Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #13

Game: July 12, 2015

Buzzards stun Rays in walk-off, 6-5

Back from the holiday break, the Ol' Buzzards were about to take on a young bunch of ball players that beat the team earlier this season. At our lowest point on May 3rd, after the bagpipes went silent and a prayer and thanks to Dave Kelley, the Rays held on to win the close game, 11-10. The Buzzards scored three runs in the last at-bats, but fell short with the help of horrible umpiring at Playfields Park.

This game was a home game. And a nice afternoon with the high temperature on Sunday in Auburn at 84°. Which helped the Gold Country Nine keep their energy level high for a potential long afternoon. The 42+ division Rays are 6-6 and tied for third with the Miners, while the Buzzards are 9-3 and lead the 52+ division by four games.

The starting pitcher for the visiting Rays was the tough righty, Luis 'Stylin' Hernandez #53. Taking the bump for the Buzzards was the veteran right-handed pitchologist, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6.

After both teams threatened in the second inning, the Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz smoked a line-drive into left-field for the single. Welzy then stole second on a close play and a good call by the ump. On a ground-out to the right-side, Welzy moved to third. Up next, Dave 'Evy' Everingham hit the 2-0 pitch into right-center-field for his patented base hit and drove in Welzy for the early 1-nothing lead.

In the fourth frame, the Thin Orange Line banged out another run. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley led-off with a base-on-balls. Jim 'Milli' Milligan hammered the 2-2 pitch into left putting runners at first and second. Up next, Kevin 'Flash' Krantz laid down an excellent bunt to load the bases with nobody out. Mike 'Mickey' Wilson then smacked one, but right at the third baseman, who stepped on third and threw to first for a double play while Tomahawk scored for a 2-0 lead.

The Rays had threatened to score in nearly every inning and the fifth started out like a night-mare for the Buzzards. Three seeing-eye hits followed by a solid line-drive, then a screamer off of Wookie's glove at third produced four quick runs. After a strike-out for the first out, the top of the order singled, another seeing-eye type grounder, putting runners at the corners. The runner at first went on the first pitch to steal second with the runner at third heading home on the throw to second base. Welzy cut-off the throw and threw home to catch the runner in a pickle. The ensuing run-down was fairly short as Welzy cut the line and tagged the runner dashing toward third. Taylor then wheeled and threw a bullet to second base to the covering center-fielder, Flash, to nail the other runner too far off of the bag for a spectacular double play to end the inning. However, the Buzzards were behind 4-2 to the resurgent Rays.

The Gold Country Nine tacked on another run in the sixth dig to tighten the score. Tomahawk led-off the inning by pounding an 0-2 pitch into left-center for a double. Two outs later, Tomahawk was still standing at second, when Mickey was hit by a pitch to put two runners on. Batting next, Salmo walked on a full-count to load the bases for Welzy. On a 1-2 pitch, Welzy's big swing resulted in an effective bunt toward third that scored Tomahawk to make the score 4-3 Rays after six innings of play.

The Rays added to their lead with a run in the seventh on three hits for a 5-3 score. The Rays have left a dozen runners on base, so far.

The Thin Orange Line matched the Rays run in the bottom-half of the seventh. After one out, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray walked on five pitches. After a fielder's choice, Tomahawk was at first base and took second on a wild pitch. After a six-pitch battle, Milli blasted a low fastball to deep left-field for a long single while Tomahawk scored from second for a 5-4 game after seven innings and 20 minutes left on the three-hour game clock.

Evy came in to pitch the eighth inning and relieve Salmo. Evy has not pitched since last year's broken leg in September. Dave looked good on the mound and handled the three batters, the top of their order, that he faced, and he struck-out the first one on a full-count.

The tired Gold Country Nine, including four who had played an earlier game, needed just a couple of runs to end this game on a high note. After one out, Welzy grounded one up the middle for a single to start the rally. Batting next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir walked on four pitches to put runners on second and first. Evy followed with a bouncer in the hole on the left-side of the infield. The shortstop went for the double play at second base. Wookie was nearly at the bag and sliding hard to break up the play, but the rushed throw got past the second baseman and went into right-field. Welzy scored and Wook went to third.

The score was now tied and the Buzzies had runners on the corners with one out and the Baron coming to the plate. On an 0-1 pitch, the Baron bounced trouble to the left-side. The shortstop was going to have to make a tough, clean play and hope for the best with a double play to prevent Wookie from scoring from third. Everyone was safe on the play, as the game ended with a stunning come-back by the Ol' Buzzards, 6 to 5.

