GAMES ON!

It didn't rain on the fields last night so we're go for the games this morning.  You might want your long johns and sweatshirts though, it's seriously cold (for Florida anyway)

Another Beautiful Softball Day in Paradise

Field B 

Richard Moots visiting team 16 Ted Taylors home team 6. 

The visiting team scored 3 runs in first on singles by Peterson and Miller and a double by Lautenschlager.

Visitors one in second on singles by Stewart and McPartlan;

One more in third on a double by Peterson and triple by Lautensschlager. The Home team scored 5 on singles by Altomose, Fitzke, Kline, Mundy, and Leggett in the third. 

In the fifth the visitors scored 4 on singles by Yarletts, Burrell and triples by Peterson and Lautenschlager. 

In the bottom of the 5th a great catch by Jim McPartlan prevented a potential grand slam by Wayne Mundy. 

The visitors then scored 3 in the seventh to ice the game. 

The home scored one in the ninth on the flip flop. 

Top hitters for visitors 

• Peterson 4-5, one triple
• Lautenschlager 4-4 with 3 triples and a double
• Miller 4-4
• Stewart 3-4. 

For home 

• Kline 4-5
• Fitzke 3-5 
• Joe Deforge two walks.

Field C

Field C hosted a three team contest between the Rangers, Angels and Tigers. If the first inning was any sign of things to come, it was going to be a long day at the park. The Rangers (Nick Matta) started the game with five runs. The Angels ( Freddie Gonzalez) answered with four runs and the Tigers (Don Witmer) answered with four runs. 

But as softball goes, the second inning was not as fruitful for the Rangers or Tigers. No runs were scored by either team. The Angels however never looked back after the first inning. They continued to score in every inning except the third inning and ran away with the game with a final score of 14-26-5. 

Not only were the Angels bats working, their defense was stellar. Juan Toro at shortstop made several outstanding plays and turned one double play by himself. Les Jacobsen, who was playing middle infielder, was everywhere on the field. Les made several good defensive plays and combined with Juan to turn a double play.

The first four batters for the Angels were 5 for 5. Freddie Gonzalez, Juan Toro, Les Jacobsen and Pat Drouilard were unstoppable. Freddie had One in the park home run, Juan had Two in the park home runs and Les had Four Doubles. Pat had a Triple, a Double and Three singles. Greg Denny and Larry Wells were 4 for 5 and Richard Marino blasted a ball over the left fielder's head to score the fifth run in the fourth inning. The Angels bats were working today.

Leading hitters for the Rangers were Jose Rivera, Freddie Dampier and Regis Finnegan at 3 for 4. Nick Matta went 2 for 3 and Jack Benson was 2 for 2 with a sac fly.

Leading hitters for the Tigers were Jimmy Laffoon, 3 for 3. Raul Torres, Herb O and Mike Gatto were 2 for 3. 

Field D

Pirates vs. Giants

The Pirates opened the scoring first with one run in the first inning.  Consecutive hits by the beginning of the batting order, plated the runner.

The Giants started their slugfest in the first inning, scoring five runs.  They continued to score five runs every inning through the first six innings.

The fourth inning included two home runs with a runner on each time.

After the top of the seventh, when the Pirates scored a run, they conceded the game.

The final score was Giants 30 - Pirates 6.

Field E

Red Sox vs Rays

The Red Socx were off to a good start in the 1st inning scoring 5 runs wirh homers by Hamilton and Andrews.  The barrage continue in the second with the Red Sox scoring 3 more including another homer by Hamilton.  The third inning saw their march continue with 5 runs scored,  The Red Sox slowed down in the next three innings scoring 2 runs, 1 run and 0 runs respectively. In the seventh inning the Red Sox turned up the heat again scoring 5 runs and 5 runs in the eighth.  Bring their total scoring in the end of the eighth to 25 runs. 
Although the Rays scored in each of the first eight innings, they got 1 or 2 runs each inning bring their total to 11 runs after 8 innings.  Although they hit some long balls, they were plagued by every third bat being hit to the outfield.  Al Andrews of the Red Sox caught 7 of these hits.
In the 9th inning, the teams fliflopped with the Rays scoring no runs,

Lead hitters for the Red Sox were Hamilton 5 for 5 with 2 homers, Andrews 4 for 5 with 1 homer, Shaffer 4 for 5, Radlein 4 for 5, and Harris 3 for 4.

