Orange Squeezes by Gold, 14-13

After last week's defensive gem, Orange had a challenge to play up to its own standards. While we had more flaws today, it was a few significant highlight plays that made the difference as we topped Gold, 14-13 in a nail biter.

In the first, Helen Kostoff stopped a grounder up the middle, stepped on second and nailed the DP. When the next batter flew out to LF Michael Callahan, it kept Gold from stepping into "Curse of the First" territory, leading just 3-0.

We put up a run on a Tony Gorgone single, and then pitcher Mike Howard had his way with Gold, shutting them out the next two innings. He had a swinging strikeout in the second and a strike three looking in the third. Steve Rousso aided the cause by diving into the 5-6 hole to get the first out that inning.

In the bottom of the third, Orange put up the game's only five spot. As my mantra goes, if the bottom of the order hits, we win. Singles by Bob Staples, Mike Byrnes, Rich Sanders, and Nick Lauria started the rally, and then after a sac fly by Mike Elmore and a walk to pitcher extraordinaire Howard, the top of the order took over with singles by Leo Kay and Callahan. Rick Evans completed it with another sac fly for the fifth run.

Gold answered with four of its own, but Orange fought back with three, highlighted by Jeff Waters' run scoring double, our only extra base hit of the day. In the fifth, Gold had bases loaded with no outs, and there followed a liner to Staples in LC, and he caught the runner looking as rover Kostoff ("Get out of the way!") was off second base but 2B Gorgone had snuck in behind her and the runner was nailed for another DP. When she took the next grounder up the middle to second for the final out, we had held them down at just one run.

Consecutive hits by Callahan, Evans, Gorgone, Vic Santini, Rousso and Heffe produced a three run sixth as the teams totaled five runs each in the sixth and seventh. There was a third DP, more standard 11-4-3 from Kostoff to Waters to Heffe in the sixth, and another highlight play in the seventh. This time Waters was playing third with runners on first and second, and he slowed a hot shot off his glove to keep it nearby, where Rousso picked it up and outraced the runner going to third for the second out.

After Lauria grounded out to score the last run to give us the lead in the seventh, all that was left was to have Howard to come back in and shut the door on Gold the last two innings. When the last batter popped up to catcher Lauria (not an easy one), it was all over. He got the game ball for driving in the winning run and catching the last out.

And it was again a complete team game. We may not have the power of other teams, but we are developing heart and a knack for making the key play at the right time. All but one of us had a hit, and the one had a sac fly. No one had more than two RBIs but 11 players drove in a run. And of course we have arguably the best pitcher in the league. These things matter in softball.

We are looking forward to the next games against the powerhouse teams.

Orange gives Powder Blue a "Light" Dusting, 15-14 (April 11)

In a tense game where Orange trailed the entire game until the bottom of the eighth, the Crush prevailed 15-14 under the warm sun.

We spotted Chuck's crew leads of 4-0 and 10-3 before our bats woke up in the bottom of the fourth. Consecutive hits by Jeff Waters, Tony Gorgone, Steve Rousso (one of his two doubles) set the table and singles by Mike Byrnes, Heffe, Rich Sanders and a clutch two out two run hit by Vic Santini closed out our only five run inning.

That closed it to 10-8 and we kept it close from then on. We kept gifting them extra runs with some shaky defense, but we saved the good plays for the end. In this game we experimented with Bob Staples at 3B and he didn't get a ball for the first seven innings. He kept asking if he should/could return to the outfield. Well, the experiment paid off as he came in hard on a foul popup to get the last out in the eighth, holding Lt. Blue to one run. And in the ninth he caught a screamer for that all important first out. The ball was moving in his glove and ended up half out but he hung on. Henceforth he is Snow Cone Bob. A liner and a grounder to 2B Sanders and it was all over.

Other defensive gems were turned by Gorgone on a 6-3 out in the first. Leo Kay then did him one better when he went into a slide in shallow right center with two outs, bobbled the ball into the air and then grabbed it and showed it to everyone. The first baseman picked a throw in the dirt in the fourth and ranged all of about twenty feet into foul ground to put away the enemy coach in the fifth.

But the theatrics came in the seventh. With no outs and runners on first and second (or was it bases loaded?), Gorgone fielded a sharp grounder at third, wheeled and fired to Rover Helen Kostoff at second, who pivoted slickly and threw to first. Of course we all thought we had the triple play. But the Powder Blue blue disagreed. We are still waiting for New York to chime in. Look on YouTube later. The Orange knows the truth.

That set up Staples' heroics in the last two innings. Mike Elmore had held the Blue in the middle innings to just a couple of runs, including a swinging strikeout, and Mike Howard closed it out.

In our eighth, back to back doubles by Mike Callahan and Rick Evans set up the winning rally, and Rousso provided the game winner on a fielding aided hit.

