Tuesday November 29, 2016

Field C was a game played by two National League teams.  Making his managing debut was Larry Strait as the boss of the home team.  Head guy for the Visitor’s was the veteran Elmer Black.  Elmer’s team batted in this order: Andrews, D. Hill, McLellan, Shaffer, Schapler, Black, Taylor, Leggett, Powell, Bloom, Lopiccolo, Welton and LaMay.  Larry’s team took the field and batted ln this order:  Spitaleri, Mahon, Lopez, S. Hill, Grabb, Hawbacker, Remington, Strait, Learn, Kline, Thompson, Witter, McPartlan, and L. Baker.  Witter took the mound and allowed the visitors one run in each of the first three innings.  The home team (like the 1929 Yankees) could only manage 5 runs in each of the first four innings.  After four the score was 20 to 6.  The visitors pitching for the last few inning held the home team to only 4 runs the rest of the way.  But the visitors could manage only two more runs and the game ended Visitors 8 Home Team 24.

It was still a good game and lots of fun and exercise for the home team but you know the visitors each got to bat one more time then the home team.  The 8^th inning was a flip-flop and the visitors batted for six outs. 

Not many errors posted on the score sheet this game.  Spitaleri was 3 for 4, Mahon 3 for 4 w/HR, Lopez 3 for 4, S. Hill 3 for 4, Grabb 3 for 3 w/W, Remington 3 for 4, Strait 3 for 4 and the rest of the home guys all had 1 or 2 hits.  Top hitters for the visitors were McLellan 4 for 4, Shaffer 3 for 4, Black 3 for 4, Taylor 4 for 4 and Leggett 3 for 4.

Great game guys,

 

Written by Don LaMay

Friday November 25, 2016  Field D

Black Friday was anything but Black at the old ball park (Diamond Plex) in Winter Haven Florida.  Bright sunny sky and temp around 72 at game time.  Some of the fellows had too much turkey and others were out of town visiting family for the Holiday.  Field D had two team of 10 players each.  Teams were managed by Fabian for the visitors and LaMay for the home team.  Fabian’s Flyers flew out of the batter’s box with Denny, Burns, Laffoon, Levesque, Remington, Jones, Morton, Wells, Dudley and Fabian.  LaMay’s Loffers batted in this order, Hite, Marino, Capozzi, Aufiero, S. Hill, Waddell, Roy, Kline Lapointe and LaMay. 

First inning the Flyers loaded the bases but were unable to push across any runs. The Loffers after one out had six hits in a row and tallied 4 runs.  Second inning only run that crossed the plate was by the home team.  Then the slug fest was on with the Flyers and Denny having 4 for 7, Burns 5 for 6, Laffoon 5 for 7, Levesque 4 for 7, Remington 4 for 7, Jones 4 for 7, Morton 4 for 7, Fabian 4 for 7 and Wells and Dudley each had 3 hits.  The Loffers with Hite going 4 for 6, Marino 5 for 6, Capozzi 4 for 6, Aufiero 6 for 6, S. Hill 6 for 6, Waddell 6 for 6, Roy 3 for 6, Lapointe 5 for 6 and Kline and LaMay each added 2 hits.

That pretty much tells the story, but after trailing by a score of 13 to 6 the visitors came alive with 7 runs in the 5^th to tie the game.  The home team came back with 5 runs in each of the next 3 innings to get a comfortable lead.  Again the visitors turned to their hot bats and pushed across 8 runs.  Home team came back with 3 runs in the bottom of the 8^th and the never give up Flyers added another 6 runs in the top of the 9^th and the game ended 29 for the visitors and 31 for the home team.  That was a good way to run off some of the turkey and stuffing from our Thanksgiving dinner. 

Home runs for the day were Aufiero (2) and S. Hill (2) and Morton.

Great day guys.

 

Write Up By Don LaMay

The day after Thanksgiving proved to be a good day for softball in Winter Haven. Sixty-one ball players showed up to play ball in the warm and sunny skies of Florida. Six teams were made of ten players each. Mr. Joe D'Herin volunteered to catch for two teams in the American League. We would have had more players in the American League but Rudy LaPointe said Brian Busch was thinking about taking up Line Dancing since he is getting hammered at third base. We hope that Brian will change his mind. Joe was needed on the home team when Bill Mutch had to leave the game with a pulled muscle. Bill caught for a couple of innings until the pain put him in the stands. Nick Matta pulled a hamstring going from first to third on a nice base hit by Donnie Held. Nick had to leave the game and the visitors were left with nine players. The home team furnished the visitors a first baseman and the game continued. Final score was visitors 14 and the home team 13. The home team had the tying and winning runs on base when Rad (in his pajamas) snagged a line drive to end the game.


The games on the other two fields were slug fests. With no middle infielder on either field, the batters took advantage of the open middle and pounded out the runs. The scores were over 30 runs for all four teams. Hopefully someone will write up those games and we will have the exact number of runs scored.


