Scores: 2025s2 Week 9

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“I love the sound of rain—it’s like nature’s way of telling me not to go outside and be productive.”

“You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” as Bob Dylan famously sang in Subterranean Homesick Blues. And blow it did—from three directions, no less—as Worden Williams squared off against The Plotkin Group. To say the Dubs dodged a bullet against a much-improved PG might be putting it mildly. In the end, WW escaped with a 9–8 win in a rain-shortened seven-inning contest.

Through five innings, WW clung to a slim two-run lead, 8–6, after jumping out to a five-run advantage early. The decisive moment came off the bat of Gary Fisher in the top of the sixth, when he laced a line drive between right-center and right field that rolled all the way to the fence for a home run. That extra run proved crucial, as PG pushed across two in the bottom half to make it 9–8. Neither team scored in the seventh, and that’s when the weather officially called it a day.

The Dubs’ offense was powered by a grand slam from Bob Buscher and solo shots by Kevin Lynch and Gary Fisher. Once again, the lower half of the lineup came through with timely hits and solid defense, every player collecting at least one hit. Even with Leigh Peterson, Ken Auerbach, and Carlos Cevallos out of the lineup, WW didn’t miss a beat but it would have been nice to have them in the lineup.

PG kept it close—not close as in horseshoes or hand grenades, but close enough by senior league standards, meaning within ten runs. Dennis O’Hern led the charge for PG, going a perfect 3-for-3 with a home run, while Roney Lewis, Joe Uribe, Jeff Ledesma, and Kathy O’Neil each went 2-for-3. On the mound, David Suhr turned in a steady outing for a team that’s had its fair share of pitching challenges.

A tip of the cap to Skip Moyer for braving the elements behind the plate—he weathered the storm every bit as much as the players, and maybe more.

It was a pretty nice day at Alga for a softball game despite the wind that didn’t really bother PPB Ken Thompson or Draft’s Richard Keefer because those two are fantastic pitchers, but after 5 innings the water let loose from the clouds and started to drench everyone.

The teams playing on Alga 2 stopped their game and were exiting to their vehicles.

PPB’s players were begging their coach to call their game too because rain was plastering them in their faces, glasses and the ball was very wet and slick, but PPB’s coach said he was going to let Draft bat in the top of the 6th inning and try to tie the game even though the top of Drafts lineup was up. Draft scored one and left the bases loaded as PPB got the last 3 outs of the game.

Leading hitters for PPB were sensational Gene Smith 3/3 w/2 doubles & a home run. Tom Benacka was 3/3, Tom Redmond & Marty Topper were 2/2, Leo McFall and Super Sub Steve Doan were 2/3, Ken Thompson hit a big 3 run homer in the 4th to put PPB up by six. David Shinn had a big hit to keep a rally going.

Leading hitters for Draft were Raul Mateus 3/3, Super Sub Erin Spoden 2/2, Rich Keefer and Super Sub Bob Porter (Home run) were both 2/3 and Delta Farrington hit a home run.

Both Teams would like to thank Al Cabacungan for umpiring perfectly on a game with many close calls and staying thru the hard raining 6th inning. 

 Oh, sure, the top 2 Gaspar hitters--Gene LaChimia and Laurie Mills--went 6 for 8 with 7 RBIs combined and 2 doubles each. And Pat Steele, Jeff Schnieder, Tom Winterbourne, Karen Smith, and Donna Engleman all went 2 for 3. And Gaspar's makeshift outfield--especially Laurie in LCF--did a very credible job in battling the Calavera wind to haul in VPS flies. And super sub Dan Hacker did a fine job at 3rd. But Gaspar's star of the game was clearly Russ Rooperian. Not only did he go 3 for 3 with a double [that's right--Russ "legged out" a double, and it only took him a minute or 2 or maybe 3] and 3 runs scored, but he pitched a great game--striking out 3 with no walks despite the swirling winds, and holding VPS to 6 runs over 7 innings. It seemed  that David Ward with 2 long triples was the only VPS hitter to really get to Russ. 

Gaspar would like to thank VPS Manager Joe Raffanad the VPS for agreeing to start the game early and get 7 innings in before the rains came. 

We'd also like to thank Greg Lorton for an excellent job of umpiring, but as he told us, he was really only there to scout Gaspar, his opponent next Thursday. 

The two teams showed up a bit early for this game due to the forecasted rain, hoping to get in a full 9 inning game at Pine Park. The rain did come, starting around the 5th or 6th inning, but the real issue was the 'two to four club" wind (the NCSS hackers amongst us will understand the reference). Any pop-up or fly ball, the higher the more difficult, was an adventure. 

Team CPA jumped out with 5 runs in the 1st, and tacked on 1 each in the 2nd and 3rd. CBI fought back with 5 in the 4th. The INNkeepers were held in check over the 5th and 6th, and CPA plated 2 more in the bottom of the 6th. With the rain now coming down steadily (plus the aforementioned wind), CBI had a strong top of the 7th; but then it started really pouring down and the game was called at that point, as a 6 inning contest, by the team Managers.

For the INNkeepers the leading hitters were Jonathan Brand (HR, 5 RBIs), Randy Baird, Joe DiMambro, and Jerry Smith -- all going 3/3. Going 2/2 were Mike Gallagher and Steve Berry.  

CPA was led by Jeff Van Siclen (2/3, 4 RBIs) and Mark Remas (2/2, 2 RBIs). Also getting 2 hits were Dave Hertzog, Craig Wheatcroft, John Symanski, Mike Berry, Al Castaneda, and Dan Menendez. 

Braving the conditions admirably and allowing zero walks were pitchers Steve Berry for CBI and Rod Johnson for CPA. Both teams executed some nice double plays. The highlight defensive play of the game was a sliding/shoestring catch of a sinking liner by Randy Baird in right center. 

Bye: Nucci's