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!

Orange Blows Ninth Inning

One thing about senior softball. Roughly half the players either have hearing aids, or need them. Or what registers in their ears doesn't make it to their brain. Or. Or. You get the picture.

So now picture this: The City of Walnut Creek in their wisdom had some kind of loud generator or equipment going on for some project behind the Field 4 home dugout for at least a few of the middle innings today. And then when it finally let up, there was a guy with a leaf blower. It's confusing enough for the manager when all 17 on the roster show up, and add that in and I was having an out of body experience. Which is my case might actually be a good thing.

Nonetheless, and putting aside a very bad bottom of the ninth when we needed but one run to win the game, we had a very entertaining match with the Purple group that ended in a 20-20 tie. There were eight lead changes with no one ever having more than a three run lead throughout and then one tie, which we saved for the end. There were tense moments and an obligatory argument, but in a way it was senior ball at its finest - a very close game with a few walks, a few great plays, couple of strikeouts, and a few cannon shots and hot liners.

Steve Rousso saved one inning with a great running catch in center field. Dan Halyard fielded a one hopper at third and threw a one hopper to second to Jeff Waters who scooped it neatly. Nick Lauria caught a pop up behind the plate to end the sixth, always a challenge. And Mike Byrnes made perhaps our play of the day when he snagged a grounder up the middle, stepped on second and tossed a strike to first for a double play in the seventh.

We hit a few long balls. Leo Kay started off the bottom of the first with a booming homer to left. Rick Evans, Waters, Michael Callahan, and Vic Santini all tripled. Callahan and Helen Kostoff have yet to make an out in the young season (no jinx). Almost everyone had a hit and 12 of our 17 had at least one RBI. 

But the inspirational player of the game was our man of the mound Mike Howard. An errant throw from one of our infielders caught him square in the back of the neck when his back was turned, and he went down. Hard. Pic attached. But Mike is tough as nails and a couple of innings later he returned and finished up the last few innings. If only we could have given him a victory.

Orange Juice over Gold, 22*-15

The winds wreaked havoc throughout Creaker Land today, making for a very adventurous Opening Day for the ND.

I begin with a question. One of the best plays of the day was a mile high pop up to the middle of the infield courtesy of Mark Pitzlin. Rover Helen Kostoff waited and waited and waited for it to finish twisting in the wind, and finally made a stabbing catch. The question is if he had kept running and she let it drop would the silver streak have run all the way around the bases for a home run? I guess we will never know, thanks to Helen.

Orange had the antidote for the wind - Pitcher Mike Howard. Mike was able to tame and bend the wind to his advantage and the final score of 22-15 did not reflect how dominant he was. There were so many walks (for both teams) that we were only able to get six innings in, but in Mike's four we only allowed five runs, a pittance in Senior Softball.

The game started not only with the forecasted wildly gusty winds, but also with the Field 3 sun directly in the eyes of right handed batters the first couple of innings. This did not stop the Orange Machine, and we put up nineteen runs in innings 2-5 that gave us a 20-9 lead, and despite a little heartburn for the coach late, we were never in serious danger.

Up and down the lineup there were clutch hits and patient hitters taking walks to give themselves up for the team. Even the two who did not register a hit took three walks and each had a bases loaded one for an RBI. Between the second and third innings we batted around the lineup and there were eleven singles and walks good for nine runs. Very egalitarian.

And then late there were several clutch rocket hits that put an exclamation point on the win. Vic Santini blasted a gapper for the final two runs in our five run fourth. Rick Evans smacked a ball over the right fielder's head for a two run triple in the fifth. Jeff Waters followed that with his own right center gapper and also reached third. Kostoff opened the next inning with a rip down the third base line for a double. A couple of batters later Patrick Heide brought two home with another double over in right field.

The defense was shaky at times but came up with some big plays. In the third there was a putout at home that went from RC Leo Kay to Kostoff to catcher Nick Lauria who made a fine pickup. The next inning Rich Sanders turned a nifty double play playing 3B, and with runners at first and second getting the two lead runners.

