The Gold Rush Fell Short, 31-27 to Light Blue

The good news is hope is not lost despite losing three in a row as Team Gold fell to the relentless Light Blue team, 31-27.

All is not lost because after playing listless softball for two games and six innings (as we fell behind 26-7), the Gold Rush finally let loose and we almost, almost came all the way back. We outscored Lt. Blue 20-5 in the last two and a half innings, making it a game. If we can channel that energy into the last two games and win out, we can still reclaim first place.

It must be said that two of our players played out of their mind today. It was the emergence of what is likely to be a long and great career for Joy Dardin. She was 4-4 with a double and five RBIs, and played all over the infield and even an inning in  left field and one on the mound - she can play everywhere well.

She was tied with Doug Carlson for today's team lead in RBIs. Doug is a lock for Creaker Rookie of the Year (I say that and I am sure there are other candidates, but Doug is hitting a cool .731 with almost a 1.000 slugging percentage). Doug was 5-5 with a double and a grand slam home run to produce those five RBIs. The Slam came in the five run ninth inning folowing our ten run eighth as we were beginning to believe - it came with two outs and brought us to what ultimately and unfortunately was the final four run deficit. But for that one moment, we truly thought we could make a miraculous comeback.

Others with good games:

Gary Namanny, 4-4 with a home run and four RBIs despite pulling a hamstring. Hugh Vasquez and Tom Gonzales, 4-5. Steve Mastronarde, 2-2 with a walk, on a quest to never make an out again (OK, he did get a Sac Fly but that doesn't count as an official at bat, now does it). Anthony Puccio and Rob Katzer, three hits each. Mike Nichols blasted a gapper up the middle to the fence and didn't stop running until he had a triple. Everyone else had at least a hit and all but two scored a run.

The last two weeks should be fun.

The Commander Is Happy, the Commander Rests

Well, you know that if I go 3-3 with a limping double and an RBI every time up, I am going to go straight home to do stats. I have not been hitting on Wednesdays, and I was due. It just felt good to contribute to the more or less easy win over the 

hapless Lasers, as we scored 23 runs in six innings and came away with the 23-17 win despite the Lasers making a comeback in the last couple of innings.

I was by far not the best player on the field. We started out the gate on fire. Dan Roach, who had the mini-cycle in backward order (3B, 2B, 1B) sauntered around the bases to save energy in the heat on his lead off gapper and stopped at third. Ed Hendrickson followed wth another triple (thanks to Bob Carver's running), Jim Krochka with a double, and then singles by Mark Childress and Tom Caldwell set up Jimbo Wilcox to clean it up with a two run double. Six batters, five runs.

And to prove there is no such thing as the curse of the first, the bottom of the order scored two in the second, and the top produced four more in the third, highighted by a Krochka two run bomb.

Some fine Diablo defense kept the Lasers pretty much off the board in the meantime. Caldwell made a nice running catch in LF in the first. In the second, Krochka picked a ball at SS just off the ground cleanly, and threw out a wayward runner for an inning ending double play. Roach made the first of two highlight catches to keep the L's scoreless in the third. The second one ended the game after the bad guys threatened in the last flip flop inning.

So it was 13-4 after four, and we tacked on five in the fifth on RBI hits by Caldwell, Wilcox (a second two run double) and a two run single by Brian Goldufsky. And in the sixth, the lefties Carver and Hobbling Heffe hit doubles around a walk to Don Devencenzi and singles by Willie Hollis and Mike Daley to set up the bases loaded no out at bat by the sometimes Superman, Howard Davis. He planted a line shot into left center to clear the bases, and we had our last five and prompted the no doubt flip flop as that made it 23-11. For that and pitching five innings in the heat, Superman got the game ball. And the Commander rested, and all was good.

We gave up some questionable plays to the bottom of the Lasers order as they desperately tried to come back in the now top of the seventh, but after scoring six to just start getting us nervous, Roach ran down that last sinking liner in RC and the game was over.

We hit .769 as a team! We didn't even have four at bats apiece, yet all but two had multiple hit games.

3-3: Roach (2B, 3B), Hendrickson (3B), Caldwell, Wilcox (2 2B, Team High 5 RBI), Kravin (2B, 3 RBI)

2-2+BB: Childress, Devencenzi

2-3: Krochka (2B, HR, 3 RBI), Goldufsky, Carver (2 2B), Daley, Davis (3B, 4 RBI)

Quite impressive. The rock keeps rolling along! Or is it the roll keeps rocking along? And all that Jazz.