Lead hitters for the Rays were Jacobs 3 for 4 with a walker, Downes 3 for 4, Davis 4 for 4, Erb 3 for 4 with a walk, Brock with a homer.

Can't Beat Florida in January!

Nice weather again for the second game of our 21 game tournament.  Congrats in order for all of you that made it out today.  It doesn't get any better than a beautiful day and softball with your friends.

Field D

Angels vs Rays

Field D held the American League two team game today between the Angels and Rays or maybe I should say slug-fest.  The Angels Juan Toro and Les Jacobson had a Home-Run derby with each blasting two apiece over the fence.  In addition, Juan went 6 for 6 and added an inside the park homer to his totals while Les went 4 for 6 and added a double and triple to his.

Russ King also contributed a 5 for 6 day including a double to add to the Angels 26-18 win over the Rays.

Of course the Rays weren't standing idly by.  Don Scarborough had a 4 for 5 day and Art Zakrowski contributed a 5 for 5 day with a triple.  Bob Downs also had a good day with 3 for 3 and a walk. Bill Rutan contributed a homer too.

The game wasn't as lopsided as it sounds.  Through 7 innings of play the score was 16-13 so the Rays were in it to the end; it's just hard to overcome that much power.  Better luck next time and maybe issue a strategic walk here and there?

Field C

Braves and Pirates

Braves where visitors today.  Peterson led off with a double and scored on Chrest's double who scored on a Lautenschlager single; 2 runs scored.  For the home team Pirates, Ducham led off with a single. Augenstein singled, Waddell doubled, Ayer and Carrother singled for a total of 4 runs scored.

In the second inning Moots, Mcpartlan, and Sullivan singled scoring Moots.  The  Home team went  3 up, 3 down Leaving the home team up 4 to 3.

The Braves third saw Peterson leading off with a home run, then singles by Lautenschlager, Miller, Ravo, Moots and Mills for 4 runs total.  In the Pirates third, Ducham led off with a single, then a double by Allen,  singles by Augentien & Stepp then Waddell & Carrother singled scoring 4. There was a great play by Lautenschlager on a line drive by Smith.

In the Visitor's fourth Peterson got on some how, Chrest tripled, singles by Lautenschlager, Miller, Ravo, and Stewart accounted for 5 runs.  The Home team went 3up, 3down again.

In the Braves fifth, Moots led off with a single but was left on first base; no runs scored. For the Pirates, Ducham led off with a single,  Allen reached on an error and then singles by Augentien, Stepp  and Waddell  plated 4 more runs.

Peterson led off In the visitors sixth with a double,Chrest followed with a home run then singles by Lautenschlager, Miller, and Ravo plated 3 runs.  The home team went 3up, 3down again.

Except for Mills reaching on an error and then getting left on base, the visitors couldn't get anything going in the seventh.  The home team went 3 up, 3 down yet again.

The visitors plated one run in the eighth when Peterson reached on an error, then a single by Lautenschlager and a double by Miller completed their rally.  In the home team's eighth  Smith led off with a single, went to third on a error and scored on a single by Lee Miller for 1 run.

In the Braves ninth Stewart led off with a single then singles by Moots & Mills, a double by Mcpartlan, a single by Sullivan and another double from Peterson scored 5 runs. For the home team, a Stepp double and singles by Wilcox, Waddell  & Ayer plated 2 runs.

Final score Braves 22, Pirates 17

Leading Hitters 

Visitors

Peterson 5 for 6 with 3 doubles 1 home run
Miller 5 for 5 with a double
Moots 4 for 5
Chrest 3 for 5 with a double triple and a home run 

Home team

Ducham 4 for 5

Ayer 4 for 5

Waddell 3 for 5 with a double

Field B

Tigers vs Red Sox vs Rangers

(In your best Keith Jackson impersonation voice)…….”We had a wild and woolly one, way down in the Florida swamp”, (actually field ” B” at Winter Haven Diamond Plex).  “Oooohhhh let me tell ya bout it.” The (Simon) Red Sox continued on with their winning ways, defeating both the (Matta) Rangers and the (Witmer) Tigers by a score of Red Sox 18- Rangers 16- Tigers 7 .

