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Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #4
April 19, 2009
Buzzards Shut Down The Patriots, 7 To 0
By the starting time of the second game with the temperature rising into the mid-90’s, the cool looking Buzzards were ready to play. The pitching match-ups were righties, Gary “Stoney” Stonebrook, wearing his lucky #13 throwing for the defending NABA champs, the Gold Country Buzzards versus ol’ timer Irv Scott #15 pitching for the California Patriots. The Buzzards were the home team for the seven inning second game.
The lead-off hitter for the Patriots, Gib Cosio, singled to open the game. Jim Hill, who got dizzy two times today and had to leave both games, walked after fouling off several pitches to put two runners quickly on base. The always tough out, Lanny Ropke, flied out deep to Barry “Brooklyn” Forman in left. Then on the first pitch to their big lefty first baseman, George Anderson, he hit a screamer right at Gregg “Surf Dawg” Novotny playing second base. Surf Dawg snagged the hot liner and then threw a strike to first to nail the runner and end the inning on a nice double play.
After three innings there was no score. Both Stoney and Irv were pitching well. The Patriots had only one hit and the Buzzards had two. The Buzzards busted out in the bottom of the fourth with five runs. Dan “Wookie” Wukmir started it off with a first pitch single to right. Bob “Woody” Wooden hit a liner to left field before Jim “Milli” Milligan doubled them both home. Mike “Bake” Baker got his second hit of the game and drove in Taylor “Welzy” Welz, running for Milli, as he put on the jets and easily scored from second base. Stoney hit a single down the left field line to put two runners on. Dave “Keppy” Kephart knocked in Bake and Stoney on a long double to the gap in right-center field to give the Buzzards a five run lead.
The Buzzards scored two more in the fifth to take control of the game. Wookie started it off with a first pitch bloop single to right. Woody then walked on a full count to set the stage for the ribbie machine, Milligan. After Wookie stole third on a nice hook slide to the outside of the third base bag, Milli knocked in his third run of the game (fifth RBI for the day). Stoney then hit a blooper into left field on a 1-2 pitch to score Woody for the last run of the game.
Stoney continued to shut down the Patriots. The second, third and fourth innings were 1-2-3. In the fifth Stoney hit Fritz Reynolds while retiring everyone else he faced until the final inning. Going into the seventh inning, no Patriot had a hit since the first batter. With two outs the next two Pats got hits, a single to left-center by Lanny and a double by big George to right-center field. Stoney then struck out Fritz to end the game, making for a nice double-header sweep of the Patriots. The game took two hours, so the Buzzards were really ready for cold drinks.
Buzzard pitching was awesome today. Stoney threw a three hitter after Keppy gave up just five hits in the first game. Stonebrook faced 25 Patriots - just four more than the minimum - while throwing 84 pitches, 57 strikes and 27 balls. He struck out seven Patriots and walked one, the second batter of the game, and had one hit batter with two wild pitches. The little bit of wildness here and there kept the Patriots on their toes as Stoney kept the Pats off balance the whole game. Charles “CJ” Jackson called a good game behind the plate and handled the heat well. Good job by the youngest Ol’ Buzzard.
The Buzzards offensive consisted of nine singles, two doubles and one walk to Woody. The Patriots do have cagey pitchers or maybe it was the cemetery that made the Ol’ Buzzards nervous or the heat or all of the above to account for the just OK offense. Only seven Buzzards got hits in the seven inning game. The two hit group included Bake, Millie, Stoney and Wookie.
The defense continues to look good. Neither team committed an error in the second game of this twin bill. Stoney struck out 7 leaving the other 14 outs to the swarming Buzzard defense. There were only four ground outs, two to Bake at third base, one come-backer to Stoney, and a grounder to Welzy playing shortstop in the seventh. Of the four fly ball outs two were to Barry “My wheels are still good” Forman. He lost his cap chasing both fly balls, the first out of the game, Lanny’s long drive, and a short fly ball in the second inning that he had to charge hard to make the catch. Pete “Baron” Von Zboray caught Lanny’s deep line drive to right to end the fourth, and Welzy chased down big George’s blast starting out the fifth inning. There were three pop flies in the infield. Surf Dawg’s nice catch at second base in the third, Woody’s catch at short while battling the sun in the sixth, and Milli’s solid play opening the sixth inning while playing first base. The last two outs were line drives, one at Woody starting off the second and the play of the game in the first inning with Surf Dawg snagging the ball while playing second base and then alertly throwing to Keppy at first to get the double play to end the first inning threat.
Another good Buzzard game ending in a victory. Terrific pitching, timely hitting and solid defense are a good recipe to use for the season. However, Buzzards – hit the batting cages.
Buzzard Note #1: Regarding the average age of the Buzzards. With three Buzzards turning older in April (Henry, Stonebrook and Wukmir), the average age is 52.5 years old. Wookie is the oldest Ol’ Buzzard at 58.
Buzzard Note #2: Enjoying cool refreshments and snacks next to the cemetery – on the right side of the fence – was a nice gathering of Buzzards. Factoid: a gathering of Buzzards is called a venue. Last season’s plaques were also presented to the sponsors. The Division Championship was given to Jim Wagner and Village RV, and the League Championship was given to Ray Henry and RAH Environmental, Inc. Thanks again Jim and Ray for your support during the highly successful 2008 season. 21 wins and 1 loss will be hard to top, but it should be fun trying.
Buzzard Note #3: Patriots coach Jim Hall had two dizzy spells during the game due to a change of his medication for his heart. Maybe we should have played next to a hospital instead of a cemetery. The first time he came out of the game was after running to first base, but the second time was while batting against Stoney. It got funny when Jim took a short break before stepping back into the batter’s box after feeling dizzy and asked that if he collapsed he wanted Stoney to administer CPR. The umpire made sure Stoney heard that and Gary made sure that Jim heard him say, No. Then on with the show, as Jimbo grounded out to Welzy at short without need of CPR.
Buzzard Note #4: The NABA schedule is being adjusted, so this Sunday we travel to Antelope High again. This time to play the new Timberwolves on the JV field at 2 pm. Refreshments afterwards will be at the same spot as last time.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #3
April 19, 2009
Buzzards Defeat The Patriots In Woodland, 4 to 1
On the first hot day of the 2009 season, the Buzzards found themselves getting up extra early on Sunday for the longest road trip of the year. The double-header in Woodland against the always tough California Patriots started at 10 o’clock at Lee Field. The baseball veteran Patriots are a good bunch of ol’ geezers, that according to coach Jim Hall, the average age is 62 years old. In comparison the average age for the Ol’ Buzzards is 52.
As former NABA champs, the Patriots are used to winning, but this season they have started with a hard schedule. They have faced three tough teams in their first three games, losing to the Dragons 13-7 and the Valley Cats 14-13 before facing the Buzzards in the third game. So they really wanted to clip the Buzzards’ wings in at least one of the games today. Playing on one of the top baseball fields in the Sacramento region with temperatures heading for the mid-90’s and next to the local cemetery - hopefully not needing it - the two game battle was on. The pitching match-up in game one was southpaw Dave “Keppy” Kephart #21 throwing for the Gold Country Buzzards and Dave Ryan #12 starting the game on the mound for the California Patriots.
