Charlie Tames the Lion, 17-4

Oh Tom. Oh Tom. If only you hadn't said anything...

Many ball players are superstitious. And Tom had to go and mention it in front of Charlie - "Hey, you've got a shutout going!"

Let's face it, it's really tough to throw a shutout in slow pitch softball. But Charlie had the Leo's tamed, putting up zeroes for the first six innings, until Tom called up the jinx. In the end, after a couple of unearned runs, they got all of two more in Brian's innings, and the final score came out 17-4.

They had some help. The Crows turned three double plays in the first four innings. Randy was in the middle of all of them. Two of them were started by Charlie on the mound himself, and Tom turned a round the horn 5-11-3 job in the third.

The third basemen had a game - Tom made a great stab on a hot shot down the line and fired to first to nip a runner, and Don cut one off going into the 5-6 hole in the fifth in his inning at 3B. As usual on cue Anthony made a fine running catch in the fifth and Dave did his best imitation in LC in the eighth.

On offense, the Crows had 29 hits, but only three doubles for extra base hits. What we did was string together a lot of singles. In the first, we hit four straight with two outs to produce five runs. And we bookended that with a five spot in our last hitting inning, the eighth, when seven of eight batters hit singles.

Clay was perfect (4-4). Brian shook off his "new to the team" slump with three RBIs on three hits. We knew he had that in him. Anthony and Dave joined with three hits. But the hit of the game was an opposite field slasher by Tom that eluded the right fielder. The only question was whether Tom would get a triple or go all the way when - the ball disappeared, and the right fielder threw his arms up. Someone left the gate open in deepest RF and the ball found the gap. Dave went back to third and Tom to second, ground rule. They both did score thanks to singles by Aram and Don, but if the score were 15-14 instead of 15-4 at the time, we might have screamed bloody murder.

But all's well that ended well, that is, the scoring when Tom crossed the plate, and soon the Leo's roar turned into a whimper.

Now for a week off, and then back to it against the once again defeated so far Hornets, let's get 'em!

Shame on Team Black, Winning 18-17 over Tie Dye

As soon as he saw me, Ron Schwab scolded me before the game, the first time I had seen him this season.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, putting together that team."

I crawled away, tail between my legs. Or, maybe I had a different reaction: "Yeah well fuck you!" Or, maybe it was, "Hey I can't help your guys are flaky and they sign up and don't show up". All these thoughts wen through my head. But then I suggested that he could address this grave injustice by volunteering to be the coordinator next year. Suddenly, he backed down, hard.

Let's see, four teams tied at 2-1, run differential runs from +9 to -11. His team, which hasn't won a game, is 0-4, has lost two of them by one run (including today's 18-17 score) and one by two. Their coach resigned before the season started (although no fault of his), and their designated star hitter that are known to miss a lot games (each team has one) hasn't made even one.

I am ashamed. There's just no balance. It's not fair.

I actually did a much better job this year with the teams. Yes, I will pat myself on the back for that. We win more than we lose because we have the best chemistry and the most fun, in my ever so humble opinion.

Today, our stars did their fair share. Darren, who apparently hits better with a bad back than a good one, was 4-4 with a homer ("Run, Darren, Run!") and a double and three RBIs. Art was 3-4 with a three run opposite field homer and a double.

But, as usual some different characters stepped up with clutch hits and plays. Mike made possibly the best catch I have ever seen behind the plate on a straight back foul ball, barehanded. And went 3-3 with three RBIs, including a really key two out two run single in the fifth. Dan had a stellar game at 3B (a lunge for the third out in the eighth to keep the Dyes scoreless). This completed our comeback from down 16-11 as we had scored five in the top of the inning. Plus he added a big hit to knock in what proved to be the winning run in the top of the ninth. Steve made one of his frequent sliding catches in RC. Brian had a triple to drive in two in the five run eighth, and tossed a backward K strikeout in the fifth. Ken had two great line shots oppo past the third baseman. And Heffe the old fat lazy first baseman, ran in hard to catch the last out of the game off the leadoff Tie to Die hitter with the tying run on first and the big hitters coming up. Johnny G and DR had three hits and Frank was 2-3 with a booming double. I believe it was Ron who called out how Frank was old and slow and then watched the ball go by him.

Good game all around, and we may have set a record for the number of whiskey-juice-bacon shots.

Fun times!

Crowing Out Loud

Don D gave me the honor of leading off in the first game of the Winter Season for the Crows. We were playing the Wolfpack, my former team that has bulked up to chase the Hornets. I promptly hit a line shot down the right field line, I knew it was a double for sure, even for me. Then the right fielder was kind of lollygagging after the ball and so I took off for third. I stopped and looked around, and then I saw it - they were still barely getting to the ball. I could hit my first home run in years! But I remembered whose body I was in, and after all it was a runner on third with no outs and Anthony coming up and Tony Camilo had the ball by then, so I stayed.

And then I knew I was dreaming.

Instead I have to write about how we came up short against the Knights on the first round of the playoffs and got an extra week or two off and avoided the 100 degree heat (the playoff final was postponed this week due to heat).

The score ended up at 13-10 - we really made it close. But this was after a furious rally in two of the last three innings - if only we hadn't waited until the seventh inning to get serious about hitting the ball.

Down 13-1 in the seventh, Clay singled and Dave doubled and Howard singled in our second run. Don D followed with our biggest hit of the game, a line shot that found a gap for a two run triple. Ultimately we rallied for four in the seventh and four in the ninth while shutting the Knights down, but it wasn't enough.

There were just a couple of defensive highlights - SS Howard and R Randy and 1B Heffe turned a slick double play in the first to prevent a five run inning. And 2B LT made a great backhanded stop to get a force out at second in the third. He has been making a habit of this lately.

Howard and Barry and Brian led the way with three hit games, and Dave had a double and a triple. Everyone had at least one hit, it just wasn't enough.

And one final note. Howard made an out (!)  in his last at bat. It was a line shot at the third baseman. You may not think this was significant, but it ended a streak of thirteen straight hits (with a walk thrown in). He will start a new streak when the new season starts, no doubt.

Well, new beginnings October 23rd (or 30th). It is going to be in interesting season. Three teams have added new players to try to chase the Hornets, including the Crows, so we should be in the mix!

Welcome Back, Black

Even though we have to open our season without our spirit leader Sandy Camp, Team BS managed to prevail over Team Green, 25-15 in the Creaker Fall/Winter 2024 AD/ND season opener on Heather Farm Field 4, which rumor has it is Manager Dave Rose's favorite field.

BS took an early lead at 4-1 in the first. The strong top of the lineup pounded four straight hits to start us off, and we were off to the races. Although we allowed Team Green to tie us in the second, the game was never in doubt once we put up nine runs in the next three innings.

Team Green has a green manager, and it showed. They had two pitchers who had maybe never pitched in a game before, pitch most of the rest of the game, and the patient BS hitters drew nine walks. He had some players in questionable positions, but I think he was experimenting. I am sure they will be more competitive next time we play them.

In the mean time there was hitting up and down the BS lineup. Art Miner led the way as usual, going 3-3, with two doubles and five RBIs plus two of the walks. Brian Black and Greg Mathers were 4-4, Dave DeWitt and Dan May were 4-5, Mike Nichols was 3-3 plus a walk, Darren Bobrosky and Jeff Kravin joined the group with three hits each. Eight players had two or three RBIs. They say it's a team game and that's how you make it so. There were only two other extra base hits, doubles by Rose and Mathers.

RC DeWitt had a great defensive game, making multiple running catches and gunning down a runner at second on a single/force out. LC Miner threw out a runner at home with a one hop bullet to Nichols, who made a nice pickup. The catch of the game though was by SS Steve Rousso ranging into shallow left to grab a pop fly in the fifth almost all the way to the foul line.

The Bloody Mary's at the Greenery on our bye week will taste better after this game.

What a Team! Raiders Sweep to Double Championship, 23-19!