Hurry Home, Jim!

There were calls of "Jim (Krochka) who", especially when Tom Caldwell, batting in Jim's third spot, did his best imitation and blasted a shot between the left fielders to make it 3-0 in the first.

And as you will see, we blasted the curse of the first out of the water, and poured it on late, but I am going to start with our defense. Because, after all - a wise man said defense wins championships, and who am I to argue with that?

In the first with the wind blasting out to left, Clay Leche tentatively came in on a hard liner, and it kept rising and rising until he had to leap to corral the ball. Dan Roach (who started the game with a triple), made an even better catch in right center for the third out to keep PH Blue off the board.

In the second, Mark Childress, filling in at SS, went back on a ball like he was patrolling his usual LC position and made an over the shoulder grab for out number two. Pitcher Ed Hendrickson followed that with a swinging strike out to end the inning, and just for good measure got another one to open the third. And Mike Daley closed the inning by grabbing an errant throw in the dirt at first, and deftly tagged out the batter-runner, who had fallen down but was getting back up, before he could reach the bag.

Of course, in that frame we gave up eight runs and our 13-0 lead was cut to 13-8. In the fourth, Brian Goldufsky made a great backhanded grab in the rover-shortstop hole and wheeled to fire to Bobby Vitro who just managed to get to the second base bag on time, and had to reach high in the air to hang on to the throw. Ok, maybe not that high, because like a few of us, Bobby is a little height challenged. Great grab though! He topped that the next inning by snagging a one hop smash like it was routine and got the easy out at first. Roach followed that up with an even better running catch than he had in the first for the third out.

I don't have any written highlights in the sixth and seventh, but I do remember in one of those innings we took the wind out of their sails by turning a Goldufsky to Vitro to Kravin double play.

The offensive explosion begins with our leadoff hitter Roach. He set the tone for the game with a gapper that he turned into a triple when the outfielders were a little slow getting the ball into the infield. He hit a three run bomb in the fourth, and in between and beyond he added a single and double for the cycle. Dan the man!

And it ends with our dead pull hitter Bill Hoffman, known for lacing line drives to left. When he came up in the ninth, when we already had plated six runs, he saw the middle wide open, and drove a line drive between the fielders like the ball was in a fast corvette, and courtesy runner Childress scampered around the bases like he was on fire, and Hoffman had another three run homer.

We had jumped out to that 13-0 lead, but PHB kept coming back at us, and by the sixth (we were only playing seven) the lead was down to only 18-16. Thoughts of our last game walkoff loss were creeping into our heads. We needed to make a statement in the open inning. And we did. Hits by Roach, Hendrickson, Caldwell, a walk to Childress, a run scoring forceout by Clay LeChe, and another hit from Goldufsky started to push us further ahead. But it was Jimbo Wilcox' three run blast, fresh off the disabled list that took away PHB's hope, and when Hoffman followed up with his, it was really over. PHB managed to score one in the last frame, but once again they were left with the feeling, "Who are these guys?" as they walked to the handshake line.

The top of the order - Roach, Hendrickson, and Caldwell (5 RBIs): 12-12, two doubles, two homers, and a triple. Behind them: Childress, 3-3 plus a walk (three doubles (!), LeChe in his Diablo debut, 3-4 with an RBI in each at bat. Behind them, Goldufsky, Wilcox and Hoffman 3-4 each with a home run. After that, everyone had one or two hits, all but two players in the lineup scored a run, and all but three drove in a run.

Not a bad day at the office. Final score 27-17.

And Jim, your spot is still safe. Thank you for giving us multiple performances to try to match.

Tale of Two Games, ND and TC

I know this is supposed to be about Creaker games, and not about one person, but an extraordinary (and very frustrating) thing happened to me this week.

I should have paid attention to those Kalshi ads. I could have cleaned up.

Because what are the chances of losing two games in two adult senior softball leagues on back to back days by identical scores or 27-26, both on walk off hits.

I should have placed a bet. Because that is what happened. The TC Diablos blew a five run lead in the ninth yesterday (see Ed Brice's writeup), and today ND Gold blew an eight run lead in the ninth and both games were lost by that score, 27-26.

It must be the manager.

Or not. But if it makes me part of history, so be it. Where is that Guinness Book anyway?