The Buzzards scored first with a run in the top of the first inning on a two out walk to Bob “Woody” Wooden, who then stole second base, before Jim “Milli” Milligan hit a 0-1 pitch to deep right-center for the run scoring double. The first inning though had a couple of bad omens. The umpire’s strike zone for a batter was going to be a challenge, two Buzzards struck out looking in the inning, and after singling to left on an 0-2 pitch, Dan “Wookie” Wukmir jammed his left thumb - enough to come out of the game at shortstop four innings later – by running and then sliding head first into a ‘what were you thinking’ tag out at second base. It was confirmed later that he was not thinking, which does sound like a Sacramento County employee.
The Buzzards did not score again until the sixth inning. By that time the score was tied at one run each. The Patriots had scored their only run of the game, as it turns out later, also for the day in the fifth inning. The scoring threat started with a one out dribbler half way down the line that third baseman Mike “Bake” Baker raced in and tried to scoop up the rolling ball with his bare hand resulting in the second Pats hit of the game. After the next batter got on base with a bobbled ground ball, their lead-off hitter smacked one up the middle to score the runner from second base. The next batter, Jimbo Hill, battled Keppy by fouling off three pitches before walking to load the bases. The next batter, one of the toughest outs in the league, Lanny Ropke, hit the first pitch sharply to Bob “Woody” Wooden at shortstop for an easy force out at second base to end the inning.
The Buzzards scored three runs in the top of the sixth. Wookie led off the inning by reaching out for one of those ‘way outside’ strikes and beat out a bobbled ground ball to third. Woody followed with a line drive single to left putting runners at first and second. Milli, batting in the clean-up spot for the first time this season, knocked in his second ribbie of the game with a single to left field scoring Wookie. Gary “Stoney” Stonebrook’s one-out single to left scored Woody from third and Taylor “Welzy” Welz, running for Milli, scored easily from second base. The inning ended on a nice over-the-shoulder catch of a Keppy flare to left by the shortstop, and long time baseball coach at El Dorado High, Fritz Reynolds. Pitching held both teams to a total of 13 hits. The Buzzards scored their four runs with eight hits and three walks, while the Pats defense also helped by surprisingly committing six errors. The Patriots got their lone run on five hits and three walks with two Buzzard infield errors. There were nine Buzzard strikeouts today; four caught looking at very questionable strikes.
Ol’ rubber arm Keppy struck out 11 Patriots and controlled the game for 9 innings. He threw 144 pitches, 99 for strikes and 45 balls, giving up one unearned run in pitching a five-hitter. Excellent job by Keppy in frustrating those Patriots all game long. The Buzzard defense looked good in making the other 16 outs of the game. There were 12 ground ball outs with one nice 6-4-3 double play (Woody to Cookie to Stoney) in the ninth inning; three fly ball outs – two in the sixth to Welzy in center and Pete “Baron” Von Zboray in right field, and one more nice catch by the Baron in right to end the eighth inning with two runners in scoring position; and one hot liner to Stoney playing first base to open the fifth. Three of the ground outs were sharp come-backers to Keppy, fielding his position well, for some easy looking 1-3 put outs. With Keppy throwing lots of hard stuff, the left fielder, Barry “Brooklyn” Forman, was bored with no action coming his way.
Offensively the Buzzards had runners in every inning and in scoring position in five of those innings. With only eight hits, there is not much to brag about. Only six Buzzards got hits with Milli and Stoney getting two each. The Buzzards are always happy with a win, but we would like to see more hits. 3 – 0 is a good start to the season.
Game one of the double bill was completed in 2 hours and 40 minutes. The umps gave the teams 30 minutes to eat and get ready for a 1:10 start time for game two.
Buzzard Note #1: The Patriots thankfully took the first base dugout for today, which meant they had to chase the fouls balls that went into the cemetery. Some Buzzards in the past have felt it is kind of creepy to walk over graves in long steel cleats getting foul balls.
Buzzard Note #2: A circling group of soaring Buzzards is called a Kettle.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #2
April 5, 2009
Buzzards Feast On Yankees, 23 to 2
The Gold Country Buzzards travelled to Antelope High School early Sunday morning to face the Yankees. Another beautiful Spring day greeted the teams at 10 o’clock game time. The high school is new so the field was in real good shape for our second game of the 2009 season. The Buzzards knew that the Yankees have been the weakest team in the National Division, so we were expected to win. And win we did.
The pitching match-up for today’s game was Gregg “Surf Dawg” Novotny #1 (6-0 last season) throwing against fast working, veteran John Lenzie #24 (5-1 last season). Lenzie is a new addition to the Yankees. He pitched previously for the Valley Dogs and has been tough on us in the past. But today the Ol’ Buzzards brought their young hittin’ sticks and wacked on the Yanks early and often.
The visiting Buzzards started with seven runs before the Yankees even got to come to bat. Taylor “Welzy” Welz opened the game with a walk. Welzy stole second and then third before scoring on Bob “Woody” Wooden’s infield ground ball. Dave “Keppy” Kephart singled to right. Jim “Milli” Milligan knocked in Woody and moved Keppy to third with a hot grounder to short that got away putting Milli on base. Two fielder’s choices scored two more runs before Barry “Brooklyn” Forman hit a liner to center to score run number five. Ray “Bull Dog” Henry drove in the last two runs with a nice line drive single to center field.
The Yankees scored one run in their half of the first with a single, walk and an infield hit. The Yanks scored their last run in the second inning on a single and three straight walks by a suddenly wild Surf Dawg. Woody was then brought in with the bases loaded and no outs. Ol’ Scot Hensley #00 thinking he was younger and quicker, or not thinking at all, was wandering off first base too much while Woody was paused ready to pitch, so he alertly stepped off the mound with his right foot and quickly fired to Keppy at first to put Scottie in a run down with no where to go since second base was still occupied. Keppy ran Scottie down near second base while the runner at third broke for home. After tagging a pissed off – screaming balk, balk – Scottie, Kep wheeled around and threw a strike to Milli at home to tag the runner out for a very strange, but fun to watch double play. A 1-3-2 double play is not seen very often. Woody then struck out the batter after several foul balls to squash the Yankee rally. Bob came into a bases loaded jam and threw six pitches and gets three outs with no runs. Two of the outs, without throwing a pitch. Wow, what a relief job.
In the top of the third, the Buzzards scored 10 runs and put the game out of reach early. Fifteen Buzzards batted with 10 hits and a walk. Getting base hits were Pete "The Baron" Von Zboray leading off the inning with a line drive to left, followed by Mark “Ronnie” Wronski getting the first of his four hits today. Charles “CJ” Jackson hit a screaming liner to center field and Bull Dog hit a shot up the middle, each knocking in a run. Welzy doubled deep to left and then advanced to third on a fielding error by the left fielder. Taylor scored on Wuky’s hit up the middle for the fifth run. Woody got on base via an E-5 and advanced to third base on Keppy’s liner to right scoring Wuky. Milli hit a deep drive to left for a double driving in Woody and Kep. The Baron walked and scored the 10th run on a deep drive to left by Ronnie. What an inning, besides the offensive fireworks, the three outs were made by two batters, Barry’s two fly outs to the right side and Bull Dogs’ ground out to short to end the long inning. Oh my, 17 – 2 in the top of the third.
