NEWS FROM THE COMMISSIONER

I want to thank all of our players that came to Poinciana to continue league play until the COVID-19 Virus made us quit league ball and do to pick up ball. We are now through with pick up ball until this virus is contained and life gets back to normal. Hopefully in May
Mike O'Callaghan's American Legion team was the winner of the league. Mike was a first year manager and did a great job. His players were dedicated and it showed. They will receive a 2020 Championship Patch when we return to playing ball.
We held our annual election on Friday, March 20th at Poinciana. Bob Hite and Chris Constantine were elected to the Board and Don Witmer somehow managed to be Commissioner again. I think it was because nobody else ran for the job.
The 2020-2021 league application is on the website and can be printed. You will need to go to our website, click on registration, click on the link for the application, go the upper right corner of the page next to login, click on the three lines and you will get an option to print. You cannot right click on the application to print. It doesn't work. As usual, there will be plenty of hard copies of the application at the ball park when we get back to playing ball again.
For all of our Players and family that had to leave early to go home due the virus, I hope you made it home safely and will come back next year.
I will continue to update the website when I get information on when we may play ball again at the Diamondplex. Until then, Be Safe, follow the recommendations of the CDC, practice Social Distancing and be ready to play ball whenever we can.

Don Witmer, Commissioner
Winter Haven Senior Softball
 

Friday, March 20th

What a fantastic finish to a shortened and crippled league season. 

I want to commend Don Witmer, Bob Hite and the BOD for their dedicated work to make it so good until COVID-19 stepped up to the plate. Any one of our fantastic pitchers can and will end up striking it out. Especially Don Lamay, our inductee into the HOF this year who was also 4-4 today and 3-4 Tuesday in 3 team national league games. WAY TO GO DON!!!  By the way, I think he is 86 years old. 

We will beat COVID-19 and play another day, hopefully not far down the line. America does have a fantastic team working on stopping the virus. We all need to do our part. 

A special thank you to Bob and Melanie Hite for staying up half the night and making cookies for today. Ralph didn't get them all. 😆 lol. Our mascot Brandi got one that someone dropped in the parking lot. 

Fans in the stands today we're Betty Wells, Joyce Twinam, Sally Strait and Brandi. I also want to commend Tom Capozzi for a fine job of umpiring again. Thanks Tom. 

Now, onto the last game UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.  That game on Tuesday came down to the last inning between 2 of the 3 teams and the catch up team scored 8 in the open inning to win it. 

Today's teams were Hite, Strait and Fabian. Bob's team mustered a total of 8 runs to take home the bronze. Strait and Fabian seesawed the whole game with the Flyers scoring 2 in the bottom of the 7th to win it 21-20-8.   

Here are the hitters for all 3 teams. 

Burner 3-4. Hite 2-3. B.J. 3-4. Vandenburg 2-4. Remington 2-4. Benson 2-3. Learn 2-3.

Hill 4-5. Essenmacher 4-5. Boswell 4-5. Hudson 5-5. Wells 2-4. King 2-4. 

Coffman 3-4.  DeJoung 5-5. Morton 4-5. Rutan 4-5. Bertran 3-5. Zelazny 4-4. Lamar 4-4. Fabian 3-4. 

Again, congratulations Don Lamay and welcome newcomers including John Bertran.

Write up by Loren Fabian   

Polk County Parks

Bad news for the folks that want to have batting practice at Poinciana. Effective at 5:00 PM today, Saturday March 21, all Polk County Parks are closed for any activity.

Sent from my iPhone

WE ARE  PLAYING BALL TOMORROW, FRIDAY MARCH 20TH IN POINCIANA

We are playing ball in Poinciana tomorrow. It will be pickup ball for anyone who wants to come to Poinciana. This will be our last game until the COVID-19 virus is under control. Bob and Melanie Hite will have a surprise for everyone that shows up. Don't tell Ralph or there wont be enough for anyone else. 

The City of Winter Haven has closed the DiamondPlex for games, practice or anything else. We will not be allowed back there any time soon. I have been given several dates beginning at the end of April or maybe until the middle of May. No one knows what this virus is going to do. As soon as it is safe for everyone to get together again, I am sure the City will open up the fields for us to play again.  

Lets be safe out there. If you are not feeling well, don't come to the ball park. Be sure to wash your hands frequently. Don't expose yourself to unnecessary risks if you have neighbors or friends that have traveled outside the Good Old USA. We will do away with the customary hand shake after the game. Prayer Circles are welcome. Have fun. 

See you tomorrow in Poinciana.

