Game Day Gazette
May 15, 2025
Hot and humid weather gave way to some of the most exciting softball games I have witnessed in some time. Never know what the day is going to bring but I’m so happy that we have senior softball to look forward to every Monday and Thursday! Great job on everyone getting to the field on-time, we were able to get the first game started this morning bright and early at 8:17 a.m.
Game 1 8:30 a.m. Keystones (2-2-0) vs. Pioneers (3-1-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Keystones– return of leadoff man, Mike Hill, helped to bolster the Keystones lineup but they were still missing Ken Brown and Patrick Schmidt (not to mention Johnny Neville) for today’s contest. The Keystones did pick up the versatile Terry Thompson as their lone mercenary for the game. Mike opened the game with a line single to right center. John Flowers singled to advance Mike to 2B. Alex Valles popped out to SS for the 1st out. Mike Mordecai ripped a run-scoring single to left to put the 1st run on the board for the Keystones. Bobby Hawthorne ground into a fielder’s choice to 3B Ray Pilgrim for the 2nd out. Tommy DeLeon, discovering the joys of hitting to left field, singled to load the bases. Robby Vickery came through with the biggest hit of the inning as he lined a two-run single to right. Barry McRee singled to load the bases for the 2nd time in the inning, but P Sal Lopez was able to retire Margarito Canava on a flyball to left to close out the frame. 2nd– P Sal retired the side in order in the 2nd. Morris Carter ground out to short leading off the inning. Terry Thompson was called out on strikes and Mike H. ground out to short on an outstanding play by Bobby Miller to catch the ball and Scott Wright picking up the short throw for the 3rd out.
Pioneers- not sure if it was vacations, injuries or some combination of the two but the Pioneers were down to only six players for this one. They managed to pick up Bobby Miller, Ray Pilgrim, Gary Coyle and Lucky Hoffman in the player draw (not too shabby!). In addition, Jim Aaron returning after missing all last season with shoulder issues, played for the home team in both games today. Scott Wright started his new on-base streak as the Pioneer’s leadoff man with a line single to right. Gene Nelson followed with a base hit to keep things going. Mickey Poole moved the runners up with a sacrifice fly to CF. Larry King drove in the Pioneer’s first run with a ground single over the 3B bag. Bubba Barnett bounced into a fielder’s choice out at 2B for the 2nd out. Sal Lopez singled to drive in Gene with the 2nd run. Bobby launched a two-run triple to right center and Ray P. singled him home as part of the Pioneer’s five-run 1st. 2nd– Gary Coyle grounded out to 2B to lead off the 2nd. Jim Aaron tripled on a ball to deep CF. Lucky Hoffman flew out to shallow left field for the 2nd out. Scott followed with an RBI triple as John Flowers could not secure the ball on a tough running catch attempt. Gene doubled to score John with the 2nd run of the inning. Mickey and Larry produced back-to-back hits to load the bases but Bubba lined back to the pitcher for the final out of the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Pioneers 7 Keystones 3
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones– stormed back with a five-run inning to take the lead in the game. John and Alex opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Mike M. walked to load the bases. Bobby singled off Ray’s glove at 3B to score the 1st run. Tommy delivered another hit to LF to drive in the 2nd run. Robby popped out to 1B for the 1st out. Barry then smoked a drive that went over Mickey’s head in LC for a bases clearing three-run triple.
Pioneers- grabbed the lead back with two runs in the inning. Sal led off with a single down the 3B line. Bobby singled and Ray ripped a single between 3B and SS to drive in Sal with the 1st run. Gary singled to drive in Bobby with the 2nd run. Tommy was able to limit any further damage as he retired the next three batters. Jim A. flew out to CF on a nice catch by Chris v. and Mike Hill robbed Lucky of a hit on a low line drive to short for the 2nd out.
End of 3rd Score: Pioneers 9 Keystones 8
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones- Sal shut down the Keystones in the 4th without a run. Interesting pitching matchup in this game as Sal primarily throwing shorter backspin tosses vs. Tommy testing the height limits with his arching top spin delivery. Margarito went down on strikes to open the frame. Morris ground out to short for out #2. After Terry singled, Mike H. hit a wicked line-drive to 2B but was retired for the final out on a great fielding play by Larry King.