The Yankees did not score the rest of the game. Excellent pitching and good defense shut down those damn Yankees. Woody pitched two quick innings giving up one hit while facing five batters. He threw 22 pitches, 17 strikes and 5 balls. Surf Dawg pitched well until he couldn’t find the umpire’s strike zone on the critical pitch. Gregg walked two of the three Yanks on full counts. Surf Dawg’s pitching line was 10 Yankees on 34 pitches (18 strikes and 16 balls) with two runs on three hits with four walks and one strikeout. Keppy threw the final four innings in dominating fashion. Dave threw 48 pitches, 30 strikes and 18 balls. Kep faced 13 Yankees and gave up no hits and struck out six.
The Buzzards were not finished scoring yet. They scored two runs in the fourth with consecutive hits by Surf Dawg, Welzy (double) and Wuky followed by a sacrifice fly by Keppy to left field. In the fifth, one run scored on a single by Ronnie and a double up against the wall in left field by CJ. The Buzzards scored one in the sixth inning on Welzy’s third double of the game followed by a nice line drive single to left by Jim “Wags” Wagner, straight off the Disabled List with a test swing. Good looking first hit of the season for Wags and the hit scored Welzy from second. The last two runs came in the seventh inning. Milli led it off with another double, and then Pete hit a liner to left field for a single. Milli scored on Ronnie’s single to right. The Baron scored the last run on a solid line drive to center by Ray for his third hit and fourth RBI of the game.
Good job, Buzzards. The victories will not come this easy very often. Enjoy the win and take the Easter weekend off. They are good guys (only two of the four Hensley’s played today, Scott and the second pitcher Paul), but for most of us it’s always nice to beat up on a team called the Yankees.
The 25 hits and 23 runs are a season high and will be hard to top. The game offered good offensive team statistics. The multi-hit group included Kephart, Milligan and Von Zboray with two hits, Henry, Jackson and Welz with three, and Wronski with four hits. Four Buzzards hit two RBIs in this game with Milligan knocking in three and Ray Henry having a good day with four ribbies – three with two outs - to go along with three hits. The excellent pitching line is two runs on four hits with four walks and nine strikeouts. The Buzzards were awesome today.
The ‘Play of the Day’ was in the bottom of the second with Woody’s pick off of Scottie at first base that led to the tag by Keppy of a running Yank before he whirled around to make a strong throw to Milli to nail the runner at home plate for a wow double play. The Buzzard defense was solid again. Of the 21 Yankee outs, nine were strikeouts, eight infield ground outs, one hot line out to Surf Dawg at second to end the game, one infield pop-up caught by the pitcher, Woody, and the terrific double play pickoff play.
Buzzard Note #1: The next games (double header) vs. the Patriots on April 19 will likely be in Woodland. Car pooling via RV is the plan. We may stop and eat somewhere in Woodland or on the way home. Any good restaurants that you know that may work for hungry Buzzards descending upon it, let Pete or Gregg know. More info to come.
Buzzard Note #2: The web site is updated with stats and team info. The web site is www.teamz.com/gcbuzzards/cfm?
Buzzard Note #3: The hits and defense gave our fans a lot to cheer about. Some of the Baron’s relatives were in town and came by to watch Pete and the Buzzards in action. The cheering section consisted of Pete’s mom and her three sisters, Aunts Joyce, Heidi and Linda. They were fun and did not embarrass young Petey too much, or did they?
Buzzard Note #4: No game this Sunday. Happy Easter.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #1
March 29, 2009
Buzzards Beat Up The Sultans, 14 to 4
Opening Day is always special and our 2009 season opener was on a beautiful Sunday morning in Colfax. A day just right for the Ol’ Buzzards to begin defense of their Sacramento NABA title. It would have been nice to have more practices before the regular season began, but the weather did not cooperate. The layoff since last Fall for most of the Buzzards was not too evident collectively, as we scored early and won the opener by 10, but the defense and hitting will need to improve. We will not win lots of games with only 12 hits combined with too many lousy throws on defense. Unless of course, our pitching dominates, like it did today.
The Buzzards sent southpaw ‘haven’t pitched since last October’ Dave “Keppy” Kephart #21 to the mound, while the Sultans countered with one of their junk ball pitchers, John Davis. Keppy looked real rusty during warm-ups, but at game time he was ready. Ol’ Kep looked sharp in striking out three of the first four batters. Keppy pitched three innings and faced the minimum nine batters even with giving up one hit. With two outs in the second inning, the Sultans, Pat Kubitz, hit a flair to left center for the single. Two pitches later, the speedy runner was thrown out trying to steal second base on a strike from the new catcher Jim “Milli” Milligan. Keppy held the Sultans to zero runs on one hit. He threw 32 pitches with 27 strikes and just 5 balls. Nice job, Keppy.
The Buzzards offense started in the first inning with new Buzzard, Taylor “Welzy” Welz, leading off with getting hit by a pitch; Welzy stole second base and scored the first Buzzard run of 2009 on Bob “Woody” Wooden’s single to left. Mike “Bake” Baker followed by walking on five pitches. Keppy then hit a high pop-up to short that was fading out to left field. The shortstop mis-played the ball allowing Woody to score and Dave to get on base. Milli doubled deep to left for a nice first Buzzard hit scoring Bake from second. A good start to a game and a season.
The Buzzards scored six runs in the third inning. Dan “Wuky” Wukmir started it off with a line drive single to right center on an 0-2 pitch. Wuky stole second on a pitch-out and took third on the high throw. Two outs later, he’s still at third until Keppy knocked in the run with a double past the right fielder. Milli knocked in Kephart on an infield error for the second run of the two out rally. Mark “Ronnie” Wronski’s first pitch single was followed by a run scoring double down the line by Pete “Baron” Von Zboray. The final two runs scored on an infield error on a hit by the third new Buzzard, Charles Jackson. The Buzzards were ahead 9 – 0 after 3 innings.
The second Buzzard pitcher was Gary “Stoney” Stonebrook #13 taking over in the fourth inning. Stoney looked in mid-season form already, as he pitched the next two innings giving up one hit while striking out five Sultans. The other out was a nice pick-off play at second base in the fourth inning with Stoney throwing, what else, a strike to Wuky from shortstop, who got a jump on the runner in the race to the bag. The pick-off play was preceded by six pitches to their leadoff hitter, Mike Kostiv, who then led off the next inning by striking out on three pitches to complete his long 9 pitch at-bat. Gary threw 30 pitches to the seven Sultans he faced, 25 strikes and 5 balls, for a nice opening game pitching performance.
The Ol’ Buzzards continued to score with one more run in the bottom of the fourth. The Sultans changed pitchers and sent in former professional ball player, Jake Stohler #8, to shut down the high flying Buzzards. Stohler had a hard time finding the plate with the first batters. He walked Woody on 5 pitches and Bake on four. Keppy struck out on a tough pitch by Jake with a full count. During the at-bat, Woody and Bake executed a double steal, putting themselves in scoring position. Milli followed with a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Woody from third base.