Don Witmer, Commissioner   

ELECTIONS     ELECTIONS     ELECTIONS      ELECTIONS     ELECTIONS
In February, the Board of Directors announced there were two vacant positions on the Board of Directors and the Commissioners position was up for election. There has been a message board at the ball park letting everyone know about the vacant positions and requesting applications from anyone that is interested in serving on the Board or in the Commissioner position. The time to put in your application is over and there will be a General Election held this Friday, March 20th at the Poinciana ball fields. Ballots will be handed out to any WHSS member who is there.

There are 3 people running for the 2 vacant positions on the board. Chris Constantine, Loren Fabian and Bob Hite.

The commissioner, Don Witmer is running unopposed.

Please make sure that you vote before you leave the ball park.

Thanks.

Don Witmer, Commissioner

GAMES ARE ON IN POINCIANA TOMORROW, TUESDAY, MARCH 17TH. 

We are playing ball in Poinciana tomorrow. The Board of Directors has decided to end the season a little early and play pick up ball for anyone that wants to come to Poinciana. Most of our Canadian friends are heading back to Canada. Some Canadian Insurance companies have told them their insurance will not be good due to the "Pandemic" that has been declared by the CDC and the border from the USA may be closed soon. The ones that I played with in Lakeland today said they are leaving tomorrow. This will impact the "team" makeup.  Also, I do not want anyone to feel they are obligated to come to the ball park because their TEAM is playing. We have great people who will not miss a game if their TEAM is playing. If their are no teams, they just might not feel obligated to be at the ball park. 

We do not know what is going to happen beyond tomorrow. The County may decide, like other Counties and Cities have, that no organized sports will be allowed for a while. The CDC's crowd standard has been lowered to 50 people from 250 people. In this fluid environment, there are changes every day. Right now, we will be playing Friday in Poinciana. If that changes, I will let you know as soon as I can. 

Lets be safe out there. If you are not feeling well, don't come to the ball park. Be sure to wash your hands frequently. Don't expose yourself to unnecessary risks if you have neighbors or friends that have traveled outside the Good Old USA. We will do away with the customary hand shake after the game. Prayer Circles are welcome. Have fun. 

See you tomorrow in Poinciana.

Don Witmer, Commissioner   

Friday March 13th

Today on Field 3 at our home away from home, the Legion managed by Mike O'Callaghan, were home to the Braves, managed by Larry Strait.

Another nail biter between the Braves and Legion; final score Legion 25 to Braves 24.  With both teams combining for 80 hits and 49 runs.

I believe, if I'm not mistaken, this game was the straw that broke the camel's back as the Legion under Mgr. O'Callaghan clinched first place over all with four games remaining.  Special thanks has to go to Bob Zelazny who helped Mike in his selection of players in last December's draft. The lead in this game changed six times with Chris Constantine driving in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.  

The scoring went as below :

Innings 1     2 3     4 5 6    7 8 9         Total

Braves     1     0 5     2 2 5    0 7 2           24

Legion         3     2 0     5 4 5    4 1 1 25                     

Winning Pitcher: Larry Wells

As usual, many good hitters on each team.

Braves                                                                                             Legion

Burtner 5/6       2D, T                                                 Gibbons 5/6       D

Reed               6/6 3D                                               Boswell 5/5     2T

McLellan              4/6 D                                                 Laffoon 5/5 D

Remington           4/6 D                                                 Constantine 6/6      2D

Rutan                     3/5                                             Wells 3/5  

Lemay         3/4     BB                                                   Fryzowicz 5/5   

Strait                      4/5     Miller 3/5

Rich King               4/5                                               Shearer 2/4     BB

                                                                                                          Zakrowski             3/5   

     

Submitted by Elmer Black on behalf of Mgr. Mike.            

NOTICE    NOTICE    NOTICE     NOTICE     NOTICE.

There are a lot of sporting events that are cancelling games or playing without fans due to the CoronaVirus. We are not cancelling our games. We are playing softball tomorrow in Poinciana. If you have concerns about the Virus and do not want to play, it is understandable. If you have any of the symptons of the Virus, please do not come to the ball park. If you do not have any symptons, lets play ball. Below is a link to the Centers For Disease Control's (CDC) website for those of you that would like to know more about the Virus and how to take measures to keep from getting the Virus.

In the interest of Safety, I would like to eliminate the customary handshake after the games until this Virus is under control. Elbow bumps are fine. I will stop by WalMart in the morning and try to by Hand Sanitizer for each dugout. I understand there may be a shortage of hand sanitizer so you may want to bring your own.

See you in Poinciana tomorrow. Three more games and we are back to Winter Haven.

