On a bright and cool but pleasant Thursday morning, Gaspar hosted Nucci’s at the beautiful Calavera 2 field. The field was in nearly pristine condition (relatively speaking).
After weeks of ultra-secret planning and practices, Gaspar decided to implement their “groundhog day” strategy. The rollout was originally scheduled for the first week of February, but rain intervened.
The game began normally enough, with Gaspar relying on their celebrated “no-defense” defensive strategy in the first inning. Gaspar gave up a five-spot in the top of the first to Nucci’s, the fifth time in seven games, allowing a total of 33 runs in the first inning of the seven games. The goal of the strategy is to lull the opponent into a sense of complacency, and for once it might have worked. Gaspar rallied for four in the bottom of the first.
Then Gaspar implemented the “groundhog day” strategy as the second inning began. First came the clock radio playing “I got you, babe!” Both teams were scoreless in the second and Gaspar outscored Nucci’s 5-0 in the third. And then in the top of the fourth, the clock radio began playing “I got you, babe!” Both teams were scoreless in the fourth and Gaspar outscored Nucci’s 5-0 in the fifth. And then in the top of the sixth, the clock radio began playing “I got you, babe!” Both teams were scoreless in the sixth and Gaspar outscored Nucci’s 5-0 in the seventh. With a 19-5 lead after seven, Gaspar again held Nucci’s scoreless in the top of the eighth and again in the flipped ninth to walk off 19-5.
Shut out for eight innings, Nucci’s highlights were a bit abbreviated, although David Bentley was 3 for 3 with 60% of the team’s RBIs. Roney Lewis and Dennis O’Hern were both 2 for 3.
For Gaspar, the first five batters dominated with 18 hits in 20 at-bats, scoring 17 runs. Of these, Jerry Galiley, newcomer Tom Benacka, and Dave Ash were each 4 for 4. Supersub Leo McFall and Joe Dimambro followed at 3 for 4. And the drop off was minimal as Bocai was 2 for 3 plus a walk, and Ken Thompson was 4 for 4. Defense was particularly hot with some super-scoops by Bocai at first base. Gaspar also seemed to benefit from some undeserved karma on defense throughout the game.
After the game, the Gaspar team members present voted overwhelmingly (6 to 5) that manager Leigh Peterson’s absence was not singly responsible for Gaspar’s win.
Thanks to Leo McFall for subbing for Gaspar, and to Al Cabacungan for umpiring!
The only thing that can stop red hot 1st-place Carlsbad Inn is a bye, as they bested Village Pie Shoppe 14-2 at Pine. So that would be on Tuesday of next week, oh well.
For Village Pie Shoppe, thank you to subs Bob Baptista (great pitching!) and Rick Keefer (3-for-4). Also, Rover Delta Farrington tripled to lead off the game, and then scored. Delta had a second base hit later in the contest, and she played her usual stellar defense.
Carlsbad Inn played superb defense behind P Rod Johnson. 3b Gerry Itkin made numerous great stops and throws, as did SS Dan Hacker, and Rover Dale Miller turned 3 nifty double plays. Not be outdone by their infielders, OF's Margo Jacobo contributed a shoe top snag of a line drive, and Randy Agadoni added a great diving catch, throwing in a very fashionable roll at the end.
On offense, all 12 Carlsbad Inn batters notched at least one base hit. Led by Super Sub Bob Porter's 4-for-4 day (thank you Bob!), Carlsbad Inn plated runs in each of their first 7 innings. Dale Miller was likewise 4-for-4, and Rod Johnson went 4-for-5. Larry Wadalavage added 3 base hits.
Thank you again Bob Porter for subbing. And thank you Donato for umpiring.
Last, best wishes for safe travels home to Gerry Itkin, who played 7 great games for Carlsbad Inn while avoiding the cold and the snow in Bend, Oregon. Sir, you will be greatly missed (as you were the only one who got my Spahn and Sain and pray for rain reference...now I need a new trivia pal ha).
Much closer game than the score indicates because it was 16-13 going into the top of the 8th. PPB had lost their last 2 games in the last 2 innings and wasn’t going to let that happen again. PPB had 51 hits in 69 at bats. Craig Wheatcroft (3 doubles, 5 runs, 5 RBIs) and Rich Reynolds were 6/6. John Symanski 5/6 w/4 RBIs. David Ward, Rich Lavacot (4 RBIs), Phil McCabe, Joel Kudren and Dan Frye were 4/6. Teddy Badillo had 2 doubles and 6 RBIs. Russ Roopenian pitched a great game and was 4/5.
