On TUESDAY, FEB 26th,

A well played game by both teams with many nice defensive plays and some clutch hitting.  Score was 9-6 Motown after 2 innings and the game tightened up with Matta's boys scoring 3 in the 9th to fall short by 1 run.  Final score was 14-13 Motown.  I would like to mention there were a couple close plays and the runner corrected the original call by calling himself out.  Good sportsmanship, nice job.  Larry Wells got the win and Don Held picked up the save!!

Leading hitters  Matta

Ford 3-5

Stier 3-5

Doerbaum 4-5

Burns 3-5

Thirey 4-4

Leading hitters Motown

Hicks 3-5

McKinnon 3-4

Held  3-4

Farinas 3-4

Essenmacher 2-3

D'Herin 3-3
Write Up by Joe D'Herin

These two team matched up well today on Field C. With a strong wind blowing in from the north today, both team came out swinging the bats in the 1^st inning.  Before all of the fans were covered up with blankets both team scored 5 runs in the first without an out being recorded.  Manager King put this line up together: S. Hill, McLellan, Marinacci, Levesque, LeTournes, Zakrowski, King, Stepp, DePalma, Strait, Ducham and Gibson.  Manager LaMay posted this order:  Andrews, Thompson, Laffoon, Taylor, Miller, Guspyt, Jones, Kline Waddell, Leggett, Welton, Moots, L. Baker and G. Baker. 

King led off the second with a home run to deeeep right field.  Step singled and Ducham lined a double in the gap for the second run of the inning.  Cubs came up with the first of three straight zero run innings.  Tigers added two more in the third on McLellan’s single, Hector’s double and base hits off the bats of Levesque and Zakrowski.  After both teams failed to score in the fourth, the score was Tigers 9  Cubs 5.  Ducham led off the 5^th with a liner up the middle (about 5 ft) for a single, Hill hit a long double to left center and McLellan followed with a home run to the fence in right field.  Tigers up 12 to 5.  Waddell led off the bottom of the 5^th with a base rap, after a long fly out off the bat of Leggett, Welton and Moots walked and Lee Baker ripped one up the middle and Andrews cleared the bases with a home run in the gap in right center.  Score now Tigers 12  Cubs 10.

Cubs showing good “D” in the 6^th by turning a 6 4 3 double play after a single off the bat of King.  Then a walk to Taylor and base hits from Miller and Guspyt an infield error, followed by base hits from Kline and Waddell and Fulton driving in the fifth run of the inning.  Cubs take the lead 15 to 12.   Both team scored 2 runs each in  the 7^th.  Tigers started the 8^th with a Levesque double and singles from LeTournes and Zakrowski but the rally fell shore as the Cubs turned a 6 4 3 double play to end the inning.  Cubs added one more run in the bottom of the inning to take a two run advantage into the ninth inning.  Tigers were zeroed out in the ninth and final score was Cubs 18 Tigers 16. 

Tiger hitters:  S. Hill 3 for 4, McLellan 4 for 4 HR, Marinacci 3 for 4, Zakrowski 3 for 4, King HR, Ducham 3 for 4.

Cubs hitters: Andrews 4 for 4 HR -3B, Guspyt  3 for 4, Waddell 3 for 3 walk           Submitted by Don LaMay

A Day of Oscars.

The 88^th Academy Awards are taking place on Sunday, February 28^th, with that in mind the write-up will center on the awards history. All the films mentioned in this article won an Oscar for Best Picture.

Visitors, Braveheart: Rivera, Rad, Keller, Parker, Denny, Roy, Capozzi, Coffman, Smith and Abney.

Home, Gladiator: Ford, Stier, Doerbaum, Alumbaugh, Gazarek, Matta, Seguin, Burns, Pinnick and Thirey.

Braveheart excited audiences with it’s thrilling battle scences and speeches. It won an Oscar for Best Picture in 1995. Gladiator was released in May of 2000, it met with great success at the box office, it won the Academy Award for Best Picture for 2000.

Lights, Camera, Action, the Gladiator team came onto the back lot and performed right from the start. We scored 5 runs in the first inning off of hits by Ford, Stier, Doerbaum, Alumbaugh Gazarek, Matta and Seguin. Nick Burns drove in the 5^th run with a SF, the only out of the inning. They must have heard the command, “Maximus: At my signal, unleash hell.”

Team Braveheart has been battling injuries and people leaving the team for business reasons all season. These guys play brave every week, not even knowing if they will have enough players to fill their team on a given day. William Wallace: “Aye, fight and you may die. Run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willin' to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!” They answered back in the 2^nd inning scoring 3 runs. Roy, Coffman, Smith, Abney and Rad all contributed to scoreboard.

