Gracious in Defeat?

In today’s game we had a “booty call”, the home team took the field and had their booty handed to them by the hot hitting, visiting team.

This overwhelming loss made me research some other great defeats in history.

The Battle of Edessa occurred in 259 AD when Emperor Valerian with a 70,000 strong Roman army marched into Persia to end Persian advances into Roman territory. The outcome was an overwhelming Persian victory and the entire Roman army was decimated.

The naval Battle of Midway. Admiral Yamamoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy attempted to invade the American navy base at Midway Island. U.S. Navy intelligence broke his codes and anticipated the attack. The Imperial Japanese Navy lost four fleet carriers in three days partly due to the decision to refuel their aircraft simultaneously on the flight deck, making the fuel hoses and aircraft vulnerable to bombing.

 The Six-Day War, in response to Arab threats of invasion, Israel launched surprise air attacks which almost completely destroyed the Air Forces of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, then launched a series of ground, air, and naval attacks which saw the capture of the Sinai from Egypt, the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria, and heavy Arab losses in personnel and material.

In football, the Michigan football team outscored opponents 550-0, during the 1901 Season. They had impressive wins of 128-0, 89-0 and no victory less than 21 points. Even more astonishing is that the team didn't let an opponent score a single point the entire season, making them the ultimate blowout team.

 In August of 2007, The Texas Rangers rounded the bases at a dizzying pace and became the first team in 110 years to score 30 runs in a game, setting an American League record in a 30-3 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. The Orioles started out winning that game 3-0.

One of my favorite scriptures is Isaiah 51:3, The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

One team certainly had an Eden experience, while the other team’s bats were dry as a desert.

Eden team: Coffman, Laffoon, Butler, DeRidder, Edwards, Scarbrough, Lopez, Matta, Pepin, Farinaz, Dampier, Merritt and Lee Baker.

Desert Patrol: Herb O, Zelazny, Witmer, Finnegen, Giordano, Marino, Constantine, Regen, T. Smith, D. Hill, Wells and Bess.

The desert team had no highlights; their ESPN reel for this game was all lowlights. Trying to find a run in their scorecard is like trying to find a Gatorade outlet in the Sahara desert. The Desert Patrol managed only 2 runs in nine innings. They were shut out for seven innings, in a row. They had a total of 16 hits the entire game. Give credit to opposing pitcher, Nick Matta and the Eden defense for turning composite bats into sand.

During their time at bat, team Eden feasted like kings on the home teams pitching. When things are going your way, the softball looks like a lamb chop to a hungry wolf. The oasis team scored 20 runs in eight innings. Ron Butler scored all 4 times he batted; DeRidder, Lopez and Matta all scored 3 times in their at bats.

Final Score: Eden 20 – Desert Patrol 2.

In sports, we all know fortunes can change quickly. Football coach Lou Holtz said it this way, “You're never as good as everyone tells you when you win, and you're never as bad as they say when you lose. Next game things may be different. For now, if you see a player from the Desert Patrol team give him a Gatorade and a solid bat that has a few hits left in it.

Leading Hitters:

• Herb O: 3 / 4 with a double.
• D. Hill: 2 /3.
• Butler: 4 / 4.
• DeRidder: 3 / 4 with a triple.
• Lopez: 4 / 4.
• Matta: 4 / 4.
• Pepin: 3/ 4.
• Dampier: 3 / 4.

 Submitted by Nick Matta

Some Good News For a Change

Jimmy Lafoon reports that his wife, Deanne, is recovering well from surgery that left her minus a gall bladder but also cancer free.

She'll have a rough road to recovery though as the surgery left her with one of those 18 inch zippers.  Please keep Deanna and Jimmy in your prayers as they work through a difficult and painful mending process.

There's No Crying in Softball

As Sammy Lopez walked off the Winter Haven field after Tuesday’s game he declared, “that game was a heartbreaker”.

I think all of us have had our heart broken at some time or another.  Sometimes a broken heart is very serious matter and requires a lot of attention.  At other times, like in a softball game; it’s just a passing emotional response.

 How do you mend a broken heart? That is the topic that many writers, musicians and philosophers have tried to answer.  There is no easy answer to that question.  Some good advice is to try to occupy your life with the good things, friends, activities, and other healthy endeavors. Time tends to soften the pain of a broken heart.