And last but not least, the actual play of the day came on the first hitter in the last inning. LC Steve Rousso came in on a sinking line drive and made a sliding catch and hung on. And with that Gold's hopes sunk into the dirt, and they went out quietly.

Kay, Tony Gorgone, and Evans were 3-3 and everyone else contributed as we hit .684 as a team. Not a bad start!

* Scoreboard was wrong we only scored 22, not 23.

Crows Sting the Hornets 19-8

On the way to the game yesterday, I realized that logically, a rainout would do us just as much good as a win. If we had been rained out, assuming both the Hornets and Crows win next week, the race for first place and cotton would come down to the makeup game on March 20th. After the Crows' dominant 19-8 win yesterday, it comes down to...the makeup game on March 20th, since we are only a half game ahead of them. They are 12-2 and we are 12-1-1. To claim cotton we need a repeat.

There is a huge difference however: Beating them is WAY MORE FUN than a rainout. And now that we have clubbed them twice, I like our chances in two weeks. Their armor of invincibility has chunks missing and they are leaking oil out of every hole.

I will shut up now, because first we must make sure we beat the Wolfpack next week. It is not clear we will have a game - I hear that they have a few players in the Tri-City league, which opens next Wednesday, and may not be able to field a team. They are playing out the string in last place. We had a deal that the loser would buy at a joint pizza party the last time we played them and we then were rained out. I am not sure that deal is still on. However, I happen to know that it is Charlie's birthday next Wednesday. So there would be nothing better than getting Charlie a free birthday lunch by clubbing the Pack.

Oh and there was a game yesterday.

After trading runs in the first couple of innings (tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the third), Barry came up with two on and one out. He planted a line drive to left center that eluded the outfielders and his homer gave us a 6-3 lead. We didn't know it, but the rout was on and the Hornets may well have just removed their stingers and laid down or walked off the field. We finished a five run inning with hits by Heffe, Clay and Howard (who's looking good from the left side), and added five spots in the next two innings. The highlights were LT's two run single in the fourth, and Randy's two run single, followed by Anthony's two run triple for the last four runs in the fifth.

This game was Crows' version of small ball, and Barry's was the only four bagger. The Hornets' pitcher was unexpectedly wild, and we took five free passes. Anthony did have a double and a triple and Clay's hit in the third was a double. The other clutch hit of the day came with two outs in the second and Don gave us our first lead with a two run double to the right center gap. Charlie, Lamont, and Lee had three hits and everyone had at least one.

The Hornets' second baseman made three pivotal errors on popups and grounders that should have been caught, and it probably cost them about seven runs. But from the 19-8 final score, you can see that did not make the difference.

Rather the difference was our pitching and defense. Howard allowed the potent Hornets just four runs in his five innings and the only question was to even bring Ed in to finish the game. The decision proved to be perfect as he held the opposition to only another four in his four innings, including one-two-three in the ninth. 

And of course he was helped by our stellar defense. In the first Anthony provided his seemingly once per game nailing of a runner trying desperately to outrun his gun, and threw out a runner going to second on an apparent single. Don, Anthony, and Dave B all made excellent running catches. And in the seventh, the Hornets' lone three run inning, Randy took a sharp grounder, stepped on second, and Lamont scooped the low throw off the turf, keeping the Hornets' from dreaming of a comeback inning.

It was a beatdown. We are in their heads. If we can just get a lead on them in two weeks, they start pressing against us, where they think they can come back against any other team. Can't wait to beat the Wolfpack and get to the last game of the season.

Oh and one last word. I wonder what the record is for strikeouts in a slow pitch softball season by a team with at least a .900 winning percentage? Two unnamed (ahem) hitters yesterday added to our season total of 13 in 14 games. Eight of us have at least one! Well done!

Brought to You by the Usual Suspects

It's always tough to beat Leo's because Bill Eppinga is one of the toughest pitchers in the East Bay Senior Softball world.

But today we had the answer with secret weapon Howard on the mound with an assist from a mostly stellar defense as he shut Leo's out for the first four innings. Ed came in and allowed just six runs in the final five innings and struck out one looking. The Crows eked out eleven runs for an 11-6 victory.

