MAY 30, 2024

 

GREY BEARDS vs. RED FACES

 

Grey Beards Report – Chappy

The skies were blue and a slight breeze. Great day to play ball. 

I thought it would be a nice idea to give Jim Fenner a game at pitching. Jim went in to pitch batting practice and was promptly hit by a line drive on his hand (while protecting his face - a wise tradeoff). Broke 2 fingers. Sorry buddy. Thanks to Tom Hunter for escorting Jim to the hospital.  [Ed Note – Surprisingly Jim and his splinted fingers made it back from the hospital before the end of game 2, but he wisely decided to remain on the bench.]

The first game was a back-and-forth offensive game. That’s our story….

Barny Henderson was an energizer bunny. He ran for all the speed guys who were hampered with game injuries. 80 is the new 60. Steller 2nd baseman Steve Moses hung in there as best he could after coming up limp. Thanks to 2 new players to the league who spared for us: John “Chief” Ciufo and Bob Betker. We were able to scrape out a 23 – 19 victory.

Game 2 became the survival of the fittest. Which team could drop the fewest balls? Mac is home practicing the ”no anticipation” rule. On the plus side he was 8 for 9 at the plate. Bruce Locke was 6 for 8. New guy Bob was 7 for 8 with a homer. Congratulations to the Red Faces for the win 17-12. Have a great weekend and rest up everyone.

Red Faces Report – Mike Boyle

Both the Red Faces and Grey Beards were struggling with fielding a healthy lineup as a combination of previous injuries and then injuries that day put players onto the field into defensive roles that perhaps were challenging. Needless to say, while defence was in short supply that allowed the hitters to lift their batting averages significantly. Appropriately, each team won one game.

The first game went so long, not only did it kick in an automatic 1-1 count for the second game, it was all both teams could do to get 6 innings in.

The Red Faces played both games with 10 players plus a catcher graciously supplied by the Beards. In the opener, the Grey Beards surged in front to a big lead but the Red Faces chipped away and got close before the game ended 23-19 for the bearded guys. In the shortened second game the Faces came within a mercy victory twice and almost closed an inning before the 12:15 pm automatic cutoff but could not, thereby allowing Grey Beards a last chance. They loaded the bases to create a little anxiety, but the Red Faces held on for the 17-12 win.

Leading the way for the Faces was Ron VanderMeulin who had 7 hits including a line-drive home run, 6 runs scored and 4 RBIs. Ron also pitched well in the second game. Bernie Renwick was supposed to limit his defence because of off-season knee surgery but played a stellar second base. He also hit well, with 7 hits and 8 RBIs. Drew Martin is regaining his swing and contributed 6 hits and 5 RBIs. Mike Boyle added 5 hits, Jack Pang, Jim McDonald, and John Finley had four hits each and Al King added 3 hits. Our spares were very helpful at the plate - Warren Pantrey went 7-for-7 while John Wooning had 4 hits.

 

FINE WINES vs. BLUE PILLS

Fine Wines Report – Dave Adams

In a season that so far has seen the Fine Wines complete more splits than an agile gymnast, two wins against the Blue Pills would be crucial if the Wines hope to reach the .500 mark. The Wines jumped out of the blocks and scored 5 times in the top of the 1st. A non-singing quartet of runners reached home in the 2nd, followed by five more runs in the 3rd and 4th frames. Another 7 runs were added in the final 3 innings, giving the Wines a season high total of 26 runs. And since the Wine defence gave up 17 runs it was indeed a good thing the offence was on a roll. Geoff Coulson and Jonathan Kamin were each 5 for 5 and sprinted home safely 8 times. Additional support came from the bats of Ian Carson and Rob Bentley who added their 8 hits worth and 4 runs. Ian Schell returned to the diamond and supplied the usual number of hits, including a triple.

With hopes higher than that ant trying to move a rubber tree plant, the Wines were giddy with excitement about a possible two-win day. This game was a back-and-forth display of run production and sketchy defense. More balls were dropped than those at a teenage boys’ puberty convention. After 6 complete innings, the score was tied at 13. The Blue Pills got it up for a 1-run lead as the Wines came to the dish in the bottom of the 7th. Gary Gilmour led off with a single followed by Nino Gaspari the Super Sub. Both players scored to make the final 15-14 Wines, their first sweep of the season. The Dynamic duo of Coulson and Kamin cashed in their 6-hit game for half a dozen runs.

Next week, the Wines will renew their duel on the diamond with the White Hairs. With 41 runs scored on this day, the Wine offence would appear to be more than up for next week's challenge: to avenge their season opening double defeat.

Blue Pills Report – Tony Fratia

Another beautiful day at the ballpark for the epic battle of 5 vs 6 with a chance to get out of the basement, but it was quickly spoiled by our team being down 4 players. Compliments to the Fine Wines for supplying us with a reliable catcher who made 2 outs via a foul tip catch plus hanging onto a tremendous throw home from our centre fielder "Silver Fox" Frank Sturm. Frank wore out a lot of outfield grass today with several clutch catches.