 The winning team was led by the torrid hitting of Bobby Zelazny, who hit for the cycle. Let’s give it up for Bobby who was able to accomplish this rare feat in 4 ABs.  Denny Schaffer, Don Held, George Radlein and Bernie Stearns all had a good day at the plate for the hot Soxs. Tommy Hamilton turned in several key plays at SS.

 Always the bridesmaid never the bride, the Rangers placed 2^nd in Friday’s three game affair.  The Rangers accomplished the same feat on Tuesday, placing second that day, as well. The Rangers did make a run, late in the game, they scored 5 runs in the 7^th and had the tying run at the plate, but they were not able to score any more. Steve Pinnick, who made his first start pitching in WHSS, had a strong game on the hill.

Meanwhile, the Tigers had a tough day and were sent back to their den licking their paws; they lost to both teams today, but a hungry Tiger is a dangerous one, so watch out.

Leading Hitters

Red Sox:

Bob Zelazny  4/4, hitting for the cycle.

Don Held  3/4, I HR

Denny Shaffer, 4/4

George Radlein, 3 / 4

Bernie Mohan, 3 / 4

Rangers:

Jose Rivera, 3 / 4, 1 HR.

Don Ing,  3 / 3

Tigers:

John Byrd, 4 / 4

Jim Laffoon, 3 / 4, 1 double

Sam Lopez,  3 / 4.

Field E National League

Another great day for a ballgame.  The Giants (Managed by Ron Thompson) showed the effects of all the running from their last game scoring 33 runs.  They were held scoreless for the first two innings.  In the mean time, the Cubs scored 3 in the 1st and 1 in the 2nd.  Wolf hit a homer to deep right center field scoring Kline and Mundy and after 2 the score was 4 to 0.  

The Bloom's Giants blossomed for 5 in the 3rd inning  and were on their way back into stride again.  After four it was
Giants 6 Cubs 7.  

After a scoreless 5th inning the balls began to fly all over
the field.  Manager Thompson's Giants scored 21 runs in the last 4 innings to put the game out of reach.  While Cubs Manager Taylor rallied his team for 5 runs in 7th and 8th. 

Jolting Joe Deforge led off the 9th inning with a walk but the come back fell short.  

Final score Giants 27 and Cubs 12.  

Leading hitters for Giants

• Black 4 for 6
• Thompson 5 for 6 with 2 doubles
• Guspyt 5 for 5 with Sac fly
• Miller 4 for 6
• Remington 5 for 6
• Chamblee 5 for 6

Leading hitters for Cubs

• Kline 3 for 5
• Leggett 3 for 4
• DePalma 3 for 4
• LaMay 3 for 4

Don LaMay

The First Games of the 2013 season!

OK Guys, round one went off pretty much as planned excepting a little under estimate on the fried chicken and beer (you know you always want leftovers).  Anyway, everyone had fun, nobody got hurt and most folks got some fried chicken. A few of us even managed to find the right color shirt (eventually).

The Commish holds Court

Field C

The Field C game had the American League three team contest with Larry Powell's Rays Hitting, Nick Matta's Rangers Sitting, and Don Witmer's Tigers in the field. The Rays went down without scoring in the first and only managed to plate one run through the first 4 innings.  The Rangers fared better scoring 8 through 4 .  The Tigers took the lead in the first with a 5 run rally but gave it up to the Rangers in the 3rd but then reclaimed the lead in the 4th to total 9 runs.   After 4 we stood at 1-8-9.

The Rays finally got their bats going when the bottom of their order plated 3 runs in the fifth but alas both the Rangers and Tigers scored the maximum 5 runs each.  In the sixth the Rays got a couple more, the Rangers only one while the Tigers only made one out in scoring 5 more.

In the sixth the Rays scored one to the Rangers three and another 5 spot for the Tigers.  Going into the final frame we stood at 6-14-19 Tigers leading, Rangers in second and Rays trailing.