Leading the draft was Dave Hempy 4/4, David Frantz, Gary McBride, Jack Schwarzel, Kathy O’Neil and Jimmy Martin were 3/4. Tom Winterbourne and Tony Coppin hit home runs.
Bye Teams: Worden Williams
Plotkin Group
A home run derby broke out between That Pizza Place and Hennessey’s in beautiful conditions at Alga 3 with the teams combining for 10 home runs between them, but in the end TPP prevailed 15-9.
Sub Bob Loperena hit the first of his 3 home runs in the top of the first to give HEN an early 1-0 lead, but TPP’s first 7 batters all got hits to quickly respond with 5 runs in the bottom of the inning. Although the HENs were without several key players, their pitching and defense kept the score close as their hitters chipped away at TPP’s lead to tie the game at 6-6 by the 6th inning. TPP’s bats then caught fire again, scoring 9 more runs in their last 3 innings while the HENs managed only another 3 runs.
For Hennessey’s, sub Bob Loperena went 4-4 with 3 HRs, and Kirsten Mildbrandt went 3-4 with an opposite field home run to the fence in right.
For TPP, Mark Riserbato and Mike Henderson were perfect at the plate (4-4 and 3-3, respectively), and Johnny Brand, Tom Carney, Gene LaChimia and Dave Buck each went 3-4. Johnny and Tom each had 2 HRs, and Mark and Gordon Recht also connected for HRs.
Thanks to subs Bob L. and Ed Silva for contributing solid performances to the HENs and to Steve Newberg for umpiring a clean game.
Today’s game was a game of wills; will VPS or PPB put a much-desired W in the win column. Strong hitting by both teams made for a very exciting game between these two juggernauts.
VPS (visitors) opened the game by posting five runs in their first at bat. PPB answered back with five runs in their bottom of the first inning and four runs in their second inning taking a lead of 9-6 after VPS responded in the second with one run. Then PPB hitting fell silent in the 3rd and 4th innings while VPS was able to add three runs in their 5th inning at-bat to make the score 11-9 in favor of VPS. PPB quickly responded with two runs in their 5th inning to tie the game at 11-11. Then in the VPS 7th, VPS was able to post 4 runs bringing the score to 15-11. PPB once again (never giving up) added 3 runs to bring the score to 15-14. VPS added three more runs in their 9th to bring the score to 18-14. PPB threatened putting a man of first base. A PPB batter hit a rocket to Delta Farrington at rover which she was able to skillfully grab for a quick touch at second and throw to first for one of several VPS double plays. A PPB flyout ended the final inning for the 18-14 VPS win.
Lots of good defense by both teams highlighted the fielding game today. As for PPB hitting , Craig Wheatcroft hit 4/4. Rich Lavacot went 4/5. Rich Reynolds, Joel Kudren, Nancy Watt and Brenda Lehman each hit 3/4.
For VPS, the defensive highlight was the “carpentry” team of Jeff Schneider at second and Bob Peters behind the plate were able to nail runners attempting to score on three occasions. Bob Peters also skillfully was able to catch a low foul-tip off one of the PPB bats. At the VPS plate, Rick Shaw and Larry Weinberger went 5/5, Jeff Schneider hit 4/5 and Jeff Payton & Bill Witte went 4/4. VPS hitters produced a just-under .700 OBP for the game. VPS welcomes Pat Steele to the team who earned his salary by pitching a great game.
Thanks go out to Nancy Watt for subbing for PPB and both teams want to thank Steve Sexton for umpiring today.
Although both That Pizza Place and Worden Williams came out with guns blazing in the first, the game settled down to a tight defensive contest that saw TPP score 3 runs in the top of the ninth to break a 10-10 tie and come away with a 13-10 victory over co-league leaders WW.
Visitors TPP jumped out to an early lead with 5 runs in the 1st inning only to be matched by WW’s hot bats in the bottom half of the first – scoring 5 without recording an out. WW’s defense stiffened and TPP’s bats went a bit cold, resulting in no further runs for TPP through the 5th inning, while WW plated 2 runs in the bottom of the 4th to take a 7-5 lead after 5 innings.
TPP scratched together a run in the top of the 6th on a clutch RBI single by Dave Buck to draw within 1, but back-to-back solo homers by Bob Porter and Bob Loperena in the bottom of the 6th extended WW’s advantage to 9-6. TPP answered with 4 runs in the top of the 7th to take a slim 10-9 lead after 7 innings, but then WW scored a run to tie 10-10 after 8, setting the stage for a tense 9th inning tiebreaker.