The season couldn't have ended more appropriately. Our MVP and League Batting Champion and spiritual leader Don Ott dove flat out to grab a grounder headed to center field, and flipped it to the stalwart rover Todd Evans standing on second base, to get the force and third out, and thus we swept the Playoffs (2-0) and the season series against the Rovers (5-0), and of course we had already won the League Championship (10-5).

We always knew it was the Rovers that stood in our way for the sweep, even though we seemed to own them throughout the season. They lost eight games total, and five were to us. They even took a lead in the top of the seventh. As was our MO most of the season, we started fast (leads of 7-1 and 12-5), let the opposition creep back, and even take a lead at 16-15, but then the Relentless Raiders, never say die, rallied in the bottom of the seventh to take back the lead we would not give away, and came out on top 23-19.

Before I get to the individual performances and highlights, I just want to say that playing on this team this season was like a novel or a movie that you love and can't wait until the next chapter or scene, such  that when it is over, you are a little sad, because there is no more to he had. Maybe we will be lucky and next season many of us will end up playing together; but sadly, the nature of the senior softball leagues is that you can't keep a team together from year to year.

Defensive highlights, besides the game ending force out: Jay Sankey and Mike Mooney with their usual assortment of running catches in the first (both) and the fourth (Sankey). But the best ones were Mike Smith coming up big on two hard liners that could easily been misjudged in the eighth, when the game was definitely on the line.

On the infield, Heffe lumbered over into foul territory to nab a floater off the dangerous bat of Dan Burbank in the first. There was a double play in the fourth when Rover Evans stepped on second and had to hurry and fire a throw to first, and Heffe dug it out.

On the offensive side, the true marker of the team was that nine players had either two or three RBIs. Barry Walter led the way with a 4-4 game including a two run triple in the seventh, which turned out to be the game winning RBI. Mooney also had a triple among his 3-3 plus a walk game. He had to be the MVP of the post-season - all he did was end the year with ten straight hits. Joining him with three hits were Ott with all doubles, because, really who can stop him, the steady Sankey, and Steve Brown and Don Devencenzi. In the eighth, when the Rovers had again closed within a run, Mooney led off with a walk, Devencenzi doubled, and Heffe, M Smith, and Gino Ilacqua all singled to pad the lead back to three runs going into the ninth. Bottom of the order hits, we win.

Just to round it out, we must mention Pitcher Chili Hernandez, who got several of the toughest Rover hitters to pop up or ground into easy outs. And let's not forget the irrepressible Gordon Smith, who although he didn't have his greatest game, practically carried us in a couple of wins. And Jim Dietrich, ever steady behind the plate, who it seemed like all of his hits were clutch hits all year. Everyone on the team had at least one hit, except for the missing Gidget Blaquera, who did not heroically come straight from the airport to join the festivities. I'm still mad at her for that (kidding - I hope you won your tournament).

All in all it was just a typical Raider win, only this was for the penultimate Championship of 2024. Great job boys (and girl)! See ya next year!

Flash! It's Clutch Gordon!

In a game that was full of heroic moments, it came down to this: Bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth, score of 19-19, winning run on third. Clutch Gordon Smith up. He smashed a hard shot off the third baseman's glove, it squibbed into left field, the winning run scored, and it's off to the Championship Game next week.

Yes there were moments. The first was in the first, when the top of the Wolfpack lineup got a three run homer over the fence and five runs altogether. In Walnut Creek, we call that the Curse of the First, and in fact it proved to be true today, but this was Hayward, and the Raiders were not happy about that start. Alas, we went at them with one on the first, three in the second, and one in the third to tie it. In the mean time, Gino Ilacqua shut down the Pack without another run until the sixth.

In the second it was Don Devencenzi, aka the Vacuum who sucked up two grounders at 2B, followed by Gino stabbing a ball at the mound that seemed targeted for center field. In the fourth, it was Rover Todd Evans and SS Don Ott making tough plays and then Evans catching a blooper falling on his behind into shallow center field. In the fifth it was Barry Walter firing a strike to a stretching Ott to nail a runner trying to stretch a single into a double. In the sixth, it was Ilacqua to Evans to first for a double play. Finally in the seventh, the Pack was on the comeback trail, and they had one in with two outs and the bases loaded. Devencenzi ranged far to his right to snag a knuckling line drive to shut down the rally.

All this set the stage for an almost great comeback in the last two innings by the Wolfpack. They scored five in the eighth to close to 18-14, and the Raiders answered with just one as we hit into our third double play of the game. But it was ok, because they had the bottom of the order coming up in the ninth. Right?

Well all those characters did was score one, load the bases, and get the tying run to second with no outs. Then Evans made a call I will never forget. He brought Ray Oducayen in to face the top of the Wolfpack lineup. I was screaming on the inside - they hadn't hit the ball hard off Ilacqua to get those runs in, they just found holes. Now Oducayen was coming in cold - we couldn't afford a walk, not to mention that the top four hitters had at least one homer and two triples and much more combined.

So, first pitch, Oducayen induces a hard grounder to second, where Ilacqua had moved, and being a lefty, he could fire to second in rhythm, and just like that we had two outs on a double play. Genius, I tell you! They managed to tie it, but they could not even force another run across and it stood 19-19.

Mike Mooney, who was the actual hitting star of the game (4-4, HR, triple, five RBIs), led off with a single and Devencenzi moved him to third with a sharp hit. Then something happened that I don't think has ever happened before in my forty plus years of softball - they walked me intentionally. I am not sure of the strategy - load the bases to set up a triple play? Or as I prefer to think of it they were afraid of me getting the game winning hit, or at least a fly ball. Respect, I finally earned it!!! All we needed was that fly ball, next man up, but the drama was not over. We got the fly ball, but it was not deep enough to get the run home. And then - a strikeout! How much more drama could we take? We couldn't survive another inning, and so luckily Clutch Gordon won the game.

In the end, it was as I said - If Jeff Kravin and Gino Ilacqua both get doubles in the same game, the Raiders have to come out on top.

Mooney, as I said, was the hitting star, He had company though, Kravin was 3-3 with a double plus the intentional walk. Manager Jay Sankey, Evans (triple) and Walter were 3-4. Ott had a rough day for him, only two hits, but he had our other home run, a two run shot. Everyone else had at least one hit, and six players had two RBIs.

So it comes down to one more Tuesday to try to sweep the season accolades. Good Luck to the Do Over Rovers, but MORE TO THE RAIDERS!

Nothing Could Be Finer...

There's an old Al Jolson song that goes "Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina...in the morrrrning" made famous by Bing Crosby:

Carolina In The Morning · Bing Crosby

When we were in college, we turned it into "Nothing could be finer than to be at Doggie Diner...in the morrrning".

My college friend Mark was a writer and was writing his ultimate Great American Novel, about a pimp (and three-card monte expert) that he met in Oakland. I forget his name but Mark hung out at Hy's restaurant at the corner of Telegraph and MacArthur in Oakland all hours of the night to talk to him. Across the street was one of those iconic giant Dogs of the Doggie Diner fame. Any of you that are locals must know about this bygone chain. The women of the night would play their trade in front of Hy's and the Diner. I don't know if Mark ever finished his novel. We were close but sometimes friends just drift away, and I guess I will never know.

But I digress...

What I really meant to say (or sing) is the Danville version of same - "Nothing could be finer that to smash the Hornet...whiners". Yeah that's it.

Smash the Hornets

Yesterday the Crows lived up to our potential once again and even though we let the Hornets tie the game halfway through, we dominated at the beginning and at the end to run away with a 24-18 convincing win.

Everyone contributed. Brian Black made his Crow debut and it was a beaut. He held the Hornets scoreless for the first three innings as we piled up a 9-0 lead. Lamont Thompson hit a two run triple in the first and Heffe had a two run single in the second. We scored our first five run inning in the fourth on consecutive RBI singles by Howard Reeves, Don DeVencenzi, Randy Cobb, Anthony Paschal, and Charlie Pastor. Even though we allowed five in the bottom half, we sat pretty at 12-5 when we added on three in the next inning. But then the Hornets did what they do, hit after hit after hit, and before we looked up it was 12-12. 