The eight-inning game lasted 3-hours and five minutes with the summer league college teams watching the last couple of innings. The excellent Buzzard pitching with lots of ground balls held the good hitting Rays to five runs. Salmo pitched seven innings and faced 36 Rays in throwing 117 pitches (76 strikes & 41 balls). Salmeri gave up five runs (two earned) on 15 hits and two walks and one hit batter with three strike outs. Everingham pitched an outstanding eighth inning. On the hill for the first time in a long time, Evy mowed down the Rays 1-2-3 in the final inning. Dave faced three Rays and threw 15 pitches (8 strikes & 7 balls), while allowing no hits or walks and striking out one.

The offense gets brownie points for trying so hard. The team scored in five of the last six innings and threatened in most others. Knocking in the winning run with two outs to spare is cutting it pretty close. The six runs were tough to get, but were enough to beat the young Rays. The hit club for the game included: Baron, Evy-2, Flash-2, Milli-2, Tomahawk, and Welzy with four. The ribbies were banged in by: Baron, Evy-2, Mickey, Milli, and Welzy. The six precious runs were scored by: Tomahawk-3, Welzy-2, and Wook. There were eight free passes to first base given to six eagle-eyed walkers: Baron-2, Flash, Milli, Salmo, Tomahawk, and Wookie-2.

The defense was solid as usual plus it came up with big plays at key times. Of the 24 outs, there were 12 ground-outs, two fly-outs, three infield pop-ups with one resulting in a double play, four strike-outs, and two outs via run-downs. There were two big Buzzard double plays.

In the fourth frame, the double play came after a noteworthy infield play for the first out of the dig. After a lined single by the number four hitter, the next batter hit a hard grounder to the right-side hole. Welzy, ranging far to his left, caught up with the grounder on the grass in right field. After spearing the ball, he turned and threw the long way back to second base to a covering Evy to barely nail the surprised runner. Five pitches later, the next batter popped up to Salmo near the mound, while the runner was going on the pitch. After the catch, Salmo tossed the ball to Baron at first to complete the two out play.

In the fifth inning, the Rays were on a roll with four runs scored and no outs and with a runner at second. The next batter struck-out before the top of the order singled to put runners at the corners. On the next pitch, the runner at first broke for second. Milli fired the ball to second base and the runner at third dashed for home. Welzy cut-off the throw and threw back to Milli at the plate to trap the runner from third in a run-down. The entire play went 2-4-2-5-1-4 for the tag out. The second out of the double play was recorded when Welzy alertly threw to second base to Flash, covering the bag from center-field, to get the surprised runner, who started the play, off of the bag for a fabulous and the best timed double play of the season.

The fly ball outs were both caught by Flash, patrolling center-field. In the second inning, Kevin ran a loong way to catch the ball in short left-center. And in the eighth, Flash charged a liner for the second out of the last inning. Tomahawk in right and Mickey in left played the entire game chasing base hits, but there were no put-out opportunities.

The infield was kept busy. The Baron at first base had 10 put-outs including two unassisted grounders. Welzy had four assists and three put-outs playing second. Evy at shortstop had two put-outs and three assists. Wookie had three assists while holding down third base. Milli caught the entire game and had a surprising three assists to go along with the four put-outs for the Ks.

The 'walk-off' win felt real good after the final play was over. The Buzzards have not had many in their storied history. The disappointed Rays in their spiffy teal jerseys and white pants were good sports after the game. The loss drops them into fourth place in their division.

The Gold Country Nine plus Norm 'Coach' Tucker congratulated each other for the tough win. The first-place Buzzards are 10-3 and on a nice roll with six consecutive victories.

Next Sunday's game is at James Field at 10 am against the Solons.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #12

Game: June 28, 2015

Buzzards make Dodgers blue with 10-4 win

For game 12 of the season, the schedule pitted last year's 42+ division finalist against the 52+ division champs for the second time. The younger Dodgers (9-2) faced the Ol' Buzzards (8-3) at the Tri City Field in a hot game, action and temperature wise, in Rocklin. The Buzzards had defeated the Dodgers 9-3 at James Field in their first meeting in April. This was the Buzzards' first game at Tri City this season with its very short right-field porch of 248 feet with a 12-foot fence at the fair pole. The distance quickly increases toward right-center-field, but the short fence is a tempting target, especially for lefties.

