Gold Ends First Half Winning Another Close One, 16-13 Over Green

Typical Gold win. Get a big lead, give it up, and hold off the opponent with some clutch defense.

We pecked away at Terry Karp's team early, scoring 2, 4, 5, 3, and 3 runs, while good defense held Green to three in the first five frames. Stan Bielecki was a defensive star in the early innings - turning a grounder to third, step on the bag and throw home double play with the bases loaded to hold Green to one run in the second. On the play, catcher Anthony Puccio (Pooch) scooped up a low throw. And Bielecki made a great stop in the next frame on a hard grounder playing rover, and flipped to Hugh Vasquez, who ranged a long way to cover second to get the force.

In the fourth, Steve Bedrick, who threw nothing but strikes in the middle innings, got a strikeout looking. And we turned a short to rover to first double play to hold them scoreless.

Somewhere in there the first baseman ranged far into foul territory to catch a pop fly. No one could believe how far he ran. Steve Alvarez made a couple of nice catches - one a mile high pop up playing second, which is always tough, and one on a long ball to right field.

A 15-3 lead is safe right? Not in Creaker ball. We were outscored 10-1 in the next three innngs, and Green got their hopes up, closing to 16-13. And Gold failed to score the last two times up. We were holding on to the hopes of having the home team last ups advantage. But in the eighth, with some of the best Green hitters coming up, Gary Namanny corralled a liner to center and fired to second to double up Karp (who was not sure whether the ball would be caught) with the bases loaded, effectively ending the rally. It was a close play, the throw only beat him by inches but umpire Steve Goulet made an honest call, exhibiting the best Creaker sportsmanship. No one argued. We went quietly in the last two innings, but starter and closer Tom Gonzales induced some easy outs in the ninth and we did not have to perform any bottom of the ninth heroics.

Steve Mastronarde had a quiet 4-4 day to take over the team batting average lead. Bob Fulgham came back from two weeks in Croatia and must have received some good batting tips there as he went 3-3 with two doubles and a walk. Rob Katzer matched that 3-3 plus a sac fly and led the team with three RBIs. Alvarez and Jeff Kravin also added three hits and everyone in the lineup had at least one.

First place remains Gold territory, which is pretty impressive considering we are fourth in run differential, third in runs scored, and tied for fourth in runs allowed. It's called team chemistry - we relentlessly harass each other to keep it loose.

Practice Makes Not Quite Perfect, Diablos over Lasers 19-7

So, OK, we weren't perfect on defense two weeks in a row. We didn't have to be, because, after all, it was the Lasers, and they were shorthanded to boot.

Instead we did it with our bats, hitting .788 as a team! I can't remember a team average that high in a game. Everyone, all sixteen in the lineup, had at least one hit, and most only batted twice. Brian started us off with a bomb, and Jim K matched him in the third with a two run blast. Jim K, Greg, the two Bobs, Don, Heffe, and Willie were all 2-2. Howard, power hitter extraordinaire, had the only triple, aided by a proxy runner after he split the outfielders.

On defense, we weren't at our sharpest as we built an insurmountable 19-2 lead after five innings. In the sixth, we had a combination of bad hops and fluke hits and a few bobbles, and gave up five but it was way too late for the Lasers as we flip flopped early and shut them out in the seventh. The game was shortened as one of the double headers in the new schedule.

However, Mark, who has been aching all season to make an incredible play in left center field, made not one (early on that could have made it a game as it was the third out and I believe bases were loaded), not two, but three great running catches. For this and everything he contributed (2-3 himself), he got the game ball.

A winning streak! Two in a row and three of four and we should have won the other one. The Diablos are coming for you, TriCity. Starting with Team Gray at Rudgear next week.

Gold Backs in to First Place, Tying Light Blue 25 Apiece

I won't kiss Gerry Dasey. I won't, I won't, I won't.

Maybe if my sister were in town, I would kiss her, because that is what you do when you tie a game.

But I won't kiss Gerry, the Light Blue manager, no matter how long I have known him. I won't, I won't...I won't.

We've all heard of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Well, today Gold gave it up to Light Blue, but they were polite enough to stop tied up in the open ninth inning, and when we didn't respond, it ended in a 25-25 tie. So we snatched a tie from the jaws of victory.

We had leads of 12-2 after three, and after giving up an eight run fourth, we built a 25-18 lead into the ninth. And then blew that. Everything Lt. B hit found a hole and every time we touched the ball we bobbled it.

There are two ways to look at the game. If you are Lt. Blue, down so much of the game, a tie is a win. If you are Gold, not so much. Maybe there is a third - if you play as badly as we did, we are lucky to have gotten away with a tie.

There weren't many defensive plays of note. Tom Gonzales got a strikeout looking in the second. The outfielders made some good running catches, especially Steve Mastronarde and Gary Namanny. That's about it.

The Maestro (Mastronarde - we have too many Steves) had a mini-cycle, going 5-5. That's a single, double, and a triple. Gonzales duplicated the feat.