The bible states in Psalms 34:18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”  I know that I have experienced God’s grace, in healing a broken heart.

Several bands have written songs about heart break; The Stones wrote “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker”, Pat Benatar wrote “Heartbreaker”, Elvis recorded his best seller, “Heartbreak Hotel”.

 The Elvis song lyrics were based on a newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window.  The song was presented to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville.  Presley agreed to record it, and did so on January 10, 1956 in a session that featured his band, the Blue Moon Boys, as well as guitarist Chet Atkins and pianist Floyd Cramer. The single topped Billboard's Top 100 chart for seven weeks and was Elvis’s first million dollar seller. Richey Marino continues to make the Elvis song popular today in Winter Haven Senior Softball, by crooning it from time to time in the dugout.

 Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie “Heartbreak Ridge”. The story about an aging gunny sergeant who whips a slack platoon into shape. One of the memorable quotes from the movie comes from Sergeant Highway, “I’ll make life takers and heart breakers out of them sir”.

Mark Twain said this in regard to romantic heartbreak, “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”

 I labeled the three teams after Sammy’s heartbreak quote.

The hitting team, Heartbreak Hotel, consisted of F. Gonzalez, Alumbaugh, Zelazny, Jacobs, Lopez, Giordano, Herb O, (Elvis) Marino, Matta, Moots, Barnes and Sterit.

The sitting team, The Heartaches, were made up of these players: Coffman, Laffoon, DeRidder, T. Smith, M. Gonzalez, Butler, Pepin, Simon, Wells, Leggett, Merritt, L. Baker.

The fielding team, Heartbreak Ridge, had a lineup of Rivera, Dampier, Witmer, R. Torrez, Schapeler, King, Constantine,  J. Smith, Powell, Mohan and Gibson.

 The Heartaches must have batted all game with a broken heart and maybe some broken bats. They only scored 6 runs the entire game. Cheer up guys, as Tom Hanks reminded us in the movie “A League Of Their Own”, there is no crying in baseball, or in our case softball.

Jimmy Dugan: Evelyn, could you come here, you got a second? Which team do you play for?

Evelyn Gardner: Well, I'm a Peach.

Jimmy Dugan: Well I was just wonderin' why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That's the lump that's three feet above your ass.

[Evelyn starts to cry]

Jimmy Dugan: Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!

Doris Murphy: Why don't you give her a break, Jimmy...

Jimmy Dugan: Oh, you zip it, Doris! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigxxxx. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?

Evelyn Gardner: No, no, no.

Jimmy Dugan: Yeah! NO. And do you know why?

Evelyn Gardner: No...

Jimmy Dugan: Because there's no crying in baseball. THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! No crying!

 The real competition in Tuesday’s action was between the “Heartbreak Hotel” team and the “Heartbreak Ridge” team. These two squads were determined to “love em and leave em”. By that, I mean both teams loved scoring runs and wanted to leave the other team in the dust. After five innings of play the score was 16-3-13, in favor of the hitting team, Heartbreak Hotel.

 As Elvis and Richey would have sung, “Well, since my baby left me, I found a new place to dwell.  It's down at the end of Home Plate at Heartbreak Hotel.”

 That lead would not last for long, the Heartbreak Ridge team tied the game in the bottom of the 6^th inning. They scored 3 runs when Dampier, Witmer and R. Torres crossed the plate. Torrez had the big hit that inning, a triple to right field. He scored the tying run on a Russ King single to center.

With the game tied, it set up a heartbreaker 7th inning. The hitting team, Heartbreak Hotel, took the lead in their 1/3 of the inning, when the top of the lineup managed to score a run. Freddy Gonzalez crossed the plate after Frank Jacobs lifted a sacrifice fly to right field.

 The Heartaches never were in the competition, however, they managed to score 2 runs in their last at bat of the 7^th inning.

 With the score standing at 17-6-16 the Heartbreak Ridge team came up to bat, with the bottom of the batting order due up. Sergeant Highway’s quote, from the Heartbreak Ridge movie, must have been ringing in their batters ears. “We will blaze a path into battle for others to follow. Surrender is not in our creed.”