Don Witmer, Commissioner  


www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/prevention.html

Tuesday, March 10th

Capozzi's Cobras took on Fabian's Flyers today and beat up on them pretty bad for a final of 26-16. It would have been worse had the Flyers not scored 8 runs in the 3rd inning , being down 11-3 and tying it up. There was a fantastic running catch made by Curt Essenmacher in left field that even he did not think he would get to. 

Cobra hitters. DeJongh 4-6. Dampier 4-6. Gonzalez 5-6. Peace 5-6. Spigel 3-5. Ridley 4-6. Learn 3-5. Vandenburg 4-5. 

Flyer hitters. Essenmacher 3-5. Kallister 4-5. Hunter 5-5. Hite 4-5. McColgan 3-5. Fabian 3-4. 

See ya Friday. Write up by Loren Fabian. 

Tuesday March 10, 2020 Field 2

Visiting Dukes vs Home team Braves. Each team had 11 players today with the use of Pool players. Manager Steve Hill lead off for the Dukes followed by Vorhes, Zelazny, Jacobs, Morton, Hipel, Johnson, Altemose, Thompson, Andrews and L. Baker. Sub Manager LaMay had the Braves batting in this order: Burtner, LeTourneau, Reed, McLellan, Shaffer, Newton, Boito, Gallagher, LaMay, Witter, Lopiccolo.

The hitting shoes were on today with the Duke's scoring 5 runs in 6 of the nine innings. The Brave's had 3 innings of 5 runs but one of catchup with 7 runs. But in the ninth Brave's outscored the Duke's 5 to 4 for a final score of Braves 34 and Dukes 33.

Dukes hitters: Hill 3 for 6 with 2 DBLS, Zelazny 5 for 6, Jacobs 5 for 6, Morton 5 for 6 with 3 DBLS, Hipel 3 for 6, Johnson 3 for 6, Altemose 3 for 5, Andrew's 3 for 5 and Lee Baker 5 for 5.

Braves hitters: Burtner 5 for 7, LeTourneau 6 for 7 with 2 DBLS, Reed 6 for 7 with 2 HR and 3B. (Final HR in 9th was game winning Grand Slam), McLellan 4 for 6 with 2DBLS and 3B, Shaffer 6 for 6, Newton 4 for 6, LaMay 3 for 6, Witter 4 for 6, LoPiccolo 5 for 6.

See you at the Hall of Fame Dinner tonight.

Submitted by Don LaMay

HALL OF FAME BANQUET     HALL OF FAME BANQUET     HALL OF FAME BANQUET

Don't forget the hall of Fame Banquet is tonight, Wednesday, March 11th in Lakeland at the Sand Piper Golf and Country Club Recreation Center. The happy hour begins at 5:30, bring your own drinks. The meal will begin at 6:00 and the presentations will begin after the meal. The directions to the banquet are on the back of your ticket.

See you there.

Don Witmer

Tuesday, 3/6/20                                  Poinciana Community Park

Braves-Visitors vs. Cobras-Home
Braves started out slow with just 1 run in the first two innings from back-to-back doubles from Knox and Levesque in the 1^st.  Spitaleri led off the 1^st for the Cobras with a homerun followed by three consecutive hits for 2 more runs.  3-1 Cobras after 1.
Three more runs for the Cobras in the 2^nd capped by Vandenberg’s triple.  Braves struck back in the 3^rd for 5 with Knox’s homerun, double by Gallagher, capped by Purcell’s triple.  Cobras answered with 5 of their own in the bottom of the 3^rd with 5 hits including Ridley’s double and capped by DeYoung’s 3 run homerun.  11-6 Cobras after 3 complete.
4^th- Braves 0, Cobras 1 on 3 hits.  12-6 Cobras after 4.  Braves scored 10 runs over the next 2 innings with 5 doubles and total of 16 hits to catch up 16-16 middle of the 6^th.  Cobras scored 4 on five hits in the bottom of the 5^th and added 1 in the 6^th.  Cobras 17-16 after 6 complete. 
Both teams scored 3 in the 7^th with the Braves getting solo homeruns from Newton and Knox.  20-19 Cobras after 7.  Braves scored 3 runs and 4 hits to take a short-lived lead 22-20 middle of the 8^th, but the Cobras answered with 5 capped by Peskie’s 3 run homerun.  25-22 Cobras after 8.  Braves could only muster 1 run in the top of the 9^th. 
Final score:  Cobras 25- Braves 23.    Great game with only 10 players on each team!
Winning Pitcher:  Hal Ridley
Top hitters for the Braves were practically everyone!  Purcell 6/6 with a triple; Knox 5/6 with 2 homeruns, 2 doubles; Levesque 5/6 with 3 doubles; Gallagher 5/6 with a double; Newton 4/6 with a homerun; McLellan, Lopiccolo, and LaMay all were 3/6.
Top hitters for the Cobras:  Vandenberg 5/5 with a triple, sacrifice fly; DeYoung 4/5 with a homerun; Ridley 4/5 with a double; Learn 3/4 with a sacrifice fly; Spitaleri 4/6 with a homerun and 2 doubles; Pescie 4/6 with a homerun and a double; Dampier 4/6; Hawbaker 3/5.
Note:  Dampier might have had a couple of homeruns if he hadn’t needed a runner from home. 
Submitted by Bob Vandenberg