Namanny hit a three run bomb in the second, but that was it for the power hitters. The Batman (Steve #2, Alvarez) had a double, and Jeff Mertens had two. His last was a bases loaded, bases clearer to give us a five run seventh.

Doug Carlson went 4-5. Bedrock (Steve #3, Bedrick) and Pooch Puccio stayed hot and were a combined 7-8 at the bottom of the order, which usually is a sign of a win. Not today.

We played sloppy enough to lose but by tying, we backed right into first place alone, as Navy was upset by Gray up the road. I've never been as disappointed going into first place before.

A Perfect Game in Senior Softball? Yes It's Possible, Diablos Gives the Blues to the PH Blues, 20-5

A bunch of over 70 men. Many can't run, many can't bend over. But the Diablos played about as complete a game as is possible today, dominating the Pleasant Hill Blues, 20-5 with outstanding defense and clutch and powerful hitting. And it wasn't that close as we gave up our last two trips to the plate on a flip flop.

And the amazing thing was that no one can remember a single error. And we tried. Not a one.

My Creaker team is pretty good, and we had a game like this a few weeks ago. But when I put out the email that I thought we played errorless ball, I immediately received three or four replies, like uh thanks but did you forget that one I missed in the third inning?

But no one could remember a single one today after the game. Ed tried to throw one away on a force play at second, but Brian bailed him out reaching down to grab the low throw. There were many highlight plays, Don became Brooks Robinson in the first couple of innings on a few plays and started a 5-4-3 double play. Howard followed him up late, grabbing a hot shot and getting the force at second.

Brian turned a double play, stepping on second and firing to first in the second inning. In the seventh, the shorter first baseman snared a hard line drive and easily doubled off the errant runner who unwisely took off. Those were three of the four double plays we turned. A fifth was stolen from us on a bad call on the back end.

And each of the outfielders made tough catches, Tom, Mark, Jimbo, and Don including a Tom shoestring catch in the eighth for the third out that kept the Blues out of a big inning.

Speaking of Howard, he got one strikeout looking. Not to be outdone, Ed repeated the feat in the ninth inning on a borderline flat pitch.

And then there was the hitting. Ed started the home run barrage in the first (with Don as his running proxy) as he slammed a laser down the left field line right by the fielder onto the other diamond. No one knew at the time, it was the second batter of the game and it was already over. We curse the Curse of the First! Jimbo had not one but two home runs for four RBIs. His second came right after a rocket by Tom onto field two - Welcome (back?). Back to back. Jim K would have had another but the fifth run in the fifth inning scored from second on his blast in the gap.

Jimbo and Don were perfect 3-3, and Brian, Ed, Jim K, Tom, Greg, the Godfather, Bob C, Willie and Howard all went 2-3. 

It's a start.

Another Creaker Squeaker: ND Gold over Cardinal Red 21-20

Full disclosure: The Gold manager (that's me) bites his nails.

Well, this season, this team has me biting down to the first knuckle.

Yes, we are 7-2, but every week, it seems to come down to the last AB, the last breath. We won, 21-20, with the tying run on third and the speedy Darrell Hoh on second with the winning run and powerful Rob Dousa at the plate. Rob had already planted one almost all the way to Heather Field Five earlier in the game.

But Tom Gonzales pulled out his bag of magic tricks, and gave Dousa no chance. With first base open, he threw one about 16 feet high and a foot short, and then a ball about four feet high. The other team's coaches were grousing about intentional walks. Gonzales came in a little closer but a ball. Dousa turned his back, and Gonzales snuck in a strike on the front left corner on 3-0. Now Dousa had to hit, and the pitch came in high but not too high and probably a strike and Douza tomahawked a scorching grounder to SS Hugh Vasquez, who picked up the tough hop and fired a strike to first, game over.

This game we had the double curse of the first AND second. In the first inning, Gary Namanny hit a two run triple and eight of our first nine batters hit safely, and that gave us our first five. In the second the bottom of the lineup stood up tall, and after three straight hits and a sac fly turned it over to the top and five more hits turned in our next five. We were hitting on all cylinders, and through three it was 13-5. It was going to be a laugher, right?

Except.

We scored two runs in the next four innings (one on Rob Katzer's massive home solo home run) and Red closed it to 15-13. We started hitting again in the eighth - again the bottom of the lineup, Doug Carlson, Stan Bielecki, Steve Bedrick, Anthony Pucchio, and Jeff Mertens, and we had three more.

But Cardinal answered with five and there we were again, tied (18-18) going into the ninth open inning. Namanny got us on the board and into the lead with a big bomb to left. After a walk and a single, the clutch hit to follow was a two run double int a gap by Steve Mastronarde. He's still arguing over which is the Game Winning RBI.

Because as described above, three runs was not a comfortable lead. Red pushed across a couple of runs and that set up the final face off, but we persevered.