The third Buzzard pitcher for the day, Gregg “Surf Dawg” Novotny #1, entered the game in the top of the sixth with a comfortable lead. The inning began with the first three Sultans getting on base with two hits and an infield throwing error. The next three batters hit ground ball outs, but they still scored three runs to close the gap to 10 – 3.
The Buzzards answered with three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Woody started it off by getting hit by a pitch and stealing second base on the next pitch. Keppy knocked him in with a single to center field. Milli hit a fly ball that the right fielder couldn’t handle and then stole second base, putting runners at second and third. Ronnie followed with a two out base hit up the middle to score Kep and Milli.
The last Sultan run scored in the top of the seventh inning. The leadoff batter walked and stole second before the next batter struck out. An infield error to the next hitter scored their fourth run of the game. Ol’ Surf Dawg pitched well to 10 Sultans giving up two hits with one walk and one strike out. He threw 29 pitches, 19 for strikes and 10 for balls for a solid two innings on the mound.
The Sultans changed pitchers for the bottom of the seventh and brought in their hard throwing but wild southpaw, Mike Bishop #30. By now the Buzzards were thirsty and hungry and wanted to end the game in seven innings. They needed to score one run to lead by 10 runs and win the game with a mercy killing. Steve “Cookie” Cook started the inning with a full count walk. Cookie then stole second and moved to third on Welzy’s infield hit on a drawn in infield defense. With one out and a drawn in outfield, Wuky hit the third pitch to the right fielder, but deep enough to score a speedy Ol’ Cookie with a slide at home to end the game, 14 to 4.
The Buzzards did a good job of staying focused and not getting sloppy with a big lead. Eight of the 14 runs were scored with two outs, which is a terrific but scary percentage. Except for the pitching, the stats were not that good for this game. There were 40 batters with 36 official at-bats with only 12 hits. There were 4 walks and seven Sultan errors along with 12 stolen bases. The two hit group is small this week with Kephart, Welz and Wronski. Woody scored three times, once after being hit by the pitch in the sixth. Woody and Welzy were both plunked by a hard ball today and join the appreciated blue bruise brothers Buzzards club. Barry “Brooklyn” Forman looks to be recovering from his heal injury last year and will be playing with stuff in his shoe this year. Barry looked good on the first at-bat with a liner to center field and ended the game 1 for 2.
One of the keys to this season will be the pitching. We are blessed to have a solid and deep pitching staff with other Buzzards besides the three pitchers today that will be throwing this year. Today’s pitchers faced 26 Sultans giving up 4 runs (one earned run) on 4 hits with 1 walk and 3 errors. Of the 21 outs, 9 Sultans struck out, there were 7 infield ground outs, a hot line drive out to Cookie at second, an attempted steal of second base plus the slick pick-off play at second, and the only fly ball out of the game was the last Sultan out of the game with a double play on the nice running catch of a sinking liner to center by Welzy and the accurate throw from across his body back to Keppy at first base to nail the returning runner.
A win is a good way to open the season. Let’s keep it up.
Buzzard Note #1: No game on April 12 - Easter Sunday.
Buzzard Note #2: Beer and sodas and munchies will be available after games. After Colfax games we head up to the Ball Park on top of the hill to break out the beer.
Buzzard Note #3: The 48+ divisional team shifting moved the Buzzards into the National Division. After winning the American Division last season, we now find ourselves in the National Division with the Yankees, Dragons, Patriots and Sultans. The American Division is the Free Agents, Valley Cats, Reds, Astros and Timber Wolves.
Buzzard Note #4: The recently posted schedule shows a 10 am game at the new Antelope High School, JV Field. See ya there at 9 am for warm-ups.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #12
June 15, 2008
Buzzards Show No Mercy – Beat Up Astros 17 to 2
On a warm Sunday afternoon (low 90’s) in Sacramento, the Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards played the Commish (Barry Spiller) led Astros in front of a nice Father’s Day audience. Playing on the nicely groomed and well-maintained McAuliffe Fields again, the Buzzards were anxious to start another winning streak. The Buzzards sent Gregg ‘Surf Dawg’ Novotny to the mound while the Astros countered with the always-tricky Luis Hernandez.
As the visiting team, the Astros batted first and showed they came to play when the first four batters got on base with one scoring. But after two terrific defense plays, the early rally was shut down. With runners on 1st and 3rd and no outs, a quick infield huddle was called to set the defense for a play. When the runner on 1st ran to 2nd base on the next pitch, the catcher, Dennis ‘DV’ Viegas came up fast to fake a throw to 2nd and gunned a strike to Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden at 3rd base for the sliding tag out of a surprised Astro. The next batter hit a grounder to short for an inning ending double play of Wuky to Cookie to Bake (6-4-3).
The Buzzards started strong and scored 7 runs in the bottom of the 1st inning. DV led off by walking, stealing 2nd base and advancing to 3rd on the throw. DV scored on Dan ‘Wuky’ Wukmir’s liner that hit the pitcher and bounced away toward the 3rd base line. Wuky stole 2nd and ran to 3rd on a wild pitch before scoring on Dave ‘Keppy’ Kephart’s grounder to the 2nd baseman. With two outs, Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray tripled to deep right-center field to keep the inning going. Mike ‘Ski’ Wronski and Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman followed with singles to right field and steals of 2nd base. Barry drove in two runs with his 2-out line drive hit. Steve ‘Cookie’ Cook then walked to put runners at 1st and 2nd. Craig ‘CD’ Daniel, playing in his first baseball game since early May, hit a long double over the left fielder’s head, scoring Brooklyn and a hustling but winded Cookie to end the scoring in the 1st inning.
Those stubborn Astros started another rally in the 2nd inning and with one out had loaded the bases on two hits and a walk. The double play came in handy again to stop the Astros as Woody gloved a hot grounder at 3rd and threw home to DV who then threw to Mike ‘Bake’ Baker at 1st to get the runner for a good looking 5-2-3 double play.
The Buzzards scored in the first 6 innings of the mercy rule shortened 7-inning game. The game did last 2 hours and 45 minutes partly because the Buzzard offense pounded Astros’ pitching and put pressure on their defense each inning.
In the 2nd inning, Keppy doubled down the left field line with two outs. Keppy stole 3rd and came home on Baron’s grounder to short. Pete’s hustle forced a quick low throw to 1st base and kept the inning alive. In the 3rd inning, Barry led off with a single to left and then stole 2nd base. Two outs later DV knocked in Barry for the 9th Buzzard run of the game.
Showing no mercy in the 4th inning, Woody hit the first pitch d-e-e-p to center field (center field wall is over 400 feet) for a double. Surf Dawg, hitting for the first time after pitching four innings, singled to right and scored Woody. Baron was hit by a 2-2 count fastball to load the bases. Pete jogged down to first without rubbing his new bruise. Ski’s single to left scored Surf Dawg and Baron. Ski got greedy after the hit and was thrown out on a good relay to 2nd base for the 2nd out of the inning. Forman followed with his third hit, a double to right, and then Cookie hit an infield single before the inning ended with the score after five, Buzzards 17 - Astros 1.
