Oakville Masters Men's Slo-Pitch League Standings May 18
Fine Wines Pour It On To the Golden Years
Yet Another Controversy Sours the Wines’ Victories
Fine Wines 5 ― Golden Years 4
Outstanding defence by both teams was the theme in Game One. Manager Bob Neilson led the way for the Wine Guys with 8 plus outs or assists in this game. Most were either blistering line drives or very difficult grounders.
The Wines scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh for a come- from- behind victory. Dave Robertson wielded the big bat for the Wines with 3 for 4 performance
Fine Wines 15 ― Golden Years 6
In the second game, the Fine Wine Bats came alive. The entire team contributed to the fine effort. Bob Neilson set the scene for his players with a 3 for 4 and 4 RBI performance. Also going 3 for 4 were Rookie Rick Cunmmings, Laurence Drew and Dave Robertson.
While this gambling controversy continues to hang over the Fine Wines, another issue reared its ugly head during Thursday’s nightcap, which may have soured the Fine Wine wins over the Golds. After a barrage of booming shots from the Wines’ bats, one of their bats was seized and sent to OMMSPL’s Forensic Lab. Subsequent to the Lab’s all-encompassing examination, of the blue “Easton” bat, Commissioner Hando Told held a press conference and displayed both a picture of the suspect bat and also the bat itself after the Lab had used some paint remover.
Grey Beards Take Two From Rusty Royals
Grey Beards 16 — Rusty Royals 5
In the first inning the Beardies jumped out to a 4 run lead which they would not relinquish due to some spectacular defensive play. Doug the “Hoover” Ford looked very sharp by making play after play that snuffed out Royal rallies. He was not alone as just about every player on the Greys made defensive contributions both in the infield and the outfield. The team became a little worried when Manager Lloyd Johnston attempted to throw his purse on a play at second but soon got on the right track both with his fielding and his bat.
At the end the score was 16 to 5 in favour of the GB's but the game was closer than the score indicated. OMMSPL veteran Johnny Christie inspired the whole team when he blasted a laser down the third base line that went to the fence.
The Royals could only muster 13 hits over seven innings. The production such as it was, was provided by Glenn Marshall going 3 for 3 with an resounding RBI triple and Terry Stroud going 2 for 3.
Grey Beards 7 — Rusty Royals 6
Game 2 was much different from the get-go and a better effort for the Royals with the cagey Glenn Marshall on the mound. The Royals jumped out to a 1 run lead early and showed that they were going to be extremely stingy by playing yeoman defence and the Grey Beards knew early on that this game was going to be tough with ample grit and determination displayed by both sides.
Outstanding defensive plays by both teams had the crowd cheering loudly ― especially the Iroquois Ridge students who took time out from their usual chuckling.
Excitement mounted as the teams kept it close and by the top of the 7th inning the score was 5 to 1 for the Grey Beards. The Royals then displayed both their pride and talent by tying the game 5 — 5, getting the majority of their runs with 2 outs with some clutch hitting and base running.
In the bottom of the 7th the first hero of game 2 —Eddie Schurr banged out a triple for the never say die Grey Beards. With one out the Royals gambled and intentionally walked the next two batters to load the bases. With the outfield drawn in, Cliff (the “Clutch”) Glover then delivered a shot over the outfielders’ head to bring in the winning run.
The Royals offence was mainly provided by Terry Stroud and Jack Pang, each going 2 for 3.
In a post game interview, Royals Manager Harvey Hewgill submitted that while he was going to sleep on it, he was considered submitting a protest to the already busy OMMSPL offices suggesting that Grey Beards should be renamed “Black Beards” as: “They are too young and too good to be Grey!!”
Green Gimps & White Hairs Split Double Header
Green Gimps 18 ― White Hairs 17
In a high scoring affair, the Green Gimps held on to win the first game 18 – 17. .
The Green Monsters started the game by quickly racking up 5 runs in the 1st inning while holding the Whites. A combination of strong hitting and less than strong fielding turned the contest into a run fest. The Greens and Whites traded 5 run innings and after 4 innings the score was 17-9 Greens.
In the top of the 6th the Whites struck for 5 to close to 17-14. But the Green defense stiffened and going into the last inning the game had become tense at 18-15. The Whites, again led by Bob George and Jim Banyard who reached base and scored, made it interesting; however, the last two batters each hit hard line drives right at the Gimps infielders to end the comeback.
Eight different players had three hits each for the Green guys, including Don Yaschyshyn who had an opposite field home run.
White Hairs 12 — Green Gimps 7
After losing a heartbreaking opener, the White Hairs utilized the break between games to recover from their first loss of the season. Rather than do anything different they followed their usual routine of helping Manager Sheridan search for something he’d misplaced and then taking a pee break.
On the other side of the diamond, not content with the monstrous offence they had just mounted, Green’s Manager Ron Linklater demanded the team take infield practice. This tactic backfired as the Gimps went on to make commit more errors than their hits in game 2, losing 12- 7 to the reenergized White Hairs.
Sheridan also reviewed the Whites’ positioning in Game One and made some subtle adjustments for Game 2. After witnessing balls constantly fall in front of his outfielders, he ordered them to play shallower in Game Two to cut the line drives. The results were immediate and dramatic. A defensive struggle ensued with runs being at a premium due to strong defensive plays both in the infield and outfield. After 4 innings the score was 6-3 Whites. With the top of the order up in the 5th the White Guys got it going. Again the top 5 batters delivered singles and doubles and 4 men made the round trip to score. 10 - 3 Whites after 5.
The excitement grew as the Greenies started to put something together in the 7th. They quickly scored 2 runs but Brian Jefferson made the play of the game at shallow Rover corralling a hard hit grounder and forcing an oncoming runner at 2nd. That was the turning point with the Whites getting 2 straight outs thereafter.
On the day, White’s Bob George was 7 for 8 and Jim Banyard, 6 for 7. Wilf Antonation was 3 for 3 in Game 2 with several running catches.
Question For the Armchair Umps
Bases are loaded, with two out. The batter hits the ball and it spins off his bat, lands on the orange home plate board and stops.
The catcher, stands on the board, picks up the ball and declares he has a force out.
What’s the call? Fair or foul ball?
The only reference to this situation that we could locate in the SPN Rule Book is 3-31 which reads:
“FAIR TERRITORY is that part of the playing area within and including the first and third base foul lines from home plate to the bottom of the extreme playing area fence and then extending perpendicularly upwards. (Home plate is in fair territory).”
If you have some thoughts on this or can find another rule to answer our question, please send an email to ommspl@cogeco.ca.
Blue Pills Take Two From the Red FacesBlue Pills 14 - Red Faces 13Blue Pills eked out their first win of the season on Thursday at Glenashton East, while the Red Faces dug themselves a little deeper in the standings. Led by the strong bats of Bob Rose going 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored; Doug Briscoe 3 for 3 with 3 runs scored, and Dave Hubert 3 for 3 with 4 RBI's ( sorry guys, we have no pics of the 2012 Blue Pills), the back and forth battle was a big win for the Blue Pills. Neil Donaldson had three hits for the Red Faces; while Tom Gorman and Paul Lemmon each cashed in 4 RBIs and Bob Oliver hit a towering shot for a home run.
