Grover Cleveland Alexander's Birthday

For those of you that don't know who Grover Cleveland Alexander was, I'm going to tell you.  He was just one of the greatest major league pitchers of all time.  He recorded 373 career wins (tied for first in the NL with Christy Mathewson 3rd overall) against 208 losses.  He had 90 career shutouts (second most) and a lifetime ERA of 2.56.  Sort of an old time JD Davis ...

Field B

The Braves (Moots)  forfeited a game today to the Pirates (Smith). But we played anyway.

Dick Sessink came back today after a long absence and played for the Braves as did Gene Baker and Augie.

Big Hitters Today

Stepp was 4 -4 
Wilcox was 4-4 with 2 doubles 
Waddell 3-4 with a home run  
Peterson 3-5 
Ravo 3-4 

Field E

We played softball this morning under a tornado watch. I think I found that tornado in the form of the Angels managed by Freddie Gonzalez. 

In the top of the first inning, the Angels batted 8 batters and scored 4 runs. They came back in the second inning and scored 5 more runs to quickly put the Tigers behind 9 runs. 

The Tigers managed a couple of runs in the bottom of the second inning and finally got their bats working in the third inning, where they scored 5 runs. They pulled within four runs of the Angels but that was as close as they were to get for the rest of the game. 

The rain started in the fifth inning and finally, after the bottom of the seventh inning, it rained hard enough to make the fields unsafe. The game was called by the managers and the win went to the Angels, 20 to 11. The pitchers, Dennis Holder and Pat Lopiccolo did a great job fighting the tornado winds to throw strikes. 

Batting 1000 for the Angels were Pat Drouilard, Russ King and Gerald Andrews. Freddie Gonzalez and Juan Toro were 3 for 4. Les Jacobson and Dennis Holder were 2 for 3.

Batting 1000 for the Tigers was Raul Torres. Don Hawbaker, with a bad finger and a bad hamstring, was 2 for 3. 

Field D

Cubs VS Giants

Another dark cloud fell over the Winter Haven's Diamond Plex's Softball Field today as word spread that the wife of Joe Deforge passed away.  Joe is the Cub's regular catcher and has been on the DL for a few weeks.  Please keep Joe and hisfamily in your prayers.

Cubs Manager Ted Taylor had 13 players today with only Joe Deforge missing.  Ken Wilson and Ed Kline led off with singles, walks to Mundy and Wolfe and a base hit from Evans.  After a slick double play, singles by Leggett and Taylor finished the scoring for the inning at 4 runs.  Crafty pitching set the Giants down one, two, three in the first inning.

The second started with base hits by Barnes and Fulton and after a filder's choice LaMay, Wilson, Mundy and Wolfe had singles for 3 runs.  The Giants scored on base hits from Thompson and Remington, an error, and a couple of ground outs. 

In the top of the 4th inning the Cubs had 6 straight singles by Fulton, Altamose, LaMay, Wilson, Kline, Mundy followed by a double by Wolfe scoring the max 5 runs.  The Giants came back on base hits by Miller and Mahon, a double by
Remington and two more singles by Chamlee and Merritt.  Score after 4 was Cubs 14 Giants 5. 

Skipping ahead to the 7th inning, Ed Kline led off with a in-side-the-park homer, Mundy singled and Wolfe and Evens followed with homers for 4 runs.  The Giants not to be out done came back with 3 runs on singles by Mahon and Thompson and a homer by Remington.

Final score with the game being called after 8 innings because of rain was  Cubs 18 Giants 11


Cubs hitting
Kline 3 for 4 with HR
Mundy 3 for 3 with Walk
Wolfe 3 for 3 with double and HR
Evans 3 for 4 with HT

Giants
Remington
4 for 4 with double and HR

Submitted by Don LaMay

Field C 

Todays game had several highlights.

 

The Rangers jumped out to a big lead by scoring 5 runs in the first, 3 in the second, 5 in the third. Rays changed pitchers in the fourth inning to slow the Rangers down.

 

In the first inning, Red Sox turned a triple play on the Rays.With two men on,Don Held caught a hard hit ball right at second base. Tagged the runner going to third ,stepped on second, and then threw to first for the third out. 

