Scores: Week 10 + 11

---

Nice cool day to start the game, but the heat came from the Sun and Pizza Port Brewery bats as the first 8 in their batting order hit over .800 going 32 for 39 scoring 24 runs and knocking in 24 runs plus PPB’s defense was amazing with zero fielding errors including Tom Carney throwing out 2 PG runners.

Pizza Port was missing their star Pitcher Ken Thompson so Plotkin Group worked David Buck and Johnny Brand for some walks, but those 2 chuckers came thru with big strikes with bases loaded several times and their teammates made zero errors and all the routine plays to shut down potential big PG rallies.

Leading hitters for PPB were Roney Lewis with 3 homeruns & 5 RBIs. Mark Pedote (double) & David Frantz (Homerun) were both 5/5 with 4 RBIs each. Tom Carney was 4/5 w/2 doubles & a 3-run homer. Johnny Brand and Cord Cameron were both 4/5 w/a double. Andy Balas was 3/5 w/a RBI double & a Grand Slam. Frank Weishaar was 3/4 w/2 RBIs. Steve Newberg had an RBI single & played a great defense.

Leading hitters for PG were Jack Schwarzel 4/4, Rod Johnson 3/4 w/a double & bases loaded clearing single. Larry Wadalavage 3/4.  Two hits for Brian Turner (Homerun), David Hartzog, Jeff Ledesma, Dennis O’Hern, David Erwine & all their other players had one hit.

Great sportsmanship by all players on both teams. 

Total runs: 58….  Where do I start?  First, we wish Gerry Itkin very successful surgeries to his shoulders.  And since I mentioned Gerry; he was truly missed today.  TPP gave up 15 total walks to the DR contributing to numerous runs in the game.  However, with an OBP of .810, TPP never gave up and scored in every inning but the 7th.  The DR pitcher Rich Keefer was on his game today serving up strikes throughout the game.  

TPP scored five runs in their [bottom] of the 1st inning.  The DR answered back with five runs in their second at bat and their scoring continued.  TPP took command of the rest of the game however scoring each inning (sans the 7th).  The DR kept the pressure on each inning including posting six runs in their sixth and 9th.  

For the DR, Bill Mead went 5/5.  Rich Keefer and Dave Bosque hit 5/6.  Hitting 4/6 on the day were Oscar Delgado, Carlos Cevallos, and Robert Tahimic.  Phil Kay hit and Kathy O’Neal 4.5. For TPP, Kevin Lynch hit 5/5 with two home runs and 6 RBIs. Tom Redmond also hit 5/5.  Keith Richards hit 3/3.  Hitting 4/5 were Pat Driscoll, Linda Wolf and Nicki Branch.  Mike Berry hit 3/4 with a home run.  Also with 3/4 on the day were Barbara Pardo, Lloyd Thorne and Mike Carey.  Both teams thank Bob Baptista for umpiring and TPP thanks DR for loaning a player in the final 3 innings.

Nucci’s took a 4-1 lead in the first inning and never looked back enroute to a 21-10 win at Pine today.  It was one of those days where everything Nucci’s hit landed safely while everything CBI hit found a mitt, a typical senior softball game.

CBI started strong with a long leadoff home run from Rich Lavacot. Rich was busy with a 4 for 4 day and subbing in as an emergency medic when Ed Howell pulled a muscle running then had a delayed fainting spell and went down unconscious bumping his head in the process.  The paramedics arrived and cleared Ed then went crazy cheering in the dugout as Bob Porter made a fantastic stabbing grab in CF to quell a rally.

Lil Keehan got the star of the game with pinpoint pitching, no walks and a couple of strikeouts. And at a couple of big moments in the game Lil lined a Home Run (turned single) and a Triple (turned single) as she drove three important runs in.

The second star of the game went to a revitalized Steve Sexton.  Not only did he get a couple hits and RBIs but was moving like a cat at first base.  He was last seen digging out throw after throw and catching liners to keep rallies at bay.

Top hitters for CBI were Randy Agadoni with a 4/4 and Dan Griffin with 2/3. A shout out to Jack Karson who put on a show in RCF making diving catches and cutting off sure HRs on more than one occasion.

Top hitters for Nucci’s with 4 hits were Randy Baird and Al Cabacungan with 5 RBIs. Three hits were tallied by Delta Farrington, Kevin McBarron, Tom Benacka, Rick Skidmore, and Rich Reynolds.