In the sixth, LT had another two run hit to put us ahead. Then with the bases loaded and two outs, Clay LeChé stepped to the plate, and promptly unloaded them with a shot that was still rolling to field four when he stopped at second base because the fifth run of the inning had scored. Even though it only made it 17-12, it felt like he broke the Hornets' buzz.

Just to prove the point, we shut them out in the bottom of the seventh, and put up five more in the eighth with no outs. Cobb had the big blow, a line shot double that plated two. 

Don Clay came out of retirement once again (a weekly event), and even though the Hornets had another five run inning, held them to six over the last four innings to pick up the save. Of note: Reeves gets the win for getting the last out of the seven run fifth inning!

Our defense shone from beginning to end. but for some reason I have no notes on it. LeChé had a couple of nice catches in left field. Dave Balfour and LT had a heads up 8-4-3 putout on a hit in the ninth that put the stake in the heart of the opposition. The first baseman woke up just in time to take the throw.

But - the key was we turned three or maybe four double plays. Cobb and Thompson were in the middle of all of them.

Reeves was 5-5 and 4 RBIs and three of them came with two outs. Paschal was 5-6. Balfour, Pastor, and Barry Walter had four hits each, and Cobb, Thompson, and Heffe had three.

By winning we clinched third place and avoid playing the Hornets three weeks in a row. After next week's makeup game against them, we will play the Knights in the first round of the playoffs. Our goal is to finish against the Hornets with a similar result as yesterday's game.

When Third Place Looks Not So Bad

Well, the Crows have an off day, a forfeit win over Leo's which puts us up one game over them plus the tiebreaker with two games left. Without going into too much detail, it is very possible, nay likely that we may end up in third place in the four team league. This would mean we could get the Knights in our first playoff game, and as described below, we could very well beat them.

So as long as I should have been playing in Danville today, I might as well review our win last week over said Knights, as unlikely as it was.

We have had a rough season. Losing a couple of players unexpectedly. Losing Randy for most of the season with his adventures playing hardball on Wednesdays. Losing Clay and Lamont and now Charlie for stretches to injury. It was tough all season to get 11 players on the field at once. But we are still a good team, and last week proved it.

It was a microcosm of the season. We scored five in the first. And then we set about to prove the Curse of the First is real. The Knights caught up and took their first lead in the third, 9-7. By the fifth it was 16-12, and going into the bottom of the seventh 19-12.

It was hot on the turf. LT and I were ready to phone it in. Coach Don convinced us to finish the seventh. He made us a deal - if we rallied and got close we would finish nine innings. If we went out meekly, we would call it a game. So what did we do?

Six singles and four walks later Randy drove in the tying run as we batted around, and it was 19-19. We would have to stay. Both teams went out quietly in the eighth, and the Knights could only push one across in the ninth. The game was ours to grab. Lead off walks to Heffe and Howard, and singles by Steve and Ed tied it, and it set up the penultimate at bat for Coach Don. When he took ball four, the Knight pitcher's meltdown was complete and we had ourselves a Walk Off Walk, 21-20.

It wasn't pretty, taking seven walks in the last three innings, but a win's a win, and this one tied us with Leo's for third place, and we hold the tiebreaker, and third place is ours for the taking. And that would give us an easier path to dare I say it, win the playoffs!

Not unusually, Anthony led the way with 4-4 game, including two doubles and a homer plus a walk. Why didn't he just go for third base to get the cycle? Barry was 4-5 with a triple and led the team with four RBIs. LT and Ed were 2-3 plus had two walks each. Howard and Dave had three hits apiece. Everyone had a hit and all but one drove in a run.

Now, if we can just get more than ten players to a game...

Champs! Raiders over Rovers 22-19

In the end it was the unsung heroes, the Smith Brothers (no cough drops), Mike and Gordon, that did in the Rovers for the fourth time, and earned the League Championship for the Raiders.

The Raiders led all the way though 7 1/2 innings, up by as many as ten runs, but a few defensive gaffs and many runners left on base allowed the Rovers to finally tie it at 19 in the eighth, and they had the hammer. In the top of the ninth after a leadoff walk, Big Mike strode up to the plate. Mike hits the ball hard, but too many times he has the bad luck to hit it right at someone. This time, though, he slammed it down the left field line fair by about a foot, and then it was gone, by the left fielder. Mike galloped all the way around the bases chasing the runner in front of him with the game winner. That left it up to the bottom of the order to add on. After a single by Gino Ilacqua, Gordon Smith blasted a run scoring double (although as you can't stop Gordon, and he was thrown out trying to stretch it to third). All Gordon did in the game was go 4-4 tying the team lead with 3 RBIs, including a triple and a double. And as the catcher he made a great play on a dribbler in front of home plate - the kind of play that almost always results in a man on first.

All that remained was pitcher Chris (Chili) Hernandez to get through the bottom half of the Rovers' order with a three run lead. Todd Evans made a tough catch roving to shallow left center for out number one. After a couple of hits, Chili induced a hard grounder to Evans, and he got the sure out at second, but the throw was late to get a speedy runner at first. Two down. The tough top of the Rover order waited on deck with the tying run at the plate. But then, as often happened during the season, the opponent tested Mike Mooney in left field and he ended the game with a running backhanded catch as the ball was trying to get over his head.

Champions!

There were others that made major contributions. Manager Jay Sankey joined G Smith with four hits, 4-5. Don Ott was only kept from a four hit game because he was walked once. His 3-3 continued an assault on the record books. Since July 30th, he has been 21-21, plus a walk and a sac fly. And he had two hits in his last two ABs on July 23rd. I don't know what the record is for consecutive hits and whether the sac fly counts against you, but 23 is a pretty good number!

Evans, Hernandez, Mooney, Ilacqua, and Don Devencenzi were all 3-4. Ott, Evans and Hernandez joined G Smith with three RBIs.

Jim Dietrich hit the ball hard and contributed to the bottom of the order starting the only five run innings in the third and fifth with a walk and a hit. Jeff Kravin was the only o-fer, but drew the leadoff walk in the ninth that ultimately became the winning run.

Barry Walter contributed a great shoe top catch in the fifth inning. M Smith made a couple of nice grabs in RF in the first two innings. Steve Brown made a nice catch in his belly on the other end of G Smith's play in front of the plate in the eighth when the throw was a high one-hopper.

Did I say Champions?

On to the playoffs.

Outlaws Tighten Things Up, 15-12

The Outlaws defied one of the prime rules of senior rec softball, which in Walnut Creek we call Curse of the First. That is, if the visitors score five runs in the first inning, they are supposed to then blow the lead and lose the game.

The Outlaws defied that law and kept just enough ahead to nip the Raiders 15-12 to tighten up the race for first place with two games left.

It's not that the Raiders played badly, we just had three innings that we allowed 14 total runs, including four in the crucial ninth. We had chipped away and taken our first lead at 12-11 going into the ninth but we did not answer their four in the bottom half.

We had some good defense to keep the Outlaws off the board in five scoreless innings. Gidget Blaquera and Mike Mooney made great running catches. Todd Evans made several stops: liners, long throws to first, and the relay on an out at home from Jay Sankey to Evans to Jim Dietrich. Gino Ilacqua snagged a line shot at the mound, and turned it into a double play on the runner at first. Steve Brown made a great stop on a hot shot at first base, and Don Ott dove into the 5-6 hole to get a force out at second base.

The hitting just wasn't up to our usual stuff, which ultimately is what cost us. But Ott was 3-3 with a double and a home run and a sac fly and four RBIs. Evans hit a triple and drove in three. Ilacqua and Sankey also had three hits and everyone in the lineup had at least one; it just wasn't enough.

We will try to lay our claim to the pennant again next week.

This Orange Is Peeled and Ready For The Juicer

I knew Whiteneck was up to something when BEFORE the game he brought two cookies over, and they weren't even Sandy Camp's cookies. And then after some lip service paid to our hero of the day, Rick Evans, who showed up to play less than a week after one surgery and in line for another, he stated that the cookies were for Rick, but he knew Rick couldn't eat them. Was he trying to fatten me up? I certainly do not need any help in that area. Then he said that he knew Helen Kostoff would eat them. Were they poisoned? Did he want to poison our protector of the middle? Provoke a brawl among our team over the cookies? Why, oh Why?