Yesterday, the Diablos took a lead of 19-8 in the top of the fifth, and after allowing a catchup inning in the sixth to knot it at 21, did the right thing - the bottom of the order wrapped around to the top and produced five runs capped by Jim Krochka's third long ball of the day. It was only not his third HR because the fifth run scored ahead of him. He had hit three run homers in the third and fifth innings. Altogether he was 4-4 with a triple two HRs and nine RBIs. Have a day, Jim.

But we didn't score in the top of the ninth - another thing in common with ND Gold's game today - and we just couldn't get the other side out in the bottom half.

Kudos to Sandy Zimmerman for his walkoff grand slam, and for Steve Sloat running for him in his first game back from illness - he hasn't lost a step.

Plenty of TC Diablos had good games, Dan Roach, Ed Hendrickson, Mark Childress, and Greg Lagomarsino all joined Jim at 4-4, and Tom Caldwell was 3-4 with a long HR as well. Childress made what has become a weekly highlight reel catch in left center in the eighth temporarily keeping the Diablos in front - a tumbling, lunging, diving over the shoulder catch with multiple runners on base for the third out. Game saver, or so we thought.

In today's game, ND Gold took an 18-12 lead into the sixth but as we do, didn't add on and then poor defense allowed Gray to catch up. But we did what was necessary (we thought), and highlighted by a triple and a double by Tom Gonzales scored three in the seventh, and five in the eighth. We thought 26-18 was a a safe lead, although the way things have been going with this team, I had my doubts. Especially when ND Gold could not find home in the ninth.

And then we couldn't find the ball on defense in the bottom of the ninth. We squandered that eight run lead, and lost another walkoff to the same Gray team that produced the nickname Walkoff Willie (Hollis) earlier in the season when they beat us in similar fashion. Hollis did not get the penultimate hit this time but he was part of the nine run barrage that hit us upside the head.

The Holiday break couldn't come at a better or worse time. Better because we can rest up and we remain in first place, be it by a thread, thanks to Navy losing. Worse, because now we have that bad taste in our mouths. Maybe a few cold ones and some good barbecue and fireworks will help.

Gonzales had a game, going 5-5 with two doubles and the triple. Bob Fulgham and Rob Katzer joined him with five hits. Gary Namanny was 3-4 plus a sac and hit a booming HR and had eight RBIs. Hugh Vazquez and Steve Mastronarde contributed four hits apiece, and Namanny, Curt Wade, Jeff Kravin, Mike Nichols and Joy Dardin all knocked out three.

Steve Bedrock got a swinging strikeout. Kravin and Stan Bielecki made some nice plays on the infield, and Vasquez, Fulgham, and Kravin turned a nifty double play in the eighth to temporarily hold Gray at bay.

ND Gold Squeezes the Orange, 21-11

Due to players out of town for tournaments, Orange had trouble fielding a team, and the Gold took advanage in drubbing them 21-11. 

It was a hollow revenge game for Gold after taking our worst loss of the season last time we played each other. Orange requested shortening the game to seven innings even though they did rally late to get to double digits.

Gold built a 21-5 lead in the first five innings with the long ball. Hugh Vasquez set the tone with a solo home run leading off the game. Three batters later Rob Katzer hit another gapper that rolled between the outfielders for a two run homer to finish off the scoring in the first at three so we didn't give ourselves the curse of the first.

In the second the bottom of the order put up five and it was off to the races. Singles by Jeff Kravin, Doug Carlson, Mike Nichols, Anthony Puccio, and Steve Bedrick set the table for Joy Dardin, in her inaugural at bat after sitting our six weeks or so with a broken wrist, who crushed a ball to the left field fence that was only not a home run because the fifth run scored in front of her.

In the mean time, Bedrick in his second start held Orange to just four runs in his three innings, helped out by three good catches in left field by Steve Mastronarde and one in right by Nichols.

In the third it was more of the same. Gary Namanny ht a three run bomb after Vasquez and Bob Fulgham singled. After a single and an out, Tom Gonzales sent a blast, his first of two, into the far reaches of turf. In the fourth, Carlson got into the act with a three run job, and in the fifth, Gonzales' second bomb produced runs 3-4-5 that inning.

After failing to score for the first time in the top of the sixth, Gold reverted to form and tried to give Orange hope by allowing five runs with some suspect defense in the bottom half. But pitcher Gonzales saved the day on a shot up the middle that he cut off and fired to rover Fulgham at second who whipped it to first for a double play to end the rally.