Overall, there was not a great deal of scoring in the game, both pitchers, (Roy and Doerbaum), made the batters look like Forrest Gump. “My Mama always said you’ve got to put the past behind you before you can move on.” – Forrest. In the 6^th inning Team Gladiator put the past behind them. We had been shut out 3 out of the past 4 innings, but we hit Oscar gold in the 6^th inning. Doerbaum won an Oscar for best special effects. He made the ball disappear over the left field fence for a 3 run homerun. (Ford, Stier and Doerbaum all scored on the “Chariot(s) of Fire”, type shot, that Dave smashed. Gazarek and Matta later scored in the same inning after reaching base. They were knocked in when Seguin and Burns did their “Rocky” impersonation and knocked the ball out of the ring, or at least the infield, for hits. When they came to the plate they were there to take care of business. Apollo's Trainer: Hey, champ, you oughta come and look at this boy you're gonna fight on TV. It looks like he means business.  Apollo Creed: Yeah, yeah. I mean business too.

The score after 6 innings was Braveheart 5- Gladiator 13.
Along with the solid pitching performance that both pitchers turned in, there were many good defensive plays. Two plays that stand out were made by Ford and Alumbaugh, they had outstanding catches in the outfield. They both win the best supporting actor award. An award won by such actors as Peter Ustinov, “Spartacus”,  Walter Matthau, “The Fortune Cookie”,  George Kennedy, “Cool Hand Luke”, Sean Connery, “The Untouchables” and Denzel Washington, “Glory”.
Neither team managed to score much to close out the game. It was Team Gladiator that won best picture on this day, as they lead throughout the game. Final Score: Braveheart: 7- Gladiator: 16.
WP: Doerbaum.
Special thanks to our great fans in attendance, many of them came out to root for Doug Ford.
Special thanks to players who were injured and put the pain aside to play ball.
 
Braveheart, Best Actors In A Hitting Role:
Rad: 3/5 with a double.
Roy: 4/5.
Smith: 3/4.
Abney: 3/4.

Gladiator, Best Actors In A Hitting Role:

Ford: 5/5.

Stier: 4/5 with three doubles.

Doerbaum: 5/5 with a HR.

Gazarek: 3/5 with a triple and double.

Matta: 4/5.

Burns: 3/ 4 with a SF.

Seguin 4/5.

Oscar's Funny moments: After being presented with an Academy Award for his role in "City Slickers," 73-year-old actor Jack Palance took the opportunity to demonstrate his strength. He dropped to the floor and performed a series of one-armed push-ups in the middle of his speech. Billy Crystal, who acted as the host of the 64th Academy Awards, made it a running gag for the rest of the telecast.

"It's my privilege. Thank you." That was Joe Pesci's acceptance speech, in its entirety, after winning for Best Supporting Actor in "Goodfellas" at the 63rd Academy Awards. It's also one of the shortest in Oscar history.

At the beginning of his speech, Cuba Gooding, Jr. told the producers of the 69th Academy Awards that they could cut away from him if he ran over his time limit. He did, and they cued the music. However, Gooding didn't stop; he continued to thank everyone he could remember, shouting "I love you, I love you!" as the music swelled behind him. When he was finished, he placed his Oscar on the stage and jumped for joy.

Write Up by Nick Matta

Friday, Feb 26th on FIELD A
Black's visitors went down with no runs in the top of the first inning and Fabian's Braves jumped out with 5 in the bottom and were feeling pretty darn good against the #1 team in the national league. Black's team came back to tie it in  the second and went on to score a total of 22 runs and the Braves put up a probably record of 8 (eight) O's in a row. But we had fun !!!!!   Black's team had a total of 14 ground rule doubles over the 200' fence most of which would have been fly balls. The Braves Denny Abramoff who is nursing a pulled hamstring and only coached 1st base, spent most of the rest of the game retrieving doubles over the 200' fence. Final score 22-5.

The Amigos vs. Motown

It  was Amigos right from the start. They scored in every inning except the flip flop inning, scoring 30 runs and yielding  16.  They hit, scored and played good defense, congrats boys!!!!!