I decided to just ignore him (although I did eat the cookies tonight). Unfortunately, we couldn't ignore him on the mound, and we couldn't hit him either.

There isn't much to talk about. Orange pretty much did not show up, and lost 12-7. But I will say a couple of things:

Rick did show up, and prepared all week to be able to be there with us and had a fine game in the field and at the plate.

Tony Gorgone did show up, and went 4-4 with two doubles, and made innumerable outs at SS, including chasing down a blooper along the left field line like he was 25 again.

With Ace Mike Howard enjoying the clear waters of Tahoe, Mike Elmore stepped up and threw nine innings, and kept all of the power hitters on Light Blue in the park. With our sloppy defense, I'd say less than half the runs were earned. He deserved better. And he had a strikeout to boot, but to Charlie Uhlman's chagrin, I don't remember who it was so I can't name name.

But finally, I want to recognize this Orange team, a scrappy bunch who overachieved all season. We had no power and very few stars at the 'skill' positions, yet we turned in a record over .500 and even flirted with first place for a couple of weeks.

So here's to Mike Byrnes, Michael Callahan, Mike Elmore, Rick Evans, Tony Gorgone, Dan Halyard, Patrick Heide, Mike Howard, Leo Kay, Helen Kostoff, Jeff Kravin, Nick Lauria, Steve Rousso, Rich Sanders, Vic Santini, Bob Staples, and Jeff Waters. We are a TEAM.

Crows Crowed, We Ain't Done Yet, 14-10 over Leo's

Talk about your all around team game, the Crows came back from an early 6-1 deficit, and with a combination of great defensive plays and timely hitting defeated Leo's going away, 14-10.

Defensive gems abounded. Clay LeChe and Dave Balfour on the left side of the outfield made any number of catches on rockets their way. On the other side, Randy Cobb (welcome back!) and Don Devencenzi battled for the catch of the game, I think both in the eighth inning. Randy took a shot in the gap away for the first out. It was his second spectacular catch of the day. Not to be outdone, Devencenzi, sprinted in on a low liner, snagged it, and saw the runner on second had taken off on contact, and gunned it to second to double him up, inning over, and it was kind of Leo's last gasp.

Howard Reeves ran twice to the left field sideline to take away popups in the sun from Leo's shortstop. He dove in the hole twice to stop balls ticketed to left field, once getting the out on a one hopper to 1B Heffe at first. It was the second one hopper Heffe corralled - the other one was a neat double play on a grounder to Reeves, and a quick turn by 2B Lamont Thompson (also welcome back, what is this - Welcome back Kotter?). Am I forgetting anyone? Oh yea Leo's Pat Carman made a great catch for us at catcher to get an out. Showed integrity.

And of course, Pitcher Ed Cook pitched all nine and didn't walk a batter and enticed any number of routine outs to aid the Crows' cause.

The offense was spread around as well. Balfour - have a day, with 4-5, two HRs, a double and 5 RBIs. Cobb - readjusted to softball his first couple of times up and then walked a couple of times, and then smashed one in the middle gap for a home run. Barry Walter had a two run triple and was robbed on another gapper on his resume. LT blasted one to LC, and turned a home run into a triple. He also deftly moved up to second on an overthrow at first, which ended up netting us a couple of runs as he kept the force off. He was so tired by then he got a courtesy runner! In that inning, the seventh, Leo's pitcher disrespected Heffe by walking LeChe to set up a force and he became the fifth potential run of that rally. Heffe smashed a ball about an inch fair down the right field line past the right fielder and LeChe and Balfour on second were off to the races with the fourth and fifth runs of the inning. Pitcher Cook started that inning with his own triple.

And last but certainly not least, Manager Devencenzi was the only perfect hitter with three singles and two walks. Not a bad return from Covid.

Everyone was a hero, as it should be. We can take anyone in this league if we play like we did today.

Lt. Blue Defies Decades of Creaker History, Downs the Orange 22-9

Riding two innings that produced nine runs with two outs in each, Light Blue ran off with a 22-9 drubbing of the shellshocked Orange. Apparently they missed the memo - if you score five in the top of the first, you are supposed to lay down the rest of the game. They rode two crucial errors that gave them the 9-0 lead. After the five in the first, they made two great catches in the outfield in the bottom half, and there was the feeling of "so this is how it's gonna be" in the Orange dugout.

The highlights for Orange were few and far between but there were a few. Rich Sanders, who was 3-3, made a great play in the second, coming off first base to catch an errant throw, and then stomping on the base, just nipping the batter. Tony Gorgone, also 3-3, hit a bases clearing three run double in the fourth. He also started our only double play, Gorgone to Kostoff to Kravin.

Patrick Heide hit a two run double in the third. Steve Rousso made a nice catch in LC in the sixth, but the play of the game came an inning or two later. Michael Callahan was chasing a serious blast over his head and reached out and snagged it at the last moment. They were oohing and aahing way over on field six where Gold was playing Maroon.

All in all we were outplayed in all facets of the game, hitting, hitting with power, fielding and pitching. And our reward is we get to do it against the same team to open the playoffs! (hopefully a different outcome, eh?)

Raider Walk-off, 32-31!

Once in a great while, with your back to the wall, something great happens. That sums up what happened on field three today as the Raiders walked off the Wolfpack 32-31 in a thriller.

The Raiders scored early and often but the Wolfpack kept answering. We were cruising along with leads of 12-7, 14-11, and 17-14 through five innings. But when the Pack scored five in the sixth and we didn't answer, we suddenly felt the pressure. We gave up eleven runs in the eighth and ninth, and were faced with an eight run deficit at 31-23 going into the bottom of the last inning.

I'd like to make this about me (even though it's not). After all, I was playing probably my worst game ever defensively, and nominally was singularly responsible for giving up about ten runs. I couldn't do anything right at second base. Both teams were playing with ten players, so there were no rovers, but the middle was not the only hole in our infield; the right side was a sieve. My legs were hurting and I failed to cover second twice at crucial times. And so we came to the bottom of the ninth down the eight runs, and had two outs before we scored a single run. But a spate of singles, an intentional walk to Chris Hernandez, and a triple by Don Ott (that completed the cycle for him), and suddenly I found myself up with the winning run on third and I deftly sliced a single to left center to win it. It was total retribution and redemption.

Yes I would like to make it about me, but it was about much more than that - our hitting was just a complete onslaught all morning. A total team effort. Ott had a perfect 7-7 day including the cycle and drove in NINE runs. Jay Sankey, Barry Walter, Steve Brown, and yours truly were all 6-7. I can't remember a game when five players had at least six hits. Ott and Mike Mooney hit home runs, and Walter had five RBIs and Hernandez and Mooney drove in four. Everyone in the lineup had at least two hits, and drove in at least one run.

And in the ninth inning rally, Jim Dietrich, Sankey, Walter, Ott, Brown, and Mooney all got two out knocks when they could have made an out to end it. It was a special feeling to end it that way, but it was a testament to the whole team that we had no quit in us.

Most importantly, we padded our lead in first place over the idle Do Over Rovers.

No Do Over, Rovers - Raiders 24-13

Even though Don Ott had another one of those games (4-4, three run homer, five RBIs total, great leaping, juggling catch), there were contributions up and down the Raider lineup as we moved into sole possession of first place with a convincing 24-13 thumping of the Rovers.

Ott set the tone in the first. The Rovers drew first blood, getting multiple two out runs and four total. We answered: Ott's home run was the big blow but we totaled seven hits with no outs when the fifth run scored. In the second inning, it was more of the same - we started with three hits and a bases loaded walk, and only a great throw home robbed us of having a five run inning.

In mean time, the Raider defense putt on a clinic. Gidget Blaquera robbed the leadoff hitter in the first, Mike Mooney had his once a game diving catch in the second, Ott made the leaping, juggling catch in the third, and Todd Evans made a great stop in the fourth to get the third out. All this meant we took a 9-5 lead into the fifth, and then we proceeded to score five in three straight innings to put the game away.

