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.