy and Tom singled but Bobby M. flew out to center field and Paul fouled out stranding both runners as the Braves failed to score in the inning and trailed for the first time.
End of 4th Score: Keystones 12 Braves 10
Fifth Inning Recap:
Keystones- in the buffet, the Keystones added two more runs. Margarito led off with a single but was forced out at 2B. Johnny struck out, but Morris kept the inning alive with a slow roller in front of the plate. Patrick lined a hot shot over short stop that almost took off a couple of fingers on my throwing hand to drive in the first run. John finished off the scoring with a single to right (ugh!) as the Keystones extended their lead to four runs.
Braves- Doc led off the Braves final frame with a hit but was forced out at 2B on Keith’s groundout. Jim singled to move Keith to 2B. Lynn followed with an RBI single to cut the lead to three runs. Bob hit a sharp grounder to 3B, and Mike made affine play to glove the ball and get the force at 3B for the 2nd out. Dave grounded a ball up the middle that Robby gloved and somehow twisted his body to reach the base ahead of the runner from first to end the game.
Final Score: Keystones 14 Braves 11
Game 2 – 9:30 a.m. Sultans (0-1-0) vs. Senators (0-0-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Sultans- looking to bounce back after Monday’s 19-6 thrashing at the hands of the Braves, the Sultans came out swinging. Leadoff man Peter Atkins reached 1B on a pop fly to 3B that got lost in the sun. Gary Coyle fouled out, but Adam Gordon and Ray Pilgrim delivered back-to-back hits to score Peter. Donnie Janac drove a ball to right center for a two-run double. After Ray Saldana walked, Chris Hurst ripped a two-run shot to left to give the Sultans five runs for the inning. 2nd- Jack Kelly started things in the 2nd with a walk. Lucky went down looking on a pitch that was borderline over the 12’ limit. Bobby Miller, Sultan’s lone mercenary, doubled to score the first run. Peter fouled out for the 2nd out. Gary singled on a close play at 1B and Bobby took a chance and headed for home on the play (not sure if it was Bruce’s aggressive coaching or Bobby making the call). He was thrown out at home on a good throw from 1B to the plate to end the inning.
Senators– anxious to take their turn at bat after sitting out Monday’s games. The Senators showed no sign of rust as they broke out with five runs. Greg Lloyd and Denny Malloy had back-to-back hits to start the inning. New guy, Jerry Mylius, tripled on a ball that caromed off Gary’s glove in left center allowing both runners to score. Raul DeLeon singled to score Jerry, but the Senators were not done! Terry Thompson and Curt Ashmos both singled as Raul came across for the 4th run. Hammerin’ Henry Flores capped off the scoring with a line single to CF for the 5th run. 2nd– Roger Geras led off the 2nd with a single and his pinch runner advanced to 2B on an errant throw. John Flowers (Senator’s lone mercenary) doubled to right field, but hard charging Bobby Miller made a perfect throw to Ray to nail the runner at the plate. Greg doubled to score John and Denny’s single resulted in the 2nd run of the inning. Jack retired the final two batters to end the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Senators 7 Sultans 6
Third Inning Recap:
Sultans- three doubles, two singles and two walks resulted in another five-run inning for the Sultans. Ray Pilgrim, Don Roets and Bobby Miller did the heavy lifting with their extra base hits driving in four of the five runs. Adam and Ray S. contributed singles in the attack while Jack and Lucky worked back-to-back walks leading to the 5th run.
Senators- only able to push across a single run in their half of the 3rd. Terry and Curt opened the inning with back-to-back hits. Will made the first out on a fielder choice groundout as Terry moved to 3B. He scored on Rick’s base hit. Jack retired the next two batters to keep the Sultans lead at three runs.
End of 3rd Score: Sultans 11 Senators 8
Fourth Inning Recap:
Sultans- early call for the open inning resulted in both teams having only four at bats but the game still ran until almost 10:45 a.m. The Sultans found their stride in the buffet as they reeled off six straight hits (all singles except for a double by Ray P.). After one was out, the last two batters (Chris and Jack) delivered hits to drive the score up to 17-8 and umpire Tom Kelm called for the teams to flip-flop.
Senators- down by nine runs, John capped off a perfect 6-6 day at the plate over both games with a leadoff double. Greg singled to score John with the 1st run. Denny hit into a groundout ahead of Jerry’s single. Raul then doubled to drive in the 2nd run. Terry drilled a ball up the middle for a hit and Raul tried to score from 2nd but was gunned down by another accurate throw to the plate by Bobby to Ray for the 2nd out. The game ended as Curt ground out to new shortstop, Scott Wright, for the final out (scary moment as Peter pulled up on a flyball that went foul off Raul’s bat and had to leave the game but he played in a B league game later in the day so I think he’s ok).
Final Score: Sultans 17 Senators 11
Standings:
Keystones 2-0-0
Braves 1-1-1
Sultans 1-1-1
Senators 0-1-1
Pioneers 0-1-1
Next Games: Monday March 10, 2025
Home teams listed first
Game 1 – 8:30 a.m. Senators (0-1-0) vs. Pioneers (0-1-0)
Early season matchup between the two teams that have not yet tasted victory. One team is going to climb back to the .500 mark while the other is going to slip into the cellar.
Game 2 – 9:30 a.m. Sultans (1-1-0) vs. Keystones (2-0-0)
Can Keystone Kops make it three in a row? Or will the Sultans rise up and knock them off their early season perch. All will be revealed come Monday…
Braves will have a bye for Game 3 so their players will have priority in the draw.
Other news and notes:
My health update on Earl King on Tuesday was a little premature but the good news is that he is now out of the hospital and recovering at home after a recent bout with pneumonia. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for Earl’s recovery. Hope to see him back on the field very soon.
For those playing the early game, please try to make it to the field by 8:00 a.m. so we can get an early jump on the day’s games. Once both sides have 11 players, including any players drawn from the bucket, we will start the game (there will be no waiting for a particular player to show up). This will hopefully allow us to complete the 2nd game in time for the B league slate of games to begin on a timely basis.
Have a great weekend and don’t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour on Sunday for daylight savings time!
Paul Rubin