Gino Ilacqua kept the tough Rover lineup mostly in check and then Ray Oducayen came in for a two inning save, including getting one strikeout.

Leadoff/Manager Jay Sankey was 4-4, Barry Walter and Jeff Kravin were 3-3 with a walk, Ilacqua was 3-3, and Todd Evans (two doubles) and Oducayen were 3-4. Jim Dietrich was 2-2 plus a sac fly. Everyone scored at least one run, all but two drove in at least one run.

ND Pitcher's Duel, Orange Peels Maroon 10-6

It was a tight low scoring game and Orange was up just 6-2 after four innings. Mike Elmore came in and shut down the bottom of the Maroon order in the first of his middle two innings relieving our starter/closer Mike Howard. He returned to the bench and I said ah but next inning you have to face the top of their lineup! So how about this - I will give you...let's see $5 if you can shut down the top of the Maroon lineup. He gave me a nervous laugh.

So what does he do? He gets Tom Occhiogrosso and John Banker LOOKING at third strikes. The two of them together probably hit about .850. Quite an accomplishment! But now - I am nervous. Do I even have any cash? How will I pay for the groceries? Alas, Skip Spragens singled and a defensive lapse and Maroon let me off the hook by producing a nice three run rally to keep the game close and saving me embarassment.

In other defensive news, the middle of our infield produced at least three double plays that probably had more to do with the final outcome than anything else. Tony Gorgone to Helen Kostoff to first a couple of times and once when Mike Byrnes provided the pivot for Gorgone. I asked the team how many DPs we made after the game and no one could remember exactly so we decided there were 17. You can do the math.

In the meantime, Orange didn't hit all that well but did get some clutch hits when we needed them. Steve Rousso was responsible for many of them. He went 4-4 and he and Vic Santini had two out knocks (Rousso's a double) for RBIs in the first inning as we took a 2-1 lead. Rousso added a single for an RBI in the third and a two run double in the fifth.

Santini had three hits. Michael Callahan seemed to be slumping but somehow still went 2-3 with a walk. Leo Kay, Gorgone, Byrnes, Kostoff, Nick Lauria, Elmo, and yours truly each had two hits. Kay made the catch of the day with a dive in shallow right center. Lauria made a great stop on a hot shot at second base in the fifth. Santini took away a hit in left field on a blast headed his way.

Mike Howard quietly had a solid game, allowing but four runs in his seven innings. With pitching like we had today, it's no wonder we have a winning record!

Raiders Step On The Gas, 18-12 over Warriors

Raiders, start your engines! Sputter sputter. That's how we started today. We spotted the Warriors four runs in the first on a series of bloopers and bleeders, and answered with: 0 runs. It looked like it was going to be a long, hot day.

But after holding off the opposition in the second and third, we erupted for three in the third and five in the fourth to take our first lead at 9-5. Mike Smith had a booming double in the third and Chris Hernandez had a very sweet slicing opposite field triple in the fourth. In the mean time we stepped up the defense. Todd Evans made a great stop on an Anthony Paschal liner and threw out the speedster in the fourth.

Mike Mooney was the Game MVP. He made a running catch and a diving catch in the fifth to keep the Warriors from catching up. He also was 3-3 with two doubles and shared the game RBI lead with Gino Ilacqua and Jim Dietrich, the last two batters in the lineup. It's a good sign when the bottom of the order produces runs. Of note, Dietrich had two RBIs ON A GROUNDOUT in the third.

The Warriors never quit and had a five run sixth to get within a run, but the bottom of the order came through again in the seventh with a five spot. Hernandez shut the door with three shutout innings at the end of the game (including a swinging strikeout) and the outcome was not in doubt. Evans helped by turning an 11U-3 double play in the eighth.

Jay Sankey, Evans, Mooney, and Smith had three hits and most of the others had two and everyone had at least a single hit.

Walkoff in Danville, Crows over Knights 22-21

The Crows scored a season high 22 runs and on a two run Barry Walter gapper (counted as a triple but would have been an homer), dented the Knights armor with a 22-21 thriller. It was just what the doctor ordered for the struggling team.

The Knights were missing Tony Camilo but then we didn't have Anthony Paschal or Lamont Thompson in our lineup so the playing field was level if not tilted their way. The game had it all - 11 lead changes and a tie - that has to be some kind of record.

Two out run scoring hits abounded: Howard Reeves and Pete Chrupalo in the first, Clay LeChe and Heffe in the second, Orvin Heidinger in the fifth, Charlie Pastor in the sixth. In the seventh we scored five runs with hits by Reeves, Don Devencenzi, Ed Cook, Heidinger, Don Clay (who was 3-5!), Pastor and Dave Balfour sandwiched around two sac flies.

Given our season, we were set up for just a crushing blow when the Knights took the lead a last time in the ninth or complete jubilation to get a win from the monster we created when we let Camilo put together the Knight juggernaut. Don Clay started us with his third straight single in the bottom of the ninth, and the win seemed like destiny. After a flyout, Balfour put himself on as the winning run with a single, and Walters played hero on a deep hard hit smash the left center fielder almost got to - he got a glove on it but couldn't hang on, and the fat lady sang after Balfour sprinted around the bases.

Balfour, Walter, LeChe, Reeves, and Chrupalo totaled four hits apiece, Pastor, Heidinger, and Clay added three and everyone had at least two as Devencenzi, Cook, and Heffe knocked a couple each. It was mostly singles - Walter had the only triple and there were just three doubles among 35 hits.

This was back to the Winter version of the Crows as we played solid defense as well. Chrupalo made some good stops at the hot corner and Balfour had a couple of tough catches in sundrenched left center field.

Next week we an actually get out of the cellar with a win over Leo's - let's get it!

Another ND Orange Thriller, 16-14 over Gray

An Orange win is like peeling an orange - you have to dig into the outer skin, and maybe make a mess of your hands, which can end up sticky and gooey, but in the end you get to the sweetness inside and the rest is bliss.

We played another thriller yesterday, a back and forth affair which wasn't decided until the last out in the bottom of the ninth. Orange spotted Gray a five spot (curse of the first!) after going out meekly in the top of the inning. The top of the Gray lineup is very intimidating.

We settled down and battled back with a three run fourth. A pair of two out RBI hits did the damage, a double by yours truly and a single by Bob Staples. With a five run fifth we took our first lead of the game at 9-8, the highlight being Tony Gorgone's two run double into no-man's land. You can't leave Gorgone a hole in the outfield anywhere - he will fill it.

Mike "Elmo" Elmore came in to pitch and silenced the Gray bats for two innings, which was key. He was aided by a no out fly ball/double play where the runner on first (who must had thought there were two outs?) unexpectedly took off for second base. A quick toss from LC Michael Callahan to rover Helen Kostoff to first cut him down.

In the seventh we added on four more runs. Starting pitcher Mike Howard led off the rally with his second straight hit, and again it was Gorgone who had the key two RBI knock. It looked like we were in control at 13-8, but our usual once a game defensive lapse cost us five runs as we gave Gray seven outs in the bottom of the eighth. So we entered the ninth trailing by a run at 14-13. Jeff Waters, who has been on fire, singled in the tying run and Mike Byrnes stepped to the plate. For the second time this season he split the center field gap in the ninth with the game on the line to get a game winning double.

All that was left was for starter/closer Howard to shut down the Gray one more time. He induced a one out grounder to Kostoff standing near the second base bag, and it was step on second, toss to first and game over.

Other defensive highlights included a great running catch in LC by Callahan, a great stop at 2B by Elmo (and dig out of the dirt by the first baseman) and a catch of a foul ball behind the plate by Rich Sanders (possibly the toughest catch in senior softball because of the reaction time and focus required). And Howard did get one swinging strikeout, always a treat.

Leo the Leadoff Kay led the offense by being a thorn in the Gray side with a 5-5 day including a booming double. Gorgone was 4-5 and topped the list with 4 RBIs. Vic Santini, Byrnes, Kravin (3 RBIs), and Elmo added three hits apiece.