 

Red Sox had one good inning in which they scored 6 runs on 7 hits.The Rays came back after the first inning triple play to tie the Rangers in the last inning. The game was reduced to 6 innings due to rain.

 

Final score was Red Sox 12,Rays 21,Rangers21.

 

Leading hitters:

Rangers

Ed Gazark--4-4 one home run, one double

Ron Butler --3-4

Tom Wise--2-3 one triple

Scott Sequin-one home run

Sam Cuscouitch-one triple, one home run

 

Red Sox

Chuck Duff-3-3, two home runs, one double

Denny Schaffer-3-3, one triple

 

Rays

Larry Powell 3-4

Frank Jacobs 3-3, two doubles

Bill Rutan 3-4

Dean Schapeler 4-4, one triple

J.D. Davis 4-4

Don Erb 3-4, three doubles

Bill Bowley 3-3

 

Submitted by Larry Powell

National Margarita Day

Hey if you can't win, drink Margaritas instead or in the case of Nick's team, just eat the peanuts.

 Field C

 Cubs VS Pirates 

The Cubs hoping to continue there winning ways after taking a double header from the league leading Giants, had their game hats on today.

Cubs pitcher Ed Kline kept the Pirates hitters off stride holding them scoreless in the first two innings.  Cubs scored two in the first inning and in the second scored  5 runs on a base hit by Manager Ted Taylor, a triple by hot hitting Reg Barnes, a SAC by John Fulton scoring Barnes.  A single by LaMay kept the inning going followed by Ken Wilson and Ed
Kline's hits.  Bill Wolfe came to bat and tripled deep  to left
center field clearing the based.  Bill was credited with a triple as the runners ahead of him scored the max 5 runs for the inning.  

The top of the third inning brought Bobby Allen to the plate, he reached base on an error, Arvel Waddell singled him to third and Sonny Burrell scored the runner with a SAC fly.  

Not much action with the bats for the next few innings but some great fielding plays were made on both teams.

Best catch of the day was made by Ken Wilson on a running shoe string catch.  

Manager Smith team missing some of his good hitters today did not get anything going with the bats until the 9th inning. Ron Carrothers led off with a base hit, followed by a hit Shinny Shoe's Baker a walk to Ragonege and singles by Allen and Waddell scored three runs.

In the meantime the Cubs scored 3 in the 6th inning on Singles by Wilson and Kline, another triple by Bill Wolfe and base hit by Evans,Leggett, Taylor and Barnes.   In the 7th it was more of the same by the top of the Cubs lineup after two were out scored 4 runs to put the game out of reach for the Pirates.  Final Score was Cubs 18 Pirates 7.  

Top Hitters for the Cubs
Wilson - 4 hits
Kline - double, 4 singles
Wolfe - 2 triples, double, single and walk
Taylor -5 singles

Top Hitters for the Pirates
Gene Baker 2 hits
Raonese - 2 hits
Waddell - 3 hits

Field B

In an important game concerning the standings, the Angels distanced themselves from the Rangers. While the Tigers drew closer to the Rangers, in the division race, by scoring just enough to take 2^nd place in the 3 team game.  

Remember your jeans from the 1960’s. How do you think they would fit now, pretty tight, right?  That’s how tight the race is for 2^nd place in the AL.  Also, that is how tight the games were today.  Going into the 7^th inning the score was Tigers 6- Angels 7 and Rangers 5.

Defense, solid pitching, a sun field, along with a wind blowing into the batter’s face seemed to effect all three teams.  In the decisive 7 th inning the Tigers jumped ahead with two runs. John Byrd and Mike Gatto gave the cats a slim one run lead, when they both scored in the inning.  Bobby Reagen had a big hit to drive in the go ahead run. The Angels came to bat in their portion of the 7^th inning trailing by one.  Preacher/ coach Freddy Gonzalez must have delivered a good 7^th inning sermon, because the Angels bats were revived. They scored 9 times, due to some solid hitting and some very questionable fielding from the Tigers. It would be enough to win the game.