Pioneers- extended their lead to six with a five-run outburst in the inning. Gene led off the inning with a single but was erased on Mickey’s double play groundout to SS. Larry started the Pioneer’s two-out rally with a sharp single down the 3B line. Bubba singled to left center and Sal doubled to drive in the 1st run. Bobby’s double drove in two more runs and the Pioneers were off and running. Ray’s single scored Bobby with the 4th run. Gary kept the rally going with a single before Jim A. single drove in the 5th run.
End of 4th Score: Pioneers 14 Keystones 8
Fifth Inning Recap:
Keystones– chasing six runs, the Keystones clawed back with three runs in the inning. John led off with a triple to right and scored on Alex’ base hit. Mike M. singled and Bobby H. drove in Alex with a hard single to left. Tommy smacked another single to drive in the 3rd run. Barry popped out to the pitcher for the 1st out of the inning. Margarito grounded to 3B, Ray stepped on the bag for the force and his throw home beat Bobby H. for a game ending double play as the Pioneers improved their record to 4-1-0.
Final Score: Pioneers 14 Keystones 11
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Sultans (2-2-0) vs. Braves (2-2-0)
Special thanks to Brian Rider for keeping the book for this game. I may have missed some of the details but could not have done this write-up without Brian’s help!
First & Second Inning Recap:
Sultans- Phil Stanch grounded out to 3B to start the game. Donnie Janac followed with a base hit up the middle. Peter Atkins singled to move Donnie to 3B. Ray Pilgrim drove in both runners with hard hit to left. Chris Villareal ended the inning, hitting into a 4-6-3 double play to retire the side. 2nd-Sultans cranked up their bats to put up a five spot in the 2nd. Gary Coyle led off with an inside the park home run. Jeff Broussard followed with a singled and he came around on Adam’s drive to left center that got past the outfielders for the Sultans 2nd inside the park home run of the inning, Lucky Hoffman popped out to 3B for the 1st out. Jack Kelly and Ray Saldana drew back-to-back walks to set up the top of the Sultan’s order. Phil drove in the 4th run with a single to right. Donnie’s single loaded the bases and Peter hit a screaming grounder past the third baseman for an RBI single and the Sultan’s 5th run.
Braves– quickly bounced back to cut into the Sultans seven run lead with a five-run outburst in the 1st. Doc Hobar led off with a single and moved to 3B on Bobby Miller’s double. Paul Rubin drove in both runners with a hard single to right. Lynn reached base on a throwing error allowing Paul to get to 3B. Tom Kelm lined a single to left to score Paul with the 3rd run. The next four batters (Joe Dayoc, Dave Berra, Billy Hill and Brian Rider) Tall reached bases as the Braves added two more runs to cut the Sultans lead to two. 2nd-Jim Foelker opened the inning with a line shot to left field. Tom Brownfield followed with a double to put runners on 2B and 3B. Mike Hill ground out to 1B for the 1st out. Jim Aaron followed with an RBI double to CF to score both runners. Doc singled to move Jim to 3B, and he scored on Bobby’s single. Paul lined out to short for the 2nd out and Lynn flew out to CF on a nice running catch by Peter to end the inning.
End of 2nd Score: Braves 8 Sultans 7
Third Inning Recap:
Sultans– Braves pitcher, Tom K. shut down the Sultans without a run on one hit in the 3rd. Ray P. fouled out to open the inning, Chris V. ripped a one-out single but Gary and Jeff were retired on fly ball outs to close out the frame.
Braves– failed to take advantage of the Sultan’s scoreless inning in the top half as new Sultan’s pitcher Ray Pilgrim shut down the Braves in the 3rd. Tom K. greeted Ray with a line single to left. Joe followed with a groundball to short that was turned into a 6-4-3 double play. Dave flew out to center to end the inning.