The Astros scored an unearned run in the 6th inning on a combination of an E-5, catcher interference and two walks. The Astros did threaten with two runners in the 4th, 6th and 7th innings, but were limited to two runs. The Astros got 7 hits, 2 runs, 4 walks, with 3 strikeouts. Buzzard pitching did an excellent job of shutting down the Astros.
Surf Dawg pitched four solid innings in getting his 5th win of the season. Gregg threw 71 pitches (45 strikes & 26 balls) giving up 1 unearned run on 6 hits and 2 walks. Surf Dawg faced 18 Astros, striking out one and picking off another - the lead off batter in the 4th on a good move to 1st base and a nice tag by Bake. Keppy picked up the save by pitching 3 innings of 1 hit ball. Dave faced 16 Astros and threw 63 pitches (38 strikes & 25 balls). His pitching line was 1 run (unearned) on 1 hit and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts. Our sweaty hats are off to Surf Dawg and Keppy for dealin’-it to those feisty Astros.
The Buzzard bats were smokin’ hot this Father’s Day. The Buzzards had 21 hits resulting in 17 runs. The multi-hit club this week includes Baron, Cookie, DV, Surf Dawg, Woody and Wuky with 2 hits. Ski and Brooklyn each had 3 hits. Mark hit well in front of his wife and friends and also had 4 RBIs. The defensive play of the game goes to Woody, playing 3rd base in the 2nd inning, ran after a short foul pop-up near the dugout and slid into the fence trying to snag the ball. The Buzzards now have a modest 2 game win streak.
Buzzard Note #1: The scorekeeper’s double knee surgery was a success on Wednesday. Diane will be on the disabled list for a few weeks. She can straighten out her legs and she walked a little bit without any pain from the knees, both for the first time in many years. There was plenty of pain when she walked, but it was from the muscles around the knees, not the knee joints. She got home Saturday evening from Kaiser-Roseville. She is looking forward to life with new wheels.
Buzzard Note #2: The last victory assured the Buzzards of the best record for the All-Star break, so that means the Buzzards’ manager gets to coach the American League team on July 9. This may entice Bob ‘Skipper’ Whitacre enough to fly down from Washington to manage the team.
Buzzard Note #3: Cold drinks and munchies after the game up the road at the Colfax Ball Park.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #13
June 22, 2008
Buzzards Beat Yankees 6 to 3
In a contest between the first place Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards (11-1) and the last place Yankees (0-11), the expected outcome was a Buzzards’ blowout. However, on a warm day (low 90s) in Colfax, the visiting Yankees got outstanding pitching from Craig Parker and they played well to make the game close during the 9-inning, 2 hr. and 45 min. game.
The Buzzards’ offense was ineffective much of the game as Parker mixed up his pitches and speeds in holding the Buzzards down. Buzzards were in scoring position in 7 of the 9 innings, but only scored in the 4th, 5th and 6th frames. The Buzzards scored 6 runs on 14 hits. Parker #20 gave up no walks and he only had two 3-ball counts during the entire well-pitched game.
The Buzzards threatened in the 1st and 2nd innings, but couldn’t score due to a running blunder in the 1st and two infield pop-ups to end the 2nd inning. The Buzzards finally broke through in the bottom of the 4th with 2 runs. Dennis ‘DV’ Viegas led off with a double to left. Dan ‘Wuky’ Wukmir hit a twisting, short fly ball single to right-center field that landed between the spinning shortstop, Scottie Hensley, and the charging centerfielder and held DV at 2nd base. After DV and Wuky pulled-off the double steal, Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden hit a wicked line drive down the left field line for a double and knocked in the first 2 runs.
In the 5th inning, Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman hit a one-out double d-e-e-p off the left-center field fence. Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray followed with another d-e-e-p drive to the left-center field fence scoring Barry - leaving the score after 5 innings at 3-0.
The Buzzards scored the last 3 runs in the 6th. Wuky started it off with a hard liner past the right fielder for a triple. Woody hit a grounder to the 3rd baseman playing deep, who was distracted by Wuky hopping up and down the base line, and then threw wildly to 1st base for an error. On the next pitch Woody took off for 2nd base. Wuky with a good lead from 3rd base broke for home on the throw from the catcher. The 2nd baseman cut-off the throw thinking he could shoot down the oldest Ol’ Buzzard at home plate. On a close play, Wuky avoided the tag with a hard hook-slide to the outside of the plate, stealing home for the 4th run of the game while Woody moved into scoring position by stealing 2nd base.
Greg ‘Young’un’ Lichtenberger hit a two-out single to drive in Woody and the 3rd run of the inning. Mike ‘Bake’ Baker followed with his first hit of the game moving Greg to 2nd base. Mark ‘Ski’ Wronski hit a long drive to left field that bounced high over the fence for a ground-rule double scoring Young’un, but it held Bake at 3rd and both runners got stranded on a Craig Parker induced infield pop-up to end the inning and make the score at the end of 6 innings: Buzzards 6, Yankees 1.
Buzzard pitching held the Yanks to 3 runs. The pitching plan was to have 3 Buzzards throw 3 innings each. Greg ‘Surf Dawg’ Novotny started and mowed down the Yankees in the first 3 innings. He faced 12 batters giving up 2 hits with no walks and 3 strikeouts in throwing 41 pitches (26 strikes & 15 balls). Dave ‘Keppy’ Kephart pitched the next 3 innings. Keppy was a little wild today – maybe the higher elevation in Colfax – and walked four Yankees. Keppy faced 13 batters giving up only one hit and one run with 3 strikeouts in throwing 65 pitches (33 strikes & 32 balls) during the 4th thru 6th innings. Keppy (6-1) gets the win ‘cause the Buzzards finally scored in the 4th and took the lead for good in defeating those pesky Yankees.
Young’un pitched the final 3 innings. The Kid made several Yankee batters look bad in getting 6 of the 9 outs with strikeouts. The 3 others were infield outs to the right side. The Yankees scored 2 runs in the top of the 9th on 3 hits and a walk. The Kid gave up 5 hits and 1 walk in between the K’s in the last 3 innings of the game. Greg threw 56 pitches (42 strikes & 14 balls) in facing 15 Yanks.
Overall, a good game for the Buzzards. The Yankees played tough in limiting the Buzzards’ high-octane attack. The game’s multi-hit club includes DV, Woody, Wuky and Young’un with 2 hits each. The Buzzards’ line score: 6 runs on 14 hits, no walks and 1 error. The Yankees’ line score: 3 runs on 8 hits, 5 walks and 2 errors.
Buzzard Note #1: All-Star votes are due to Kelley this Sunday. Remember, each Buzzard can cast 5 votes.
Buzzard Note #2: Profile sheets will be handed-out on Sunday to be filled-out. The information is needed for the web site, roster update and especially for the upcoming radio game on August 3rd against the Valley Dogs.
Buzzard Note #3: Sunday’s game is at the Patriots’ home field, Lee Field, in Woodland at 2 pm. Car-pooling is encouraged. Cold drinks and munchies will be available after the game.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #14
June 29, 2008
Buzzards Defeat Patriots 13 to 3
The Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards traveled to Woodland to face the California Patriots in an inter-league game with a friendly rivalry going. On a hot (93 degree), muggy and smoky Sunday, the scheduling wizard put the old guys together at Lee Field for a 2 pm start. Lee Field is a good venue for a game, but chasing foul balls into the cemetery across the street was a little different. Walking over and amongst the gravestones with cleats seemed a little creepy. No night games here, please. It didn’t seem to bother some Buzzards later, who were drinking beer in the cemetery after the game and lounging on the grass in the shade amongst the gravestones. It is just mind over matter, if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.