The home team took advantage of their last at bat, they charged the field scoring the needed 2 runs for a victory.  J. Smith, Mohan and Rivera all contributed key hits to give their team the win and break the hearts of the two other teams. I know the Tom Hanks quote is correct, there is no crying in baseball, however, a part of me wanted to shed a tear after losing such a tough game.

 Final score: Heartbreak Hotel 17- Heartaches 6- Heartbreak Ridge 18.

 ‘You make me so lonely baby, I get so lonely, I get so lonely I could die.” Heartbreak Hotel lyrics.

 Leading Hitters:

• Rivera: 4/5 with two doubles.
• Dampier: 4/ 4 with four doubles.
• Torres: 3 / 4 with a triple.
• King: 3/ 4.
• Constantine: 3 / 4.
• Powell: 3 / 4.
• Mohan: 3 / 4.
• DeRidder:  4/ 4.
• M. Gonzalez:  3/ 3.
• Simon: 2 / 3.
• Merritt: 2 / 3.
• L. Baker: 1/ 2 and a walk.
• F.Gonzalez:  4 / 4.
• Alumbaugh: 3 / 4.
• Zelazny: 2 / 3 and a walk.
• Lopez: 3 / 4.
• Herb O: 2/ 3 with a grand slam.
• Matta: 2/ 2 and a walk.

Submitted by Nick Matta

Three Score

Maybe you know some of these guys.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-north-pinellas/three-score-participants-say-softball-fun-starts-at-60

3000 Major League Games

On this Day in 1982 - Pete Rose plays in his 3,000th major league game (a 3-1 loss to the Pirates), joining Ty Cobb, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron, and Carl Yastrzemski as the only players to reach that plateau.

Today's game on Fri. June 20 was a three team defensive battle not  decided until the seventh inning.  

The hit team, managed by Simon, included Herbie O., Witmer, Giordano, Zelazny, Lopez, Coffman, Wells, Moots and L. Baker.  They struggled and scored only twice through the first six innings. 

The sit team was managed by Freddie Gonzalez and included Farinas, Laffoon, Scarborough, T. Smith, Pepin, Chrest, Marino and Gibson.  They scored five times in the first inning and totaled nine runs through six frames.   

The field team, led by Butler, included Constantine, Alumbaugh, Jacobs, Edwards,  D. Hill, Thompson,  J. Smith and Merritt.   Through six innings they were held to four runs.  

It wasn't until the last inning that things, as they say, got interesting.  The hit team scored five runs to hold the silver medal at least temporarily.  The sit team scored five to ice the game.  The bottom of the inning saw the field team score four runs to retake the silver position.  The final score was 7-14-8.  Defense ruled the day. 


Leading hitters were Wells 2-3, Giordano 3-4,  Gonzalez 4-5, Laffoon 3-4, T. Smith 4-5, Chrest 3-5, D. Hill 3-4, Thompson 4-4

Thank-You Note from Loren Fabian

The Long Game

On This Day In 1967 - A nine-hour and five-minute doubleheader between the Tigers and Athletics is the longest by game time in the American League ever. The first game includes a rain delay, and the second goes 19 innings before a Dave Duncan home run wins it 6-5 for the A's. Detroit takes the opener 7-6.

With all the rain we had this weekend and on Monday, there was question if we would even be able to play. The fields drained well and the grounds crew was out early to insure we got our game in. Thirty two players came out and  a great game was played with the outcome not known till the last at bat.

 

Ron Thompson managed the hitting team which included Constantine, Dampier, Marino, Gonzalez, Zelazny, DeRidder, Thompson, Abney, Moots, Smith, and Strait.They started strong by scoring the first five runs without making an out. Doubles by Constantine, Dampier, and Gonzalez helped the cause. Despite not scoring in the second, fourth, and sixth innings, they maintained their early lead by scoring two in the third and three in the fifth. Constantine,s home run and doubles by Gonzalez and Smith were the big hits.

 

The sitting team was lead by Donnie Witmer and was comprised of M  Gonzalez, Witmer, Coffman, King, Chrest, Schapler,  Mohan, Leggett, Baker, and Powell. While playing great defense, their bats never woke up. They managed a scant two runs with Powell's triple being the only extra base hit through six.

 

The fielding team was managed by Ron Butler. His roster included Rivera, Lopez, Laffoon, Giordano, Jacobs, Butler, Herbie, Hill, Wells, Merritt, and Gibson. Having not scored in the first two innings, they found themselves dead last. Their fortunes changed in the third as Rivera's home run helped them score five big runs. They scored again in the fourth and added three in the  sixth with doubles by Jacobs and Wells.