You can never count out the Orange. It ain't over until the Juice is running down your chin.

Raiders Steal One From the Outlaws

Another game of three parts: Raiders dominated early, taking a 14-3 lead after three innings. Then Raider defensive lapses (and good Outlaw hitting) allowed the Outlaws to come all the way back and take a 20-18 lead into the eighth with all the momentum and the hammer waiting in the ninth. But the Raiders scratched across a run in the eighth and two in the ninth to take a precarious one run lead at hammer time. The Outlaws got the tying run on third and the winning run on second with one out and hot hitting John McCown up, who had already sent two balls to the right field fence. But we walked McCown to set up a force play everywhere. The next hitter fell right into the trap, and hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Don Devencenzi, who niftily stepped on the bag and tossed to catcher Jim Dietrich and it was game over.

It was truly a team game - everyone in the lineup had at least one RBI. Mike Mooney, who had a nice running catch in the first inning, led the way, going 5-5 with two doubles. Chris Hernandez joined him at 5-5 and tied for the team lead with three RBIs. Devencenzi was 4-5, and Manager Jay Sankey was 4-6 and chased down one of McCown's blasts at the fence for the catch of the game. Don Ott also drove in three runs (as did Dietrich), and ran to the left field line from his SS position to rob someone of a hit in the sixth. Finally. after Gidget Blaquera started the eighth with a nice running catch, Hernandez and Ott turned a neat 1-6-3 double play, with first baseman Steve Brown picking the throw to first out of the dirt. This held the Outlaws scoreless in the inning and set up the game winning rally in the ninth.

Goldi-Locks It Up 22-17

In a Creaker game marked as usual by some great moments and then some not so great ones, Gold prevailed over Orange 22-17.

The game was close through seven innings with six lead changes; we traded five run innings in the first two innings. But ultimately it came down to Orange defensive breakdowns vs. Gold pitching wildness, and the lack of defense gave it up. Gold took a 22-14 lead after scoring ten runs in the seventh and eighth frames and a ninth inning Orange comeback wasn't enough.

In a losing effort, Leo Kay had a career defining game. He hit for the cycle, triple, double, single, homer, and another single for 5-5 with four RBIs. Jeff Waters was perfect at 3-3 plus two walks and had three RBIs. Vic Santini, Nick Lauria, and Mike Elmore joined him with three hits.

Despite the inconsistent defense there were some spectacular moments. We turned a triple play - Steve Rousso at SS swiped at a runner going from second to third, flipped to rover Tony Gorgone, who hesitated at first then realized the batter wasn't running and fired to 1B Lauria. First one on a team I've been on since the nineties!

On Tuesday, Rousso told me he had a plan that if Mark Pitzlin was on second on a ground ball, he was going to fake a throw to first and then tag the speedster out trying for third. In the third inning he even advertised it. On a ground ball to him, with runners on first and second, he tagged out the lead runner. He was off balance from the tag, so his throw to first was in the dirt, but 1B Heffe dug it out, double play. Pitzlin must not have been paying attention, because subsequently he worked his way to second and on the next grounder, Rousso faked the throw and Mark was a dead duck, just as he said he would be. Tagged out and inning over.

Orange will regroup and hope to regain the magic we had for a few weeks.

Birthday Boy Leads the Raiders Over the Wolfpack, 26-19

We didn't know until late in the game that it was Don (don't call me Ho but you can call me Mel) Ott's birthday. His 64th. "When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now", don't you want to hit like Don? Don hit like Mel Ott Tuesday - going into his last at bat, he was 4-4 with a two run homer, two doubles, and a single. That last at bat featured two overthrows by the Wolfpack, and Don ended up on third base. In senior ball scoring, this was a triple, albeit of the little league variety. We initially gave him a double, but when we found out it was his birthday, we gifted him the triple, completing the cycle. Happy Birthday Don!

Oh and by the way that gave him seven RBIs. Have a Birthday Game!

Others had good days too. Todd Evans and Jay Sankey were 4-5, SteveDon Deve Brown, Chris Hernandez, Michael Mooney, and Barry Walter were all 3-4. Gidget Blaquera also had three hits in five official ABs. Brown, Evans, Hernandez, and Walter all drove in three runs.

On defense, Don Devencenzi, playing out of position had a good game at 3B. He snagged a hard liner and started a 5-11-3 double play. He also deflected a hot shot to Ott at SS, and had the wherewithal to get back to 3B and took the throw back from Ott to get the lead runner.

Jeff Kravin made two good plays in the last two innings. He bailed out Devencenzi by scooping an errant throw in the eighth. With two outs in the ninth there was a smash to first, and the ball took one of the worst bad hops I have ever seen, and he reacted and grabbed it, trotted to first and it was game over.

This game showed what the Raiders can do at full strength. Watch out!

Orange Gets the Blues, 15-7

You know when something happens in a game, and you say, well, I have played this game x number of years, and I have never seen that! Well, that happened today in the Orange Blue-Yellow game, only as a senior, by the time the game ended I had forgotten what it was entirely.

But alas, there is poetry and good fortune! I was the last to leave Field 4 after the game. I decided to use the rest room before I left. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a guy who was walking his two dogs tie them up and step into the little building. Well, I followed him in and lo, I heard him playing the harmonica, IN A STALL. I can't say I ever heard that in my life so there you go, there's something new every day. And in case you think I am making this up, as I hurried out, I ran into Creaker Steve Bedrick coming over from Field five where his game had just ended and he can vouch for me! And by the way, he wasn't half bad!

Oh did we have a game today? Orange actually did show up, but you could have fooled me as we just could not get anything going against George Masa. To end the game, for instance, we hit nine straight ground ball outs. Even when Blue brought in their new player/pitcher to relieve Masa for an inning, and he could not find the plate, and we scored three runs when he walked six of seven batters he faced, we didn't get a single hit in the rally.

We started out great with four runs in the first, including our only extra base hit of the game - a two run double by Rick Evans. But those were the only two innings we scored anything!

We had a few good defensive plays. Steve Rousso and Tony Gorgone made a couple of difficult catches in the outfield. SS Jeff Waters made a fantastic stop on a grounder ticketed to left field and got a force at second. There was a popup into no-man's land the eluded the second baseman but the first baseman corralled the bouncing spinning sphere and got it to second in time for an out. Finally, Evans. playing first, came off the bag to gather an errant throw, and stomped on the base in time to get the out.

Although we are still technically tied for first with Purple, we did our part in tightening up the standings. It's a real race - six teams within a game and a half. Shades of the MLB NL Wild card race!

Raiders All Over the Rovers, 18-14

This was three games in one. The Raiders won the first two innings 6-1, the Rovers took the next three 11-3, and the Raiders came back to win the most important last four 9-2 for a final score of 18-14.

Pitcher Chris Hernandez delivered the go ahead blow, a three run home run in the top of the sixth. The Rovers tied it in the bottom half but the momentum was ours. The Raiders pushed two more across in the top of the seventh and then held the Rovers scoreless in the bottom half. We put it away in the top of the eighth on triples by Barry Walter and Hernandez.

Hernandez was 4-4 with two doubles, the triple, and the home run to lead the way with 4 RBIs. Walter also had four hits, and Jay Sankey, Michael Mooney, Don Ott, Ray Oducayen, and Gidget Blaquera chipped in three each.

Blaquera was all over the field in her rover position, making several running catches. Walter and Mooney made great catches in the first to keep the Rovers off the board temporarily. We turned two 5-11-3 double plays, from Oducayen to Blaquera to first, including a hard shot to end the game with the tying run on deck.

Smoke and Mirrors make Green Green, 15-14

I know I just said this a few weeks ago, but I am petitioning the league for another team name change - from Orange to Smoke and Mirrors.

Because once again we tried to gift away a game (nine unearned runs in the seventh and eighth innings) but came through with a three run rally in the ninth on a gap shot by Mike Byrnes to walk off the 15-14 win. We were lucky - Green was missing three starting outfielders - and perhaps we were good too - clutch hits won the game.