Tuesday March 10

Games are on in Poinciana.

Sent from my iPhone

HALL OF FAME BANQUET     HALL OF FAME BANQUET     HALL OF FAME BANQUET

Don't forget the hall of Fame Banquet is this Wednesday, March 11th in Lakeland at the Sand Piper Golf and Country Club Recreation Center. The happy hour begins at 5:30, bring your own drinks. the meal will begin at 6:00 and the presentations will begin after the meal. The directions to the banquet are on the back of your ticket.

See you there.

Don Witmer

Friday, March 6th

Mike O'Callaghan's Legion team sure had their hitting shoes on facing Fabian's Flyers. The Flyers had to score 8 runs in the open flip flop inning just to pull within 7 for a final of 30-23. What a tremendous draft Mike had. The score could have been worse if not for the Flyers 4 double plays. 

Legion hitters. Gibbons 5-5. Constantine 3-5. Mike 4-5. Boswell 4-5. Laffoon 4-5. Castilleja 2-4. Miller 5-5. Wells 4-5. Fryzowicz 4-4. Zakrowski 3-4. Torok 2-4. Black 2-4. 

Flyers hitters. Essenmacher 3-5. Joann 5-5. Coffman 3-5. Vanderhyde 3-5. Kallister 3-5. Hunter 3-5. Hite 3-5. Seguin 3-5. Gibson 3-5. Fabian 4-5. 

See y'all Tuesday. 

Write up by Loren Fabian. 

Winter Haven / Lakeland Competition - Wednesday, March 4th
Welcome to Wally's world. Wally pitched a great game, 15 to 7. 5 innings of shut out ball and a hit. The hot bats of Winter Haven team 1 was to much for Lakeland team 1 today with hits and great defensive plays. Noticeable hits, Lou G  long single thought the ball was going over the fence but the ball hit the top of the fence. Lou was still looking he should have been on third.  Brad hit one out  but he carried his bat to first base so J.D WENT TO THE RULE BOOK page 78 article 2, sec 4,par3, sec B Thou shall not carry the bat to first base, OUT.   Top hitters for WH TEAM 1 LOU G 4/4  1 double & triple, Lonnie 4/5 1 double, Steve Sole 4/5 1 double, Rad 3/5 1 triple good game. 
Field #3 Lakeland Team Arbic 16, WH TEAM 2 15.  Lakeland hitters was a little to much for Winter Haven.
Field #1 Lakeland Team DeRidder 25, WH Team 3 25. THIS WAS A SLUG FEAST   GREAT GAME GUYS !!
I would like to thank everyone who participated and the umps Don Witmer and Joe D'Herin.
Write up by JD Davis

A Special Thanks goes out to JD Davis for organizing this friendly competition between ball players from Lakeland and Winter Haven. Hopefully we can do this again next year.
Don Witmer, Commissioner, Winter Haven Senior Softball

Tuesday, 3/3/20                                  Poinciana Community Park

DeRailers-Visitors vs. Cobras-Home
The DeRailers started the game hot, scoring 5 runs on 7 hits, with a double from DeRidder and a triple from McColloch.  The Cobras started with 2 hits and 1 run, then fizzled out.  5-1 DeRailers after 1 inning.  DeRailers, no score and the Cobras could only muster 1 more run in the 2^nd.
DeRailers exploded for 4 runs on 5 hits with 3 doubles.  Bottom of the 3^rd, the Cobras played catch-up, scoring 6 runs on 8 hits with Vandenberg and Vining getting triples.  9-8 DeRailers after 3.  Each team scored 3 runs in the 4^th with Rutan’s triple and DeRidder’s double for the DeRailers.  Vining with another triple and Pescie with a double for the Cobras.  12-11 DeRailers after 4. 
After that, it was pretty much all Cobras outscoring DeRailers 13-4 for the rest of the game.  Big hits from Peskie-homerun and double from the Cobras and a triple by DeRidder of the DeRailers. 
Final Score:  Cobras 24-DeRailers 16.  Winning pitcher:  Hal Ridley.
DeRailers Top Hitters:  Pinnick 5/5; DeRidder 4/5 with 3 doubles and 1 triple; McColloch 4/5 with a double and 2 triples; McNally 4/5; Rutan 3/5 with one triple.
Cobras Top Hitters:  Pescie 5/6 with a homerun and 2 doubles; Spitaleri 5/6 with a double and a walk; Vandenberg 4/6 with a triple; Gelinas 4/6; Hawbaker 4/6; Vining 3/6 with 2 triples.
Submitted by Bob Vandenberg