Going into the seventh inning, Thompson's hitting team held a one run lead over Ron Butler's Fielding team. Unfortunately, they went three and out so had to play some defense and then sit by and hope Donnie's sitting team could shut down Butler's group. They managed to pay solid defense, turning a double play along the way to keep their run total to two. So now the question was could Donnie hold Butler's team from scoring. Jose lead off and scored to knot up the game at ten. With the winning run on second, Jacobs hit a long fly ball that was run down for the final out. Final score 10-2-10. 

 

Key Performances

 

Chris Constantine    3 for 4 with a double and home run

Rich Marino            3 for 3

Dean Schapler        2 for 3

Bernie Mohan          2 for 3

Jimmy Laffoon         3 for 4

Charlie Giordano      3 for 4

Herbie O                   2 for 3

Duff Hill                    2 for 3

John Merritt              3 for 3

Friday the 13th

Ella Fitzgerald sang the song Blue Skies:

Blue skiesSmiling at meNothing but blue skiesDo I seeBluebirdsSinging a songNothing but bluebirdsAll day long

Billie Holiday sang Stormy Weather:

Don't know why there's no sun up in the skyStormy weather

We had both blue skies and rain today and I am not just talking about the weather. The two teams that squared off in Friday’s action played that way.

The Blue Sky Boys: Constantine, Dampier, Witmer, Wells, Simon, Giordano, D. Hill, Butler, Marino, Thompson and L. Baker, shined today.

The Stormy Weather Boys:  Coffman, Gonzalez, Laffoon, T. Smith, Heb O, S. Hill, Reagen, Matta, Lopez, Moots and G. Baker, were all wet.

The game stayed close enough through six innings, the score stood 8-3, in favor of the Blue Sky team. The sun shined particularly bright on Freddie Dampier, who was 3/ 5, with two homeruns. Chris Constantine heard the bluebirds singing a song, when he hit a homerun in the 2^nd inning.

 The Stormy weather team heard boo-birds when they batted. When it rained, it poured, for the Stormy Weather team, we were stuck in the mud. You don’t win many games scoring only 4 runs in a nine inning game. Credit the winning pitcher, Josh Wells and his defense for the storms low offensive production.  The Blue Sky team turned two double plays, to kill rallies in the 4^th and 9^th innings.  Although both teams had five shutout innings each, when the sunshine boys scored, they brought the heat. They had a pair of 3 run innings, a 2 run inning, and a big 5 run inning in the 6^th that gave them a solid lead.

In the end we were all winners, although the skies threatened to rain out the game, God answered our prayers and we got to play ball.  You never lose when you have fun, exercise and fellowship at the ol' ballpark.

Blue Sky Boys:                 3-3-0-0-2-5-0-0-0

Stormy Weather Boys:  0-1-1-0-0-0-1-0-1

 Final Score: Blue Sky Boys 13 – Stormy Weather Boys 4.

Leading Hitters:

Dampier: 3 / 5 with 2 HRs.

Witmer: 4 / 5 with a double.

Simon: 3 /5.

Giordano: 3 /5.

Thompson: 3 / 4.

Laffoon: 3 / 4.

T. Smith 3/ 4.

S. Hill 3/ 4 with a HR.

Submitted By Nick Matta

It's Definitely Summer

Today we barely eked out enough players for a three team game. 27 players made it out allowing enough players for 9 on a side. Then we played 10 in the field with volunteers from the sitting teams each providing a player to fill in. Good thing too, it was so hot and breeze-less today that I don't think anyone wanted to play a nine inning game.  The new team water cooler came in handy but we should consider adding some Gatorade mix to it just for the electrolytes.

The Hit Team, managed by Richie Moots, featured  Duff Hill, Giordano, Witmer, Terry Smith, Marino, Moots, Merritt, Mills  and Lee Baker didn't score a run until the 4th inning and then struggled to post 7 total with 4 of their runs coming in the 7th and last inning.

Jeff Simon's Sit Team included Simon, Lafoon, DeRidder, Schapeler, Lopez, Thompson, Barnes, John Smith and Gibson.  They managed to score in all but one inning posting a pair of 5 run innings and a pair of 4 run frames. They tallied a total of 20 runs over the course of the game.

