Game Day Gazette
November 13, 2025
Thankfully we got to play today! As of 8:05 a.m. there were a total of eight (8) guys at the field, and we were contemplating what the minimum number would be to play. Little by little more guys showed up, and we ended up with eleven on each side. It took thirteen mercenaries to fill out the rosters with the Sultans drawing seven and the Senators picking up six players. Thanks to everyone that came out and made it possible for us to play!
Game 1 8:00 a.m. Sultans (7-1-0) vs. Senators (4-4-0)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Mercenary report- Sultans- (Paul Rubin, Jack Adams, Jim Foelker, Keith Kreitman, Bobby Hawthorne, Dave Berra and Morris Carter); Senators – (Jim Aaron, Mike Mordecai, Scott Wright, Mike Hill, Tom Kelm and Bubba Barnett)
Sultans– with only four regulars in the lineup, the top half of the order did not have the punch of the normal Sultans lineup (missing Donnie Janac, Gary Coyle and Peter Atkins). This did not derail the session leading Sultans as they put up five runs in the first inning, Ray Pilgrim lashed a double to left center to get things rolling. Adam Gordon followed with a ground single to left. Lucky Hoffman grounded to Jim Aaron who turned a 6U 6-3 double play. Jack Kelly reached on an infield single to score Ray and keep the inning alive. The mercenaries took over, and Paul Rubin doubled to left to put runners on 2B and 3B. Jack Adams laced a single down the right field line to score both runners. Jim Foelker then blasted a moon ball to deep center field for a two-run inside the park home run to wrap up the five-run 1st inning. 2nd– More help from the 2nd group of mercenaries as Keith Kreitman, Bobby Hawthorne and Dave Berra all singled to produce the 1st run in the 2nd. Morris Carter grounded into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out. Ray smacked a hard single to left center to drive in the 2nnd run. Lucky stroked a single to left to drive in the 3rd run and stake the Sultans to an early eight-run bulge.
Senators-matched the Sultans with their own five-run first inning. Denny Malloy, Greg Lloyd and Jerry Mylius opened the game with singles to quickly load the bases. Roger Geras reached on an infield single as Denny scored from 3B for the Senator’s 1st run. Rick Parker ground into a fielder’s choice out at 2B as Greg crossed the plate with the 2nd run. Jim Aaron popped a single to CF to drive in the 3rd run. Mike Mordecai followed with a triple down the left field line for run #4. Scott Wright finished off the five-run inning with a clean single to right to score Mike. 2nd– I feel like I may have missed a batter but according to the scorebook, Mike Hill and Tom Kelm led off with singles and both runners scored.
End of 2nd Score: Sultans 8 Senators 7
Third Inning Recap:
Sultans- picked up two more runs in the 3rd behind the mercenaries. Paul singled up the middle to start the frame. Jack A. followed with a base hit, Jim popped out to short for the first out. Keith and Bobby followed with back-to-back hits to plate two runs for the Sultans. Dave bounced into a 6-4-3 double play to close out the inning.
Senators– Jerry popped out to 2B to start the inning. Singles by Roger, Rick and Jim brought in the only run of the inning as Mike M. grounded into a 6U 6-3 double play to end the frame.
End of 3rd Score: Sultans 10 Senators 8
Fourth Inning Recap:
Sultans- put this one pretty much out of reach with a five-run outburst in the 4th. Morris started the rally with a leadoff hit. Ray singled ahead of Adam popping out to short for the 1st out. Lucky smacked a single to left to drive in the 1st run. Jack K. went down swinging for the 2nd out. Paul singled up the middle to drive in two more runs. Jack A. and Jim F. followed with back-to-back RBI singles as the Sultans extended their lead to seven runs.
Senators– Another mystery inning… Scott and Mike H. led off with singles and both runners scored, presumably of Denny’s two-out single. Sorry to not have more details…
End of 4th Score: Sultans 15 Senators 10
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Sultans- picked up another run in the buffet. Somehow, they marched seven men to the plate and only one scored. Keith, Morris, Ray and Adam all reached base with hits, but the Sultans left three men on base as Lucky flew out to left to retire the side.
Senators– went down quietly in the buffet as Ray retired all three batters to secure the Sultan’s eighth victory of the session.
Final Score: Sultans 16 Senators 10
Game 2 9:30 a.m. Keystones (5-3-0) vs. Pioneers (0-6-1)
First & Second Inning Recap:
Kudos to Jack Adams and the whole Pioneers team as they had nine (9) players show up for this game despite their currently winless record for the session!
Mercenary report- Keystones- (Jim Aaron, Keith Kreitman, Ray Pilgrim, Lucky Hoffman, Jerry Mylius and Roger Geras; Pioneers – (Paul Rubin and Jim Foelker).
Keystones- Pioneer’s P Sal Lopez appeared to have all his pitches working this morning as he held the Keysones to a single run in the first two frames. Mike Hill led off with a single to right and the next three batters (John Flowers, Mike Mordecai and Bobby Hawthorne) all grounded into fielder’s choice out to end the inning. 2nd– Morris Carter grounded out to short to open the 2nd inning. Jim Aaron ripped a single to CF and Keith Kreitman followed with a pop fly single to left. Ray Pilgrim singled to left to score Jim, but Keith’s pinch runner was gunned down at 3B on a nice relay from Paul to Jack to Tim for the 2nd out. Lucky Hoffman grounded to short for the final out.