The fans in our stand were the Matta family. Nick's wife Lisa and two of his girls were there to watch the game. Joe D'Herin's wife Nancy and his youngest son from California with his wife and family were part of the fans. It is always nice to have family watching the games.


Write Up by Don Witmer 

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2016

We had to play a three team game on Field C today. If we had just a few more players we could have made 8 teams. The National League continues to put up a lot of runs. Final score was Hills Hammers 19, Witters Wonders 16, and Fabians Flyers 9. Home runs were hit by Steve Hill and Bill McCellan for the winners. Dean Schapeler definately had the catch of the day in left field running towards the fence and puts his glove up backhanded and the ball stuck in it. Great catch Dino. 

Fans in the stands were Judy, Sally, Pat, Katie and Suzie with China Doll the dog. See ya Friday. 

Write Up by Loren Fabian.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING


We are playing softball tomorrow in Winter Haven. Be there at 8:30 and we will try to get the games started by 9:00. It is a holiday for the City so we are on our own for field conditions.


REMINDERS:


1) SANTA CALLING IS ON FOR THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8TH AT THE CITY HALL IN WINTER HAVEN. IT STARTS AT 6:00 PM AND GOES TO 8:00 PM. THE CITY WILL PROVIDE REFRESHMENTS. PLEASE SIGN UP.


2) The cutoff date for being drafted on a team is November 30th. If you have not signed up and paid your fees by then, you will be placed in the pool. Pool players are not guaranteed to play. We have approximately 150 ball players signed up at this time. There will be at least 10 teams.


3) The draft for the American League will be on Friday, December 9th. The draft for the National League will be on Tuesday, December 13th. If you want to opt out of the draft for the American League, please let a me or a board member know. If you decide to go into the pool and did not mark your application as such, let me or a board member know.


4) There will be a rules meeting for all managers and board members on Tuesday, December 20th after the games. It is important that all managers be there so everyone understands the rules that we will be playing by for the 2017 season. If you are interested in managing a team, see a board member or Don Witmer.


5) The league will officially start on Tuesday, January 3rd. The ending date of the league has not been determined yet.


6) The game times will change on Tuesday, December 6th. Starting that Tuesday, be at the ball park no later than 9:00 AM and we will try to begin the games no later than 9:30 AM. We should be having 8 teams by then and it is important to be there on time so we can get the teams made by
9:30 AM.


7) Enjoyment Books are on sale now. It is not to early to buy your neighbor a book for Christmas. See Don Witmer to purchase a book. They are still $30.00.


8) We still need sponsors to help support our program. If you know anyone who is interested in sponsoring a team we need to know by December 1st. The cost to sponsor a team is $250.00 and the sponsor will get their business name or logo on the back of a league shirt.


Have A Happy Thanksgiving.


Don Witmer, Commissioner    

Friday November 18, 2016  Field E.

A two team was played today on Field E. of National League players managed by Black and Powell.  Black’s visitors lined up like this: Spitaleri, Zakrowski, Waddell, Lopez, Livingston, Bloom, Witter, Black, Strait, Dudley and G. Baker.  Powell’s team took the field but batted in this order:  Accetta, Bess, McNiven, Remington, Fabian, Thompson, Powell, LaPointe, Leggett, Merritt and LaMay.

This game started out as a slugfest and ended the same.  Black’s team batted 9 players in the first inning and pushed 5 runs accross.  Powell’s team also batted 9 in the first and scored 4 runs.  By the score sheet the visitors had a total of 40 hits and the home teams total was 26.  The final score was Visitors 28 and Home team 13.

While there were many good fielding plays today the one that stood out in this game was a play made by Fabian running toward left and catching a line drive headed for the gap in left center field.  Great catch Loren.

Write up by Don LaMay

Field C. National league 3 team game. 

      Some people said this might be the most runs scored in a 3 team game. Final was Fabians Flyers 29, Powell's Powers 20, Lamay's (his team). 18.  For a total of 67. WOW. !!!  

Fans in the stands were Sally Strait, Pat Merrit, Nancy Frazier, Alice LaMay and Suzie McLellan  

Fantastic. 

I like to highlight defensive plays and there were 3 fantastic ones today. One by Don Schapeler in centerfield of an on the run catch in right center. The same thing by Nick Burns in right center and a fantastic diving catch by Robert Spitaleri at shortstop. 

Managers and score keepers need to keep better books and spell better so we can do decent write ups. Thank you. Yes ---- Richie Marino you were 5-5. Others were also but I couldn't read names and the book. 