The Field Team, managed by Russ King, included Dampier, Steve Hill, Coffman, King, Butler, Strait, Bowley, Wells and Gene Baker. Even though we scored in every inning, never posting a gooseegg, we still came up short.  Needing 6 runs to tie in the bottom of the seventh, we could only summon 5 runs for a total of 19. But we gave 'em a scare. 

Final scores Hit-7, Sit-20, Field-19.

Big Hitters on the Day

Witmer 3 for 4
Simon 5 for 6 2B
DeRidder 4 for 6 3B 2-2B
Schapeler 4 for 5 SAC 2-2B
Barnes 3 for 4 BB
J. Smith 4 for 5
Coffman 4 for 6
Butler 4 for 5 SAC
Wells 4 for 5
G. Baker 4 for 5

Submitted by
Ron Butler

D-Day Remembered

Did you know that -- In 1944 - All major-league baseball games were canceled as the country's focus turned toward the Allied  invasion of occupied France.

Ray Mills returned to finishing cleaning out the house and picking up his car in order to head north. John Gibson convinced him to come out and play. It was great to see him and despite not being the winning pitcher, he seemed to really enjoy seeing everyone and lacing up his cleats. Twenty eight players came out today and so everyone did extra duty by either coaching, umpiring, running for teammates, or playing for the other team. With everyone cooperating and Steve Hill umpiring behind the plate, we were able to put three teams on the field and a great game was played.

 

The hitting team was managed by Richie Moots. His players were Herbie O, Constantine, Edwards, Zelazny, Jacobs, D. Hill, Wells, Moots, and G Baker. They started strong by scoring five runs in each of the first two innings. Frank Jacobs provided the power with a home run in the second.

 

The sitting team was managed by Ron Butler. He was supported by Dampier, Coffman, Witmer, Marino, Simon Butler, Chrest, Thompson, and L. Baker. They started strong but went cold stranding three runners in the first. In the second they were three and out and facing a big challenge if they were going to win this one.

 

The fielding team was managed by Fred Gonzalez. His roster included himself, T Smith, C Duff, DeRidder, Hite, Matta, Bess, Merritt,, Wells, and Gibson. They got triples by Hite and Matta in the first inning to score four runs. In the second, Gonzalez hit a double and scored the second of two runs in the second.

 

With the score,10-0-6, the only team that had any success in the third was Team Butler as they scored three runs to tighten up the game. In the fourth, the fortunes turned again and this time it was Team Gonzalez that put up the big numbers. Team Moots scored a lone run while Team Butler tallied two. In the meantime, Team Gonzalez put up four aided by a big triple by Duff. There was only one run scored in the ensuing two innings and that run came when Edwards, for Team Moots, lead off with a double.

 

Going into the ninth it truly was anyone's game. Team Moots was in the lead with twelve runs.Team Gonzalez had ten runs, and Team Butler held close with six. Team Moots went four and out and so had to play strong defense and then hope Team Butler could shut down Team Gonzalez Team Butler started strong and scored one early. Unfortunately D Hill's play up the middle shut them down with a great double play. It was now Team Gonzalez' to win or lose. They needed two to tie and three to win. With the first two batters making outs, Team Moots was starting to feel pretty confident. That was until Matta and Bess both reached base.  With the winning run at the plate, Ray was biting his nails as he saw  a chance of going out a winner within his grasp. Unfortunately it was not to be as the next batter flew out to end the game. Team Moots 12, Team Butler 6, and Team Gonzalez 10.

 

Key Performances

 

Bob Zelazny 4 for 4

Frank Jacobs    4 for 4 with a homer

Josh Wells     3 for 4 and winning pitcher

Rich Moots       3 for 4

 

Jeff Simon        3 for 4

 

Fred Gonzalez    3 for 4 with three triples

Chuck Duff        3 for 4 with a triple

 

Aloha oe’ Kenny

 

In Tuesday’s game we bid Aloha oe’ (farewell to you), to our favorite Hawaiian American ballplayer, Kenny Ota. Kenny will be moving to Palm Springs, this week.

(As always more pictures are located at WHSS Albums )

I keeping with this theme, we had 3 Hawaiian teams take the field in Winter Haven today.