The trick was that Patrick Heide and his wife Penny brought a feast for after the game. The team seemed disinterested in the game for oh the first six or seven innings. But I told them that I was taking away the food and drink if we did not snatch victory from Green. Well that was it, suddenly we meant business (p.s. Chester has already defected to our team).

Seriously though, it was a pitchers' duel through six innings. The score stood at 5-4, we were up one. Mike Elmore had continued his magic from last week as he followed Mike Howard by keeping Green off the board in two of three innings. In the mean time, Steve Bedrick was hitting the front of the plate on nearly every pitch, and the rest we were beating into the ground to Ozzie Robelo. Several times we hit nice line drives right at fielders.

Then the Orange flood gates opened in the seventh and eighth, and suddenly Green was up 11-7, which seemed like a mountain in this game. But in the bottom of the eighth, finally we got patient at the plate and three straight walks and a couple of hits (including a Rick Evans triple) gave us five back. The stage was set for a dramatic ninth. Green pushed across a run for a 14-12 lead, and got the first out in the bottom half. But Steve Rousso started the rally with a single, his fourth straight, and Jeff Waters followed with his second double of the game. El Heffe then slapped a hit by the outstanding SS Ozzie R and took second on the throw home trying to keep the tying run from scoring. Byrnes then followed with his heroic blast.

Another one run game - we are perhaps the first Creaker team in first place after 11 games with a negative run differential (-1). But we will take it and pray it can continue.

There were some outstanding plays. Howard got Steve Sloat looking at strike three in the first - always entertaining. We turned a double play on Ozzie on a great turn by Helen Kostoff - no mean feat. Elmo had an inning in the third when he grabbed two hot shots at second base. These followed a swinging bunt where Heide pounced on it and threw a strike to first for the first out. There was a nice stop by Byrnes at second and he threw one in the dirt that the manager scooped up. Finally Tony Gorgone made a nice running catch in RF in the eighth that prevented Green from getting the fifth run, and that proved pivotal.

Rousso went 4-4, and led us with three RBIs, although on one hit he had a nice view of the subsequent play at home when he should have been stretching it into a double. Waters was 3-3 with two doubles and a Sac Fly. Vic Santini also had two doubles, and Michael Callahan was 3-4 with a double leading off.

Raiders Outbattled by the Warriors 18-16

The Raiders and Warriors had at least six lead changes through six innings, but the Dubs broke through with a five spot in the bottom of the seventh, and took command 17-12. The Raiders mounted a comeback in the ninth inning, but fell short and lost 18-16.

Todd Evans led the Raiders with a 5-5 day, including two doubles and five RBIs. Ray Oducayen chipped in four hits and a sac fly and four RBIs himself. And Jim Dietrich showed us the way with three singles. But for the rest of us, even though everyone got at least one hit, there were too many one and two hit games. The Warriors outhit us no doubt.

There were three outstanding plays on defense. On one, Gidget Blaquera fired from deep left center to Evans and he nailed a runner at the plate with a perfect throw. On another play, Evans threw out a runner at first on a hot shot grounder, and first baseman Gino Ilacqua wheeled and fired to 3B Oducayen for an unconventional double play when the runner on second ill-advisedly tried to go to third.

And in the eighth, interim manager Barry Walter, who played just about every position, was catching when there was one of those no-man's-land pop ups in front of the plate. He pounced on it, kept it from going foul and threw a strike to first base. It kept the game within reach at 18-12, but we came up short in the top of the ninth.

It was tough without our leadoff hitter and manager Jay Sankey and SS Don Ott, and we welcome them back next week. Now that Chris Hernandez is back in the fold we'll hopefully be at full strength.

Orange Elmo Too Much For Light Blue, 17-11

Mike "The Orange Elmo" Elmore was the MVP of the game between Orange and Light Blue. With Mike Howard off enjoying the mountain air of Tahoe, Elmo pitched all nine innings and allowed all of two runs in the last six innings. He got a strikeout swinging, and went 3-3 with two RBIs to boot. Game ball!

As we see from his bright Orange hat, Elmore plays with the Creakers incognito. Here is Mike in his day job:

Elmo

As we seem to do, Team Orange came out slowly, making mental and physical errors the first several innings. We did score four in the first, but that was primarily because the Blue pitchers couldn't find the plate. Five walks in the first, and another three in the third came our way. The problem is this leads to swinging at bad pitches, so it took us a while to get our hitting shoes on. We trailed 9-7 going into the sixth, but then broke out with ten runs the next two innings. There were hits up and down the lineup as we went collectively 12-15 with two walks and a sac fly in those two innings and nary an extra base hit, but it included six straight two out hits in the seventh. Vic Santini and Dan Halyard had the fifth run RBIs with two outs.

We coasted from there as the defense stepped up. Elmo made two plays from behind the screen in the eighth and ninth. Slick Rick Evans came off the first base bag to swipe out a runner on an errant throw in the sixth. Halyard made a Willie Mays basket catch playing LC in the eighth (earlier he snagged a rising line drive at rover that no one else would have gotten due to his height). And Elmo had the K in the seventh.

There were two plays (one on defense and one on offense) that vied for the video highlight of the game. In the second with runners on first and second, rover Helen Kostoff caught a grounder up the middle. She stepped on second for the force out but must have figured she wouldn't get the double play at first. However, the runner on second didn't run to third and froze in the base path. Remember when in an earlier game she had yelled to Jeff Waters to "Get out of the Way Jeff!" so she could throw to third for a double play? Well this was the reverse: There was a chorus of at least nine voices yelling "TAG HIM, TAG HIM!" Helen stood around for a while, and then suddenly woke up and applied the tag for the double play.

The other one came in the sixth with the bases loaded. Waters hit one of those 20 foot pop ups between home and third with backspin, so it doesn't roll foul. The catcher ran out to get it and pinch runner Leo Kay came barreling home from third base as he fielded it. He made a mad swipe to try to tag Leo out - forgetting that he had to go back and touch home plate. With his speed Leo probably would have outraced him but still it was another (Senior) Keystone Kops moment.

It was a true team game on offense. Several players had two hits, or one hit and two walks. Santini and Tony Gorgone were perfect at 2-2 plus two walks. Gorgone had the most clutch hit - a bases loaded two run single in our five run seventh. Rich Sanders had the only extra base hit, a double in the fifth. Steve Rousso led the team with three RBIs - without a hit. He drove in runs with a bases loaded walk, a sac fly, and a fielder's choice groundout with a runner on third. Every one of them counted as much as a home run.

Back to a half game behind Maroon - maybe one of these weeks we will start to play before the fifth inning!

Orange Marooned 23-11

It's a simple game.

Maroon hit the ball; Orange didn't*.

Maroon fielded the ball; Orange didn't**.

Maroon ran the bases (correctly); Orange didn't.

And Orange struck out three times swinging.

23-11 seems close.

* Rich Sanders was 2-2 with a walk, Nick Lauria, inspired by his Bay-to-Breakers run, was 3-3. We had a few 3-4 and 2-3s but they didn't add up to much.

**As usual Helen Kostoff had a great game defensively. She turned two rover, step on the bag to first double plays, with an assist from Rick Evans scooping one of the throws in the dirt. Tony Gorgone threw out one runner from RC to rover Kostoff (he yelled "Cover the bag!" - sund familiar?) on a "single".

Crows Take the Roar Out of Leo's, 19-5

It's your fair weather blogger here. The Crows had a rough patch to start the season, perhaps part hangover from a fabulous Winter season, but mostly because we lost a few key pieces. I had no words.

But today, we showed who we are when we have our guys playing.

First off, Howard and then Ed on the mound had a much improved Leo's team eating out of their hands. Don had a moment of managerial genius - he picked just the right time to make the switch from Howard to Ed. Howard only allowed one three run inning and Ed one two run frame - that's seven zeroes.

Charlie made a couple of nice plays at SS, and Ed, Barry and Dave made some fine catches. But Anthony had the grab of the game that shut down a rally ranging far toward right field to cut off a potential gapper.

