Scores: 2025s2 Week 5

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 Congrats to all players today, who played well and made it thru 9 innings on a very hot and muggy day at Calavera Hills.

Both teams had good defense, pitching, hitting and base running to keep the game close 12-10 going into the bottom of the 6th. PG leading hitters were ex-PPB Star Roney Lewis 4/4 w/3 RBIs, David Erwin 4/4 w/5 RBIs. Joe Uribe, Bill Ginty & Oscar Delgado were all 3/4. David Surh pitch well.

Leading hitters for PPB were first year player Anthony Reynoso 4/4 w/2 RBIs, Super Sub John Violett 3/3, Eugene Smith had 2 doubles & a triple, Rich Lavacot was 4/5 w/a double & triple. Outstanding pitcher Ken Thompson, Tom Benacka, Tom Redmond and Marty Topper all had 3 hits along with Mark Lehman, who hit 2 over the fence. Leo McFall, Dale Miller and David Buck added rbi singles.

 Both teams would like to thank Bob Buscher for umpiring and keeping the game moving.  

There are a couple of Gasparites who think they are really hot stuff. They came into today's game with the Draftees at Pine with a 7-1 record and were leading ten/zip going into the bottom of the 4th, thinking that they were going to walk away with an easy victory and be able to buy their incredibly handsome and witty--not to mention humble--manager lots of beer. 

But the Draftees didn't fold, with Barry Stengl going 4 for 5, Mike Brower and Delta Farrington 3 for 4, and a powerful homer from Paul Mateus. Suddenly, it was a very close game. and the Therapists cockiness was gone. 

But led by 4 hits each from Oscar Delgado and Dan Miserany [including a homer and a walk], and 3 each from Pat Steele, Gene LaChimia [including a walk], Oscar Lara, Tom Winterbourne, Russ Rooperian, and Martin Wai, the Gaspars scored late and pulled out a 17 to 9 victory. 

Defense made the difference; the Draftees turned in a nifty Mark Prior to Steve Sexton double play, but the Therapists had a couple of DPs plus some really good running catches by Oscar D in LCF. 

Many thanks to Leigh Peterson for umping a game with several disputed calls.  

For Carlsbad Inn, it was a fresh start with a new cycle, new players after a less than stellar first round.  Nucci’s, a perennial league leader, loomed large before us on a very hot, muggy day (I know, not as bad as Florida).  It was mostly a defensive / pitching battle with good plays all around, keeping the score low.  CBI bats came alive in the 2nd and 4th innings, scoring 3 and 5 runs respectively to take an 8 to 4 lead.  CBI added a couple more in the 7th on the 2 run HR by Joe Dimambro, but Nucci’s answered back with 2 of their own.  On to the ninth.  CBI went down 1-2-3 and Nucci’s was able to score 1 to make the final score CBI 10 - Nucci’s 7.

Highlights for Nucci’s:  Tom Carney was 4/4, Jack Schwarzel 3 for 4, Erin Spoden 2 for 3 (with some nice catches in LF) and Ruby Murphy also 2 for 3.  Oh, can’t forget to mention Big Al Cabacungan, 3 for 4 including a nice HR to the fence.

CBI was led by the continued hot hitting of Joe Dimambro - 3 for 3 with the HR and 4 RBIs.  Joe has 3 triples in only his 4th game, we finally convinced him to go one more base for the HR.  Also contributing were Randy Baird (welcome back to CBI) with 2 for 3, Larry Wadalavage at 2 for 3 and Randy Agadoni at 3 for 3.

On this very hot and humid day (88 degrees by the end of the game), this game ended in an 18 – 18 tie.  The game seemingly was all CPA, scoring in almost every inning, in what started out to be a blow-out…….until the bottom of the 8th inning.  VPS starting clawing their way through the innings; they were able to post 3 runs in the first inning, 1 in the 3rd, 2 in the 5th and 1 in the 7th then the VPS bats came alive scoring 11 runs in the bottom of the 8th inning.  CPA threatened in their top of the 9th inning by putting a base runner on base but was unable to bring that runner home.  Then VPS tried to launch a winning offensive [breaking the tie] in the bottom of the 9th by loading the bases.  With two outs and bases loaded, Evie Schwartz came up and slugged a hit over Rod Johnson’s head to drive in the winning run……………….but wait; Rod was able to pull Evie’s hit down and hold onto it in his glove ending the game at the tie score.  All that was left was a gasp, an “oh darn, so close” and wiping our brows from the heat.  

For CPA, Bob Loperena (sub) hit 5/5, Craig Wheatcroft, Rod Johnson and Dan Mendenez each went 4/5 on the day.  

For VPS, ending the game with an OBP of very close to .600 saw Dario Santana and Keith Richards (welcome to VPS) hit 5/5, Rick Shaw hit 5/6 and Jerry Galiley went 4/5 .  

VPS extend their gratitude to Mike Endeman and Mark Riserbato for subbing today.  CPA thanks Bob Loperena for playing today.  Thanks to Joe Paul for umpiring. 

Bye: Worden Williams

The Plotkin groupies came out swinging in the first inning and put up a five spot to ensure there would be no shutout this time. The Carlsbad cops chipped away the first three innings and took the lead 6 to 5 in the third inning. PG then had a couple two run innings while CPA had a couple five run innings to take a 16 to 9 lead going into the top of the 9th. PG put a scare into the cops with five runs but left the tying runs on base and at bat for the 16 to 14 win for CPA.