Leading hitters

Ogden 4-4

Witmer 3-5

Toro 2-4

Jacobson 4-5

Quinones 2-5

Brock 5-6

Pepin 4-5

Zelazny 3-5

Benson 4-5

Constantine 3-5

Gonzalez 4-5

Hicks 2-5

Hamilton 4-6

Held 4-5

Farinas 2-5

Guzzo 2-5

D'Herin 5-6

Negrin 4-6

Reponen 3-5

Fox 2-5

Wells 2-5

Today's game on  Fri., Feb. 26 on field D had Powell's  Rays play Simon's Marlins.  The Rays scored four times in the first inning.   Both teams went scoreless in the second inning.  The Rays scored 5 runs in the top of the third frame to take a commanding 9-0 lead.  Simon's Marlins fought back with a strong 7 run attack in the bottom of the third to make it a close ballgame.  In the fourth frame Powell's team scored three times to widen their lead 12-7.  The Rays were scoreless in the next two innings while the Marlins scored once in the fifth and three more runs in the sixth.  After six innings of play the RAys had a slim one run lead of 12-11.  In the next two innings the Rays scored six and the Marlins added two runs.  After eight innings the visiing Rays held a five run advantage over the home team Marlins.  The Rays did not score in the ninth and the Marlins were determined  to stage a ninth inning rally.  The Marlins scored  twice in the ninth and had  two runners on base before the third out of the inning concluded the contest.  Witter was the WP.  Leading batters for the Rays:  Marino 4-5, Remington 3-5, Donnie Torok 2-5 HR, Harlan 3-4 2-3B, Hite 3-4.  Leading batters for the Marlins:  Simon 6-6, Reagan 2-2 3BB, Butler 4-5, Altemose 3-5, O'Callaghan 3-5, LoPiccolo 2-4 BB.  This turned into a close game right through the ninth inning.  Submitted by Jeff Simon

Winter Haven Senior Softball

American League

February 23, 2016

Freddie’s Angels vs. JD Pride

Winter Haven DiamondPlex Field E

Attendance: 4

 

JD Pride decided to finally show up (still needed two pool players, Jacobs and Humphries) and they put together a good game, offensively (32 total hits) and defensively, beating Freddie’s Angels by a score of 26-15. JD Pride, playing away, started the first inning with two outs before scoring five runs, which set the tone, as  Freddie’s Angels could only muster three runs in the first two innings. They finally scored a big inning in the third with five runs to tie the game. Leading the way was Rick Brock’s triple.

 

JD Pride took over at that point, scoring five in the fourth with the help of Terry Smith’s double, then scoring 11 more runs in the next four innings, which allowed them to invoke the ‘flip-flop’ rule, as they were leading 26-11after eight innings. Freddie’s Angels produced four runs in the ninth inning before making an out, then JD Pride’s Robert Humphries, relieving Migual Gonzalez (winning pitcher) struck out two, ending the game.

 

Defensively speaking there were a number of nice plays on both teams. Tom Capozzi snagged a sharply hit ball at third, and also made a nice double play, playing short fielder. Juan Toro made a beautiful shoe string catch, running full bore from left center field. Les Jacobson played his usual stellar first base, making a couple infielders look good.

 

I also want to thank both teams (especially Les Jacobson) for their thoughts and prayers for my mother-in-law, who is currently in Winter Haven Hospital, hopefully recovering from pneumonia and congestive heart failure.  Not a nice winter vacation, but, no snow. Thanks again, guys!

         

The leading hitters for JD Pride were:

          Rivera  3/5 

Pcholinski  3/4  with two walks

          Keller  4/5 with two doubles  

          Parker  3/4  with a triple and a walk

Jacobs  3/5  with a double

          Crowell  3/4        

          Smith  3/4  with a double

Capozzi  3/4

          Humphries  2/3 with a walk   

          Coffman  2/2  with a homerun and two walks

  

The leading hitters for the Angels were:

          Witmer  3/5

          Pepin  3/4 with a walk

          Jacobson  2/3  with a sacrifice fly and a walk

                   

Submitted by Greg Denny

Tuesday, February 23rd  -  Elmer Black Team vs Larry Powell Team

This game was very close until the last inning.

Both teams played solid defense and timely hitting until the eight & ninth innings.

Elmer's team scored 5 runs in each of the last two innings to take the lead.

Powell's team scored 5 in the eight inning but only 1 in the ninth.

Final score was Elmer Black Team 22 and Larry Powell Team 16.

Leading hitters for Black's Team:

Herb O 4-5

Sam Lopez 4-5 two doubles, one triple

Don Ing 4-5 one double

Bill Rutan 4-5

Rudy Lapointe 3-4

Bill Ayer 3-4

Elmer Black 3-4

Leading Hitters for Powell 's Team:

Gary Burtner 4-5

Donnie Torok 3-4

Bob Hite 4-4

Michael Wheeler 3-4 one double

Gary Turpin 3-4 one triple

Jerry Remington 3-4

Submitted by Larry Powell

Today's game on field A had Jeff Simon's Marlins VS Russ King's Tigers.  The game was a low  scoring affair with the Tigers winning 18-8.   The Tigers were the visitors . Leading hitters:  Fred Ducham 3-4, Mclellan 3-4, BJ 3-4, Levesque 2-3 BB, S. Hill 2-3 BB, Fred S 2-3, Russ King 2-2 BB.   Leading batters for  the Marlins were:  Accetta 4-5, Simon 4-5, Reagan 2-4, Vandenburg 2-4, Butler 2-4, Altemose 3-4, Bloom 2-4, O'Callahan 2-4,LoPiccolo 2-4..  WP BJ McAllister