The Rays last inning comeback ended at one run while the Rangers gave the Tigers a bit of uncertainty but the Rays managed to get the third out ending the Rangers hopes at 3 runs.  The Tigers didn't even have to bat in their part of the 7th inning.

Final Score Rays 7, Rangers 17, Tigers 19.

Leading Hitters:
Rays

• Don Erb 3 for 4

Rangers

• Joe D'Herin 2 for 3 triple, walk 
• Regis Finnegan 4 for 4 with 2 doubles & a triple
• Ron Butler 4 for 4 double

Tigers

• Raul Torres 3 for 4 
• Jim Lafoon 2 for 3 walk
• Don Keller 2 for 3 walk
• Ed Gazarek 4 for 4 double
• Herb Oesterreid 4 for 4
• John Byrd 3 for 4 double
• Rich Woodard 3 for 3
• Pat Lopiccollo 2 for 3 

Chowin' down

 Field B

Today the Giants with Marshall Bloom, had their way with the Braves 33 to 3.  The game started with the Giants scoring five runs in the first inning.  Bess led off with a single , followed with Thompson singling.  Ed Guspyt then homered.  Mahon, Remington, Black and Wolf all singled scoring the other two runs.  The Braves came back with one run on a single by Peterson and Chrest, but that was all for the Braves until the eighth inning.

The Giants continued to pour it on with 5 runs in the third and fourth innings. The Giants had outstanding hitting from Bess with 6 for 6, and four hits from Guspyt, Mahon, Remmington, and Wolf.

The Braves did score in the eighth with singles from Chrest, Ravo, Miller and Moots.

George was happy today!

 Field E

Team 6 played Team 5 on opening day. The managers were Jeff Simon-team 6 and Freddy Gonzalez-team 5.  

Team 6 defeated team 5  21-16. Team 5, the Angels, scored 10 runs in the first two innings and built up a 6 run lead after two innings. In the first inning it should be noted that the Angels were powered to five runs with doubles by Greg Denny, Juan Toro, Les Jacobson, and Russ King.

In the third frame the Angels scored once but the Red Sox scored six to turn the contest into a one run game.
 
The fourth inning saw the Red Sox score four times on doubles by Tom Hamilton and Steve Hill. Mike Wheeler had the lead-off base hit in the four run fourth inning. 


In the fifth inning the Angels came back and scored four times led by a home run by Greg Denny.  

In the seventh the Red Sox scored three times featuring another clutch double by Tom Hamilton. 

The eighth inning saw the Red Sox add to their lead with a four run outburst featuring a double by Jeff Simon.  

The Angels scored once in the ninth. Ari Harris made a nice play on a relay throw to home plate to conclude the contest. Don Held's defense up the middle was also outstanding.

Softball Buds

Hitting performers for the Red Sox included: 

• Steve Hill with two doubles 
• Don Held with three hits, triple, double
• Al Andrews with 3 hits
• Denny Schaffer with a home run 
• Dennis Borowitz with two hits inc. a triple
• Bernie Mohan had a home run  
• George Radlein pitched well and had two hits 

For the Angels:

• Larry Wells had three hits
• Freddy Gonzalez hit a double and triple
• Patrick Drouilard hit a double, triple and home run
• Brian Jackson contributed two base hits

In conclusion this was a hard  fought game with a lot of offense by both teams. Final Score 21-16 Red Sox over the Angels.

Field D

I know there's another one here somewhere

You could hear Harry Carey singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame as the Cubs took the field in the first inning.  What a beautiful day for a ball game.  

Team 2 managed by John Smith led off with Fred Ducham who singled and came around to score the first run of the season.  In all two runs scored.  When Team one(known as the Cubs) and managed by Ted Taylor came to bat, lead off batter Erv Fitzke singled.  Singles by Ed Kline a walk and a single, and doubles by Bill Evans, Walt Leggett and Reg Barnes tallied 5 runs for the home team.  

At the end of 3 the score was Team one 6 and Team two 3.  Team one scored 5 in last of the 4th inning started by a Home run by Bill Wolf;  Five more runs in the 5th for team one.  Smith's team scored 4 runs in the 6th to close the gap with five straight hits by Stepp, Wilcox, Waddell, Augestine and Ron Corrithers. 

