Trying to Beat the Rain

Bernie's happy to be back

Twenty-nine players braved cloudy skies and managed to get in a very exciting game before the weather set in. 

With our numbers we were able to get in the game because Donnie Witmer volunteered to play middle infielder for all teams.It proved extremely beneficial as his play was spectacular against all three competing teams.

The game started strong with Team Well's getting three early runs in the first. Team Radlein  responded with two runs off a hot liner that reached the fence. Team Matta  wasn't as lucky and failed to cross the plate.

The second inning was just the opposite as Team Wells and Team Radleing were held scoreless while Team Matta got back in the game after the first three hitters reached base and ultimately scored two runs. 

The third inning was pretty uneventful with only one run crossing the plate between the three teams.

The fourth inning saw some interesting offense with runners being stranded after the early batters got on base and were unable to score many runs. 

The fifth inning was more of the same and the score was knotted at six for Team Wells, four for Team Radlein, and two for Team Matta.

There was an offensive explosion in the sixth inning with twenty-three batters coming to the plate.Team Wells extended their lead by scoring four times. Team Radlein tried to stay close and scored three.  Team Matta ended up leaving runners on the bases and only managed one run.

Going into the last inning, Team Wells enjoyed a three run edge over Team Radlein and a comfortable seven run lead over Team Matta. Team Wells added their lead by scoring three runs highlighted by a round tripper by Richie "Mr October" Marino.(Gene Baker had to remind him it was only September). Team Radlein answered with three of their own but fell short stranding two runners on base Team Matta failed to mount a charge and were only able to muster one run.

The final scores were Team Wells 13, Team Radlein 10, and Team Matta 4.

Players of the day were as previously mentioned Donnie Witmer who caught everything hit in his direction and Frank Jacobs who had to have made at least eight catches while roaming the left center field sector. Great catches were made by Ron Butler, Wayne Mundy, and John Merritt. 

Outstanding hitting was pretty much limited to Team Wells where the first six batters managed three hits (Dampier, Marino, Mundy,Jacobs, Lopez, and Bess. Jose Rivera did get four hits for Team Radlein and Bob Zelazny manged three triples. Power hitters include Bill Miller and Richie Marino with a home run apiece and Frank Jacobs with a triple.

The real highlight was the return of Bernie Mohan who has returned to Florida for the season. In my opinion he was the spark that ignited Team Wells.