The Buzzards were expecting a tough and close game since the Patriots are historically one of the better teams in the over 48 league with several outstanding players and a team that usually does well in national tournaments. The pitching match-ups were the cagey veteran, Irv Scott #15, for the Patriots with the Buzzards countering with the young kid, Greg Lichtenberger #9.
The visiting Buzzards started the game strong by sending 10 batters to the plate in the 1st inning. Dennis ‘DV’ Viegas led off with a full count walk, then stole 2nd base on the first pitch and took 3rd on the catcher’s overthrow. Dan ‘Wuky’ Wukmir knocked in the first Buzzard run with a scratch infield hit, then later stole 2nd base. Two outs later, Greg ‘Young’un’ Lichtenberger reached base on a deep grounder to the 3rd baseman. His rushed throw was off-line for an error putting Young’un at 1st and Wuky at 3rd. Greg stole 2nd before Craig ‘CD’ Daniel singled to left field scoring Wuky. CD then stole 2nd before Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray reached 1st base on the third Patriots error of the inning (E6 on the rushed, bad throw to 1st).
Mark ‘Ski’ Wronski kept the inning alive with a line drive single to left field and drove in CD for the fourth run of the inning. Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman, batting next, took one for the team when he was hit by a 1-0 count inside fastball that barely winged his left kneecap. Another inch inside and Barry would have needed a runner for a long time. This was a nice start by batting around and scoring four runs to put pressure on the stunned Patriots. The three 1st inning errors were very un-Patriot like. They settled down and committed only one more error during the rest of the game.
The top of the order led off the 2nd inning. DV hit a bloop single to right. Wuky followed with a blast over the centerfielder’s head to the fence for a triple scoring DV. One out later, Mike ‘Bake’ Baker knocked in run number six with a hit to left-center field.
By the bottom of the 4th inning, Lichtenberger was still mowing ‘em down and throwing no-hit ball with two outs (he did hit a batter with a fastball in the 2nd), when Lanny Ropke #25, normally a strong hitter and pushing each fielder back a few steps, hit a dribbler up the 3rd baseline. Ski charged the ball and made his typical strong throw, but Lanny beat it out for their first hit. Young’un pitched a terrific 5 innings, giving up only three hits to a good hitting California Patriots team.
The Buzzards scored again in the 5th inning. Singles by Young’un and Craig ‘CD’ Daniel, plus a throwing error by the Patriots shortstop along with RBI ground balls by Jim ‘Wags’ Wagner and Brooklyn pushed two runs across to take an 8-0 lead.
In the 6th inning, the no mercy Buzzards banged out five more runs. Dave ‘mmMumbles’ Kelley started it off with a nice line drive single to right field. DV singled and then Wuky followed with a looping single to right for his 4th hit of the game driving in mmMumbles. Bake then walked to load the bases. Young’un doubled to left-center field driving in three runs. CD then singled to left for his 4th hit of the game and drove in Greg for the 13th and last Buzzard run.
The Buzzards changed pitchers in the 6th inning and sent Gregg ‘Surf Dawg’ Novotny to the mound. Surf Dawg quickly disposed of the Patriots in the 6th, but in the 7th, the first two batters singled followed by two walks. A couple of fielder’s choices later and the Patriots had scored 3 runs, and were on the verge of ending the Buzzards chance to end this game early with the 10-run mercy rule – after 7 innings. With two runners on, Surf Dawg got the batter to pop up to 1st base to end the game. Final score: Buzzards 13 and Patriots 3. Good game.
The Buzzard pitchers dealt pretty well with the humid-heat, only losing 5 pounds each in sweat. Lichtenberger faced 19 Patriots and threw 66 pitches (49 strikes & 17 balls). He gave up three hits, no walks, one hit batter and had 8 strikeouts. Novotny faced 11 batters throwing 39 pitches (22 strikes & 17 balls) giving up 3 runs on 3 hits with 2 walks and 1 strikeout.
The defensive highlight of the game came early. The last two outs of the 1st inning were hit to the Baron in right field. The first one, a high fly ball in the sun seemed hard enough, but Pete topped that with a nice running catch of a sinking line drive by snagging the ball below his knees for the 3rd out.
The defensive lowlight occurred in the 5th inning when Young’un - who’s maybe too young to understand why not - reached out with his pitching hand in trying to stop a high hopping, hot bouncer up the middle. Of course the ball hits his hand, glancing off towards short. Then with Greg shaking his hand and winching in pain, he says he’s fine to continue pitching. The next batter singled and that put two runners on before a ground ball to Ski at 3rd for a force-out ended the inning and Greg’s pitching for the day.
The offensive highlights were the four-hit games by both CD and Wuky. Half of the team’s 16 hits were from their hot bats. The multi-hit group also included DV, Kelley and Young’un with 2 hits each.
Another good Buzzard game and win. The line score was Buzzards 13 runs on 16 hits, 2 walks and 0 errors. The Patriots had 3 runs on 6 hits with 2 walks and 4 errors.
Buzzard Note #1: It’s good to have Wags back. He looked a little rusty at the plate, but he got an RBI and played some outfield and 3rd base (?), diving for a ground ball.
Buzzard Note #2: The All Star slots for the American League first place Buzzards are 5 players and a player/manager. The following players were selected by their teammates to represent the Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards in the NABA All Star game next week: Baker, Kephart, Novotny, Viegas, Von Zboray, Wooden and Wukmir. Baron’s pulled quad muscle will prevent him from playing. The game is next Wednesday, July 9, at Playfields Park in Davis at 7 pm. Surf Dawg will be the player/manager. The National League won last year’s game led by MVP, Danny Harvey, of the Dragons.
Buzzard Note #3: Scorekeeper Diane is recovering nicely from the double knee replacement surgery. She is walking around with her walker and slowly climbing the stairs this week, all excellent signs that she will enjoy pain-free walking with her new bionic knees once the legs recover from the surgery.
Buzzard Note #4: The Buzzards at 13-1 lead the second place Reds (10-4) by 3 games. The National League is bunched up with 4 teams within 1½ games of each other. The Patriots with the loss are now ½ game out of first place behind the Dragons and Free Agents. The Buzzard team batting average has been higher, but at .399 at the July 4th break, that is terrific. The team pitching ERA is excellent at 2.69, especially with the Buzzards averaging 10 runs per game. Keep it up. We still have the hot months of July and August ahead of us.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #15
July 13, 2008
Buzzards Hang-on To Beat Reds 2 – 1
After the July 4th holiday break, in an American League showdown game between the first place Buzzards and the second place Reds, pitching ruled the day and made for a very close game as the Buzzards hung-on to win 2 – 1 in a quick two hours and ten minutes. The defense did pick a poor day to play sloppy with five errors, but with superb pitching and just enough offense, the Buzzards prevailed.