At the end of 6 the score was 16 to 8.  

Smith's team rallied for 3 more the the 8th and the final score ended up Team one 22 Team two 11.  

Playing with the sun in the fielder's faces made it difficult to see the ball off the bat but still great plays were made.  

Leading hitters were:
Team one

• Bill Wolf 3 for 3 with home and walk
• Reg Barnes 3 for 3 with 2 doubles

Team two

• Wilcox 4 for 4  with double
• Correthers 3 for 4 with double
• Don LaMay

Fwd: Opening Day

 

 

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Tuesday, 8 January is the start of our 2013 season. Games will start at 09:30. Players need to sign in by 09:00. Please check the schedule on the web site to make sure you are in the proper uniform and on the right field. We will hold a short league meeting before the start of the games and then have a great meal at the conclusion of play provided by one of our premiere sponsors, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

 

Happy New Year!!

I guess everyone saw the web page this morning as we had quite the turnout for the first games of the New Year in spite of the misty start to the morning.

Field D

The Home Team on field D was mostly Nick Matta's Rangers plus a few, contesting with a mixed team made up of mostly Don Witmer and Larry Powell's teams; so the TigRays? 

Anyway it turned out to be one of those close contests determined by who was up last.  The Rangers were home team and managed to come up with the game winner in the bottom of the ninth with two out when the TigRays walked Brent Alumbaugh to load the bases and paid the price when Jack Benson came through with the game winning single.

As you can imagine it was a defensive struggle with very few errors, good defensive plays, and runs being scored off solid clean hits.  The Rangers only posted one zero (in the first inning) while the TigRays only went down scoreless twice, the 4th and the critical 9th. 

The final score was 18-19 in favor of the Rangers.  This is starting to look like a very competitive season.

Leading Hitters:

• Don Scarborough  4 for 5 double
• Mike Gatto  4 for 5
• Fred Dampier 4 for 5
• Jose Rivera 4 for 5 
• Regis Finnegan 4 for 5 double
• Brent Alumbaugh 3 for 4 walk
• Nick Matta 4 for 4
• Jim Goodhue 3 for 4

-Ron Butler

Field C

 In the final tune-up before the regular season, the Angels, managed by Freddy Gonzales, defeated the Jeff Simon led Red Sox 20-13.  The victors were led by stellar play on defense by Keith Linton and Richie Marino.  Richie also went 4 for 5 and Keith 3 for 4 at the plate.   

It was a close game until the 4^th inning when Les Jacobsen hit a Grand Slam, in the midst of hitting for the cycle.  The Red Sox were led by Tom Hamilton, playing a solid shortstop, with 3 doubles and 2 runs scored.  Ari Harris went 3 for 4 from the dish and did his best to keep the game close with 3 put outs at home.  Bob Zelazny had 3 hits, including a triple, with 5 RBI's in the losing effort.

-Bob Hite

Field B

An exciting game was played on field B, with Moots vs. Taylor with the home team winning in the bottom  
of the ninth inning.  The game started with Moots leading of with a single and later scoring. In the bottom of the
inning, the home team scored five runs with singles by LaMay, Barnes, Kline, Wilson and Evans. 

In the second inning, the visitors scored twice with the big hit from Hill, however the home team scored four runs with hits coming from Fulton, Black, Guspyt, Altemose and Taylor.  The game settled in with each scoring one or two runs each until the sixth inning when the visitors scored seven runs. Moots led off with a dribbler followed by hits from Ayers, Augustine, Wilcox, Sullivan, Lahtenschhlager and Hill.  

In the ninth the with the home leading by one run, the visitors Hill hit a triple down the right field line and scored when Miller drove him in.  In the bottom of the ninth, Evans and Deem singled and Fulton drove home the winning run.  A great defensive play was turned in by Barnes. Great hitting by Ayer, Augustine, Wilcox, Morey, and Hill by the visitors, and Taylor, Wilson, Black and Altemose by the home team.                      

Game ON!

The early report is that the fields are playable but that conditions look like they might deteriorate.  Come on out but bring an umbrella just in case.
 We'll set things up to play but we might have to call it because of weather later on this morning.