Tuesday August 31st

No Games today. Fields are to wet to play. See you Friday.


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 RECAP FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 24-27

Tuesday started out as a great day to play softball. Cloudy skies and cool temperatures (86 Degrees) greeted us this morning. Everyone else thought it was a good day to play softball also. We had 49 players show up this morning so we made four teams. The American League had two teams of 11 players and the National League had a 13 player team and a 14 player team. The American League teams were coached by Lou Guzman and Wally Wallace. 

Jose Rivera led off the first inning for the visitors and hit a sharp line drive to right field for a triple. Hits by Tony Q, Mike Vacarro, Freddie Gonzalez and Don Witmer resulted in three runs for the visitors. Santaella led off the bottom of the first inning with a single and after two outs, Rad Pcholinski Loren Safford (new guy), Pete Gutenberger, Chris Lynch, Kirk Coffman and Chris Constantine kept the hits coming and scored five runs. The hitting slowed down after that and at the bottom of the sixth inning the score was tied 6-6. It was only a matter of time before one of these team opened up the score and the home team  scored 4 runs in the seventh inning. That was enough to win the game and the final score was 10-6. 

Zelazny and Spitilari managed the two National League teams today. The Z team scored in all but two innings as did the Spit team. After 3 the score was tied at 7 and after it was Z 9 and Spit 8. Then Zelazny team took charge putting up a nickel and more in the last two innings for a final of Zelazny 17 and Spitaleri 11. 

Here are the hitters. 

3 hits. Skidmore. Zelazny. Capozzi. Herb O.

            Spitaleri. Poke. Wells. Dowdy

2 hits. Grabb. Hudson. Fabian. Kevin. 

            Vandenberg. Castilleja. Lopez. 

Write up by Loren Fabia

Thursday was a rain day. The American league was supposed to go to Solivita and play a double header on Thursday but the rain had other ideas. The Game has been rescheduled for Sept. 16th. Make sure that you let Lou Guzman know if you are playing that day.

Friday was a little bit like Tuesday. We had 46 people sign up so we made four teams again. It is great not to have to play three team games every week. The American League played on Field D. Lou Guzman and Wally Wallace managed the teams. Wally's team was on the ball today. They could do no wrong at the bats. They scored 4 or 5 runs most innings and after 7innings they were ahead by thirteen runs. We decided to do the flip flop in the 8th and 9th, but did not score any runs. Final score was 23-10.  

I did not get a write up from the National League yet. Fabian had to go the the American Legion to set up for the Quilts of Valor presentation. I know the score was a lot like the American league game. Final score was 22-7.  

Friday August 27th

Games are on. Don't forget about the QOV ceremony today at the American Legion at noon.


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 Loren Fabian wanted everyone to know that the Quilts of Valor (QOV) ceremony for the 5 new awardees will still be held at the American Legion At 12 noon tomorrow. If the games get rained out, please plan on being at the ceremony.

Thanks.

Tuesday August 24th

Games are on.


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RECAP FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 17-20

Well the score sheets for the Tuesday  game were abandoned after the 5th inning for the team scores except for Mark Tutrani team which only finished with 5 runs. Witmer's team said 11 but actually finished with 13 and Spitaleri team said 13 but actually finished with 19. So final score Spitaleri 19, Witmer 13 and Tutrani 5. 

On Thursday, The Winter Haven crew teamed up with players from Solavita and Kissimee. They took on the Sebring gang at Sebring, what a drive!

Game one was tight with Sebring winning 7/8. Just a few missed player was the difference.

Game two wasn’t any better with Sebring winning 13/7. Errors, missed plays, and weak offense was the key here.

Steve Hicks and Rawlinson Santaella combined hitting of 9 for 11 was not enough to pull the team over the finish line.

We want to thank Player from Solavita and Kissimmee for traveling such a distance to play.

Next on the radar is a game against Solavita Thursday the 26th at 9 am.

We are hoping to fair better than today.

Write up from LGG. 

Now we'll  move to the Friday  game after making a few adjustments on how the books were kept. 