The Rangers tried to rally to at least grab a 2^nd place spot in the game. The Rangers loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 7th. It was all for naught, as the tying run was stranded on third base when Rich Marino made a nice catch in the right field foul area.

Final Score: Tigers 8- Angels 16- Rangers 7.

Leading Hitters:

Tigers

Don Keller, 3 / 3 with a double.

Bobby Reagen,  3 / 3.

Angels

Les Jacobson 3 / 3 with a walk and a double.

Russ King, 3 / 3 with a walk.

Larry Wells, 3 /4.

Rangers

Kirk Coffman, 3 / 4.

Regis Finnegen, 2/ 2 and a walk.

Steve Pinnick, 3 / 3.

Jack Benson, 3/ 3.

Field D

Rays vs Red Sox

It was another beautiful morning at the Winter Haven Softball Complex when Larry Powell's Rays took to the field against the Jeff Simon's led Red Sox.  The game was close, with neither team able to get more than a 2 run lead. Don Held flashed the leather on numerous occasions to squash many a Rays hope of reaching base.  While Roger Edwards, Frank Jacobs and Don Scarbrough all should be charged with a crime for numerous hitters they robbed of base hits.  

It came down to the bottom of the ninth inning with the Red Sox holding a slim 18-15 lead with the top of the order coming to bat.  The first 2 batters went into the book as out, before Frank Jacobs reached base with on wind/sun aided hit.  Don Erb followed with a sharp single and the Rays not quite out of it.  Roger Edwards tripled to score 2 and get the Rays within 1 but that how the game ended 18-17. 

Leading Hitters

Rays:

Frank Jacobs 3 for 4, BB, 3B

Don Erb 3 for 4, Sac

Roger Edwards 3 for 4, Sac, 3B, 2B

JD Davis 4 for 4, BB

Red Sox: 

Jeff Simon 3 for 4

Don Held 3 for 4, 3B, 2B

Bob Zelazny 4 for 4

Denny Shaffer 3 for 4

George Radlein 3 for 4

Dennis Borowics 3 for 4

Scott Sequin 4 for 4, B

Submitted by:

Bob Hite

Field E

The Giants, coached by Broom, beat the Braves, coached by Moots, 29-8.  

The game was one sided with the Giants scoring 21 runs in the first five innings.  The Giants scored nine runs in the first two innings led by everybody in lineup getting hits. The Braves scored only two in the two innings.  

The Giants scored nine more runs in the four and fifth innings.

The Giants got great hitting from Thompson 4-4, Remington and Merritt  5-4 and Bess and Bloom 4-3.  

The Braves got good hitting from Peterson 5-4, Chrest, Ravo and Moots 4-3.

Softball Goves on Sale

FWIW, 

Walmart has several softball gloves on sale.  There's a couple of Wilson gloves in the 14inch pattern and at least one in a 15inch pattern.  There is also a Rawlings in the 14inch pattern.

Check it out at  http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=softball+glove&ic=16_0&Find=Find&search_constraint=4125 

They are advertised on line and the local flyer that came in the mail had the same deal.  They also have some bat bags and batting gloves on sale.

Winter Haven/Lakeland 2013

Lakeland Senior Softball sponsored this years inter-league games and it was a great success. Our thanks to Russ King for hosting and arranging the event, to Ron Salyer and his crew (Reg Finnegan and Chuck Duff) for doing a super job of preparing, cooking, and serving up the vittles, and to all the ball players that participated and gave the fans some great action.

The National League team managed by Richie Moots played hard and did very well against the two Lakeland teams.They fought hard but came up five runs short in the end. The final score was 18 to 13. Behind early, Winter Haven bounced back in the fourth inning and actually took the lead after scoring eight runs. Lakeland responded with five of their own and never looked back. Winter Haven managed to keep it close with three runs in the fifth but couldn't overcome the deficit. Terry Smith  and Reg Barnes had a big day going  3 for 3.