Kay led the way with a 4-4 day. Rousso went 3-3 plus a walk and 3 RBIs. Waters and Santini were also 3-3, and the latter had a triple and three RBIs.

Dave Rose already cried, "Break up the Orange!"

GET OUT OF THE WAY, JEFF!

And she wasn't yelling at me!

Orange played a nearly flawless defensive game, and beat Blue-Yellow 11-2. In one of the several "Plays of the Game", there was a tough popup in the sixth inning toward second base with runners on first and second that 2B Jeff Waters nearly caught. Instead, it bounced off his glove and bounded to Rover Helen Kostoff, who neatly stepped on the bag for one out. But by then Waters' momentum took him into the baseline between second and third. The next thing you know, there was an ear splitting yell, "Get out of the way Jeff" as Helen fired to third to get a double play. Waters ducked to save his life, and her yell must have thrown her off balance, so she bounced it, but Mike Byrnes deftly corralled it.

It was one of several excellent defensive performances for Orange today. In the first Tony Gorgone at SS had a hand in all the outs, handling two difficult grounders and one popup. In the first two innings there were two balls thrown to first in the dirt and the manager scooped them both up. Not to be outdone, Rick Evans pulled off the same feat in his one inning at first base in the eighth.

There were many more heroes on defense but before getting to that it must be noted that Mike Howard was on target the whole game, baffling the Blue hitters. He pitched the first four and the last three innings and allowing ZERO runs, and had a swinging strike three strikeout, Mike Elmore pitched the middle two and if it weren't for the one big Blue Yellow hit over the outfield, he could have duplicated the zeros.

In the fourth, Jeff Waters, playing SS, showed he was listening to his Little League coach when told to always get the lead runner. There was a slow grounder with one out, and it was clear it would be very difficult to turn two. So he fired home to C Rich Sanders (as the manager yelled "NOOOOOOO"), and the bases were still loaded but now there were two outs. A fly ball to LF Michael Callahan ended the threat.

In the fifth, another unconventional double play went from Waters to Gorgone at 2B, and he went home to Sanders again. Just the old 6-4-2 DP. On one of those Sanders picked it off the dirt continuing the trend. In the seventh, Sanders had one of "those" innings playing second, catching a tough popup and a line drive to get two of the outs. Finally, Steve Rousso made a great running catch on a sinking liner to center to get the first out in the ninth, basically snuffing out any hope of a Blue comeback.

On offense we built a 6-0 lead through four with big hits in the first by leadoff Leo Kay (double), Callahan, Gorgone, and a double by Vic Santini. The game stayed in reach for the Blue guys at 6-2 until the seventh. Back to back triples by Callahan and Evans started things off and then consecutive singles by Santini, Rousso, Kravin, Waters, and a fielder's choice grounder by Kostoff sealed the deal with the game's only five run inning.

Overall, Santini, Rousso and Waters were 3-3, Elmore was 2-2 with a walk, and Kay, Callahan, Gorgone, and Byrnes were 2-3.

A great team game!

Knights Eat Crows, 27-19

All you've got to do is look at the stats for the summer season opener to know how the game must have gone. What's wrong with this picture? Note that Heffe is leading the team in average and on base percentage (tied in OBP with Ed, who needed three walks to get to .800), and second in slugging percentage (to Barry due to his eighth inning homer). And Don C tied for the team lead in RBIs with three.

Now Don and I had good games, no doubt. But we are usually far down in the pecking order, if others had their usual day, it could have had a different outcome.

Charlie did have a good game, joining Heffe with four hits. And he made the play of the game, leaping high into short left field to snag a hard line drive. Who knew he could get that up! (I am not mentioning his foul ball with two and a half strikes that some may deny actually goes down as a K in the book). Not mentioning.

Dave B saved one inning with a great running catch. And we did turn a double play - rover Lamont stepped on second, and tried to throw the ball into the visitors' dugout, but Heffe snagged it and tagged out the slow runner.

There were silver linings and good news. We rallied in the last two innings with 12 runs to make the score somewhat respectable. And the team never got down. One of the reasons I love this team is you can't really tell if we are winning are losing in the dugout - we are the same clowns all the time.

But no more eating Crow I hope.

Raiders Round Up Outlaws, 23-15

The Raiders turned five big rallies and key defensive plays into a decisive win over the Outlaws 23-15.

Todd Evans planted a stake in the ground in the first when he tripled after leadoff Jay Sankey's single to give us our first lead. Todd ended up 5-5 with three doubles, a triple and six RBIs to lead the team and gunned out a runner at the plate and one at third from rover to top it off. Have a game Todd!

Sankey and Barry Walter each had two doubles among four hits and Don Ott and Ray Oducayen joined them at 4-5. Gidget Vaquera chimed in with three hits and a walk and Jeff Kravin also contributed three. All this added up to three five run innings and two when we scored four.

