Winter Haven Senior Softball

Tuesday, February 27th

It Does Not Sparkle, But It Is A Diamond That I Treasure.

“A drop in the ocean.” “If we take care of the moments; the years will take care of themselves.” “In the catbird seat.” “A single arrow is easily broken; a bundle of ten is not.”   We are going to look at the game on 2/27, between the A’s and the Tigers, by looking at some wise old sayings. Some of you guys were around years ago, when some of these quotes were wise young sayings.

“Let’s get the ball rolling”, by announcing the lineups.

A’s, Visitors: Hicks, Doerbaum, Wiltshire, Shirer, Matta, Vanderhyde, Zelazny, Crowell, Deemie and Bancroft.

Tigers, Home: Stier, Keller, Held, Gonzalez, Witmer, Watson, Scarbrough, Murphy, Knox, LaPinnet, Polk and Pinnick.

The A’s “hit the ground running” in the first inning. (The phrase was referenced for paratroopers in WWII. It was also used as a phase to describe action in a gun fight, in the old west. {“The bullet went under me. I knew he had five more cartridges, so I hit the ground running...”}. In our case it was not quite as dramatic as war, or a gun fight. We simply got off to a fast start and scored 5 runs in the first inning. Hicks, Doerbaum, Wiltshire, Shirer, Vanderhyde and Zelazny all singled, or walked, to contribute to the stash of runs. “Little strokes fell great oaks”, is how Ben Franklin put it.

“Regret for wasted time is more wasted time”, Mason Cooley. “Forget about their hitting, get off your butt and smash the ball”; Joe D’Herin. (Note from author, I may have taken some liberties with the D’Herin quote). The Tigers came to the plate with a twinkle in their eyes, pop in their bats and no regrets. After a leadoff sizzling line out, from Stier, the hits flowed from Keller, Held, Gonzalez, Witmer and Watson. Scarbrough added a sac fly to help the scoring spree. After one inning of play the score was A’s: 5-Tigers: 4.

In the 2^nd inning both teams continued on their “feeding frenzy”. A term attributed to sharks and to WHSS players on free KFC meal days at the ballpark. Abraham Lincoln said, “actions speak louder than words”. Both teams let their bats speak for them in the 2^nd inning. The A’s scored 4 runs off of hits by Crowell, Deemie, Hicks, Doerbaum; (walk), Shirer and Matta.

Shakespeare said, “Do not be like the cat who wanted a fish, but was afraid to get his paws wet.” Knox, Pinnick, Stier; (triple), Keller and Held wet their paws and produced three fish. After two innings the score was A’s: 9-Tigers:

The score stayed close until the 6^th inning, that’s when close became a tie. For the Tigers; Knox singled, LaPinnet bounced a double off the left field fence. Then two outs were recorded in the book. That famed philosopher of the hardwood, Michael Jordan said, “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.” The Tigers continued their rally with two outs, taking a negative situation and turning it. Stier, Keller, Held and Gonzalez all added hits. After six innings the score was A’s: 14-Tigers: 14.

In the last three innings the challenge came out to the A’s players, from coach Matta, to “win every inning”. The team responded; not to the challenge, but to their own inner strength and abilities. The last three innings the A’s “tripped the light fantastic”. We scored 10 more runs and played good defense to limit the Tigers to a few more runs. Randy Crowell had made several good defensive plays throughout the game. He made another in the 9^th, from his position at 3^rd base, Randy speared a hot line drive to get the first out in the 9^th. “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, or as someone else proclaimed; “Eat an apple on going to bed, and you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread." I have a quote of my own, “catch the apple in the field and no runs will you yield”; nice job, Randy.

Final Score; A’s: 24-Tigers: 17.

Thanks to Joe D’Herin for umpiring.

The A’s Players Who Mastered the Philosophy of Hitting.

Hicks: 4/6.

Wiltshire: 4/5, with a SF and a triple.

Shirer: 4/6, with a triple that was inches from a HR over the fence. Also, a double.

Matta: 3/5 and a walk.

Vanderhyde: 5/6, with a double and a triple.

Crowell: 5/6, with a double.

Deemie: 4/6.

The Tiger’s School Of Hitting Instructors:

Stier: 3/5, with a triple.

Keller: 4/5, with a double.

Held: 5/5, with a double.

Gonzalez: 3/ 4, and a walk.

Witmer: 3/5.

Watson: 3/5.

Knox: 3/5.

 “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams”, John Barrymore.

Stay young my friends.

Written by Nick Matta.