2009 Rapid Transmission Team

It was opening day at Alga today with Roseanne Barr singing the anthem, the Stealth Bomber doing a flyby, and the stands full of fans removing their dentures to crunch on Cracker Jacks.  Nucci’s pulled away for a 25-10 win to get their first victory of the season.

Nucci’s put up 5 in the 1st inning with Paul Wilson a perfect 4/4 starting the action and Oscar Castillo 4/4 setting the table for Al Cabacungan, who drove in 5 today and slammed a bomb deep against the pitching rubber for a HR.  VPS came back strong with 4 runs led by Paul Pullin getting 4 hits and Barry Stangle getting 5 RBIs with his 4 hits.

VPS continued to push the lead in the 3rd to 9-6 with Robert Kroger 4/5, and Rick Shaw and Dario Santana throwing in 3/4 days.  Nucci’s then settled in and began to chip away.  Tom Benacka continued his 4/4 day and the entire Nucci’s lineup had at least 2 hits as Nucci’s stretched the lead to the final tally.

VPS tried to mount some rallies with Tom Winterbourne and Sheree Parsons going 3/4 and also turning a nifty unassisted double play from the pitcher’s spot to keep the game close.

Not to be outdone Lil Keehan, fresh off her MVP campaign in a Phoenix tourney this weekend continued her impressive play with 2 hits and a couple RBIs while pitching another beauty of a game.

VPS thanks Ron Bondshu and Ruby Murphy for subbing and both team’s thank Bob Bautista for a perfect job umpiring.

PPB exploded with 5 runs in the 1st inning, then 5 more on the 5th inning while playing great defense behind difficult to hit pitcher Jack Schwarzel jumping out to a 13-1 lead after 5 innings. Going into the 8th inning PPB was up 17-2. Gaspar woke up in the 9th inning with the final 3 runs of the game.

Leading hitters for PPB were Defensive Star Tom Carney 4/4 w/a Homerun & 5 RBIs, Andy Balas 3/3 w/2 RBIs, Jack Schwarzel 3/3 w/a double & 2 RBIs, Super Sub Phil Kay 3/3 w/3 outfield catches, Mark Lechlider 2/2 w/a double, 3 rbis & 3 outfield grabs, 3/4 for both Jim Goertzen & Tom Redmond w/ each scoring 3 runs, Philip Urbina was 2/3 w/a double, Super Sub Robert Liles had 2 rbi singles, Elizabeth Bailey & Brenda Lehman added singles. PPB was 27/38 for a .711. Batting average.

Leading hitters for Gaspar were Robert Tahimic 4/4, Randy Baird 3/4 w/3 doubles & 3 RBIs and Gordon Recht was 2/4 Jimmie Martin pitched well. Gaspar played good defense, but was only 13/41 hitting for a .317 average.

Both teams would like to thank Al Cabacungan & Steve Newberg for umpiring. 

CPA Walks it off in a classic at Calavera. CPA 19, Worden Williams 18

Discipline, defense, and a little late inning magic on opening day.

Opening day of the fall season at Calavera had all the ingredients of a softball classic: enough hitting to make the scorekeeper nervous, enough defense to make the hitters reconsider their career choices, and a finish that required everybody to remain standing until the very last pitch.

Worden Williams (WW) and Carlsbad Police Association (CPA) opened the season with a 19-18 thriller that went back and forth like a windshield wiper in a San Diego rainstorm—which, of course, would have required rain. Both clubs pounded out just over 30 hits, proving once again that these aren't recreational softball players so much as highly organized men and women who have declared war on the outfield grass.

WW came out swinging. At the top of the order, Bob Loperna, Brian Turner, Dave Ash and Joe Uribe each went 4-for-5. Linda Wolfe joined the hit parade with a 4/5 performance of her own. Cord Cameron, Dave Surh and Dave Bosque were even more unreasonable, each going a perfect 5/5. That is not batting practice. That's an invasion.

CPA had its own offensive artillery. Keith Richards led the way, going 5/5, while Craig Wheatcroft chipped in at 4/5. The rest of the CPA lineup did what good offensive teams do, they didn't try to hit the ball to the moon. They hit it where the defense wasn't, moving runners station to station and keeping the pressure on WW. In other words, they played softball instead of auditioning for the Home Run Derby.

But while the bats got most of the attention, the gloves were quietly stealing the show. The first WW batter of the season, Bob Loperna, sent a ground ball screaming down the third-base line that appeared destined to become a comfortable double. Standing at third was Teddy Badillo, 20 pounds lighter than the nameplate might suggest, and he reached backhanded, snagged the ball and turned what looked like extra bases into an infield single. Bob still beat it out. That was the opening act.

Later, CPA needed some insurance runs, and Craig Wheatcroft was the man they wanted at the plate. Craig delivered exactly what was ordered, a line drive screaming down the third-base line and headed for the outfield with a "no doubt about it" label attached. Unfortunately for Craig, Brian Turner was standing in left field. Turner read it perfectly, came charging in at full speed, took the proper angle and made a spectacular backhanded grab before the ball could touch grass. That wasn't just an out. That was a do-or-die, save-the-day, somebody-call-the-fire-department kind of out.

At second base for CPA, Dan Griffin spent much of the afternoon looking as though he'd been rolling around on the infield conducting a geological survey. But there was a reason. Dan was stopping everything hit his way. Ground balls that had "base hit" written all over them kept disappearing into his glove. His work prevented runners from advancing and almost certainly kept additional runs off the board.

Rover Mark Riserbato was another defensive difference maker, firing darts around the infield and helping CPA complete several much needed double plays.

And then there was the WW combination of Dave Ash at shortstop and Bob Loperna at rover. Beautiful. At one point, Loperna scooped up a ground ball and, without hesitation, delivered a perfect underhand toss over the second base bag. Ash was already moving toward the bag, stepped on it without breaking stride, and his momentum carried him into a seamless throw toward first. Two Outs. One motion. It was the kind of double play that makes everybody on the field stop for a second and think, Well, somebody actually knows what they're doing. Nice play. Very Nice play.

Then came the ending. With the game tied and the bases loaded, CPA got the opportunity every softball team wants and every opposing defense fears. The winning blow wasn't some towering home run or a screaming line drive into the gap. It was much more democratic. A walk-off hit by Jeff Payton found the space between third base and shortstop, bringing home the winning run and sending CPA into the fall season with a 19-18 victory.

One run. One game. One well played and very exciting game. With sharpest blue eyes and correct bang bang close calls, Randy Agadoni called an excellent game as umpire. Thanks Randy.

If opening day is any indication, both of these teams have arrived at Calavera in midseason form. WW showed an offense that can hit from top to bottom and a defense capable of making spectacular plays. CPA countered with disciplined hitting, timely defense and just enough opportunism to win the last argument.

The fall season has officially begun. And if the rest of the league was watching, it might want to take notes. These two teams aren't planning on being around merely to fill out the schedule. They're here to contend.

And judging by opening day, somebody is going to have to beat them.