Write up by Jeff Simon

Cub vs Braves Field C Tuesday Feb 23. 2016

Great day for a ball game.  Weather finally back where it should be here in Rainy Florida.  Cubs after two non-playing days due to rain outs and field availability came out swinging the bats.  Manager LaMay lined them up like this:  Andrews, Thompson, Laffoon, Shaffer, Miller, Taylor, Guspyt, Jones, Kline, Leggett, Welton, Moots, L. Baker and G. Baker.  Cubs started the game with 4 straight singles Miller drove a liner up the middle that was hauled in by Mid Fielder Abney for the 1^st out of the inning.  Taylor and Guspty followed with base hits, then Jones hit a liner to deep left center that another good catch by Carpenter.  Kline than stepped to the plate and singled in the 5^th run of the Inning for the Cubs.  Manager Fabian field his team of Seguin (P), Poke (1b), Boswell (3B), Carpenter (LCF), Hartley (SS), Aufiero(RCF), Bess (OF), Abney (MF), Fabian,(2B), Dudley (C), McPartlan (RF) Abramoff and Morey.  Braves went down 1 2 3 in the first.  Looked like and easy game for the Cubs.  Not so.  Cub sent 10 batters up and 9 batters down in the next 3 innings. 

Meanwhile the Braves had doubles off the bats of Carpenter and Aufiero, and singles from Abramoff and Abney for 2 runs in the second.  After two score was Cubs 5 Braves 2.  Braves added another run in the 3^rd on singles from Fabian, Dudley and Morey driving in the run.  In the bottom of the 4^th Poke, Carpenter, Hartley, Aufiero, singled Abramoff walked and Abney drove in the fourth and final run of the inning.  After four score was Cubs 5 Braves 7.  After all that up and down stuff Cubs came back to tie the game in the 5^th.  Cubs came back with another 5 run inning to take a 12 to 7 lead.  Poke led off the last of the 6^th inning with a long blast over the left center fielder head for a triple, and the rest of the team followed suit and rallied again to tie the game at 12.

 Cubs came up with another 3 runs on base hits from Jones, Kline, Leggett and Welton.  Both teams added two runs in the 8^th.  Cubs managed 2 in the top of the 9^th and then held the Braves scoreless in the bottom of the inning.  Final score Cubs 19 Braves 14. Well played game from both teamed with a few hic ups.

Leading hitter for the Cubs:  Andrews 4 for 4 Dbl, HR, Thompson 3 for 4, Shaffer 3 for 3 walk, Taylor and Guspyt both 3 for 4, Kline 4 for 4 and winning pitcher. 

Leading hitters for the Braves:  Poke 3 for 4 3B-HR, Carpenter 4 for 4, Aufiero 3 for 4, Abney 3 for 3 walk

Write up by Don Lamay

NO DOUBLE HEADERS ON TUESDAY, FEB. 23rd.


Games will be played as the regular schedule indicates. Makeup games will be made at the end of the season for the National League. The American League will make sure that all teams have played each other the same amount of times.  See your manager if you have any questions.
Don Witmer

Tigers and Rays

Today's game on Field D was between the Tigers and Rays.

Tigers led by Russ King pickup two players--Bill Rutan was a big help. He hit a grand slam in the 5th inning.

The Tigers scored in every inning except one. They scored 5 runs in the other innings except one. They were led by hitters:

Joe L. 4-5, one home run

BJ Kalliser 4-5

Hector 4-5

Art Zakowski 3-4

Fred D. 4-4

Bill Rutan 4-4 one home run

The Rays managed by Larry Powell only scored 4 runs in 7 innings. They did add  4 in the eight inning and 1 in the ninth with the help of the flip top rule.

Leading hitters were:

Gary B. 3-5

Donnie Torok 3-4 one double

Bob Hite 3-4

Gary T. 3-4

Special Note: Harlan Lautenschlager had two stents put in last Friday and had two hits.

Final Score was Tigers 31 and Rays 9

Submitted by Larry Powell

Pride Vs Motown

Well played game by both sides, but Josh Wells pitching was key.  Josh shut down the Pride by pitching 7 scoreless innings, aided by some nice defensive plays by Hicks, Fox, Essenmacher, and McKinnon.  Nice job boys!!!!!  Motown scored 5 in the first inning and that proved to all they needed, final score was 18-2.  Leading hitters were:

J.D. Pride

Rad 2-4

Keller 2-4

Denny 2-4

Smith 2-4

Coffman 2-3

J.D. Motown

Hicks 2-4

Hamilton 1-2   2 walks

McKinnon 2-3

Held 3-4

Essenmacher 1-1   3 walks

Guzzo 2-3

D'Herin 3-4

Reponen 2-3

Fox 2-4

Friday Feb.19, 2016.
A very hard fought game between Jeff Simon's visitors and Fabian's home team. Jeff's team started off with 3 runs in the top of the first thanks to our usual first inning jitters and errors. Fabian's came back with 4 in the bottom of the first. Although close the whole game, Fabian's team never relinquished the lead and the game ended up 21-14. 