The defending NABA Champion Reds sent Robert ‘Pony Tail’ Stormont to the mound. Gold Country countered with its newest Buzzard, Gary ‘Stoney’ Stonebrook for the first 5 innings and finished the 9-inning game with Dave ‘Keppy’ Kephart.
Pitching did rule the day, as both sides were tough on the batters with 20 strikeouts of the game’s 54 total outs. For total game offense, there were 13 hits and only 2 walks with one hit batter in this pitching duel in Colfax.
Stormont of the Reds pitched a masterful game, keeping the Buzzards off-balance by mixing up his pitches and speeds and hitting the corners (in the umpire’s mind only). Robert gave up 2 runs on 8 hits with 1 walk on 105 pitches (75 strikes & 30 balls). Most days that kind of game gets him a win, but not today against the Ol’ Buzzards.
The Buzzards were the visiting team on the schedule. Go figure. The Buzzards scored one run in the 1st and 6th innings. Robert was effective in limiting the Buzzards high-octane offense to only two other innings with runners in scoring position. The Reds actually had more scoring opportunities. The ready Reds collected 5 hits, 1 walk and 1 hit batter to go along with the five errors. They put runners in scoring position in five innings, but only scored in the 9th. Terrific pitching by Stoney and Keppy was the key to this win.
In the top of the 1st inning with 2 outs and a 1-2 count, Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden started it off with a double to left-center field. Mike ‘Bake’ Baker followed with a line drive single to right driving in the first run. In the 2nd through the 5th innings, 12 Buzzards in a row stepped up to bat and made an out. There were 4 fly balls to the outfield, 3 ground balls and 2 pop-ups to the infield, 2 K’s, and one of several Dan ‘Wuky’ Wukmir base running outs. This one was a lead off single in the 4th inning to right field that he tried to stretch into a double. Luv the hustle, hate the out. Fined by the scorekeeper.
By the start of the 6th inning, 13 consecutive Buzzards had made outs when Mark ‘Ski’ Wronski stepped to the plate. Ski looked bad when swinging and missing at strike one, but he nailed the next pitch to deep left-center field for a big wake-up double. Jim ‘Wags’ Wagner hit a one-out looping single to right advancing Mark to 3rd base. Wags stole 2nd base before Dennis ‘DV’ Viegas hit a sacrifice fly in foul territory to the left fielder allowing Ski to tag up and score with a huge run and the last Buzzard run of the day.
The Reds were the home team and scored their run in the 9th inning. A lead off base hit started the last inning. The runner advanced on a pass ball before Keppy struck out their clean-up hitter, then a misplayed ball on a hard shot at 1st base scored the unearned run. With a runner on, Keppy got big Louie, Lou Valdez, to pop-up weakly to the pitcher. Then the last batter, who had gotten on base in three previous at-bats, struck-out on Keppy heat to end the game. Final score: Buzzards 2 and Reds 1.
Buzzard pitching was excellent. Stonebrook showed why teams hate to face him. He is tough to hit with his mix of pitches and good speed. DV, behind the plate, didn’t have to move his glove much ‘cause Stoney was hittin’ his spots. Gary gave up no runs on 2 hits with 1 walk, a hit batter and 6 strikeouts while facing 18 Reds and throwing 73 pitches (48 strikes & 25 balls). Kephart started the 6th inning and was equally effect at mowing down the Reds. No Reds scare here. Keppy faced 17 batters giving up 1 unearned run on 3 hits with no walks and 5 strikeouts. Ol’ Lefty threw 58 pitches, 43 for strikes and 15 balls. Great job guys.
There were some outstanding Buzzard defensive plays also. In the bottom of the 2nd with one out and runners at 1st and 2nd, Wags playing left field charged a line drive and made an excellent catch and then alertly threw to 2nd base to double up the runner, before he could get back, to end the inning. In the 7th inning, Ray ‘Powder Keg’ Henry playing right field made a similar aggressive, outstanding catch of a sinking hard line drive, with runners at 3rd and 1st, to end the inning. Keppy had just struck out the previous batter for a big second out in that 7th inning. In the 8th inning, Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman ran a long way to track down a deep fly ball to center field to end that inning.
The Buzzards still aren’t sure why Wuky ran into 3 and almost 4 outs during the game. He obviously misses that cute regular scorekeeper, Diane. Wuky was severely spanked when he got home, and as a fine must bring beer to the remainder of the games. Being on base is good, getting out on base is very bad.
The multi-hit club was pretty small this week with only 8 Buzzard hits. Bake and Wuky each got two hits for half of the team total. Next week we need more offense, this game was too close for some of the ol’ weak hearts on this team. The good news is that the Buzzards are now 14 – 1.
Buzzard Notes #1: It was good to see Ray Henry back. He didn’t look too rusty out there. Huge catch in the 7th inning.
Buzzard Note #2: The All-Stars represented the Buzzards very well. The evening was extra hot and smokey in Davis and most games in the area were cancelled because of the air and weather, but not the NABA. Gregg ‘Surf Dawg’ Novotny pitched a scoreless first two innings and got the win. DV caught the whole game and had a hot bat in going 4 for 4 in winning the MVP award.
Buzzard Note #3: An end of season team party will be at Wagner’s house on August 10. Try to be on your best behavior this year. Details in Jim’s e-mail.
Buzzard Note #4: Fill out those personal bios for the upcoming radio game. Give them to Dave Kelley or e-mail them to buzzardhardball@yahoo.com.
Buzzard Note #5: Cold drinks and munchies after the next game at Rusch Park. Game time is 10 am against the Yankees.
Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #16
July 20, 2008
Buzzards Stomp The Yankees 13 to 1
On a beautiful mild Sunday morning in July, the Buzzards got early wake-up calls for an away game at Rusch Park in Citrus Heights. By game time at 10 am, 10 Buzzards were ready for the American League contest with the last place Yankees (1-14). The Yankees consisting of four Hensleys, Craig Parker and four other guys, have given the Buzzards trouble in the recent past with their pitching ace, Parker, keeping us off-balance with his variety of pitches. Our last game with the Yankees was four weeks ago on June 22 and the Buzzards beat the Yanks in a close game 6 - 3.
The Yankees sent their ace again, #20 Parker, to the mound to try and clip the Buzzards’ wings. The Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards sent #22 Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden to the mound to shut down those Yankees.
The Buzzards adjusted early to Parker’s pitching and the umpire’s strike zone and jumped on the Yankees with four quick runs. Dan ‘Wuky’ Wukmir started it off with a single up the middle. He stole 2nd before Woody struck out but advanced to 1st base on the passed ball and sending Wuky to 3rd. Dennis ‘DV’ Viegas running for the pitcher, Woody, stole 2nd base. Mark ‘Ski’ Wronski then hit a 2-strike single to center field scoring the first two runs. Greg ‘The Kid’ Lichtenberger followed with a blast up the left-center field gap for a double scoring Ski. Greg, showing off those Young’un legs, stole 3rd base and scored the fourth run on a sacrifice fly to center by Gary ‘Stoney’ Stonebrook. Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray followed with a drive over the head of the left fielder for a stand up double, but was left stranded.