Write up by Loren Fabian

Tuesday November 8, 2016

Two National League teams played on field C today. Visitors Managed by Black led off with Bess, followed with Boswell, Capozzi, Shaffer, Ridley, Black, Lapointe, Dudley, Welton, LaMay, Strait, Lopiccolo, and Altemose.  Home team Managed by Ridley lined up in this order:  S. Hill, Remington, Accetta, Learn, D. Hill, Thompson, Martinez, L. Baker, Fabian, Witter, McPartlan and Bloom.  In the first inning Bess led off with a single moved to 2^nd on an error and scored on a double by Shaffer for the only run for the visitors in the first.  After a long fly out to 2^nd base by S. Hill, Remington singles as did Accetta, after 2 were out singles by D. Hill, Thompson and Martinez, three runs had crossed home plate.  End of one Visitors 1 Home 3.

In the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th innings the visitors batted 4 hitters(?) and failed to score.  In the meantime the home team hitters(?) batted 4 in the 2^nd, 5 in the 3^rd and 5 in the 5^th without scoring a run.  Score remained the same at the end of the first inning.  H-1, V-3.  At this point the hitters(?) were wondering what was going on.  The reason was excellent pitching by Ridley for the Visitors and Witter for the Home team.  Witter continued his performance for 3 more innings by posting O’s while his team squeezed across a run in the 5^th and 3 more in the 6^th.  Score now 7 to 1 for the home team.  Boswell lead off the 8^th with a long drive over left center fielder for a home run.  The homer woke up the visitors as Capozzi, Shaffer, Ridley and Lapointe all singled and 3 runs were across the plate.  Ridley than threw to zeros at the home guys and the score was Home 7 and Visitors 4.  Witter got his touch back in the top of the 9^th and set the visitors down 1 2 3 in the final at bat. 

Fielding play of the game was a long fly off the bat of Jerry Remington to left center field and Denny Shaffer making an excellent catch while running toward the fence. 

Leading hitter for visitors was Boswell 2 for 3 with HR

Hittters for the home team.  Accetta 2 for 4, D. Hill 2 for 4, Martinez 3 for 3 Bloom 2 for 3.

Winning Pitcher – Witter   Great job by both pitchers. 

No game next Friday, Veterans Day. 

Written by Don LaMay

NO GAMES ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11th


This coming Friday is Veterans Day. It is a holiday for the City of Winter Haven and there is a youth baseball tournament on Saturday, November 12th. Therefore, we will not play ball on Veterans Day this year.


On this special day, please reflect on the many great things that our Veterans have done for this country. Celebrate this day and remember to thank a Veteran for the freedoms that we have.


Don Witmer, Commissioner

Friday November 4^th  Field B

Field B (the sun field at this time of year) was two teams of National League players.  It was not the Cubs and Dodgers for sure.  But a lot of good playing and some very poor writing on the score sheet.  Maybe some names misspelled (sorry about that).

Visitors batted in this order.  S. Hill, Altamose, Accetta, Strait, Spitaleri, Lopiccolo, Witter, Bess, Dudley, Leggett, LaMay.  Home team lined up in this order.  Grabb, D. Hill, Lopez, B. Mohan, Learn, Thompson, Ridley, Jones, Merritt, L Baker, and Yarletts.

Visitors started with 3 runs in the first and the home team countered with 5 runs in the bottom of the inning. The game then see-sawed until the 5^th inning when the visitors tallied 5 and added 5 more in the 6^th and 8^th innings to cause a reverse flip-flop rule and the game ended with the score at 25 for the Visitors and 16 for the home team. 

Leading hitters.  Well looking on the score sheet every inning 3 outs were made for each team and the rest were hits.  Two of the outs were made by the writer of this article by posting K’s.

Posted by Don LaMay

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1

A well played game in the National League and there were three games total today. 2 in the National and 1 in the American. Snowbirds are coming. We'll be having 4 games shortly. Come on Don LaMay and friends get down here. 

This one started off as a blow out for Capozzi's Crusaders as they were up 9-1 over Fabian's Flyers after 2 innings. Then the Crusaders bats went silent till the 5th when they put up 4 more runs but they mustered only 3 more in the final 3 innings for a total of 16. Meanwhile the Flyers scored in each of the last 5 innings with 5 in the 3rd, 2 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th, 5 again in the 6th, 2 in each of the 7th and 8th and did not have to bat in the 9th as they won it 20-16. 

Jimmy Laffoon had a fantastic game for the Flyers at short as I count on the score sheet, had 9 assists and nary an error. One of his assists was a little off target throw to Gene Baker at the plate that Gene picked off his shoe laces for an out. Great play guys. 

Crusaders hitting - - S. Hill 4-5,  Dean Schapeler 3-5,  Morton 5-5,  Acetta 4-5,  Bloom 3-5. 

Flyers hitting - - Dean Schapeler 3-5,  Laffoon 5-5 w/HR,  Taylor 3-6,  Levesque 4-5,  Fabian 4-5,  G. Baker 4-5. 

WP. Jerry Witter. 

Our fan in the stand was Nancy Frazier. 

See y'all Friday.

Write Up by Loren Fabian