Defensive highlights: Gonzales cut off a throw from the outfield, and fooled Dousa into trying for second on a hit early in the game, and threw him out easily at 2B. The manager chased down a foul pop up almost at the first base dugout, and his momentum took him nearly crashing into the fence. Bielecki made a nifty step on second throw to first double play in the fifth to keep the opposition scoreless.

But the offense was clicking most if the game ouside the middle innings. Namanny hit for the cycle (4-5, 3 RBIs), Katzer went 5-5 (3 RBIs), Vasquez 4-5. Steve Alvarez, Curt Wade, Carlson, Kravin (3 RBIs), Bedrick, and Puccio all had three hits.

But I think I need therapy now.

Gold Walks Off at Rudgear, 17-16 over Gray

On another beautiful spring day at the field of dreams, Rudgear, Gold barely squeaked a walk off win over Team Gray 17-16.

The game was close early. Much improved Gray took a 3-0 lead in the first that we matched, the big hit being the first of two Steve Alvarez gapper doubles, this one for two runs. The bottom of our lineup (Joy Dardin, Steve Bedrick, and Anthony Puccio) set the table in the third for our first five run inning, and the top (Tom Gonzales, Bob Fulgham, Gary Namanny and again the Batman) cleaned up the bases. In the fifth we had a nearly identical rally, this time it was Dardin, Pooch, and Jeff Merten getting on, and Gonzales and Namanny clearing them with a two run double and a two run triple for our five. Namanny's shot in the left field corner was one of the deepest hits I have seen at Rudgear without going onto the berm, and it bounded away from the left fielder, and Gary was so excited he just kept running for the sixth run (that did not count).

We were just starting to get comfortable at 13-6, but Gray came roaring back to tie it in the sixth, and then shut us down for two innings. So it was tied going into and out of the eighth - Rob Katzer's two run double knotted it up to answer their pair.

They managed to push one across in the ninth, and after a groundout, Curt Wade got us going with a line drive double. Doug Carlson moved him to third and yours truly hit a line drive that the usually surehanded right fielder nearly ran down, and it was tied. Stan Bielecki got a hit to move Carlson to third with the winning run. Dardin followed with a chance to win the game and hit a line drive right at the RC fielder who was playing at the cones, but the runner on third could not score (I am begin generous here). Up stepped backup pitcher Steve Bedrick with two outs and he planted the ball between the two right fielders and when Bielecki beat the throw to second in an attempt for a force play, it was all over, and the fat lady sang.

Other than our pitcher Gonzales we didn't have many highlights defensively, but he ran to the third base line to catch a short pop up, snared a shot up the middle that he knocked down and got the lead runner at 2B, and ended an inning on a similar grounder this time to his back hand, and a toss to first. All while staying behind the screen until the ball was hit!

Gonzales, Namanny, Alvarez, and Dardin lead the way with three hits apiece. Every single hitter in the lineup had at least one hit. Another great team game.

The Devil Made the Diablos Route the Oaks, 25-19

Despite practically everyone moaning about the condition of the Pleasant Hill Park field, there was a lively TriCity game there today between the PH Diablos and the PH Oaks, that ended 25-19 in favor of the Diablos.

The Devils scored three in the first to avoid the Curse, and the Oaks answered with four to do likewise. But five of the lower six in the Diablos' order came through with singles in the second - Bob Carver, Don Devencenzi, Bobby Vitro, Steve Shapiro, and Bill Hoffman - and the top of the lineup (Dan Roach, Ed Hendrickson, and Jim Krochka) finished the job and we had our first five run inning. It set the tone for the rest of the game and the Oaks had to play catchup the rest of the way.

Krochka (5-5, double, 4 RBIs) and Bobby V (4-4) led the way, and Roach, Hendrickson, Mark Childress, Jim Wilcox, Greg Lagomarsino, Shapiro, and Hoffman contributed three knocks each. Devencenzi was 2-3 plus a sac fly, and had a booming double in the eighth that added on a couple runs to make it 24-12 and leave no doubt as to the outcome, despite the Oaks making a late run.

There were several defensive plays of note. Devencenzi made a nice stop at 3B and touched the base and threw home for a double play in the first with bases loaded and no one out that temporarily gave us hope we would hold them that inning. The next inning Howard Davis took over at the hot corner and stabbed a hot shot line drive. Wilcox and Childress and Jeff Mertens made some fine running catches in the middle innings. Lagomarsino started a line drive, throw to second double play when the runner on second lost his mind and took off for third. First baseman Jeff Kravin used his gut (literally) to chase down a pop up toward the dugout in the seventh, and SS Krochka followed suit on a pop up near the mound with a juggling catch. In the eighth, we turned a more normal Short to Rover to First double play with Bob Carver bending low to corral the low throw. Finally, on the penultimate play of the game, Vitro put the Oaks to bed by snaring a hot shot up the middle with a couple of runners on for an easy out at second to end the game.

This is the way the Diablos should play every week, everyone contributing and taking it to the opposition.