Fabian's team had a pool player because they were short handed and Dave was 3-3 and played a very solid second base. Thank you Dave.
    Leading hitters                              Leading hitters

Simon.           4-4.                             Bess.             3-4

 D. Hill.            2-4.                            Poke.             4-4

 R. Butler.        2-4.                            The BOZ.       4-4

 B. Bowley.      2-4.                            Minder.           3-4

Altemose.            2-4.                            Fabian.           2-3

Pat L.               2-4.                           Abramoff.        3-4

LaPointe.          2-4.                           Dudley.           3-4
                                                          Morey.            2-3

Simple Man

We had a rock solid game, on Field C, between Teams 9 and 7. It was “Old Time Rock and Roll”. The way we were playing ball, we could ‘Rock and Roll All Night”.  With those songs in mind, this write up will center around the music of the 70’s. See if you can recognize the songs in this article and maybe sing a few verses from the songs.  Just don’t sing too loud, I don’t want you to annoy your neighbors, or hurt your dog’s ears.

Team 9, Visitors, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”: Witmer, Gonzalez, Toro, Jacobson, Quinones, Brock, Pepin, Zelazny, Demmie, Constantine and Benson.

Team 7, Home, “Sultan’s Of Swing”: Ford, Stier, Doerbaum, DeRidder, Wiltshire, Alumbaugh, Burns, Gazarek, Matta, Thirey and Pinnick.

The Sultans of Swing lived up to their name. We had two 5 run innings, early in the game, in the first and third innings, to jump into the lead. We were “Reeling In The Years”, playing ball like young sluggers,  it left us with a “Sweet Emotion”, 

Ford, Stier, Doerbaum, DeRidder, Wiltshire, Alumbaugh and Burns all had big hits, we did our best to “Get It On, (Like Bang A Gong), Dave Dorbaum did his “Rocketman” impersonation and launched a HR into the palm trees, in left center.

Team, Heaven’s Door, must have thought, “What’s Going On”, They were on the “Long And Winding Road”, they were shut out in the first three innings, it would be a difficult task to climb back into the game, being down 10-0. They were on a “Bridge Over Troubled Water”,  But climb back they did; in the 4^th inning they hit the ball so hard they had smoke coming off it, you had to pour water on the ball to cool it off.  Even that did not help, they had “Smoke On The Water”, their hitting put them right back in it. Heaven’s Door wound up scoring 5 runs. Big hits came off the bats of Benson, Witmer, Gonzalez, Toro, Quinones and Zelazny.

The Sultans had no intention of singing “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, we put our hands to the plow, we had a lead and wanted to keep it. We continued to give our opponents some “Hot Stuff”, by spraying the ball all over the field. The way we were rounding the bases, baby, “We Were Born To Run”,

Meanwhile, team Heaven’s Door developed a case of “The Rockin Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu, they had trouble scoring.  By the top of the 9^th inning the score was Heaven’s Door: 9- Sultans: 22.

In the 9^th inning Heaven’s Door shook off their case of pneumonia and caught “Saturday Night Fever”, their bats were burning up the field. They sang, “You A’int Seen Nothing Yet”, as they pounded the ball. It took them a while to really get into the game, but now they were “Taking Care Of Business”,  They had the Sultan’s tumbling, like “Tumbling Dice”, Heaven’s Door hit through their batting order and scored 9 runs, in the 9^th inning. With this big rally going on, you would think the Sultan’s would fold, like a cheap tent, instead we decided to follow the Eagles advice and “Take It Easy”,  We retired the last two batters that we faced and ended the game. It was The Sultan’s who climbed the “Stairway to Heaven”. We won the game by a score of 22-20.

WP: Pinnick, with relief help from Doerbaum.

Gold Record Performers For The Visitors:

Jacobson: 3/5.

Quinones: 3/5 with a double.

Benson: 3/5.

Gold Record Performers For The Home Team:

Ford: 3/5.

Stier: 5/5.

Doerbaum: 5/5 with a HR and a double.

Wiltshire: 4/5 with a double.

Alumbaugh: 4/5.

Burns: 4/5 with a double.

Gazarek: 3/5 with a double.

Matta: 3/5.

We all enjoy competing and playing softball, but after the games are over, winning and losing is not the most important thing. What’s important in life is love and faith.

Simple Man.