The teams thank Jim Goertzen for volunteering to ump a fine game.

Well now, folks, if you’ve followed senior softball long enough you know the game has a way of baking up surprises when you least expect it. And this past Tuesday, 3/24th contest between the Village Pie Shop and the Carlsbad Police Association was one of those ballgames where the crust cracked, the filling bubbled over, and nobody quite knew how it would come out of the oven. The final score read VPS 16, CPA 15 after nine innings and 2 hours and 20 minutes of good-natured chaos. For VPS it was only their second win in sixteen tries this season, which proves once again that even a pie shop stuck at the bottom of the standings can still serve up a slice that nobody saw coming.

Village Pie Shop came out of the bakery oven hotter than a July sidewalk and plated an unusual three runs in the first inning. Bocai was served a pitch that must’ve looked sweeter than fresh peach filling, and he launched it high and deep over the outfielder’s head for a two-RBI triple. Barry Stangle followed by rolling out an RBI single to plate the third run. The VPS dugout was celebrating like they’d just taken home the county fair’s blue ribbon for Best Blueberry Pie.

But the Carlsbad Police Association wasn’t about to let the pie cool. They came right back in the bottom of the inning like a well-organized SWAT team executing a playbook. Craig Wheatcroft opened with a confident single, and before long Jerry Smith, Kevin Davidge, and Dan Miserany were stroking hits through the infield like they were filing paperwork—efficient, neat, and right on time. Three runs later, the score was tied again.

From there the game bounced around like a rolling pin on a bakery floor. The scoreboard showed knots at 10-10 in the sixth inning and again at 11-11 in the seventh, with both teams trading hits, runs, and the occasional good-natured groan.  In the top of the eighth inning, VPS stirred the batter again and pushed across three runs. But CPA answered with four in the bottom half, grabbing the lead 15-14 and putting the Pie Shop in a situation that looked about as promising as an undercooked crust.

Then came the ninth inning. With two outs, two runners aboard, and the whole bakery hanging in the balance, Julio Maraver—known around these parts as Mr. Clutch, The G.O.A.T., and a fellow who doesn’t scare easy in the batter’s box—stepped in like he owned the lease on the place. Having already drawn two walks earlier, Julio watched the pitcher carefully with the patience of a man waiting for a pie to cool on the windowsill.  The count ran to three balls and one strike. The next pitch floated in… and Julio’s sharp eyes followed it right into ball four.
Just like that he was awarded THIRD base, the runners moved, and two runs crossed the plate. VPS now led 16-15—well, the pie shop had sweetened the recipe entirely. The VPS teammates swarmed Julio like customers at a grand opening bakery, tapping the top of his head and handing out high-fives like free samples.

CPA still had their chance in the bottom of the ninth. Their batters watched every pitch with determination, and they did manage to get a runner aboard. But two sharp fielder’s choice plays cooled the rally down quicker than a pie left on a marble counter. The final batter for CPA stepped in, hopeful and steady. The pitch came in… and the umpire rang him up on a called third strike. Ballgame. And somewhere in the senior softball kitchen that afternoon, the Village Pie Shop proved that even when your season’s been a little undercooked, every once in a while you can still pull a winning pie out of the oven.
CPA had good offensive production from Laurie Mills, Dan Miserany and Jerry Smith. Their defense was solid with nice range to prevent additional bases. Mark Tanner, 2nd base, flashed a well timed dive to his right to stop an easy rbi score and runner to advance. VPS, offense was balanced with Dale Miller and Bocai 3/4, Paul Wilson smashed a homerun and as a collective team there were placed hits. 

Bye:  Worden Williams

The Draft and Plotkin Group showed up at Alga for the late game under cloudy skies and cool temps which seemed to suit everyone just fine because the bats were hot resulting in a 19 to 16 victory for PG.

DR's leadoff hitter, Carlos Cevallos, got things started with a home run followed by three more runs for a quick four run lead. PG, as has been their habit, failed to score in the bottom of the first and only three more in the next two innings and trailed DR by a 6 to 3 margin. Finally, the bats warmed up and PG scored 16 runs the next four innings while holding DR to only four more. DR did score four in the 8th and two in the 9th to close the gap a bit, but it was too little, too late.