Tuesday, March 3rd

What George Vanderhyde has told me for 2 years certainly was true today. He always says in senior softball, defense and the bottom of the batting order will win ball games. While both defenses could not prove that today because of a quite LUMPY infield accounting for many bad hop base hits. But the bottom of the order came thru for Fabian's Flyers against Straits Braves. 

The Braves were playing catch up the whole game down 19-14 after 6 innings. They tied it up at 19 in the top of the 8th and held the Flyers scoreless in the bottom. 19-19 after 8 innings. Don Lamay got 1 of the 2 hits from the bottom of their order with 1 out. Jerry Witter stepped to the plate and promptly lined a smash to Joann at first base and she beat pinch runner George Knox to the 1st base bag for a double play. 

Bottom of the 9th and bottom of the Flyers order. Chuck McColgan who already had 2 hits was barely thrown out at first. 89 year old Jimmy McPartlin steps to the plate and hits a roller up the middle that pinch runner Hite beats out at first. Fabian steps in and gets a patented single over the second baseman head moving Hite into scoring position. Lead off hitter Curt Essenmacher steps up and plates Hite for the winning run.   Bingo, bottom of the Flyers order was 9-15.

There was a fantastic sliding catch made in left field by the Braves but I couldn't decipher from the score sheet who was playing left then. Either Burtner,LeToureno or Reed. Fantastic catch. 

Strait's hitters. Burner 3-5. LeToureno 3-5. Reed 4-5. Knox 5-5. Levesque 4-5. McLellan 3-5. Lopiccolo 3-5. Remington 4-5. 

Fabian's hitters. Essenmacher 4-6. Joann 3-5. Coffman 3-5. Vanderhyde 4-5. Kallister 2-5. Hite 5-5. Seguin 2-5. D'Herin 3-5. McColgan 3-5. McPartlin 2-5. Fabian 4-5. 

Bottom of the order was 9-15. 

Very well played game. 

See y'all Friday. 

Write up by Loren Fabian. 

Tuesday, March 3 – Dukes vs Legion

Today on Field 3 at our home away from home, the Legion managed by Mike O'Callaghan, were home to the Dukes, managed by Steve Hill.

The second thing I do in the morning when I get up is read the Ledger, starting with the comics, especially the Ralph Boswell strip.  Then I turn to the sports, the headlines: RED SOCKS TIE IN 11-11 SLUG FEST. I have news for them, a slug fest is when the Dukes and Legion meet.  Today was no exception with a combined total of 63 runs and 85 hits.

Too complicated to do inning by inning, but below is the line score:

Innings 1     2 3     4 5 6    7 8 9         Total

Dukes     5     5 3     2 5 2    2 0 1           25

Legion         5     5 5     5 5 5    5 3 x 38                     

Winning Pitcher: Larry Wells

                                               Hitting Heroes – There were many 

Dukes                                                                                               Legion

Steve Hill      5/6       3D                                                   Mike O'Callaghan 4/5 D, BB

Bill Purcell          3/6                                               Ralph Boswell 4/4 D, INT BB

Bob Zelazny       3/6 D                                                   Jim Laffoon                  4/4, D, BB

Willie Morton     4/6 2D                                                   Chris Constantine 4/5 D, BB, hit for cycle

Wayne Worher   4/6 HR, D                                                    Larry Wells 4/4 BB  

Jim Altemose       3/5                                                     Travis Fryzowicz 3/4 BB

Ron Thompson    3/5                                                       Bobby Castillega 5/5 D

Lee Baker              3/5                                                 Don Torik 5/5 HR, D

                                                                                                           Art Zakrowski             5/5 T

    Elmer Black                  5/5 *

* DON ING, EAT YOUR HEART OUT!!!

Alf Gibbons and Alan Miller – wishing you speedy recoveries.

Submitted by Elmer Black on behalf of Mgr. Mike.