Vaquera also made two fine plays. One came in the second when she chased down a fly ball headed toward the middle gap with the bases loaded and two outs to keep the Outlaws' rally to one run. In the sixth, she fired the ball to rover Evans who gunned down a runner at the plate. In the same inning, with runners on first and second and one out, Ed Martinez, playing 2B, defied 150 years of baseball logic, and threw to third on a medium slow ground ball. He nailed the surprised runner by a step. I guess he was paying attention as a kid when they said always get the lead runner. Another out was made on a Sankey (RC) to Evans (R) to Oducayen play at third as well. Finally, Michael Mooney made a diving catch in left field to start the eighth and rob the first batter of a hit, and set the tone as we squelched any hope of a comeback.

Raiders Tame the Wolfpack 25-15 in Season Opener

Senior softball on the surface is all about offense. Hence scores like the Hayward season opening 25-15 win over the Wolfpack. But under the surface defense matters and it was apparent in this game. The Raiders turned four double plays to break up rallies and threw out a runner at third on a ball to the fence to limit another.

On the latter it was the steal of the draft, Gidget Vaquera, taking a deep gapper, and flinging it to Rover Todd Evans, who threw a strike to third baseman Ray Oducayen to kill the fourth inning. There were two standard SS-Rover-First double plays but the best one ended the game - a line drive snagged by pitcher Gino Ilacqua (who made several good plays) and caught the runner on first going on the crack of the bat.

The Raiders had a balanced attack - four hits by Manager Jay Sankey, Barry Walter, Oducayen, and Vaquera, and three from Evans, Don Ott (three doubles), Mike Mooney, Don Devencenzi, Ed Martinez, and Jeff Kravin. It was mostly small ball with only doubles by Mooney and Kravin to add to Ott's three. Oducayen led the way with six RBIs, getting at least one on every at bat.

Ilacqua provided comic relief when he hit a 70 foot foul ball sacrifice that plated two when the ball was generously thrown around by the Pack.

Birds Eat Felines - Crows over Mudcats 20-12

Sometimes the Shenanigans in Senior Softball Simply Surprise Me. How's that for alliteration? It would be better if I were named Sam. Then - Sometimes the Shenanigans in Senior Softball Surprise Sammy.

This week it was for the scheduling of the playoff tournament. Leah and the Town of Danville has senior softball somewhere down below helping the homeless in their priority hierarchy, and in Danville that is pretty low. They did eventually get around to making a schedule - putting one game at noon, but who was paying attention to the times anyway, because we all assumed 10:00. The usual 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 single elimination with the winners in the final this coming week.

Then Mike Rittenhouse snapped into action. For some reason he wanted to play Leo's in the first round. Was he afraid of the Mudcats? It made little or no sense. Leo's and the Mudcats had almost identical seasons, finishing 6-10 and 5-10 respectively. Whoever heard of a 1-3 and 2-4 tourney? But the Ritt got his way, not that it made any difference at all, since we both took care of business.

The Crows of course didn't care who we played in the first round - they were just someone that got in the way for our last rematch of the season with the Hornets. All we had to do was go out on the field and prove we deserved the chance to come back at the Hornets. And so we did, 20-12. It began with a sigh of relief that Mudcat Tony was absent, who may well be worth eight runs by himself.

The Crows are a very balanced team, yet sometimes someone rises up and takes the center spotlight for a week. This week it was Ed Cook. Not that there weren't plenty of other heroes with their moments - I'll get to that - but look at Ed's line: 4-4 with a double and a triple and five RBIs. And sent the Cats packing pitching the last five innings after Charlie Pastor staked him to a 13-3 lead. Ed had a bases loaded bases clearing double to increase our lead to 9-2 in the third (followed by a Mark Childress two run homer to finish the inning). Later he hit another bomb that scored the fourth and fifth runs in the seventh inning (that put the exclamation point on the game as it made it 20-8). Despite everyone urging him to go home, he ran straight through third base. I'd like to say it was because he knew the fifth run had scored ahead of him, but I think it was more likely he was shutting down from exhaustion.

Charlie was also 4-4, with a triple. Anthony Paschal had three hits including a double and a home run, and Randy Cobb also homered and had three RBIs in the leadoff spot. Barry Walter, Lee Levig and Mark also had three hits.

Lee made the play of the day and it was only 15 feet from home plate. Randy and he had some sort of game within the game going and decided they should switch spots in the sixth when Randy was supposed to catch. Lee got his chance to shine when he pounced out of the home box to dive for a little pop up to get an out. Very demoralizing for the batter and a fine play. Elsewhere Mark made a nice stop and putout at 3B in the third, and LT turned a double play on a shot up the middle when he stepped on second and fired to first. And we turned double plays in the last two innings (I think both started by Rover Randy) to completely shut down whatever fantasy the Cats had about coming back late.

Basically your routine win and a warmup to get our last crack for bragging rights against the Hornets - we need to be at the top of our game this week and they will once again come loaded up. They have a healthy fear of us now - and let's show them why!