There were several key defensive plays that prevented a much closer game. We turned a couple of normal SS (Lee) to Rover (Randy) to First (Lamont) double plays. Charlie got a force out on a 'single' from LC to second base. 

Then there were the odd ones. On a fly out to Dave B in LC in the seventh, he threw it in to Rover Randy, who bobbled it just enough to tempt the runner to try to take third. Randy fired to Mark at the base and the throw was high and away, but Mark stretched and held the bag for the out. 

Finally there was a catch by Anthony in RC and the runner assumed he wouldn't catch it and strayed too far off first base. Anthony fired a bullet to first, but it was offline. Lamont came off the bag, corralled the errant throw, and dove to the bag to beat the retreating runner by a hair.

Randy led the team with five straight hits. Don was perfect with 3-3 plus a sac fly. Dave B continued his torrid pace with another three hits. Lee split the centerfielders perfectly for our only home run, but Anthony, Charlie, Ed, and Mark had triples. The first three came with two outs to score runs, and Mark's started a two run rally in the seventh.

On to the biggest game of the season next week, the first of two games against the Hornets in the next three weeks to determine first place.

The Devils Made Us Do It To Them On VD, 22-3

The Crows did not play to our capabilities last game way back last century, er I mean last month, and it left us with a bad taste in our mouths while we endured three rainouts.

And then the Devil showed up in the bodies of El Diablos. They should have stayed home as we smoked them 22-3. We scored the five maximum three times including once with no outs. And we flip flopped, so the score wasn't as close as that.

I was going to lead with our stellar defense and pitching. And then I entered the stats and realized what a tremendous hitting day we had as well. The top seven in the lineup hit .815 with a slugging percentage of 1.370. Dave B had another monster day, with two HRs and six RBIs to lead the team. Barry and Lee each hit a big bomb as well. Lamont hit one to the fence in left in the first but seemed to protect his legs and settle for a two run double that gave us the lead for good after four batters. Likewise Clay smashed one to left but in admiring it missed first base and had to go back, so only made it to second for a double. Randy, Barry, and Lee had perfect 4-4 games. Three others had three hits.

Mark and Ed had rough days at the plate but each provided excellent contributions on the other side of the game. Ed, who did draw two walks, merely shut out the Diablos in his four innings on the mound to close the game. This is slow pitch softball and the Diablos do have some good hitters, so no mean feat.

Mark had one of those innings in the fifth playing third base. He ranged to his left for a shot in the 5-6 hole and managed a quick throw to nail the runner at first. Don D made a nice backhanded catch to complete the play. Then Mark snared a high line drive to end the inning.

Clay and Dave B made excellent catches on the left side of the outfield in the seventh. But the play of the day was an excellent running robbery by the league's best, Anthony, in RC in the third. He caught it on the run, then wheeled around and off balance fired a bullet to Lamont at second base to double up the runner, who had the audacity to wander off the bag about three steps and had no chance to get back in time. Highlight reel.

Not the toughest opponent but a very solid win all around. And we got Howard back, who didn't seem to miss a beat on the mound and even got two hits left handed protecting his right shoulder. It was also nice to have the Batman Steve join us for a game, and he jumped out with a couple of hits.

I mentioned everyone but Charlie. All he did was get a couple of hits, a couple of RBIs, and drew a walk and played flawless defense playing four positions. Ho hum for Charlie, just another day at the office.

We keep playing like this we will reclaim first place in a couple of weeks.

Crows Muddied 19-12

If I close my eyes real tight, I can just wish away the last game and just write about the game I skipped journaling on January 3rd, when we smashed the Wolfpack 17-5. Homers by Lamont, Barry, and Mark, triples by Randy, Mark and Dave B, four RBIs by Lamont, good defense and pitching, solid game avenging our only blemish to that point, that tie the first time through the teams.

But then the nightmare begins. I see us scoring ten runs in the first two innings to take a 10-1 lead. And me coming up with Mark on first in the third inning, and hitting into the first of two double plays. I know it's not about me, win as a team lose as a team, but from that moment on, bad hitting spread like wildfire. They say hitting is contagious, and so is slumping. And slump we did the rest of the game - shut out in six of the last seven innings as we only scored two more runs the rest of the game. Even the DPs were contagious - we hit into four all together. In the end the Mudcats buried us 19-12.

