If Only...

How can a team go from scoring zero runs one week in a slow pitch softball, losing 14-0 to scoring 19 runs in a 19-6 rout in which they only batted in seven innings?

Who are these guys and who played last week?

Well, mostly they are the same (except me, and I will refrain from suggesting that I am the difference, except that I just did). 

It could be the opposition, but no one is so good defensively (as the Hornets last week) that you shouldn't score even one run. It just doesn't make sense.

Except that it it happened. Maybe we were just so embarrassed that we were just that determined.

At any rate, we played exceptionally well on offense and defense, and especially Brian Black's pitching. 

Remember my mantra that if the bottom of the order hits, we win? Well, the first two times through the lineup, Lew Altman, Don Devencenzi, Jeff Kravin, Mark Diaz, and Merrill Leach were a combined 9-9 plus a walk, and scored 10 runs. Yes, that's two runs each (or a proxy runner).

They had help. Brian led the game off with a home run and followed it up with  a three run triple to close out the second and send the last three of those runs home.

In the middle of the lineup in the mean time, Clay LeChe was enjoying a 4-4 day with four doubles, three of which were hustle doubles. Heffe had the other 4-4 perfect day. Black and Leach tied with team leading five RBIs. Leach closed out our third five run inning in the fifth with a booming two run double. Black, Dave Balfour, and Leach contributed three hits apiece.

The defense was steady and sometimes spectacular. Diaz made numerous plays at 2B, getting down more than once to get a fielder's choice at second and spearing a line drive here and there. Tom Wagenseller turned a rover-step on the bag-throw to first double play in the fourth. Balfour made a couple good catches running in in shallow left center.

But the play of the game appropriately enough came on the last ball hit. A Winn/Kia player, who almost always pulls the ball hard, had not done so all day, at least on the ground. Heffe backed up each time at first base, and called for Black to cover the bag. Finally the player, Mike Mooney, obliged and hit it right to Heffe. A slight bobble and I knew I had to get rid of it quickly to get the speedy Mooney. I scooped it up underhanded, and in one motion tossed it very high and very outside to Black. He wasn't expecting THAT, but reached up bare handed and speared it just as he stepped on the bag, beating Mooney by a half a step. I wish we had the video, but rest assured that if Black's pitching and hitting didn't earn him game ball (which it did), that play certainly did.

Why can't we play like this every week? If we did, we could beat the big dogs in this league!

Dark Green Finds the Right Combination, Locks up Purple, 22-15

In a back and forth game which was close early, Dark Green came out on top 22-15. There were six lead changes through six innings, but when Green put up two successive five run innings in the sixth and seventh, the game turned.

My mantra that you're only as good as the bottom of your order was only partly true. Today, Green's top of the lineup was relentless, and the bottom was clutch, and add in some great pitching and just enough defense, and Dark Green beat Purple for a third time.

The top was on fire. Leo Kay (3-3, BB), Jeff Olsen (4-4), Bill Jeha (4-4), Shel Perham (2-4, 3 run 3B), Dick Stanley (4-4, 2B, 3B, 5 RBIs). And then there was switch hitter Robert Dousa (3-4, 3 2B). However, his two baggers were only doubles because the fifth run was scoring whenever he hit the ball onto field one in deepest right field.

That's an .870 clip with a slugging percentage of 1.261 for those that like numbers. Or a grand total of three outs among six hitters.

The bottom was barely outdone. Helen Kostoff was 2-2 plus a walk. Pat ODay, Woody Whitlatch, and Howard Davis were all 2-3, and Whitlatch burned the Purple outfield with two gapper doubles. Mike Howard got into the act with a clutch two out run scoring single in the bottom of the seventh to ignite the five run inning. We had two outs and none on, and starting with a JD Dills single, those five players all had two out hits to net five runs. It gave us a 20-11 lead and we never looked back.

In the mean time, the Howards (Mike and Davis) kept the powerful Purple lineup mostly in check. Each had a strikeout, and Davis held them to two runs in his three innings. Mike did give up a late (eighth inning) grand slam to Mark Pitzlin, but you aren't going to keep him from running around the bases all game. In the ninth, Mike shut them out to preserve the victory.

Next week, a battle for third place with Orange.