Mama told me when I was young
"Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this it'll help you some sunny day"

"Oh, take your time, don't live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
You'll find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget, son, there is someone up above"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh, won't you do this for me, son, if you can"

"Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this, oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you, my son, is to be satisfied"

"And be a simple kind of man
Oh, be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man

Write up by Nick Matta

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 19th


There is a lot happening tomorrow. The games on FIELD A have been canceled and rescheduled for Friday March 4th. The rest of the National League is scheduled for double headers. The American League is scheduled for double headers but we may only play one game tomorrow and drop a set of games at the end of the season due to the number on injuries on each team. When you come to the ball park tomorrow, be flexible.


HALL OF FAME TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE TOMORROW. PLEASE BUY YOUR TICKETS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WE CAN GET A HEAD COUNT FOR THE CATERER. SEE RON THOMPSON FOR TICKETS. 

Tuesday Feb. 16th

No games in Winter Haven. Fields under water. See you Friday. Don't forget to get your Hall of Fame dinner tickets from Ron Thompson on Friday.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE DROID

Tuesday, Feb 9th
Elmer Black's Expo's and Loren Fabian's Braves battled to 16-15 after 6 innings but the Braves could score no more in the last 3 frames while Elmer's team put up 5 in both the 7th and 8th for a 26-15 victory.
Submitted by Loren Fabian

February 9, 2016

​American League​

Winter Haven DiamondPlex Field E

 

Joe D’Herin’s “Devils” took on JD Pride in a hard fought battle that ended in a Devil victory, 21-17, but JD Pride put up a tough fight, playing two men short. The Devils fielded 13 players: Hicks, Hamilton, McKinnon (showing off a very large splint on his left hand due to an injury last time these two teams met), Held, Farinas, Guzzo, D’Herin, Weiland, Essenmacher, Fox, Reponen, Negrin and Wells (winning pitcher), while JD Pride had only nine in the batting order: Rivera, Pcholinski, Keller, Jacobs, M. Gonzalez, Denny, Coffman, Capozzi, and Crowell.

The Devils started the first with a five run explosion, with seven base hits total. JD Pride came back in the third with a seven inning game, sending ten men to the plate, being led by Keller’s double and Pcholinski’s triple. They actually made no outs as they tied up the game, 8-8. The Devils then pulled away, scoring five in the fifth, five in the seventh and three in the ninth. JD Pride came back, scoring two in the sixth and two more in the eighth.  They were down by ten going into the bottom of the ninth, when they got six, but fell short by four.

The leading hitters for the Devils were:

          Hicks  5/5

          Hamilton  4/5

          McKinnon  3/4 and a sac

          Held  3/5

          Farinas  5/5

          Guzzo  3/4

          Weiland  3/4

          Essenmacher  3/4 with a triple

          Fox 2/3  with a walk

​T​

he leading hitters for JD Pride were:

          Pcholinski  4/7 with a triple

          Keller  5/6 with a double and triple

          Jacobs  4/6

          M. Gonzalez  4/5 with a walk

          Denny  4-6

Submitted by Greg Denny

On field C on Fri., 2/12, the Marlins led by mgr. Simon played the cubs led by mgr LaMay.  This was a seven inning game and was close almost all the way.  The teams were tied at 13 runs apiece after 4 innings.  LaMay's visiting cubs  went scoreless in the fifth and sixth while Simon's Marlins tallied one run in the fifth and two more runs in the sixth  to take a 3 run lead into the last frame.  The cubs scored 4 runs in the top of the seventh to take a slim one run lead.  In the bottom of the seventh the marlins went three and out and the win went to the cubs.  Leading batters for the cubs:  Andrews 3-4, Thompson 4-4, Kline 4-4, Miller 4-4, Waddell 2-3, Leggett 3-3, Lee Baker 2-3:  Leading batters for the Marlins were:  Vandenburg 2-3 BB, Butler 3-4, Accetta 2-3, Simon 3-3, Fryzowitz 2-3, O'Callaghan 2-3, Bowley 2-3, Altemose 3-3, LoPiccolo 3-3.  The WP was Waddell   The final score was The cubs winning 17-16.
Submitted by Jeff Simon

Winter Haven Senior Softball

American League

February 12, 2016

Freddie’s Angels vs. JD Pride

Winter Haven DiamondPlex Field B

 

Another sad day for JD PRIDE as they barely fielded a team, again.  They did bring a promising rookie up to the big leagues, Danny Parker, who pitched a decent game, but the Pride bats just weren’t there, as they lost to the first place team, Freddie’s Angels, 20-10. The Angels scored at least one run in every inning, except the fifth, leading 20-3 before the Pride brought nine men to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, producing eight hits and seven runs.  Leading the final charge was another rookie, Ray Roy, who lead off the inning with a triple, completing a perfect day (3/3 and a sacrifice fly).  But it was not enough, as they lost again, 20-10.