For DR, Carlos went on to hit three more hits for a 4 for 4 day. Jeff Schneider and Jerry Galiley also had 4 for 4 days and David Bosque went 4 for 5. Dave Ash and Oscar Delgado were each 3 for 4.

PG was missing five players so had to play people in different positions than they were used to but were helped immensely by our two subs. Thomas Butch went 4 for 4 with a home run and 5 RBIs and Gordon Recht was 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs. The rest of the lineup didn't do too bad either with everyone getting at least one hit for a team OnBaseRate of .674. Mark Riserbato, Jack Schwarzel, David Hartzog, and Jeff Ledesma were all 3 for 4 with RBIs. Marty Topper was 3 for 3 with 2 RBIs and Dennis O'Hern was 2 for 4 including a two RBI homer.

Thanks go out to Pat Steele who hung around following his early game and did a fine job umpiring.

For the second game in a row the two teams got into a crisp defensive battle at Alga today. Kevin McBarron started his 4/4 day with a hit and Randy Baird added a double before Tom Benacka drove both in staking Nucci’s to a 2 run lead.  Worden Williams immediately struck back with Bob Buscher 3/3 and Joe Uribe 2/3 setting the table for a Pat Steele triple tying the score at 2.

But runs were to be scarce today as the defenses shined. Bob Loperena made a nifty catch in deep RF, Cathy McDonald flashed some nice glove, Jim Goertzen was on the move with a couple nice running catches, and Erin Spoden steadied herself under a Baird moonball to the fence as the ball came down from the heavens for a big catch in LF to keep Nucci’s down.

Nucci’s was not too shabby either with Dave Surh pitching brilliantly, Delta Farrington recording multiple putouts and Ron Bonshu tallied a few nice catches and it was still 4-3 late into the game.  In a tightly played defensive battle it was clear that one or two plays might win it. 

WW stepped up first with Phil Urbina belting his 3rd hit, a long two run HR to put WW up 5-4 into the 7th. With Buscher and Steele gobbling up every ball for double plays it looked like it might hold.  Then lightning struck when Farrington laced a liner that found an opening for an electric HR that swung the lead back to Nucci’s at 6-5.

The 9th inning was highlighted by a “BairdBlast” that is probably still impaled into the very top of the Alga fence for a 2 run HR that closed out the scoring.

An excellent game with Russ Roopenean umping an excellent game.

Pitching and defense was the story of this game as runs were only scored in 6 of the 19 half innings so let’s give credit to PPB’s Pitcher Ken Thompson and VPS Pitchers Sheree Parsons and Jimmie Martin and both of their teams defenses.

Leading hitters for PPB were Roney Lewis & Cord Cameron, who were both 4/4 w/2 RBIs each. Johnny Brand (double), Andy Balas (4 RBIs) & David Frantz were all 3/4. Tom Carney (Double, 2 RBIs & 8 defensive plays), Frank Weishaar & Steve Newberg were all 2/3.

Leading hitters for VPS were BoCai 3/3 w/a double & 3 RBIs & Paul Wilson 3/3 w/a triple & scored 2 runs. Larry Weinberger & Dennis Kemp were both 2/3.

All players on both teams had great sportsmanship. 

With both teams entering the game with 11 wins, That Pizza Place (TPP) and Carlsbad Inn (CBI) battled to a 14–14 tie. Both pitchers—Gary Soper for CBI and Mike Berry for TPP—deserve credit for staying in the zone and keeping hitters off balance all game long. Despite those worthy efforts, there were stand out offensive performances up and down both lineups. CBI was powered by Rich Lavacot 4/5 with an HR, Randy Agadoni (4/5), Jack Karson (4/5), and Joe Dimambro (3/4). 

TPP answered with equal firepower, led by Keith Richards 4/4 with an HR, Pat Driscoll (4/4), Kevin Lynch (3/4 with an HR, and Linda Wolf (3/4), helping TPP keep pace in a back-and-forth battle.

And when it came down to the 9th inning with TPP leading 11-10. CBI surged ahead with four in the top half, but TPP showed resilience, plating three in the bottom of the 9th, but stranding the potential winning run at 3rd base resulting in the tie final score. 

A special thank you goes out to Jimmy Smyth, who umpired a consistently well-called game behind the plate, helping keep a high-intensity matchup running smoothly from first pitch to final out.

Bye:  Carlsbad Police Assoc