A last-minute schedule and field change for the MSBL Pirates forced both teams to play at 10 o'clock. The shared players were divided up and both teams were short-handed. The game began on a warm morning with plenty of cloud cover to make for a humid first couple of innings. The longest game of the season, nearly 3½ hours, ended with bright sunshine and cloudless skies with temperatures climbing to the high-90s.

The visiting Buzzards sent their ace, the hard throwing righty, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz #26 to the mound to face the young and big (a few linebackers) and the young and quick (several with blazing speed) Dodger line-up. The Dodgers countered with their hard throwing right-hander, Andy 'Big Mac' McCue #5 to start the game on the hill.

The Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first with a nice crooked number (3) to put pressure on the Dodgers. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir hit a high chopper to the first baseman. The ball took a funny hop and bounced off of his chest and rolled away as Wookie hustled across the bag to get on first. Kevin 'Flash' Krantz then walked on five-pitches and was followed by copy-cat Mark 'Thunder' Weathers with a five-pitch walk to load the bases. Up next, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray hit a sacrifice-fly to left-field to drive in Wookie from third. With two outs, Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley slugged a long double into the right-center-field gap to score Flash and Thunder. Next, the catcher, Jim 'Milli' Milligan walked on a full-count before the inning ended later with a picked-off ol' bird and a 3-0 lead. The pitcher, Big Mac, pulled a quad muscle during the dig and was replaced by a harder-thrower, right-hander, Will 'Bow Leg' Redick #24.

The Dodgers battled back with one run in the bottom half of the first inning. After two outs, a single was followed by a gaper double that scored the run. A terrific defensive play followed when a sharp single to right-field led to an excellent 9-3-2 relay and a close play at the plate to get the hard-sliding Dodger to end the inning with the score 3-1 Buzzards.

The Dodgers added a run in the second inning to tighten the score. A hit-batter led off the inning. After a steal of second, he moved to third on an umpire in-the-way infield single. The bouncing bullet nailed the field umpire solidly on the right-side of the rib cage on the play. The ump laid on the ground in a heap for a while before slowly getting up. A sacrifice-fly scored the run and left a runner at first with one down. Then a hot grounder to the right-side was snared near first base to begin a 3-6-3 double play and end the inning.

With the score still 3-2 and entering the fourth frame, the Buzzards busted through with four runs to add some cushion to the score. Tomahawk led-off with a five-pitch base-on-balls. Milli followed with a full-count walk to start a good looking rally. The Baron ran for Milli at first. With one out and runners on the corners, Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman hit a flare into right-field for a single to score Tomahawk and put runners at first and second. Welzy followed with a looping single to short right-field near the line to load the bases. Later with two outs, Flash hit a slow bouncer to short. Flash beat the play and the desperation throw was too high for the first baseman to catch, while Baron and Brooklyn crossed home plate. Welzy moved to third base and Flash took second on the over-throw.

On the play, Welzy danced half-way down the line twice, while the Dodgers tossed the ball around the infield. A revved-up Welzatron lasted only a couple more pitches at the third base starting-line before a pitch in the dirt got past the catcher and Welzy rushed home for a 7-2 score.

The pitching was effective for both teams, while each defense was making key plays to keep the other team from scoring more. Through five frames and 30 total outs, the game had a high number of strike-outs (12). The Buzzards had seven (4 swinging & 3 looking), while the Dodgers had five (3 swinging & 2 looking) as the teams adjusted to the strike-zone, velocity and the variety of pitches.

The Ol' Buzzards punched one across in the sixth to add to the lead. To start the inning, Welzatron crushed a 2-0 pitch over the center-fielder's head for a stand-up double. Welzy then moved to third on a ground-out to the right-side of the infield. Flash also hit his 2-0 count pitch to center-field on the fly. That ball sailed over second base by a good 60-70 feet and was snagged in the air by a hard charging center-fielder. Nonetheless, Welzatron was revved-up again for a dash to home plate. The ball short-hopped the catcher near the plate, but a few feet up the line and the ball did not stick in the mitt, as Welzy steaming toward home bumped into the catcher, who was in the base path. Welzy was called safe, but there were still some interesting words between players while in close proximity to the plate. The score was 8-2 entering the Dodger half of the inning.

The feisty Dodgers scored one run in the sixth, but were denied more on superb defensive plays. The speedy lead-off hitter beat out an up-the-middle high chopper on a good play for an infield hit. After stealing second, he stole third and then scored on an over-throw. Later with a runner on first base, a groundball blur was snagged at short to start a timely 6-4-3 double-out play. The third out was a hotter smash that was flagged-down by Welzy from the mound. The score after six full-innings was 8-3 Buzzards.