 

The leading hitters for the Angels were:

          F. Gonzalez  3/5  with two doubles

          Toro  4/5

          Brock  4/5  with a double

          Zelazny  3/4

          Deemie  3/4

         

         

The leading hitters for JD Pride were:

          Rivera  3/5  with a double

Pcholinski  3/5  with a double

          Keller  3/4 with a triple and a sac. fly        

          Roy  3/3  with a triple

         

Submitted by Greg Denny

Motor City Madness

Since several of the players from team 10 are from Michigan, this article concerning Friday’s game will center around the state and on the Motor City. Michigan employs 134,000 workers in the motor vehicle industry. The Big 3 auto makers, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler were all formed and headquartered in Detroit by 1924. Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. Michigan is known for it’s great sports programs at Michigan State and the University of Michigan. 

The Detroit Tigers are a solid baseball team with a rich history. The Red Wings and Pistons have multiple championships. The Lions have had many star players. Of course, at WHSS we are blessed to have many good senior athletes playing ball here.

Ford Mustangs, Visitors, Team 10: Hicks, Hamilton, McKinnon, Held, Farinas, Essenmacher, Guzzo, D’Herin,  RePonen, Negrin, Fox, Wieland and Wells.

Chevy Camaros, Home, Team 7: Gazarek, Stier, Doerbaum, Wiltshire, DeRidder, Alumbaugh, Matta, Burns, Thirey and Pinnick.

The Mustang car was revving its’ engine and racing around the base paths, while the Camaro was miss firing and only running on a few cylinders. I think the Mustangs snuck a few Detroit Tiger players on to their team. The name Michigan comes from a French word, mishigamaa, meaning large water. The Mustangs hits flowed like water down a “UP”, waterfall, as they had 4-5-5-and 4 run innings, in the first 4 innings of play. Team Camaro had a radiator leak; we only scored 7 runs in the first 4 innings. We just did not hit well today. We could not hit water, with a paddle, if we were in a boat, on Lake Michigan. Give credit to Josh Wells, for a well pitched game, and a strong defense.

Another reason the Camaro team struggled today was that we missed the bat of one of our key players, who lives just north of Detroit, in Canada. Pat Drouilard has not been able to play ball with us this year because of health reasons.  We miss your bat Pat, more than that, we miss hearing from you, seeing you and spending time with you. Get well soon, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

The Mustangs shifted into low gear in the last 3 innings of the 7 inning game.  They scored a total of 4 more runs. The Camaro team never got in gear, this game. The final score was Mustangs: 22-Camaros: 8. 

The Camaro team will spend a little time in the garage, getting a tune up, we will be back racing around the ball field next week, hitting on all cylinders.

WP: Wells

Leading Hitters For The Mustangs:

Hicks: 4/4 with a double.

McKinnon: 2/2 with a HR and a walk.

Held: 3/4 with a double.

Farinas: 3/4  with a walk.

Essenmacher: 2/2 with a walk and a SF.

Guzzo: 2/2 and 2 walks.

Wieland: 3/4.

Leading Hitters For The Camaros:

Doerbaum: 3/4 with a double.

DeRidder: 4/4.

Alumbaugh: 3/4.

Burns: 4/4.

Thirey: 3/4.

Submitted by Nick Matta

Fabian vs Powell

Loren Fabian team was the visitors and Larry Powell team was the Home Team.

The Visitors started off by scoring four runs in the first and five in the second.

The Home team was only able to score six runs in the first two innings, but scored 6 in the third inning to tie the game. 

The Visitors scored in every inning with every player getting at least one hit to win the seven inning game by the final score of 25-19.

Leading hitters for the Visitors:

Poke 3-5 one home run

Ralph Boswell 4-5

Carpenter 5-5 two doubles

Hartley 5-5 two home runs

Bess 5-5 two doubles

Leading hitters for the Home Team:

Jerry Remington 3-4

Donnie Torok 4-4 one triple

Gary Burtner 3-4

Fern Borrelli 3-3

Submitted by Larry Powell

Friday, Feb 12th - Field A


Russ Kings Tigers took on Elmer Blacks Expos in a nail biter on Field A. Great game could have gone either way. Tie game into the 7th. Expos got a run to go ahead 14 to 13. Bottom of 7th inning Mike Stepp singled, next a force out, next infield fly, 2 outs, man on first. Steve Hill double over fence, 2nd and 3rd 2 out. Fred Damper int.walked. Bases loaded and Bill McLellan hits one over for the win.


Write up by Russ King

GAMES ARE  ON IN WINTER HAVEN TOMORROW - NO DOUBLEHEADERS


There is a youth tournament being held at the Diamondplex this weekend and the City needs additional time to set up the fields. We will play our regularly scheduled games but they will be limited to seven innings. Batting practice should be limited to 5 or 6 swings so we can start the games on time or early.