The top of the CPA batting order was pretty unstoppable with Al Castaneda 3 for 4, Craig Wheatcroft 4 fo4, and sub David Hartzog fit in nicely with a 2 for 3, 4 RBI day.  John Symanski was 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs, Rod Johnson was 4 for 4 with 3 RBIs, and Jeff Payton was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. Sheree Lovick chipped in with a 2 for 3, 1 RBI game.

PG bats were alive most of the game, but the CPA infield turned 4 double plays to snuff out potential rallies. Dave Erwine and Jeff Ledesma had perfect 4 for 4 days with 5 and 3 RBIs respectively. Five batters, Dennis O'Hern, Robert Kroger, Frank Weishaar, and Joe Uribe were 3 for 4, as well as Rick Skidmore playing his final game this season. He will be missed!

On to the in-season draft and the second third of the season.

This was certainly a very exciting game for both teams.  With identical win/loss records and facing a pivotal outcome as it relates to the September in-season draft, both teams had everything to gain by posting a win.  

CBI began the game by posting five runs in their [top] of the first inning.  VPS answered back with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. It was all CBI with four runs in their 3rd and five runs in their 4th innings.  VPS was able to post two runs in their 4th inning to bring the score to 14-4 in favor of CBI. CBI continued their drive in the 5th inning by adding three more runs to the scorebook (17-4).  But then…… the VPS bats came out of their bat warmers and exploded in their [bottom] 5th inning with nine runs to cross the scoring line.  And adding three more in the 6th inning and four more runs in their [VPS] 7th which brought the score to 20-18 in favor of VPS.  Not to be outdone, CBI brought two more runners home in their top of the 9th to tie the score at 20-20. VPS was able to stop the CBI offensive here.  Then it was up to VPS to break the tie and bring home a victory.  Jimmie Martin slugged a single to left field.  Dario Santana followed with a single which advanced Jimmie.  Rick Shaw came up with the two runners on base and slugged a deep single, [threading the needle between shortstop and second base] into left-center which enabled Jimmie to bring home the go-ahead run and end the game.

VPS thanks go out to Mike Wallman and Dan Hacker for subbing today.  Well-wishes go out to Nicki Branch for a speedy recover who injured her forearm.

Gaspar was having a pretty good season, and was leading today's game at Alga 7-6 going into the 6th inning, but then Nucci's scored 2 runs to take the lead, and the Therapists seemed to deflate. In the bottom of the 6th with the top of the order up, the Gas people scored 1 run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but stranded them there. But in the bottom of the 7th, with the score tied, the Gasparites got 2 big hits that turned things around. First, Dan Miserany hit a 2-run homer in the gap. Then Martin Wai, who hadn't played in a month, stroked a 2-run double to put the Gasparites up 12-8, and they went on to win 13-8. 

Nucci's hitting was led by Al Cabacungan, who went 3 for 3 with a grand slam and 5 RBIs, and Tom Carney, Dave Ash, and Greg Lorton, all of whom went 3 for 4. In addition to Dan, Oscar Lara also went 3 for 3. 

But the hallmark of the Gas people this season has been good defense--especially in the infield--and good batting throughout the order: today every Gaspar player got at least one hit and scored or had an RBI. 

Gaspar wishes to thank Tom Redmond for playing great ball with us for our first 8 games, but was drafted by another team in today's supplemental draft before we could claim him. And both teams want to thank Skip Moyer for a great job of umpiring on a very hot, sunny day.

Walt Whitman once said, "I see great things in baseball. It's our game, the American game. It will repair our losses and be a blessing to us."  “You could look it up.” Annie Savoy

Another thriller, another win. Worden Williams capped off the first round of Senior League play with a spotless 8–0 record, edging Pizza Port Brewery 13–12 in a heart-stopping finish.

Both teams flashed strong defense, but the top of the Dubs’ lineup proved the difference. Returning from long vacations—Mark Riserbato from Africa and Kevin Lynch from Europe—two familiar faces wasted no time making an impact. Riserbato went 4-for-4 with a home run, double, and four RBIs, while Lynch smashed two doubles and launched a towering sacrifice fly to deep left-center, driving home Bob Loperena from second. Along with Bob Buscher, Ken Auerbach (who added a two-run homer), and Gary Fisher, the top order fueled WW’s offense.

The game, however, came down to the wire. Trailing 13–7, Pizza Port Brewery mounted a furious rally with five runs in the top of the ninth and had the tying and go-ahead runs on base with one out. After a flyout for the second out, WW turned to its defense. That’s when Dan Griffin, stationed at Rover, made the play of the game—diving into the hole to snag a ground ball destined for center, tumbling to the dirt, scraping his knee, and somehow shuffling the ball to second base just in time for the force. Game over.

Pizza Port showed plenty of fight, with Eugene Smith belting a home run and Roney Lewis and sub Steve Doan adding key hits to keep the pressure on.

Behind the plate, veteran umpire Steve Sexton once again proved why he’s regarded as one of the league’s best.

With the win, WW remains the league’s only unbeaten team—and showed they can close out even the tightest battles.

Bye: The Draft