The managers were Gonzalez, Spitaleri and Guzman. First the hitters  

4 hits.   Charlie

3 hits.   Kniery, Rad, Spitaleri

2 hits.   Manny, Tony L, Capozzi, Hudson, Peterson, Fabian, Guzman, Ramos, Learn, DeRidder, Tutrani, Coffman, Meyers

The game started very slow in scoring with only 7 runs being scored by the 3 teams the first 3 innings. Then the Spitaleri team fired up with 5 in the 4th and another 5 in the 6th to become the home team in the open inning. After 6 it was Gonzalez 6, Spitaleri 13 and Guzman 4. Gonzalez scored 1 in the 7th but the Guzman team turned up the heat and came up with 8 for the final of 13-12-7. A very well played game with 3 key defensive plays I recall. First was by Tom Kniery in right center racing in on a blooper everyone thought would not be caught except Tom who snagged it off his shoe top and fired to second to double off the runner who was well on his way to 3rd. Second was by Bobby Castellega in center going hard for a gapper headed for right center that again everyone thought would drop except Bobby who stretched his LONG body and arm to catch it in the web. The third was a routine catch by Manny deep in the outfield that all thought would score a run from 3rd. But Manny fired a strike to Spitaleri and everyone yelling home, home and he in return, turned and fired a strike to Fabian at the plate to beat the runner by a good 2 steps. 

See y'all Tuesday. 

Write up by Loren  Fabian. 

Friday August 20th

Games are on. It is going to be hot. Stay hydrated. 


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Tuesday August 17th

Games are on. Water on Field D. Batting practice okay on other fields. 


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 RECAP FOR THE WEEK OF AUGUST 10-13

TUESDAY, AUGUST 10TH

Rained out today. Hope to play on Friday.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 13TH

Another well played mixed 3 team game. Books were kept quite well which brings me to list the hitters first. 

4 hits - Spitaleri and Boswell

3 hits - Santa, Rusty, Wally, Hicks, Laffoon

             Gutenberg

2 hits - Morton, Herbie M, Marino, Kniery

             Manny, DeRidder, Bill T, Kevin G, Ayers

             Myers, Capozzi

Ralph Boswell also hit a 3 run HR

The managers were Capozzi, Witmer and Spitaleri   The Witmer team jumped out strong 13-5-4 after 4 innings and it looked like a runaway at first - but, this is Senior Softball and  we all know, anything can happen. Capozzi team got the nickel in the third and didn't score again till the open inning and plated 2 more for a total of 7. Witmer team scored 3 more in the 6th and did not have to bat in the 7th. The Spitaleri team put on a rush with 5 in the 5th and tried hard in the open 7th to catch up but came up with 4, in need of 6 to tie. Hence, the Witmer team did not have to bat in the 7th. 

Final score  Witmer 15, Spitaleri 13 and Capozzi 7

Best play of the game was turned by Bobby Reagan playing RF for the team with only 11 players when he charged in on a dying quail, snagged it off his shoe tops, tumbling to the ground losing everything but the ball, tucked snuggly in his glove. 

Write up by Loren  Fabian 

See y'all Tuesday. ⚾️ 🧢 

There is also another Quilts of Valor ceremony scheduled for 4 Veteran softball playing members of WHSS and one loyal fan on Friday August 27 at one of our best sponsors, American Legion post 8 after the game and all are invited to attend. 

Friday August 13th

Games are on. Lets be safe today. This stupid Virus is still with us. If you are sick today, please stay home. Thanks 


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Tuesday August 10th

No games today. Fields are to wet. See you Friday. No board meeting.


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 RECAP OF GAMES FOR THE WEK OF AUGUST 3-6

Tuesday, August 3rd

The Summer Party was supposed to be today but the rain had other plans. It was cloudy when we got to the ballpark at 6:45 AM. We decided to hold off setting up the tables until the rain decided what it was going to do. About 7:30 it started raining pretty hard so we cancelled the party for today and rescheduled it for Friday. However, we did not cancel the games for today, the rain quit about 8:00, it remained cloudy the rest of the morning and the people started showing up. We had 28 players and decided to have two teams of 14.  We played six outfielders just like last Tuesday. You would think with six outfielders that the hitting would not be great. But, just like last Tuesday, the teams did not have any problems getting hits. The Final score after nine innings was 19-18.