The Buzzards went quietly in the seventh, while the Dodgers were gathering momentum by leaving four runners on base in the last two digs and were hitting the ball sharply for their outs. The Dodgers tacked on a run in the seventh for an 8-4 game and were getting lively on the bench. A two-out rally with a couple of hits around a hit-batter produced the run.

In the eighth inning the Buzzards faced a tiring Bow Leg, but he was still a tough hurler with his velocity and mix of pitches. Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia started it off with a line-drive single to left-field. Batting next, Brooklyn banged-out an opposite field line-drive to left to put runners at first and second. Welzatron, up next, calculated mathematical probabilities, forces necessary plus late inning strategy to determine a good bunt up the right-side was the next logical move. The excellent bunt was stopped by the athletic pitcher with a diving stop after it passed him. Bow Leg used a strong throw from his knees to get the scurrying Welzatron Model 2015 in a close play at first base, while moving the runners into scoring position.

With one down, Wookie, with two earlier strike-outs to Bow Leg, was looking vulnerable to the salivating pitcher. Wook then rocked the first-pitch fastball deep into the right-center-field gap for a two-run double, scoring Cagey and Brooklyn, and putting a cap on the Dodger dugout chatter with the 10-4 score.

The eighth inning ended with three minutes remaining in the three-hour time limit, so a ninth inning was started. Five Buzzies faced two Dodger pitchers in the top of the inning for two walks, but no runs. The Buzzard closer, veteran righty, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1, entered the game in the bottom of the ninth to put-away the Dodgers. Four batters later, the longest game of the year was over at the 3-hour and 25-minute mark with the final score Buzzards 10 and the Dodgers 4.

Buzzard pitching was awesome and held the good hitting Dodgers to 10 hits and lots of ground balls for the defense to field. Welz pitched a stellar eight innings in facing 36 Dodgers and throwing 120 pitches (79 strikes & 41 balls). Taylor gave up four runs (2 earned) on nine hits, two walks and two hit-batsman with seven strike-outs. Surf Dawg closed out the game by facing four Dodgers and throwing 18 pitches (10 strikes & 8 balls). Gregg gave up no runs on one hit with no walks or Ks in ending the game.

The Buzzard offense was slowed down by the 10 strike-outs by Dodger pitching. The 11-hit attack was combined with nine walks and four Dodger errors (all in the fourth inning) for the 10 runs. The Buzzard hit club for the game included: Baron, Brooklyn-2, Cagey-2, Flash, Tomahawk, Welzy-2 and Wookie-2. The 10 runs were scored by: Brooklyn-2, Cagey, Flash, Milli, Thunder, Tomahawk, Welzy-2 and Wook. The RBI's were knocked in by: Baron, Brooklyn, Flash-3, Tomahawk-2 and Wookie-2. There were nine free passes to first base handed out to four Buzzards. The Buzzard walkers without canes were: Flash-3, Milli-3, Thunder and Tomahawk-2.

The Buzzard defense was showcasing its team depth against a tough opponent. Thunder, the first-string first baseman was on one corner while Baron, the third-string third baseman, held down the other. In the middle were Wookie, the third-string shortstop, and Tomahawk the fourth-string second baseman, performing admirably, and with enough good plays to make the regular infield starters nervous. Of the 27 outs, there were seven strike-outs, two fly-balls, two pop-ups, one line-out, one 9-3-2 relay put-out and 14 ground-outs.

There were two double plays to shut down Dodger rallies. In the second with a run scored and a runner on first with one out, a hard grounder to Thunder's right was speared smoothly. Weathers wheeled and threw to second avoiding the runner to a covering Wook. The inside throw was back-handed and the return throw to first was in-time to nail the runner and end the inning. In the sixth, after a run had scored and with a runner at first and nobody out, a blur was grounded to Wook's right at shortstop. Wookie snagged the ball and threw a quick strike to Tomahawk at second to start a sweet 6-4-3 double play with a final good-scoop at first by Thunder for an exclamation point on the 'wow' play.

The two fly-ball outs were handled easily by the bored outfielders. Flash caught his in center-field for a sacrifice-fly in the second frame. And Cagey got the final out of the game with a deep high fly catch in right-field, along with the key assist in the first frame with that great relay from right-field to nail the hard-charging Dodger at the plate. The quick tag by Mill-dog of the sliding linebacker on the close play ended the first inning and sent a strong message to the Dodgers.