There were bright spots. Randy started the game with a 'mini-cycle' his first three times up - a triple, single and a double. Dave B and Clay each had two run hits in our five run innings. Mark joined Randy and Clay with three hit games.

Mark also had an outstanding game in the field. He made a couple of nice stops at third base and then the good fielding followed him when he moved to shortstop the rest of the game. He snagged one ball deep in the 5-6 hole for one out and then leaped for a line shot for the third out in the sixth. Heffe did bail him out a couple of times picking low throws.

But the play of the game, and maybe the season, was when Anthony caught a fly to deep right center in the first. The runner on first dared to lumber toward second base thinking he could score if Anthony couldn't track it down. Off balance, not only did he catch it, but Anthony fired to the infield, and even though it was about a 19 hopper, it was perfectly on line, and the runner was out by a step trying to get back to first.

Now the rationalization begins. We probably weren't going to go undefeated - that is a tough task in any league. And let's face it - it's all about the remaining games against the Hornets. But the new winning streak begins next week against Leo's, who, incidentally were shut out by the Wolfpack this week.

Now Don't Go Contaminating The Field!

 They say things happen in threes (who says?). Sadly, there have been three things for the BS Team that have come together.

1. A month off due to a rainout, the holidays, a bye, and
2. Finally, when it’s time to play, another rainout, and
3. I have none of your antics, er I mean heroics to write about.

The upshot us you (voluntarily, up to you of course) may read on for yet another of my longwinded stories.

David inspired it with his tale of the City’s attitude toward the fields, so here goes:

In the ancient days of the last century, as I am sure I told many of you, my original team, the Lyons, practiced at Rudgear. We practiced every Thursday from about 1982-1997, from early spring to late September when it would get dark too early. We had a deal with the City of Walnut Creek, whereby we could reserve the field every week for free, but had to come to the office two weeks in advance to sign up in case they wanted to give it to the Little League or whatnot group that was more important than us (i.e. they paid). They gave us access to the water in the shed (although for some reason we had to supply the hose and the connector), and we built a drag out of two by fours and chicken wire which we scraped around the infield (it is still behind the third base dugout down the hill 40 years later). The field was pristine due to our efforts.

Along the way, each year we would like to have an early spring practice to start the year. But at times in non-drought years, the field was too wet. So, we made the practice earlier and earlier to make sure we got one in, until somehow, we started having practice on Super Bowl Sunday. This was of course during the Montana-Rice years, and it was all the better to then go to one of our houses after practice to watch the game. Fun times.

This one year, the field was in terrible shape. But by then we were experienced manicurists, and had our rakes and shovels and we got to work. There were great puddles at shortstop and on the first base side and it seemed hopeless but that didn’t stop us. We started to move the mud around and got out the drag, and then one of our guys had the brilliant idea to shovel off some dirt from against the fence on the third base side and dump it in the lake at SS. He had a lot of enthusiasm but didn’t really think things through necessarily and he went to work. It was seemingly successful and we had a great practice.

Well, a couple weeks passed and it was time to hold another practice, this time on our regular Thursday time slot. So, I called up Leo in the Rec Department to make sure we still had the deal. He said, “We can’t rent you the field.” I said, “Why not?” (curious because we technically weren’t renting the field). He said that we “contaminated” the field. Well, I had no memory of spraying any foreign substance on the field at Rudgear. And said so. We LOVED that field. I would not want to harm it. He said, “You spread weeds all over the infield.” So, Eric (who we called O.Z.) in his enthusiasm wasn’t all that careful about what he was digging along the side to put into Lake Shortstop.

Ironically, there were weeds all over the infield every year at the beginning and we were the ones that turned it over by spring time to get rid of them. It took some time but to the City’s credit, they eventually forgave us and let us continue to use the field for free for the remaining years we played together.

We still get together every year for the Super Bowl. I am the only one left still on the field, however. We used to gather for a toast at Rudgear before the game but that ritual has faded as the years pass by. But sometime during the day, someone will invariably say, “Now don’t go contaminating the field!”