The Vintners started out strong in the first game by pounding out 3 five-run mercies within the first 4 innings. We were in the jaws of a mercy defeat (losing by over 12 runs) but the saving grace was that we only had to play 5 innings. The Blue Pills finally started their comeback with a couple of 5-run innings of their own, sparked by a "Silver Fox" 3-run inside the park dinger.

Another inning saw Darrell Northcott hit a majestic moon shot (Jerry Howarth admiration worthy) over the left field fence with 2 runners on base, however his run didn't count since it was the sixth run.

Alas, the Winos never stopped scoring and we generously gave them a few extra outs. Final Score was 26 to 17 for the vintage Cabernet Sauvignon team.

 

WHITE HAIRS vs. RUSTY ROYALS

White Hairs Report – Jeff Morton

It's too early in the season to call today's White Hairs versus the Royals gentlemen a first place showdown.

The Royals scored each inning in game one, building a 12-6 lead going into the bottom of the 7th. The Hairs then showed their mettle. Doug Hyland led off, slapping it the other way, followed by Chop Sticks Linklater driving one down 3rd and Rick Wilcox lifting one into left field.  Vince Moffat came to the plate and scored 2 on a sac fly. The top of the order then got 5 consecutive hits and suddenly the game was tied. Bread Basket Warren hit a sacrifice fly to complete the comeback.

In game 2, the Hairs came to bat in the 5th down 2-0.  Everyone calmed down, recognizing we were still in pretty good shape to get to Monaghans first.  8 consecutive hits resulted in 5 runs without an out.  One more in the 7th and the Hairs completed the sweep. 

When you only give up 2 runs, there are plenty of stellar defensive plays. Vince with the new glove Moffat, Tony Foscarin and Morton made some above-average plays in the infield. Each of the 4 Hairs outfielders - Warren, First on the Field Pileggi, Slick Brancier and G-Man Coveny, each made at least one outstanding play.

Bill Manson pitched two solid games.

Dan Cooper of the Rustys was first to Monaghans, and did the gentlemanly thing and let the Hairs have their table.

Rusty Royals Report – John Koopman

It was a tough morning for the Rusty Royals. Leading 12-6 in game one going into the bottom of the seventh, things looked positive for the fan favorites.  Unfortunately a coach, who will forever go unnamed, let an easy grounder to third, with one out, get by him.  That error seemed to shift the big Mo to the arch enemy White Hairs.  Six batters later the White Hairs had a 13-12 victory.  In the second game the Royal's bats never got started as they fell 6-2.

There were highlights for our Rusty Royal heroes. Ron Belluomini filled in for an injured Rick Halik (he has broken a finger and will be out for a while) and pitched two gems.  He was also our leading hitter on the day, going 4-6 plus a walk.  Willi Thurner went 3-4 and played some good shortstop.  Stephen Isaacs ran out each at bat, Bill Johnson hit a frozen rope right up the middle (his first non-pull hit since he and Ty Cobb went their separate ways) and Brian Mastervick made a couple of nifty defensive plays and also hit the ball with authority in every at-bat. 

Willi has really cemented his status as "King of the Carom".  Today it was Andy McMakin. our Rover, who took a ground ball to the leg and deflected it to Willi at SS, who proceeded to throw out a hapless White Hair batter.  We have lost Andy Mcmakin for at least a few games.  Charging a challenging infield fly he pulled-up lame. It seems a muscle we did not think he had has been torn. Andy is a gamer and he will be back before the "dog days of summer" start.

The Rusty Royals have lost a battle but not the war.  We are already planning the strategy for our re-match with the White Hairs.

 

 

2023 SEASON FINALE!

Congratulations to the White Hairs for achieving first place in the regular season and, for an encore, winning the Playoff Championship.

 

   

From left to right:  Barny Henderson,  Tony Fratia,  Frank Strum,  Kim Warren,  Roman Kryzaniwsky,  Mike Canham,  Jeff Morton (Manager),  Al King,  Brock Paterson,  Greg Potter,  Nick Wollaston,  Rick Cummings,  Vince Pileggi 

 

Congratulations also to the Fine Wines for their terrific regular season (1 point out of first place) and a hard-fought battle in the Championship Game.

       

 

From left to right - Ian Schell, Tony Foscarin, Jim McDonald, Steve Isaacs, Rick Wilcox, George Merrick, Vince Moffat, Andy Kozai, Rick Wilkinson, Dave Adams, Mike Way, Chris Barrett, Ted Wierda

 

And congratulations to Shane Noseworthy, the recipient of the Bill Carson Award for 2023, which is awarded to a player who exemplifies patience, a positive attitude, enthusiasm, support of his teammates and a proclivity to lead by example, and who commands respect from both his teammates and competitors.

 

   

 

 

BOYS OF SUMMER 2023