Fall 2024 Red League Game Standings & Summaries

THRU DEC 12

 Division Standings: Red League

GAME REPORTS thru DEC 12

HAPPY EARS 16  SUSYS HOUSE CLEANING 16

 Jeffs take: It was another beautiful day for softball at our wonderful Field of Dreams as a near record crowd on Thirsty Thursday watched The Happy Hears team battle Suzy’s Housecleaners. It was a close game all the way as indicated by three lead changes and two ties, one of which was the final score of 16-16. Everyone on the Happy Ears squad had at least two hit however we stranded ten runners. The defensive highlight of the game was a superb running catch by our right fielder Ralph McKeever. He outran a ball hit to his right side and flagged it down. ESPN wanted a copy of the video however no one filmed it from the overflow crowd. Another sidelight to the game was L.N. purchasing 30 adult beverages for the crowd! Fans were raving about how great the beverages tasted, some going as far to say it was the best they had ever tasted. If you haven’t already, next time you see L.N., thank him for his generosity!  Thanks to Dale Halder and Terry Graves for umpiring. And thanks to our scoreboard operator. Happy Ears will be back on the road next week, starting with the 8:30am game against the dreaded Gothic team. Have a great weekend

Jerrys take:  Well, it was NOT a 1 run loss for Suzy’s House Cleaning! At the end of the contest it was a 16 – 16 tie. I’m sure both teams feel that it was a game that they should have won. Both Suzy’s and Happy Ears had some good plays on defense, but also made a few errors. Both teams had decent hitting, but left a few runs out there if they would have just gotten a key hit or two. It was a competitive game from start to finish with neither team leading by more than 3 runs at any point in the game. Leading the offense for Suzy’s was Don Ranieri with 5 hits in 5 at bats plus 4 runs scored. Other good performers at the plate included substitute Greg Kastelic who was 3 for 3 plus a walk, Dave Lawrence, Rick Pearson and Jerry Lubeck who all went 3 for 5. Thanks to Greg Kastelic for substituting for Ken Silva, who lost a fight with a softball on Wednesday. Thank you to Terry Graves for umpiring behind the plate, Craig Nelson for umpiring the bases and Gary Ambruz for handling the scoreboard duties.

GENERAL EXTERMINATING 23   CHAR WHEELER 21

 Chucks take: The General Exterminating Team won a close one Thursday outscoring the Char Wheeler Squad 23 to 21.  Once again, the Bug Zappers came out of the gate strong, scoring a nickel in the first 3 frames and enjoying a 15 to 5 lead at the end of the 3^rd inning.  However, Eric Swobody and Pete Semenak’s hard hitting lineup closed the gap by plating another 9 runs to our 3 resulting in our 18 to 14 lead entering the open frame.  The Zappers tallied another nickel before surrendering the hammer to the House Sellers. Then it got really interesting, as their rally had already posted 7 runs when, with the bases loaded and 2 outs, Dave Zuker lined a mach 2 line shot into SS Craig Nelson’s glove ending the game that resulted in our close win!   Jay Schirpke, Craig Nelson, Dave Dorn, and sub Dennis Scoggins all had 5/5 days at the plate. Dale Halder chimed in with his 4 knocks as David Fleck, Moondoggie Anderson, and Terry Graves added their 3 hits each. Thanks to the aforementioned sub as well as the umpires and scoreboard keeper.  Thanks to those responsible for the post game treats!

Erics take: Beautiful day at “The Field of Dreams”. Char Wheeler lost in a great shoot out 24-21. Chucky’s guys came out of the gate quickly 5 runs in the first 3 innings. Bottom of the 3rd General had a 15-2 lead. Char didn’t give in scoring 11runs in the next 3 innings and 7 runs in the bottom of the 7th. Dave Zucker hit a line drive caught by Craig Nelson to end the come back. Pete Semenak and Troy MacQueen had a great day at the plate 5-5. With 4 hits: Dave Zuker, and Eric Swobody. Thank you to Ralph McKeever and Paul Becker for subbing. Thank you to Rick Pearson and Jerry Lubeck for umpiring.

GOTHIC LANDSCAPING 19 PAUL TONE INSURANCE 18

Robs take:  A gritty team win against the talented Paul Tone squad.  I have never seen the Red League so equitable and so engaged.  Gothic maxed out the home run rule with bombs from Ralph, Ron and Garry (a GS !!),   Kudos to our amazing outfielders who had “yet another” outstanding day while battling the Arizona Sun.   Thanks to subs JD and Joe, umps Gord and Craig, as well as our pal Gary Ambrus in the tower.

Toms take: Hard fought game this Thursday and we rallied in the seventh inning with 6 runs to take a one run lead only to have it slip away in the bottom of the 7th when Gothic Landscaping tallied two runs for the one run victory.  Perfect at the plate was Vern McLean going 5/5 with 2 RBI's.  Going 4/5 were Tom Ranalls (6 RBI's), Pete Houghton (2 RBI's) and Gary Finer (1 RBI).  Bob Winkler had a nice 3/4 day with an RBI and Jeff Nickerson was 3/5 with 3 RBI's.  Adding seven more hits were Dave Fusaro, Tom Rinehart, Paul Becker (3 RBI's) and Frank Sandomenico.  4-6 at the halfway point isn't where we'd like to be.  However it feels like each game there's an improvement of some kind.  Uphill battle the rest of the way but not out of it yet.  Want to thank the eight red league players that donated to the Sal Politi Toys For Tots program.  We collected $340 and Ranalls Realty will match that for a total of $680!  Way to make some kids happy this holiday season.