In the seventh, Gold was held scoreless but Kravin dug one ball out of the dirt (turf?) and caught a pop up to squelch any hope for an Orange comeback.

Katzer (HR), Gonzales (2 HR), and Carlson (HR) were 3-3. Vasquez (HR) and Fulgham were 3-4. Namanny, Steve Alvarez, Kravin, Nichols, and Bedrick were 2-3, and Dardin had the triple. Everyone had at least one hit. Curt Wade had a double but came up lame reinjuring his groin and we hope he will come back healthy next week.

Another Day, Another Walk Off, ND Gold over Purple 11-10

Gold tried something radical today, to try to avoid our usual get a lead, give up a lead, and hopefully get it back by the end of the game.

We swapped our starting pitcher Tom Gonzales and our middle innings pitcher Steve Bedrick. It was going really well, we held the fearsome top of the Pirple lineup in the first to one run and we scored the max five runs in the first and third. Bedrock was dealing and throwing strikes. It was going oh so well. And then, sure enough we stopped hitting, and they scored six runs in the fifth and sixth, and they tied it up 10-10. So the more things change the more they remain the same.

But it's ok we had the top of the lineup in the bottom of the sixth (well, 2-3-4). We would score five again and they would cry uncle. Then BOOM, as great as they have been all season, 1-2-3 and out.

It came down to the seventh and final and open inning (shortened ahead of time because of the heat). They had their top and we had our middle. They got a couple on but Gonzales induced a couple of easy outs, and we at least had a tie.

Gonzales started the bottom half with a single, and we put in all world sprinter Gary Namanny to run for him. Batman Steve Alvarez finished a perfect day at the plate (3-3) with a single to right center, and Namanny was off to the races. Purple got it in quickly so he stopped at third. Curt Wade came up and played the hero with a slicing off field line drive to left field and we had our fourth one run and second walk off win, 11-10.

On defense, Gonzales had one strikeout looking and made a nice play on a comebacker and a shoestring catch on a little pop up that never got over six feet tall in front of the mound. Hugh Vasquez was a vacuum cleaner at SS, he must have had 10 putouts.

The heat really took it out of the hitters on both teams. We didn't even make it through the lineup three times. Alvarez and Wade had three hits, Vasquez, Namanny (2B and 3B, our only extra base hits), Gonzales, and Steve Mastronarde were 2-2, and yours truly had one and a walk in two trips to the plate (undoubtably Howard Davis was afraid to throw me a strike).

One thing about Gold, we will give you an entertaining close game more often than not!

Diablos Tease Cardinal Again, 22-17

The TC Diablos took a page out of the notebook of this author's Creaker team, and pulled out a convincing 22-17 victory. Get an early lead (12-4), put them on the ropes (17-8 after seven), then give it all back at once (17-17), but in the end rally to put them away (five run eighth).

Of course it helps to have hitters like Jim Krochka in your lineup. All he did was hit two home runs and a triple in a 4-4 day at the plate. His first hit, a mere single, put us ahead in the first after Ed Hendrickson and our defense shut down the Cardinal in the first without a run. His second hit, a two run homer, made it 11-4 in the third. His third hit was a triple leading off a three run sixth, and his last hit was a three run bomb that came in the eighth when they had tied us at 17. Game over.

The defense played great. The weekly highlight reel featured Mark Childress making a tumbling catch in left center in the first that preserved the no run start to the game. Unfortunately, the note taker failed to get any other highlights, but I seem to remember Bill Hoffman making a nice grab on a hot shot liner to third base. And I think we turned one double play.

But it was the hitting this game. The middle bottom of the order, Jeff Kravin, Jeff Mertens, Howard Davis, and Bill Hoffman were a combined 9-10. You know what I say, if the middle bottom of the order hits, we win!

And the top did their usual, Krochka with his near cycle and six RBIs, Mark Childress playing set up following him with three hits, Tom Caldwell 3-4 with a double, Brian Goldufsky 3-4 with a triple and five RBIs, and Greg Lagomarsino 2-3 with a double.

And in the middle of all that, in his Diablo TC debut, Alan Vargo smashed a two run bomb to right in his very first at bat to finish the five run first inning. Earning him the Game Ball.

Another great day at the office for the Diablos, winners of five of the last six, and six of eight.