TPP scored 3 in the top of the 9th on 6 hits, but the damage would have been greater if not for WW gunning down 2 TPP runners at home on strong relays by Bob Buscher and solid catches at the plate by Barb Pardo (pronounced “Bob” by people from Boston). WW threatened in the bottom half of the 9th only to come up a bit short on a nice double play turned by Johnny Brand at 2nd from his rover position and Gordon Recht robbing Cord Cameron with an over the head catch of a bomb launched to dead center to end the game.
Highlights for WW included the back-to-back homers by the previously mentioned Bobs, David Hartzog’s perfect day at the plate (2 for 2 with 2 BBs), solid pitching by Bob Baptista (wait – how many Bobs are on this team?) and many fine plays in the field, including throwing out a total of 3 TPP runners at home.
Gene LaChimia led the hitting for TPP, going 4-4 with 4 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Johnny Brand, Mark Riserbato and Ken Auerbach each went 3-4, combining for 6 RBIs among them. Mike Endeman battled through some soreness to pitch a strong game and record a couple of key outs from the mound.
Thanks to Al C. for working behind the plate to call a close game between two evenly matched teams.
Stellar defense and exceptional pitching by both teams kept this a close affair throughout. But it was the hand of fate that played a large part in the Hens 8 to 7 victory over the Lil Keehan's Nucci's squad. Harry Peacock, supported by error free defense from Kirsten Mildbrandt, Jim Goertzen, Dave Grull, Mark Pedote , sub Tom Benacka, Joe Uribe, Phil Kay, Ruby Murphy and Frankie Burns, outdueled Cy Young candidate Steve Berry in a contest that saw scoring by either team in only four innings.
But it was a hard line drive by Nucci's Dave Bentley in the seventh inning that caroomed into the right field soccer goal that was a critical moment in the game. With Nucci's trailing by a single run and the speedy Al Castaneda on first base and two outs, Bentley hit his famous 3 iron slice down the right field line. Castaneda with a full head of steam would have scored easily, except the hand of Zeus, Hera, Circe, or Ares pushed the ball into the soccer goal located in foul territory thus creating a ground rule double that forced Castaneda to stop at third. The next batter made an out thus ending the threat and leaving the Hen's up one. Nucci's never threatened again as Johnnie Martinez came in to get a six out save, aided by key third base plays by Pedote on hot shots sent his way in the ninth, to preserve the win.
The hitting and defensive star for Nucci's was Roney Lewis who was 4 for 4 and made several defensive gems at short to thwart Hen rallies.
For Hennessey's, Dave Grull was 3 for 4 scoring two runs and a welcomed return of Frankie Burns to the squad resulted in a perfect 3 for 3 day.
Both squads were missing their newest additions as Nucci's Ray Sutton and Hennessey's Keith Richards had to sit out the game with injuries.
Hope to see them on the diamond soon.
Thanks to Tom Benacka for his fine play as a sub for the Hen's and to Jimmie Martin who rolled out of bed in time to umpire a fine game.
While nobody uses the phrase "It ain't over till it's over" anymore because it has become too popular, this Yogi Berra-ism is a perfect description of Carlsbad Inn's 11-9 victory over Plotkin Group.
After Carlsbad Inn built an 11-2 lead, Plotkin Group's Pat Driscoll hit a 3-run home run in the top of the 8th to make for some nerves on the Carlsbad Inn bench.
Then in the top of the 9th, led by Steve Newberg who capped his 4-for-4 day, Plotkin Group scored 4 runs and loaded the bases with 2 outs.
But fortunately for Carlsbad Inn, defensive wizard Margo Jacobo was stationed in right field. Adding to her deft grab of a pop up while playing catcher, Margo gloved a wicked line drive to allow Carlsbad Inn to breathe again, and close out their 11-9 win.
Thank you to Jerry Galiley who subbed for Plotkin Group, and to Skip for umpiring.
For Carlsbad Inn, newcomer Daniel Malchow burst onto the scene with a 3-for-3 debut. Welcome aboard Dr. Malchow! Randy Agadoni hit a 3-run home run, and Gene Smith went 3-for-4.
But it was defense that saved the day for Carlsbad Inn. In addition to Jacobo's stellar grabs, L-CF Gene Smith fired a perfect strike to C Sherre Lovick to erase a potential Plotkin Group run. Defense wins games, to be sure!
Bye Teams: The Draft
Gaspar
Standings are posted after all scores have been received (in a timely manner)
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