American Team II  managed by Bob Z enjoyed an early lead scoring five in the first inning and built on it scoring every inning except in the eighth when we were shut out. I hate to use the perfect storm analogy, but when outstanding pitching provided  by Arvil Waddell is married up with great defense led Don Ing and Bobby Reagan, and  bats that just seemed to be on fire all the way up and down the line  up, the results are awesome and predictable. The final score was 29 to 14. I've noted the great defensive play by Bob in the outfield and Don at short fielder but the fact is that everyone was feeding off the competition  and playing solid defense. I mentioned the hot bats: Bob Z and Don Ing were 5 for 5, Fred Dampier,Pat Droiulard, Greg Denny, and Bobby Reagan were 4 for 5, and Frank Jacobs, Mike Wiltshire, John Byrd, and Arvil Waddell were 3 for 4. The Lakeland folks played well and kept it close in the beginning. There was no backing down in them and they kept us on our toes after scoring four runs in their half of the fifth and sixth innings. Great competition and great sportsmanship was the order of the day with everyone having a great time.

It was a high scoring contest at the West Complex between Winter Haven's Team Simon and Lakeland's Team Matta.   Simon vs Matta sounds like one of the usual Winter Haven Games.

Winter Haven's Team Simon scored 5 runs in each of the first 3 frames to jump out to a 15-2 lead.  But, Lakeland's Team Matta came storming back, with 13, to tie the score at the end of 3.  Team Matta slowly gained momentum until they held a 36-25 lead at the end of the 8th.  Trailing by 11, Team Simon scored 16 times in the top of the 9th to take a narrow and not very safe 5 run lead.  Enter the bottom of the ninth, Richie Marino( playing the role of Bobby Richardson) at 2nd base and Al Andrews (The Mick in Center) made 3 straight plays to shut down the very powerful Lakeland team and seal the victory.

41-36 Winter Haven wins!

Submitted by

Bob Hite

It was game time. The boys were ready to play and play we 

did. Lakeland came out strong in the first 3 innings leading 

by a score of 5 to 13  but by the 6th inning Winter Haven 

was determined to stay close. Some key hitting put the scores

12 to 14; Lakeland still holding the lead. 

The last three innings were hotly contested. 

Winter Haven scored 8 runs, Lakeland 3

Final score WH 20  Lk 17  WH wins!!  We were determined 

to make the commish proud.  
 
The team collectively hit a great .550

Top batters were Tom Hamilton 4/6  Joe D'herin 4/5 
 
Juan Toro and Les Jacobson went out of the yard for homers.

 Submitted By:

Freddy G. 

Presidents' Day

Well, it's almost Presidents' Day,  technically yesterday was Presidents' Day, and yes the apostrophe goes after the s since the day belongs to multiple presidents.  i.e. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, William Henry Harrison, Ronald Reagan all had February birthdays ... See you learned something.  Ok on with the games.

Field C

Angels vs. Rays 

It was a very competitive game in which both teams 

battled into the 9th. 

After 3 innings the Angels took the lead 9 to 4. 

By the end of the 6th the Rays battled backed scoring 

7 runs. The score was 14 to 11 angels still leading. 

And now it was time for the thrill. 

In the next 3 innings the Rays took the lead. Going 

into the top of the 9th, the Rays were up 19 to 16. 

Going into the bottom of 9th the Angels looked to 

the heavens for some help. And it came with timely 

hitting. 

The Angels tied score with 2 outs and the winning run

on second; Ron Pepin at bat, lined a drive to LC field 

out of the reach of the fielder for the game winner.

Angels win!! Great game for both teams, congrats.

Submitted by

Freddy G.

Field D

The Braves, coached by Moots, swept the Pirates, coached by Smith, in a double header 13-8 and 20-14.

The Pirates in the first game scored two runs in the first inning with hits from Ducham and Stepp and a double by Burrell.  In the second inning the Pirates scored five runs  from Augenstein, Carother, and a home run by Raronese. Hits from Baker, Stepp, Wilcox, Burrell and Waddell scored the other two runs. 

The Braves scored four runs with hits from Stewart, Ravo, Hill, Moots and Terry Smith.  The Braves then scored four runs in the fourth and five runs in the fifth. Highlighted with a home run by Duff Hill. 

In the second game the Braves scored five runs in the first, fourth, fifth and sixth.  Highlighted with home runs by Terry Smith and Harlan Lautenschlager.