End of 3rd Score: Braves 8 Sultans 7
Fourth Inning Recap:
Sultans- regained the lead with two runs in the 4th. Adam and Don opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Lucky hit a hard grounder to 3B that advanced the runners as he was thrown out at 1B for the 1st out. Jack drove in the 1st run with an infield hit to the right side. Ray S. struck out, but Phil delivered with a two-out single to score Don with the 2nd run.
Braves– the lead continued to go back and forth in this hard-fought game. The Braves came up with two of their own runs to retake the lead once again, After the first two batters in the inning had struck out or fouled out, Jim F. singled to left to keep the inning alive. Tom B. then crushed a ball to center field that got past Chris and rolled to the fence. Tom’s pinch runner from the plate (Paul) was able to circle the bases for a two-run “shared” inside the park homer. Mike H. singled but Jim A. was retired on another deep fly to Chris V. in CF for the final out of the inning.
End of 4th Score: Braves 10 Sultans 9
Fifth (Open) Inning Recap:
Sultans- put up four runs in the open inning to take a three-run lead. Peter led off the inning with a single. Ray P. was retired for the 1st out. Chris V. singled, moving Peter to 3B. He scored on Gary’s bouncing ball up the middle. Jeff walked to load the bases. Adam stroked a single to left to bring in two more runs. Don popped out for the 2nd out. Lucky followed with a hard smash to short that went for an RBI single and brought in the 4th run. Ray S. was retired to end the inning.
Braves– chasing three runs, the Braves leadoff hitter (Doc) was retired on a ground ball to 3B on a nice play by Gary. Bobby doubled and Paul followed with an RBI single to left center for the Braves 1st run. Lynn walked and Tom K.’s infield hit to 3B loaded the bases. Joe drilled a pitch down the 3B line to drive in two runners and tie the game (he was called out for running to 1B along with his runner from the plate for the 2nd out). Dave lined a walk-off single to CF to score Doc (Tom K.’s pinch runner) with the winning run as the Braves completed their dramatic come-from-behind win by a final score of 14-13.
Final Score: Braves 14 Sultans 13
2nd Session Standings:
The Pioneers maintained their one game lead by virtue of their win over the Keystones and the Braves defeat of the Sultans.
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Pioneers |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0.800 |
68 |
58 |
10 |
– |
|
Braves |
3 |
2 |
0 |
0.600 |
55 |
44 |
11 |
1.00 |
|
Sultans |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0.400 |
64 |
62 |
2 |
2.00 |
|
Keystones |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0.400 |
50 |
63 |
-13 |
2.00 |
|
Senators |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0.250 |
50 |
60 |
-10 |
2.50 |
Full Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season To-date Standings |
|||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
|
Braves |
12 |
5 |
0 |
0.706 |
226 |
168 |
58 |
– |
|
Pioneers |
10 |
7 |
0 |
0.588 |
199 |
202 |
-3 |
2.00 |
|
Senators |
7 |
9 |
0 |
0.438 |
209 |
218 |
-9 |
4.50 |
|
Keystones |
7 |
10 |
0 |
0.412 |
205 |
218 |
-13 |
5.00 |
|
Sultans |
6 |
11 |
0 |
0.353 |
206 |
239 |
-33 |
6.00 |
The Braves continue to lead in the season long standings with the Pioneers lurking in 2nd place only two games behind.
Next Games: Monday May 19, 2025
Game 1 8:30 a.m. (H) Senators (1-3-0) vs. (V) Sultans (2-3-0)
Game 2 9:30 a.m. (H) Pioneers (4-1-0) vs. (V) Braves (3-2-0)
The Keystones will have a bye on Monday, and their players will have priority in the draw.
In memoriam: Jeff Broussard, long standing fixture in the Austin Senior Softball league community and a player on the Sultans shared the following:
Long-time player Herb Kneisley passed away last week from a massive stroke. Herb was a versatile player who could play infield or outfield and was an excellent pitcher. He was also a productive hitter who could hit the ball to all fields. Herb was also very competitive and had a penchant for telling overly long jokes. He played throughout the 2010s. The attached picture is of the Orange team from around 2019 or 2020. Herb is on the far left and his brother Gary is next to Denny on the right. Gary is alive and well.