The first Yankee hitter started by battling Woody in a 9-pitch at-bat. After 5 foul balls Hensley #1 walked. That was Woody’s only walk of the game. After DV showed off his range and arm at 2nd base with a nice play and throw to get the lead runner at 2nd, Hensley #2 struck out swinging. Hensley #3, Scottie, knocked in the run with a single to left for the first and only Yankee run of the day.
The Buzzard 2nd inning started with Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman hitting a deep double to right field. After advancing on a ground out, Barry scored on a sac fly to center field by DV. Next, Wuky pulled an inside pitch and hit a hot grounder off the 1st baseman’s ankle for an error and a bruise. With a cussing 1st baseman, Wuky immediately left and stole 2nd. Woody then doubled down the left field line scoring Wuky for the second run of the inning. After 2 innings, the score was Buzzards 6 and Yankees 1.
The Buzzards scored two more in the 4th inning. Dave ‘mmMumbles’ Kelley hit the first pitch for a line drive double to left. Jim ‘Wags’ Wagner running for the catcher, Kelley, scored on a single by DV up the middle. One out later Woody singled to left. Wuky running for Woody stole 2nd base before The Kid hit a looper into short left field scoring DV for an 8 to 1 lead.
By the 4th inning, Woody was still mowing down the Yankees. Scott Hensley started the inning with a hard sinking liner to left field. Barry initially charged the ball and then wisely let it drop in front of him for a single, only to have it take a strange bounce and almost skip past him. With semi-Kat like reflexes, Brooklyn knocked the ball down keeping the runner at 1st and hit the turf on his ol’ fanny at the same time. Good play to keep the runner from advancing, and allow the next play to become a double play. Parker hit a ground ball deep in the hole at short that Wuky backhanded and threw a long strike to DV at 2nd base. DV, with a quick release and strong throw to Stoney at 1st, gunned down the runner for a good-looking 6-4-3 double play. Woody struck out the next batter to end the inning and begin his streak of five consecutive strikeouts.
The Buzzards scored in 5 of the 7 innings. In the 5th, they scored four more to take a commanding lead. Baron started it off with a first pitch single to left. Wags followed with an attempted bunt and got some Yankee razing, so he hit the next pitch for a line drive single to right field. Barry, not wasting any time, hit the next pitch deep to right-center field for a long single with Wags holding up to see if it was a catchable fly ball. The ball landed out of the reach of the running center fielder scoring Baron. With two outs and runners at 1st and 2nd, Wuky pulled a 2-2 pitch down the right field line, landing fair by a few inches, and getting past the outfielder, Hensley #4. Good relays made the play close (Hensley to Hensley to Hensley to Odon), but Wuky slid in with a triple scoring a hustling Wags and Young’un. Woody followed with a 2-2 count line drive single to left field driving in Wuky for a 12-1 lead in the 5th inning.
The Buzzards scored one more run in the 6th. Stoney doubled on a deep drive to center field. One out later, Wags knocks in Gary with a line drive hit to left field ending the scoring at 13 runs. The 10-run mercy rule kicked in after the 7th inning.
The Yankees threatened in the 7th with a first pitch lead off double by Parker. The next Yankee hit a screaming line drive to center field that was sinking and looked like a sure base hit. However, Wags was patrolling center field, charged straight ahead at the crack of the bat, and made a head-long diving catch. The next out was just as entertaining as a high pop-up was hit to Lichtenberger playing 1st base. The Kid ran near the dugout and stuck his glove out to make first contact with the ball. The ball deflected off the glove into the air toward home plate allowing Young’un to run a few more steps and make final contact, this time by catching the ball. Circus music was heard playing in the background. Woody struck out the last batter on four pitches, fittingly a Hensley, to end the game.
Woody had a ‘hell of a day’. Not only did he get 3 hits (2 singles, 1 double) and drive in 2 runs, he pitched a one run (unearned) 5 hitter to win his first game as a Buzzard pitcher. Bob faced 27 Yankees striking out 10 while throwing 89 pitches, 66 for strikes and 23 for balls. Woody struck out five in a row in the 4th, 5th and 6th innings. He threw only 9 pitches in the 3rd inning; 8 pitches in the 4th; and 11 pitches in the 5th and 6th innings. Woody was also responsible for seven consecutive outs by closing out the 6th with a K and two infield pop-ups to the pitcher. Terrific pitching, tough defense and good hitting (20 hits) were the recipe for win #15. Good job Buzzards.
It was a good hittin’ day for the Ol’ Buzzards. The multi-hit club included 9 of the 10 Buzzards at the game. Only the team leader in hits this season, DV, did not get 2 or more hits today against the Yankees. In batting order they were: Wuky, Woody, Ski, Young’un, Stoney, Baron, Wags, Brooklyn and mmMumbles. The Buzzards adjusted well to Parker’s pitching and hit the ball hard all day while collecting 20 hits.
With vacations and other family commitments, the Buzzards were down to 10 players for this game. Ordinarily that is not a problem unless someone gets kicked out of the game. To remind everyone of that fact, Pete told the huddled Buzzards right before the game that we could not afford to lose players due to injury or ejection. Not five minutes later in the top of the 1st, DV, running for Woody, rounded 3rd base and scored the 2nd run on Wronski’s hit. As DV was approaching 3rd on the hit, the 3rd baseman, Odon, acted like the throw was coming to 3rd, while the ball was still rolling in the outfield. DV did not appreciate the bush league acting performance and since Odon was standing next to the bag, DV briefly and firmly placed his elbow on Odon’s chest while dashing by to score. The 3rd baseman did not like the introduction and came charging toward home plate for a piece of DV. They each called the other a series of bad names while heading toward each other along the 3rd baseline. Wuky, who had just scored in front of DV, grabbed Dennis and hung onto the twisting and mad DV. Odon was grabbed by some Yankees and the two players stayed separated, so no fight this Sunday morning. Meanwhile, Lichtenberger and an umpire get into it briefly about throwing down gloves and making threatening statements. For a moment, it didn’t look good, and that we might be playing this game with eight Buzzards. Because peace was quickly restored, the umpire declared a truce, and the game continued with all players.
Buzzard Note #1: It was good to see our scorekeeper, Diane, return after 4 ½ weeks from double knee replacement surgery. No running yet, but pain free walking does her good.
Buzzard Note #2: It was also a treat to get a visit from Gary ‘Duke’ Hayworth. Gary enjoyed seeing some Buzzard baseball again and hung around afterwards making us all appreciate healthy arms. Gary has been waiting for a special doctor to look at his right shoulder since his injury in late March. With the first appointment this week, he might know something in a couple of weeks. Surgery seems likely, more to come from Duke.
Buzzard Note #3: The radio game is planned for August 3 at 2 pm, which is coming soon. If you want to advertise, contact Kelley soonest. Bring your bio next week or send it to buzzardhardball@yahoo.com. Blank forms will also be available before and after the next game. Fill out your bio form, no excuses.
Buzzard Note #4: Be sure and RSVP to Wagner regarding the team party on August 10.
Buzzard Note #5: With this victory, we clinched the American League’s first place seeding for the playoffs. That means we will have a bye in the first round on August 17. The single elimination game for the American League crown will be played on August 24. The NABA championship double-header is scheduled for September 14, and the ‘if necessary’ third game is scheduled for the following Sunday, September 21.
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