Rainout games may be made up at the end of the season for the National League and the American League may use the week before the Playoffs for rainouts. The Board is looking at options and will have a decision soon.


Don Witmer, Copmmissioner

WILD THING

The Wild Things, Visitors: Ford, Stier, Wiltshire, Doerbaum, Alumbaugh, Seguin, Matta, DeRidder, Burns, Thirey and Pinnick. The song, "Wild Thing" was made popular by a group called the Troggs, it reached #1, on the Billboard record chart , in 1966.

The Soul Men, Home Team: Witmer, F. Gonzalez, Toro, Jacobson, Quinones, Brock, Pepin, Zelazny, Benson, Deemie, Ogden, Constantine and Vanderhyde. "Soul Man" was written by Isaac Hayes and was performed by Sam and Dave, the song hit #1, in 1967.

This article will describe the game action of the WHSS, American League game, between the two teams listed above, by looking at the music of the 60’s. See if you can recognize these great songs from yesteryear, or as the Beatles would say, from ”Yesterday”. In the first three innings, the Soul Men had “Good Vibrations”, hitting some sweet notes, they soared and scored 9 runs. The top of their lineup, (Witmer, Gonzalez, Toro, Jacobson and Quinones) scored all the runs in those 3 innings.  Meanwhile, The Wild Things, were in a “Purple Haze”,  managing to score only 4 runs in the first third of the contest. The Wild Things had a “Bad Moon Rising”. Not only were they behind in the score, they lost a key player when Scott Seguin went down with a muscle pull.  After 3 innings the score was The Wild Things: 4- Soul Men: 9. For The Wild Things, we felt like we had a red door, “Painted Black”. It was a “Hard Day’s Night”.

In the 4^th inning, The Wild Things got a brand new bag of runs, as in “Pappa’s Got A Brand New Bag”. After seeing 5 runs cross the plate, James Brown expressed our emotions, “I Feel Good”. We had “A Ticket To Ride” again, in the 5^th inning, as we scored another 5 runs. Although everyone in The Wild Thing lineup was hitting well, the end of the lineup, especially Nick Burns and Tim Thirey got around the bases exceptionally well, as in, “I Get Around”.  Nick was 6/6 in the game, with a triple. Not to be out performed, Tim was 6/6 with a HR.                                                                                       After 6 innings the score was The Wild Things: 14- Soul Men: 11.

The game stayed close until the 9^th inning. That is when The Wild Things went wild. We had a “Revolution”, it made us “Glad All Over”. Base hits seemed to be falling all over the place, even “Under The Boardwalk”, or so it seemed. In truth some of the hits were line shots, others were just “Blowin In The Wind”. We scored 10 runs in the 9^th inning. After seeing that performance, I know, “I’m A Believer”, in this team. Maybe it was “The Time Of The Season” for us to bring out the bats. Ray Charles had “Georgia on My Mind”, we had scoring on our mind.

The Soul Men did not just stand around and cry “96 Tears” they came out in the bottom of the inning and tried to give us the “Runaround Sue”. They scored 6 runs. They seemed to hit the ball everywhere, they would even hit it “All Along The Watchtower”, if that were possible.  At that point, Righteous Brother, pitcher, Steve Pinnick, who had pitched a strong game, needed some relief. He had “Lost That Lovin’ Feelin”, as in the Righteous Brothers hit, “You’ve Lost That Lovin Feelin”. The other Righteous Brother, Big Dave Doerbaum, came in to pitch and he managed to close things down. Like the Roy Orbison’s hit, the Soul Men were left “Crying”, while The Wild Things were “Dancing In The Streets”. After the game manager, Freddy Gonzalez, wanted his team to “Stand By Me”, he knows they have a strong team and will be in the running for a championship. Both team enjoyed competing, we had “Hot Fun in The Summertime”, even though it is not summer and it was not hot. Final Score: The Wild Things: 27- Soul Men: 22. Solid Gold defensive plays were turned in by Alumbaugh, Matta and Brock.

WP: Steve Pinnick

Leading Hitters For The Wild Things:

Ford: 4/6.

Stier: 5/6 with a triple and a double.

Wiltshire: 4/6 with a double.

Doerbaum: 3/6 with a HR.

Matta: 5/6 with a double.

Burns: 6/6 with a triple and a double.

Thirey: 6/6 with a HR.

Leading Hitters For The Soul Men.

Witmer: 3/5 with a double.

Gonzalez: 4/5 with two doubles and a triple.

Toro: 3/5.

Jacobson: 4/5 with two triples.

Quinones: 3/4 and a SF.

Brock: 4/5.

Zelazny: 4/4 and a SF.

Write Up By Nick Matta