Scarlet Fever Overcomes Maroon, 18-6

No one is watching the scoreboard (!) but with one game left in the first half, Scarlet overwhelmed Maroon with great defense and timely hitting, 18-6, and stayed in first place.

In a cursed first we got four of our five runs with two outs, the biggest hit Charlie Uhlman's two run single. After that, we were shut down for three innings, but held off Maroon so it was just 5-1 after four. Then we put up another five spot in the fifth, the big hits a 19 hopper up the middle by the manager good for two runs, followed by Chip Sharpe's two run triple. The 10-1 lead was too much to overcome and we salted it away with another five run inning in the eighth.

Sharpe and Raymond Aguilera held off the Maroon hitters with plenty of help from our defense. Gary Namanny and Paul Lisi made great running catches, and Sharpe turned a single to right center into a fielder's choice out at second with a bullet throw to Gerry Dasey. Sharpe made a great play at the mound by knocking down a line drive past the net, and getting a force out at third base. Tony Gorgone and Bob Shipley corralled a couple of hot shots at second base. And that doesn't include a couple of double plays, one from Dasey to rover Gary Booth to Mike Nichols at first base.

On offense there were a couple of stellar efforts as we again spread around the joy of hitting. Booth went 4-4 with four RBIs and hit a two run bomb over the left fielder's head into a breeze. Namanny hit another gapper-homer in the sixth. Namanny, Dasey and Uhlman stroked three hits apiece, and Sharpe had a double and a triple.

I hear Green came back to win to stave off elimination from the first half pennant race, so it comes down to who can execute next week. We are looking forward to it!

Scarlet Sinks Navy 15-11, unless it was 12.

Insert Steve Suchon's military metaphors, here:

In a tight defensive battle, Scarlet prevailed on the wings of a five run seventh to best Navy 15 to something (more later).

We put up a five run first and the way things were going, a 10-4 lead seemed significant if not safe going into the sixth. But this is senior softball, and there is too much talent to keep these teams at bay for long. The bottom of Navy's order kept getting us and they scratched and clawed their way back to 10-9 or 10-10 going into the fateful bottom of the seventh. Then after a couple of hits and walks and runs, Tony Gorgone came up and hit a two out gapper for a three run double to give us the five run limit.

The defense and Chip Sharpe's pitching took over after that. Even though the bottom of Navy's order loaded the bases with no outs, we held them to just one or two in the ninth and it was over.

Gary Namanny had a monster offensive game last week. Today he had a couple of bloop hits but his defense in right center turned away the opponent time and time again. Even when he didn't catch flies, he cut off the balls off before they could become gappers. And he threw out a guy trying to get back to second for an inning ending double play.

Bob Shipway had a couple of nice plays as well. In left he was positioned perfectly for a Mike Saindon smash that came straight to him. Tough catch because it was hit so hard and right at him, they can be the toughest. Then he outdid that by catching a sinking
liner running full speed toward left center. He also turned a hard shot up the middle into an 11-3 putout.

Roc Lumley had perhaps the catch of the game on a line drive headed to right field that he caught - rumor was that there was a gap at least the size of a credit card between him and the ground. Helen Kostoff and Gerry Dasey made nifty plays at the hot corner in the first and third innings. In the ninth, the first baseman turned the tide by getting over to the fence to catch a popup for the first out.

Hitting stars were Namanny with four hits, Gary Booth (3-3) with a two run bomb, and Sharpe with a 3-4 game.

Of course there couldn't be a Creaker game without some controversy. and there was a rules question that would determine whether the game was 15-12 or 15-11. But since I couldn't find the answer in the SSA rule book,  and it didn't ultimately affect the final result, I will post it separately. Please chime in. Anyone.