The other play of the game, of course, was the popup to first where the runner strayed and couldn't figure out how to get by my wide body to return to the base. Unassisted double play. He was out three ways - I tagged him, tagged the base and he actually interfered with me. Unfortunately we couldn't bank the extra outs for the next inning.

Everyone had at least two hits. There were a number of clutch hits. Charlie had a two out hit to bring in the fourth and fifth runs in the fifth. Ed did likewise the next inning, but we totaled five runs without an out in that one. His hit followed a bases loaded three run gapper by Heffe and a double by Howard, who was 4-5. Don also had four hits, including a triple, plus a walk for a perfect day. Charlie joined them with four knocks. Ed also had the power shot of the day, a line shot down the right field for a triple. He and Anthony and Dave B and Heffe (who led the team with four RBIs) had three hits.

What a difference a couple of players makes. We showed we still belong in this league, but if we can play pretty flawlessly like we did today, we can do some more damage.

Squeakers Squeeze by Gray, 24-23

Henceforth The ND Oranges will be known as the Squeakers, which is short for the Creaker Squeezers, which is short for the Creaker Geezer Orange Squeezers. And that is all.

This is because three of our victories have come by squeezing (or squeaking) by to win by a single run, and today was different only in that it was a walk off win on a liner to left by Bob Staples, 24-23.

As everyone seems to be saying these days, it was a classic Creaker game. In fact it was. After a five run first highlighted by a Jeff Waters bases loaded triple, the Squeezers, er I mean the Squeakers raced to a 9-2 lead through three. In the mix was a hobbling Patrick Heide, whose knee kept him out the last couple of weeks, and who blasted a two run gapper in the second. He limped to second base, even.

Aided by some sketchy Orange D, Gray came roaring back to take a 13-10 lead after 4 1/2 and 18-16 through six. Gray scored sixteen runs in three innings!

But the Creaking Squeezers have no quit. We fought back to 20-20 going into the ninth. Gray scored two legitimate runs in the top half, and then our generous first baseman let one go over his glove to make sure we had to score at least three to tie, four to win. Singles by Michael Callahan and Rick Evans set the stage, and then after a flyout Vic Santini and Waters added singles to the rally. The coach grounded out to first to get the tying and winning runs to second and third but now there were two outs. With ice water in their veins, Helen Kostoff and Staples slashed nearly identical line drive base hits to left and that was all she wrote. I mean we squeezed the last two runs home to squeak by with a walk off.

Defensive highlights included a nice stop in the first on a one hopper headed to center by pitcher Mike Howard. There was a nifty Nick Lauria (2B) to Kostoff to first double play in the second. Staples made a great grab on a hard to judge smash to left center in the fifth. And finally, Rich Sanders caught a hard line drive at 2B in the sixth.

Mike Byrnes was a perfect 4-4. Evans joined him with four hits (4-5) that included two doubles and a team high five RBIs. Leadoff Leo Kay, Callahan, Tony Gorgone, Santini, Heffe, Kostoff, and Staples all contributed three hits.

Of special note was that there were 166 years of pitchers on the mound (Howard and Gray's Sandy Zimmerman), and both threw complete games. This is a tribute to their strength and fortitude. I wanna be like them if I ever grow up.

Wherefore Art Thou Gidget?

The Raiders did not show up for their game Tuesday, and lost badly to the Wolfpack, 29-19. And it wasn't that close. I should say sparkplug Gidget Blaquera was out and the rest of us did not pick up the slack.

The game started out well enough as Barry Walter and Mike Smith made great catches for the first two outs. But before we could get the third one, the Pack poured on five runs and never looked back. They scored five in five different innings in the rout. We could just match that once in the desperation eighth when we went in trailing 29-13. 

Manager Jay Sankey did go 5-5. Don Ott was 4-5 with a couple of doubles. Ray Oducayen hit a couple of gappers and was 3-4 and led the team with four RBIs. Steve Brown, Gino Ilacqua, and Jim Dietrich also had three hits apiece.

The Raiders have next week and the holiday week off to lick their wounds and get a fresh start in the next set of games. Gidget will be back!

Orange Juiced by Purple, 20-13

Purple's hitters executed a relentless barrage of grounders in the holes and down the lines and little flares just beyond our desperate infielders but well in front of the cones, and that was the story of the game as Purple stomped Orange 20-13.

They broke out with five in the first and a 10-3 lead through three, but Orange battled back to close to 13-12 after six and a half. When they answered with four in the bottom half of that inning, it really was mostly over.

This, when we had two double plays in the first four innings, so it could have been worse. Helen Kostoff took a hard grounder up the middle, stepped on second and fired to first in the second to shut off the faucet. It seems she does this at least once a game. In the fourth Nick Lauria grabbed a hot shot one hopper into his belly, and quickly pivoted and fired to SS Tony Gorgone, who made a quick turn to first. Jeff Waters made a couple of nice stops to get outs in the later innings and outfielders Mike Callahan and Leo Kay made some good running catches. But the play of the game came in the bottom of the seventh, when RF Dan Halyard ranged far to his right for a sinking liner and reached down backhanded and snagged the ball. It kept the purple lead at 18-13 after seven and gave us hope, but sadly we never scored again.

Lauria had the hit of the day, slashing a line drive down the left field line that found that dirt strip (field four) with the bases loaded in the fourth, and soon (well, relatively soon) they were not and Lauria stood on third base. Callahan went 4-4, and Gorgone, Steve Rousso, Waters, and Rich Sanders added three hits. Purple pitchers walked me three times, I have no idea why they were afraid of me the way I've been hitting lately, maybe someone on the team had a nightmare of me actually getting an extra base hit.

Tip of the cap to the Purple hitters up and down their lineup for finding the holes. I guess they have been doing it all season.

Red Rover, Red Rover, Duh Raiders over Rovers, 18-16

In a competitive game between the teams at the top of the early season standings, the Raiders prevailed over the Rovers 18-16. It was (as is usually the case) a team game with many players making some early mistakes and then making up for it in the later innings as we came back to win.

Don Ott ("I don't need no ice pack") nearly hit for the cycle as he had a triple, a single and a three run homer where he took a desperate throw from the outfield square in the back. Still he played on, and made some plays at SS to help seal the deal. He had six RBIs to lead the team.

Jay Sankey, Gidget Blaquera, Todd Evans, Ray Oducayen, Don Devencenzi, Mike Smith, and Steve Brown joined Ott with three hits apiece. Oducayen got the game winning RBI on a double that put us ahead to stay at the time 15-14. He was showing off for his wife, who was in attendance with their Australian Sheepdog. To add to his day, the pitcher struck out one looking and one swinging, and held the strong Rover lineup to two runs in the last five innings.

Oducayen was aided by some outstanding plays. Ott jumped high at SS to snag a liner for the last out in the fourth. The Rovers had the bases loaded with no outs in the seventh when Devencenzi took a grounder at 3B, stepped on third and threw home to catcher Jim Dietrich for a double play, and the next batter flew out. No runs. In the eighth, Mike Mooney snagged a sinking liner in left field to keep the Rovers from scoring. The lefty second baseman gathered a backhanded hot shot at 2B, and even though he nearly tossed it into left field, Ott saved him with another great leap and we got the lead runner.

It was a fun game, there were some calls that could have gotten the players bent out of shape, but everyone just played on, and in the end as usual they evened out and everyone had a good time. Perfect morning senior softball.

Raiders Plundered by Warriors, 31-24

No excuses, but the Raiders were missing six players last Tuesday, and therefore had about that many playing out of position, and lost to the Warriors 31-24. We still gave it our best shot, and Ray Oducan performed well on the mound but the Warriors kept pounding the ball where we were not.

Still, we had plenty of offense. Todd Evans continued to tear it up, going 4-5 with a double and a triple good for eight RBIs. Leadoff Jay Sankey was perfect with 4-4 and two walks and raced to second three times for doubles. Jeff Kravin actually led the team with five hits in six ABs. Barry Walter and Mike Smith joined the party with four hits, and each had four RBIs.

Hopefully this was an aberration as we need all our players!"                                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                      

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!