 The Surfer Dudes consisted of Coffman, Witmer, Zelazny, DeRidder, D. Hill, Herb O, Wells, Barnes, Moots and L. Baker.  Cowabunga! (Slang from 1960's surf culture, cried out enthusiastically when surfing — The surfer's cry "Cowabunga" as they climb a 12 foot wall of water and "take the drop.")  The Surfer Dudes started out cranking, catching big waves, scoring 9 times in the first two innings. Coffman, Witmer x2, Zelazny x2, DeRidder x2, D. Hill and Moots all scored in the “epic” first two innings. (Epic:  Top class surf or extremely good waves; description of an awesome wave or surf session).  But the Dudes wiped out after the big start. In the end their performance was ranked a Barney, in surfer terms. (An inexperienced surfer, or someone who's no good at surfing.)  The Surfer Dudes only scored two more runs over the next 5 innings, giving them 11 for a final total, good enough for a last place finish. Bummer man.

The Rainbow Warriors (named after the University of Hawaii’s Sports teams), consisted of Constantine, F.Gonzalez, Dampier, Butler, Schapeler, S. Hill, Crest, Ota, Thompson and G. Baker.  The Warriors scored  “lolo wikiiwiki”, which in Hawaiian means crazy fast. In plain English, it means they scored a lot of runs. Scoring 5-4-4-5 times in the first four innings helped propel the Rainbow Warriors to “lanakila”, to have victory. The following Rainbow Warriors earned leis (a garland of flowers, leaves, nuts, or shells) for their play: Constantine and Gonzalez were on base 4 times and scored all 4 times. G. Baker, or his pinch runner, scored 3 times and had four hits. Kenny Ota scored twice and gave a memorable going away performance, finishing the day hitting 4/ 5.  Credit F. Gonzalez and L. Crest for “maika ‘I” (good) catches. Both players grabbed sinking fly balls that should have been hits.

 The Silver medal went to The Hawaii Five-0 team of M. Gonzalez, Reagen, Rivera, Laffoon, Matta, Giorgano, Lopez, Merritt, J. Smith and Powell.  The original Hawaii Five-O TV show was an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productions and Leonard Freeman. Set in Hawaii, the show originally aired for 12 seasons from 1968 to 1980, and continues in reruns. Jack Lord portrayed Detective Lieutenant Steve McGarrett, the head of a special state police task force which was based on an actual unit that existed under martial law in the 1940s. The theme music composed by Morton Stevens became especially popular. Hawaii Five-O was named in honor of Hawaii's status as the 50th state.

 The WHSS, Hawaii Five-O team had two big innings, scoring 5 runs in the first inning and 7 runs in the third inning. Other noteworthy accomplishments, all 10 players in the line-up batted in the third inning, eight reached base safely. The third out that inning was never recorded, as the Hawaii Five –O team tied the game in the third inning, ending play for that inning. John Smith, from the NL, had a great day going 3/ 4. Charlie Giordano had a great over the shoulder catch in left field for the police squad. Other than that, this Hawaii Five-O team was under arrest, we could only muster up four more single digit scoring innings. That was not enough to win this game. “Book em Danno, for lack of hitting”.

 Final Score: Surfer Dudes 11- Rainbow Warriors 22 – Hawaii Five O- 16.

Top Five Hawaiian sayings, (loosely translated), heard at Winter Haven Senior Softball games.

Freddie, Kapu en line fronti. - Get behind the red line, Freddie.

Z, Taki ex bais kalled ooout. - Bobby was thrown out trying for an extra base.

Hai pitch ova hed.- That was an illegal pitch.

Ota mi leg hurta. -  I need Kenny to pinch run for me.

Yie saf et hom. - I was safe at Home.

Kenny, we all wish for you to be safe at Home and remember you always have a home here with us on the ball field.

 WP: Thompson. * NL player.

Leading Hitters:

DeRidder: 3 / 4.

Dampier: 4 / 5 with a triple.

Ota: 4 / 5.

G. Baker 4/ 5. * NL player.

Rivera: 4/ 5 with a HR.

Reagen: 3/ 4 and a walk.

Matta: 3/ 4 and a walk.

Lopez 3/ 4.

J. Smith 3/ 4. * NL Player

Submitted by Nick Matta
Photos courtesy of Fred Dampier