Write up by Don Witmer   

Friday, August 6th

The Summer Party is on for today. The City of Winter Haven finally allowed the Board to have an outdoor small gathering of players and family. We had box lunches from Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mel's famous cookies and drinks provided by the Board. We tried to maintain social distancing as much as possible and we had players scattered all over the ballpark. If you want to know why we called it a Summer Party is because it was a typical summer day in Florida. It was 90 degrees at game time with no breeze. We had 48 players signed up and we made four teams. The American League had 22 players on Field D and the National League had 26 players on Field C. Lauren Fabian and Bob Hite umpired on Field C and Don Witmer umpired on Field D. The American League game was close until the fifth inning when the home team scored three runs and went ahead 11-7. The visiting team did not score in the top of the sixth inning. The National League game was called after seven innings due to the heat.

Write up by Don Witmer

Friday, August 6th

Very good game here today. Bob Hite and I umped and all went well. The teams were managed by Tom Capozzi (Home) and Steve Hill (Visitors). Hill jumped out with a 13-5 lead after four innings but Capozzi came back with 6 in the bottom of the 6th to bring it close  at the end of 6 innings. The Hill team scored 3 more runs in the top of the seventh and the Capozzi team went scoreless in the bottom of the seventh. Final score was 16-11. There were 4 very good defensive plays I recall. 3 of them by catchers. one of our new players, Herbie Munoz and old timer Poke both darted out in front of the plate to field bloopers and threw the runner out at first base. And our very good full time catcher, Wayne Shearer, turned on a foul pop fly going to the backstop and reached out and caught it. But, the best catch was by Larry Chrest in left center field racing to the fence Willie Mays style and reaching up and backhanding the ball as he tumbled to the ground. He did not get hurt but what a great catch.

In case your haven't heard by now, Willie Morton and his wife have decided to move back to Maryland. He is suppose to leave sometime in the next month or so. We will surely miss him.

Write up by Loren Fabian.

Friday August 6th

Games are on. Summer party is on. Food at 11:00 AM.


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Tuesday August 3rd

Summer party is CANCELED. It is rescheduled for Friday, August 6th. Games are still on right now. It has started to rain. 


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Tuesday August 3rd

Games are on. Summer party is still on? It is supposed to rain this morning. I will post again at 8:00 AM for an update on the party. 


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 GAME RECAP FOR THE WEEK OF JULY 27-JULY 30

Tuesday morning, 9:00 AM, 90 Degrees and no breeze. We decided to only play 7 innings this morning on a two team game with 14 players per team. Freddie Gonzalez managed the visiting team and Bob Zelazny had the home team. We played 6 outfielders to try to get everyone the most amount of playing time. A bunch of the guys complained that they wouldn't get any hits with that many outfielders but each team scored 5 runs in the first inning and Freddie G's team scored 5 more in the top of the 2nd inning. Things slowed down after that for a couple of innings and then Bob Z's team decided to crank out the hits. After six innings, the score was Freddie G 15 and Bob Z 17. Now comes the open inning and with the score close, senior softball kicked in. Freddie G's team scored 13 runs and had the bases loaded when the final out was made in the top of the seventh inning. Bob Z's team managed to score 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh for a final score of 28 to 19. That is a lot of runs for a game with 6 outfielders on each team.

Write up by Don Witmer

Good morning Winter Haven Senior Softball. What a 3 team nail-biter on Friday with a mixed league game. Team 1 was led by Wally Wallace, Team 2 by Steve Hill and Team 3 by Pete Gutenberger. Wally jumped out on top 6-1-1 after 2 innings and then it started to tighten up and was 7-6-6 after 5 innings as the Wally team posted 1 run in the 3rd and then back to back goose eggs. The 6th inning was the deciding inning as Wally posted another 3, Hill a 2 and Pete a 0 but was the only team to score in the open inning, scoring 1 for a final of Wally 10, Hill 8 and Gutenberger 7. The umps were Witmer and Fabian as each team had 12 players.

The runs were kept very accurately on the score sheets, but unfortunately the hits were not so I'm unable to post the hits for the hitters. I do however recall 2 excellent defensive plays on back to back plays. The first by Chris Lynch in centerfield of a sliding catch hustling in on a dying fly ball. The second was by returning veteran Bobby Ayers playing up the middle. A line drive was headed to right centerfield when Bob launched HIGH in the air to stab it and rob the hitter of a sure base hit. 

See y'all Tuesday for another exciting game and the summer PARTY 🎉  

Write up by Loren Fabian