Pioneers– still winless in the session, the Pioneers were determined to get in the win column this morning. They came out on fire and put up four runs to take the lead in their first st-bat. Jack Adams slapped a single to right to open the game for the men in Blue. Scott Wright followed with a shot to right to score Jack. Mickey Poole bounced into a fielder’s choice for the 1st out. Tim H. and Bubba Barnett followed with back-to-back singles to bring in the 2nd run. Larry King went down on strikes for the 2nd out but singles by Art Monzingo and Sal Lopez pushed across two more runs for the Pioneers. 2nd– Jim Foelker led off the 2nd with a single and came around on Jack’s well-placed triple down the right field line. Scott singled to drive him home for the 2nd run. Mickey singled but was forced out at 2B on Tim’s grounder to 2B. Bubba lashed a single to CF to score the 3rd run. Larry was retired on a grounder for the 2nd out. Art and Sal came through with back-to-back hits to bring in another run. Chris Hurst worked a two-out walk to force in the 5th run as the Pioneers raced to an early eight run lead.
End of 2nd Score: Pioneers 9 Keystones 1
Third Inning Recap:
Keystones- Roger Geras drew a one-out walked and moved to 2B on Mike H.’s walk. John stroked a double to right field to drive in the 1st run as Mike stopped at 3B. Mike M. hit a flyball to shallow left center that Paul attempted to catch but could not reach the ball. The runners had to hold, and Mike took off for home after the ball dropped. I was able to short hop the ball and the throw home to Chris (nice catch!) beat Mike to the plate by a few steps for the 2nd out. Bobby was retired for the final out of the inning.
Pioneers- Paul led off the 3rd with another hard-hit single to center field. Jim followed with a base hit to put runners on 1B and 2B. Jack hit a pop fly to left center and Jim Aaron made one of his patented Willie May’s catches for the 2nd out. I was able to tag up and move to 3B on the play. Jim F. ventured too far from 1B and Jim A.’s throw beat him back to the bag. I was able to scoot home on the play to score the run.
End of 3rd Score: Pioneers 10 Keystones 2
Fourth Inning Recap:
Keystones– stormed back with a five-run inning to make this a game. Jim A. blasted a triple to left center with one-out. Keith singled to drive him in with the 1st run. Ray singled but was forced out at 2B on Lucky’s grounder to short. Jerry singled in a run and Roger walked to load the bases. Mike H. walk forced in the 3rd run and John’s single to right plated two more runs to complete the five-run inning.
Pioneers– rather than roll-over, the Pioneers bounced back with five runs of their own to extend the lead back to eight runs. The Pioneers pounded out eight hits (all singles) and only made one out as they matched the Keystones five-run inning. The last batter of the inning, Jim F., hit a ball over the center fielder’s head but rather than secure his 2nd inside the park home run of the day, Jim was limited to a single as the 5th run scored from 3B.
End of 4th Score: Pioneers 15 Keystones 7
Fifth “Open” Inning Recap:
Keystones– after losing command of his pitches in the previous two innings, Sal regained his touch and shut down the Keystones to secure the Pioneer’s first win of the session. Mike M. singled leading off the buffet but Bobby ground into a 6-4-3 double play to put a serious crimp in the Keystones rally. Morris ended the ball game with a grounder to 2B as the Pioneers celebrated on the field!
Final Score: Pioneers 15 Keystones 8
Session Five Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 5th Session |
||||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
Remaining Games |
|
Sultans |
8 |
1 |
0 |
0.889 |
124 |
84 |
40 |
– |
2.00 |
|
Keystones |
5 |
4 |
0 |
0.556 |
102 |
99 |
3 |
3.00 |
2.00 |
|
Senators |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0.444 |
93 |
110 |
-17 |
4.00 |
2.00 |
|
Braves |
3 |
5 |
1 |
0.333 |
109 |
109 |
0 |
4.50 |
3.00 |
|
Pioneers |
1 |
6 |
1 |
0.000 |
81 |
107 |
-26 |
6.00 |
3.00 |
With only two games to play, the Sultans have clinched the crown for the 5th and final session. Congrats to Jack Kelly and his team for their success.
Full Session Standings:
|
|
ASSL C league 2025 Season To-date Standings |
||||||||
|
|
Win |
Loss |
Ties |
Win % |
Scored |
Given up |
Diff. |
Games Behind |
Remaining Games |
|
Braves |
33 |
20 |
1 |
0.620 |
739 |
612 |
127 |
– |
3.00 |
|
Keystones |
27 |
26 |
0 |
0.509 |
626 |
623 |
3 |
6.00 |
2.00 |
|
Sultans |
25 |
25 |
3 |
0.500 |
627 |
639 |
-12 |
6.50 |
2.00 |
|
Senators |
23 |
27 |
2 |
0.462 |
624 |
664 |
-40 |
8.50 |
2.00 |
|
Pioneers |
19 |
29 |
4 |
0.404 |
531 |
609 |
-78 |
11.50 |
3.00 |
Next Mondays Games:
8:30 a.m. (H) Pioneers (1-6-1) vs. (V) Braves (3-5-1)
9:30 a.m. (H) Keystones (5-4-0) vs. (V) Sultans (8-1-0)
Senators will have a bye, and their players will have priority in the draw.
News & Notes:
· Best wishes for Jack Kelly on a speedy recovery after being struck in the shoulder by a line drive in yesterday’s game
· Looking forward to the return of our tournament players next week as we are now in scramble mode to make sure there are enough guys to make up two teams for our remaining games.
· Celebration of the last day of the season on Monday November 24th! As noted previously, we are hoping to incorporate some aspects of “Banana Ball” for the day. The games won’t count in the standings so where anything softball related except your usual team T shirts.
· Championship T shirts will be awarded to the Braves, and I would encourage all of their players (especially those that have been out with injuries, illness or other conflicts) to join us on Monday.
· We are also going to honor Bruce Barnett for his many years of service to the Austin Senior Softball league (it’s a secret so don’t tell him anything!).
Have a great weekend and Hook’em Horns, beat them Dawgs!
Paul