Scores: Week 8

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With a team OBP of just under .700, TPP was able to post a win today against PG.  TPP scored in every inning but two.  PG was able to post runs in all but four innings and threatened with 6 runs in their 6th inning but that momentum could not be sustained in subsequent innings.  

Good pitching by both Gerry Itkin (TPP) and Rod Johnson (PG) contributed to the highlights of the game.  Some timely double plays by both teams also contributed to a well-played, enjoyable game.   

For PG at the plate, Mike Brower and Dave Erwine hit 4/4.  Larry Wadalavage hit 3/4.  2/3 came of the bat of Brian Turner.  

For TPP, a 4/4 day at the plate came off the bats of Rick Shaw, Keith Richards and Kevin Lynch.  Kevin Lynch twice drove the ball over the centerfield fence.  Not to be outdone, Keith Richards followed Kevin in the line-up and the same inning with a home run also over the centerfield fence.  Pat Driscoll and Robert Kroger (4 RBIs) both contributed on the day by hitting 3/4.  Linda Wolf hit 3/3 on the day.  A fun, good spirited-game was enjoyed by all.

Thanks go out to Randy Agadoni for fine job of umpiring our game.

 CPA jumped out to a 5-3 lead after one inning, then PPB broke out of their slump scoring 14 runs in 4 innings while CPA could only score 4 more runs in the next 8 innings. Defensive highlights were Kevin Davidge and Jerry Smith making numerous fly ball catches along with PPB’s Frank Weishaar. PPB ‘s double play combo Tom Carney & Roney Lewis played outstanding.

Leading hitters for PPB were Johnny Brand & Roney Lewis (Homerun) were both 5/5 with 4 RBIs a piece. Three hits each for Tom Carney (double), Andy Balas (3 RBIs), David Frantz (double), Mark Pedote & Frank Weishaar. Ken Thompson (2 RBIs), Mike Gallagher & Mary Ann O’Brien had 2 hits a piece.

Leading hitters for CPA were Mark Remus 3/3. Mark Tanner and Craig Wheatcroft were both 3/4. Jerry Smith (double), Kevin Davidge, Dan Miserany (Homerun), Gordon Recht, Jimmy Smyth & Karen Smith were all 2/3.

PPB pitcher Ken Thompson & CPA pitchers Mike Endeman & Margo Jacobo all pitch well on a windy day at Pine.

All players on both teams had outstanding sportsmanship. 

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that... he's gone. Verbal Kint – The Usual Suspects

If Rip Van Winkle had wandered onto the ball field that afternoon—or perhaps if Sleeping Beauty had traded her spindle for a bat—he might have understood precisely what befell the good fellows of Worden Williams. For after a long and puzzling nap at the plate, the club awakened with a start and proceeded to administer a most persuasive 23–10 correction to the estimable bakers of the Village Pie Shoppe.

Now it must be said in fairness that the pie merchants did not play a poor game. Indeed, they conducted themselves respectably enough. But the Dubs—having apparently discovered where they’d mislaid their bats—set about the ball with such enthusiasm that runs appeared in every inning but the second, as if the scorekeeper had grown weary of writing them down. By the time the eighth inning rolled around, the lead had grown so prodigious that closing the distance would have required the sort of labor usually reserved for canal digging or moving a courthouse.

The victory was a democratic affair. The lower reaches of the batting order—those industrious souls from ninth through fourteenth—swung their bats to a tune approaching a .700 average, which is the sort of arithmetic that causes opposing managers to remove their spectacles and question the figures. Leading this band of overachievers was the fourteenth batter, Bob Baptista, who treated the plate as if it had personally offended him. He reached safely every time, scored twice for good measure, and then calmly pitched two innings of relief as though he had merely stepped out to fetch the mail. Erin Spoden and Dan Akers likewise declined to make any outs, which is the kind of courtesy every manager hopes to see more often.

Not to be outdone, the regular scoundrels at the top of the order posted a respectable .620 average themselves. Bob Loperena punctuated matters with a three-run home run that traveled with purpose, while Joe Uribe enjoyed a perfect 3-for-3 day—an accomplishment that tends to improve a man’s mood considerably.

On defense, the Dubs behaved with such steadiness that their manager was spared the usual hair-pulling, philosophical despair and hand wringing. For the second contest running they cut down a runner at the plate (and very nearly another), Bob Buscher snatched a wicked line drive from the hole with the reflexes of a pickpocket, and the five outfielders patrolled their territory with the calm assurance of men who had seen this sort of thing before.

The Dubs had entered the game mindful that the Village Pie Shoppe had recently baked up 22 runs in a previous outing, and they therefore approached the matter with suitable caution. But fortune had other ideas. The restaurateurs did manage a pair of home runs from Al Castenada and Larry Weinberger, while Dennis Kemp continued a lively hitting spree with a 2-for-3 performance. Teddy Badillo and Jimmie Martin contributed their timely knocks as well, though the day seemed determined to belong elsewhere.

Behind the plate, Gene LaChimia presided over the proceedings with the calm authority expected of a man entrusted with calling balls and strikes—a task which, like judging a pie contest, is bound to leave somebody dissatisfied.

And when the dust had settled and the scorebook closed, several of the day’s principal actors—Teddy B., Donato D., Kevin L., Robert K., Bob B., and Joe P.—found themselves congregating for a $1.50 dog at Costco. There they faithfully reconstructed the afternoon’s heroics, embroidered a few details for the sake of history, and exchanged the customary senior-league gossip, which is the one statistic that never fails to improve with age.

It was a tight 16-12 game going into the 9th inning today.  Nucci’s scored in every inning and The Draft only scored in 2 innings…but when they scored, they scored with flash!  Nucci’s took a 9-0 lead with Rich Reynolds going 4/5 and 4 RBIs knocking in Dave Surh who was 3/4 and Kevin McBarron 4/5.

But The Draft stormed back with 8 runs in the 4th as they batted around the entire lineup. Carlos Cevallos, Oscar Delgado, and Robert Tahimic all contributed with 3/4 days.  Nucci’s again scored two but The Draft took their first lead of the game, this time on the heels of an electric 3 run home run by Leigh Peterson that brought the score to 12-11 the Draft.

But retrieving Petersons HR must have fired up the star of the game because newcomer Tom Bang-Knudsen --to be known as BK-- (not to be confused with BoCai)-- came up to bat with a vengeance and answered with a 4/4 5 RBI day.  Randy Baird added a 2 run HR in the 9th  as Nucci’s held the Draft at bay for a 19-14 final score.

Some nice defensive plays today with Steve Sexton showing off his arm to gun a runner down at third and Kathy O’Neil running around in center field with a couple nice catches and several hustle plays to keep singles from turning into doubles.  But the best sight of the day was seeing Dave Bosque back out on the diamond huffing and puffing his way around the bases after a 3/4 day.  The league’s a better place with Dave out there doinking his darts in front of those helpless outfielders!

The teams thank Russ Ropennean (can we call him RR from now on so I can remember how to spell his name?) for umping a flawless game.

Bye:  Carlsbad Inn