The Pirates scored two in the first, one in the second, five in the third, four in the fifth, and one in the sixth.  Highlighted with an out of the park home run by Sonny Burrell.

Outstanding hitters included Ducham 5-4 and 4-2 and Burrell 3-3 and 4-4 for the Pirates, and from Ravo 3-3 and 3-3, and Terry Smith 2-2 and 3-2 for the Braves.

Field E

Rangers vs. Tigers vs. Red Sox

The game was close all the way and not decided until the bottom of the 7th inning. Team Matta had 16 runs after 6 and was leading team Simon by 3 runs at that point.

Meanwhile team Witmer was following closely with 9 runs. In the exciting final frame, team Matta scored one run in the top of the 7th to take the lead by 4 over team Simon and 8 over team Witmer.

In middle of the 7th, team Witmer failed to score and was out of the running. Then team Simon trailing by 4, batted from the top of their batting order. They scored five runs to win a thrilling come from behind victory capped by a run tying hit by Jeff Simon and a walk off single by Bob Hite.

Final scores were Rangers (Matta) 17; Tigers (Witmer) 9; and Red Sox (Simon) 18.

Defensive highlights included a great running catch by Jose Rivera for the Rangers and a perfect throw by SS Tom Hamilton to nail a runner trying to score from third base.

Leading hitters with three or more hits by team are:

Rangers

Matta

Butler

Gallagher

Tigers

Keller

Red Sox

Hamillton

Zelazny

Radlein

Simon

Many other players, too numerous to mention, got on base three times through a combination of hits and walks.

Congratulations to all for a well played, exciting, and fun day at the ball park

Submitted by

 Bob Hite

Field B

Cubs vs. Giants double header

Game One

The Cubs opened the scoring with four hits, an error and a walk plating five runs. The Giants came back with two runs on four hits an a fielder's choice.

In the third inning, the Cubs scored four runs on various hits and a long home run by the short- center fielder.

Each team scored a run in the fourth inning.

The game was put away by five runs being scored in the fifth inning.

The final score of game one was Cubs 17, Giants 4

Game Two

Cubs vs. Giants

The Giants opened the bottom of the first with three hits scoring one run.

In the second inning, both teams scored three runs apiece on several hits and errors.

In the third and fourth innings, the Cubs scored a total of ten runs on various hits, errors and walks. The Giants scored three runs in these two innings on several hits, errors and a fielder's choice.

The game was put away in the sixth inning, on a throwing error leading to four runs.

The bottom of the seventh inning, the Giants rallied for five runs on seven hits but fell short.

The final score was Cubs 17, Giants 13.

Good News for a Change!

Mike Stepp (famous Winter Haven Senior Softball player) will be missing from next Friday's games.  How is that good news you ask?
Well, he'll be up in Georgia to attend his daughter's induction into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame!!

Congrats to Mike and especially Heather. 

Check it out here: 

Winter Haven vs Lakeland Games

LAKELAND/WINTER HAVEN INTERLEAGUE GAME

Wednesday, February 20th, 2013

 

REPORT NO LATER THAN 0900

GAME TIME 0930

Winter Haven will wear GRAY UNIFORMS

SOUTHWEST COMPLEX LAKELAND

BBQ IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING GAMES

Teams for Winter Haven are as follows

TEAM BLACK

STEWART

WOLFE

AYER

MERRITT

BURRELL

CHAMBLEE

MILLER

BLACK

MOREY

WADDELL

SULLIVAN

 

TEAM MOOTS

MOOTS

ALTEMOSE

HILL

XXXXXXX

BARNES

SMITH

MILLS

BAKER,L

TEAM GONZALES

KELLER

TORO

GONZALES

EDWARDS

RADLEIN

JACOBSON

LOPESZ

ERB

HAMILTON

D’HERIN

GATTO

TEAM ZELAZNY

DAMPIER

ZELAZNY

TORRES

JACOBS

WELLS

ING

DROULIARD

DENNY

WILTSHIRE

SEQUIN

HERB O

TEAM SIMON

ANDREWS

COFFMAN

SHAFFER

MARINO

POWELL

BUTLER

SIMON

WOODARD

HILL

BOROWICZ

HITE