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!