Raiders Fall Back to Form, Losing to the Wolfpack 24-18

The Raiders couldn't string together enough rallies early on and trailed the whole way after taking a 2-1 lead after the first. We put together a couple of rallies in the last two innings, scoring 10 to make the score respectable, but it was too little too late.

Defensive highlights mostly featured rover Mitsuyoshi - he made a diving catch in shallow left in the first, and threw out a runner at third base from the shallow outfield in the second. Cobb and Balfour made great catches in the outfield. Don Devencenzi handled a tough chance at 2B in the first as we held the tough top of the Wolfpack lineup to a single run in the first. Too bad we couldn't do that every inning!

JD (Just Doin') leads Dark Green Past Green Gray, 19-17

Approaching the Rudgear field, I see a bunch of players in Green shirts having BP on the first base side. I don't recognize any of them in the distance. Am I dreaming? Did the Placement Committee swap my whole team out and they didn't tell me? I knew I should have been nicer to those guys.

Of course, being a senior, it doesn't immediately dawn on me that we are in fact the home team today, and oh I know those guys over on the other side. I don't have to check into the home just yet.

This is, of course, because whoever is in charge of such things procured new jerseys for my team, and they are exactly the same shade of green. And by the way, I believe Green/Gray, the opponent, is actually Green/White and we are Green/Yellow.

And I am still not sure if we are Forest Green, Dark Green, or if we are actually the New Oakland A's playing Creaker ball.

There was one new player on the Good Guys' side. One JD Dills, whom many of you know. JD had hip replacement and this was his 2025 debut. All he did was go 3-3 plus a SF, including a two run double that put us ahead to stay at 18-17 in the eighth inning. Welcome JD, have the game ball! Oh and he made a nice catch in right field.

Dark Green has this pattern in many games: Take a lead, sit on it, and then let the opposition get a catch up inning and then panic to the win or at times a loss. Today, after giving up four in the first, we scored in every inning in the first five while shutting down Green/Gray/White in three straight innings. We felt pretty confident at 14-6 through six. The bottom of their lineup coming up in the top of the seventh. Being generous, we let them load the bases with no outs, and then let the top of the lineup drive them all in plus more and suddenly it was 14-13. Then we had our first scoreless inning and gave up four more in the eighth. Now we're behind 17-15! Will it be a repeat of last week? Not so, said Dick Stanley, Robert Douza and yours truly. Three straight hits, one run, and all set up for our hero, JD. He plants one of his patented line drives into right field, and it takes a Rudgear Hop right turn with the spin he has on it, and its off to the races. Two runs and when his courtesy runner later scored, we had a two run lead going into the ninth and the hammer.

Douza made sure we did not have to use the hammer as he got routine grounders and flies from the very talented heart of the Green/Gray order, and it was over at 19-17.

Defensive highlights: Michael Callahan had a game's worth in one inning, the sixth, two shots over his head that he tracked down. Bill Jeha made a couple of great stops in the 5-6 hole. Douza snagged a hot shot in his innings off the mound at the hot corner.

Jeha matched Douza at 4-4, and had two doubles and tied Dills with a team high four RBIs. Leo Kay, Stanley, and Heffe joined Dills with three hits apiece. Frank Cappa had only one hit but it was a gapper and he hustled to second with a double. Of note - Helen had a rough day but drove in three runs on fielder's choices as she hustled down to first to avoid a double play.

So you're welcome, Green Gray, we have given up 7 run and 11 run innings in the two games we have played. I hope we won't be so generous if we meet in the playoffs.

Something to Crow About, a 15-8 Winn Win

Sometimes, the team just plays a complete game, and the beer just tastes better.

Winn/Kia and the Crows are pretty well matched. First game was a two run affair, and we needed to get retribution. We fell flat in the bottom of the ninth the first time. Time to write a new script.

We started slow, no runs in the first two frames. But Howard Reeves changed all that with a slicer down the right field line, leading off the third, and he touched them all. Mark Diaz followed with a single and when Brian Black lost one in the far reaches of the endless outfield for a two run homer, the game winner scored, even though we didn't know it. We went on to score five and never looked back. The only thing that made it as close as it was in the end (15-8) was a three run Kia rally in the bottom of the ninth.

That's because Black in the first two and last four, and Reeves in the middle innings had the Kias hitting into the defense and it did not let down. Tom Wagenseller grabbed a hot shot at third in the second followed by Black getting a backward K. Dave Balfour and Black made back to back great catches in the middle outfield positions in the third. Don Devencenzi did his best Willie Mays impression on a shoestring catch in right in the fifth, and then Reeves got his own punchout. He started a 1-11-3 DP in the next frame. Barry Walter got a look-what-I-found out on a stab at third in the seventh.

In the meantime, Black led the way with four hits including the homer and team high four RBIs. Walter also had four hits, and Balfour had three. Everyone had at least one hit, and Wagenseller and left fielder Clay LeChe smashed triples.

Balanced attack, great defense and pitching, and see how easy this game is?

Heartbreak Hotel, Gray Over Green Walkoff, 27-26

The scenario was set: Green had our top two pitchers having medical procedures at game time. A third player had a stent put in and then had complications and was still hospitalized. Yes, we had three players in three different hospitals at game time.

A fourth player was sick and should have been in bed. A fifth was under doctor's orders not to play until at least Friday after getting cortisone shots Monday. He could barely walk yesterday. These two played, against all common sense.

A sixth was on vacation, what a lame reason to miss a game!

Our catcher was a player who had not been active all year after a meniscus tear. He had been removed from our roster, but his replacement was still in spring training in Phoenix or Florida or somewhere, so we got a reprieve to have him play if he felt up to it.

So we couldn't lose, right?

We broke out like gangbusters, but may have given ourselves the curse of the first. Shel Perham's home run blast to center highlighted the five run first. Three more in the second (home run to the Field 3 dirt by Robert Douza), and we thought we were invincible. But we melted down with errors in the bottom of the second, and handed Gray eight runs to catch up. We spotted them five more in the fourth, but in the fifth answered with five of our own - seven straight hits without an out sandwiched around a walk.

Scoring nine more runs while our defense settled down in the fifth through top of the eighth, and we were sailing full speed ahead, 22-13. Douza had Gray eating out of his hand with three straight scoreless innings. But give Gray credit - they never quit, and this time with nine came roaring back to tie us going into the ninth. We nearly batted around in the open ninth, and plated four but left the bases loaded, and ultimately that opened the door just wide enough for Gabe Tenaka to smash his walk off triple.

The hitting stats were crazy. Perham was 5-6 and drove in ten runs! Michael Callahan was a machine, going 5-5 plus a walk and drove in four. Frank Coppa was also in the no out zone, going 5-5. Leo Kay was a nuisance with his five hits as he stretched three of them into doubles. Bill Jeha had two doubles and a triple among his four safeties. Everyone had at least a hit.

The corner infielders both snagged hot shots, and Callahan made a great grab going back in left to keep Gray off the board in the first. But this game was about offense and both teams had plenty to say about it.

It was a crushing defeat after nearly overcoming our adversity. But playing in such a classic Creaker game made it worth it no matter on which side you ended.

Streak! Raiders Bag the Mudcats, 22-14

What does a number of wins become a winning streak?

The Raiders declared last week's win a streak after starting the season 0-5. Well, now we've doubled it with a smartly played 22-14 win over the Mudcats. We spotted the Cats a 7-3 lead through three but then piled on five run innings in three of the next four to get it to 19-8 and then coasted home.

The biggest hit of the game came in the top of the fourth, when Dave Balfour unloaded the bases with a double that gave us our first five run inning and a lead at 8-7 that we never gave up.

David Gerds was 4-5 with three doubles and a home run. Balfour, Gidget Blaquera, Ray Oducayen, David Gratz, Jay Sankey, and Lee Shreiner chipped in three hits apiece but it was the unsung near bottom of the order that made the difference. Don Devencenzi and Patrick Kiesling were each 5-5 to lead the team. Devencenzi hit two doubles and led the team with four RBIs. Kiesling drove in three. Everyone in the lineup had at least two hits, including Ray Watkins with two clutch singles.

Balfour and Gratz made exceptional catches in the outfield. Rover Randy Cobb had a great game, turning one double play stepping on second and firing to first to kill a rally. First Baseman Jeff Kravin hobbled into far foul ground to catch an over the shoulder grab to kill another. That inning relief pitcher Oducayen got a rare strike out. The rest of the game Lee Shreiner kept the Cats off balance.

Watch out - the Silver and Black may just come back!