The Dodgers also stayed away from left-field that was being patrolled by Mr. Barry Basketcatch. The pops-ups were not that evil this game. The first was a medium pop-up to Tomahawk at second base in the fourth. The second one was a nice back-handed catch in foul territory by the Baron playing third base to end the seventh with runners at second and third.

Milli had eight put-outs plus he called a great game and weathered the long match behind the plate without relief. Thunder was busy with nine put-outs at first base, along with two outstanding assists. The Baron had one nice assist at third (5-3) in the ninth inning. Wookie also had a busy game in the infield with four assists and one put-out at shortstop and one assist playing second base in the ninth, plus Wookster had his hands in both double plays. Welzatron had one put-out and one assist from the bump.

The player of the game was the fourth-string second baseman, and who may move up to third-string after this performance, Tomahawk Keatley. Tom handled all six opportunities he had covering second base for his first time ever playing second base in a game. Tomahawk got dirty several times and made the play look tougher than it was sometimes, but his glove-work and terrific plays to 'get the outs' were a critical factor in the victory. His two-out, two-run clutch double in the first inning was also a beautiful sight to see.

The Buzzards played well the whole game and handled the extra pressure of playing a younger, stronger, faster team pretty well. The Dodgers hit the ball awfully hard at times and the speed of several players was surprising and hard to limit, but the Ol' Buzzards prevailed again to the continued frustration of the Dodgers. The victory broke the Dodgers' seven-game win streak.

Another Buzzard win means the record is now 9-3. The team gets next Sunday, July 5th, off to celebrate Independence Day. The next game is July 12th with a 2 o'clock ballgame at James Field against the 42+ Rays.

Buzzard Note #1: The All-Star game for the 52+ Division is Wednesday, July 15th, at Playfields Park in Davis at 6 pm. Ballots will be passed out at the July 12th game. The Buzzards are allowed eight players on the team, plus the manager. The game will be Buzzards-Astros vs. Solons-Yankees.

Buzzard Note #2: For planning purposes, the NABA championship game is scheduled for September 20th at Playfields Park. The first-place Buzzards will have a bye on the previous Sunday, September 13th. Mark those calendars and please plan accordingly.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #11

Game: June 21, 2015

Buzzards pummel Astros, 20-0

The Father's Day game was a morning game at Playfields Park against the hapless Astros. The day started-off cool and breezy in Davis as the Gold Country Buzzards assembled for the mismatch. The Astros fielded nine players against the Buzzard dozen. The Buzzards beat up the Astros 16-6 in April.

The Astros sent their ol' veteran righty, Ron 'Big Boy' Turner #13 to the mound. Ron sat out last season after shoulder surgery. The visiting Buzzards countered with the hard-throwing right-hander, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz #26, starting for the second time this season.

The Buzzards scored first with a run in the top of the first inning. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir popped-up on the first-pitch to the pitcher. The sun, the mound, the wind, and the spin of the earth all contributed to the drop and Wookie was safe at first. After Wook stole second base, Dave 'Evy' Everingham walked on a full-count. Batting clean-up, Mark 'Thunder' Weathers knocked the 0-2 pitch to left-center for a single and sent Wookie across the plate for the first run. A nice play at second base by the Astros' Barry Spiller started the inning-ending double play to halt a rally.

The Buzzards put a second run on the scoreboard in the second dig. Jim 'Milli' Milligan led-off with a sharp grounder to second that was misplayed for an error. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley then ran for Milli at first. Up Next, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia pulled a hard grounder down the line that hit third base and bounced sharply into left-field for a single. A wild pitch moved both runners up before Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman hit a sacrifice fly to right-field to score Tomahawk for a 2-zip early lead.

The Ol' Buzzards added on four runs in the top half of the third frame. Welzy nailed a 2-0 pitch and sent it sailing way-over the center-fielder's head for a lead-off triple. Wookie then lined one to left-center to drive-in Welzy. Evy followed with a long single to center-field that sent Wookie to third. Evy was caught in a pickle between first and second on the play, and Wook scored during the run-down. Thunder, batting next, slammed a base hit into center. Tomahawk then got to first via an infield error to put runners at first and second. Milli slapped the first pitch to center-field to score Thunder. Cagey landed at first via another infield boo-boo to load the bases. Up next, Kevin 'Flash' Krantz bounced into a fielder's choice at shortstop to score Tomahawk and make the score 6-0 Buzzards.

The Buzzards changed hurlers to start the fourth with righty, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1 taking the bump. The Buzzards showed no-mercy in the bottom of the fourth frame and scored 11 runs to put away the game. The Buzzies have scored seven runs in an inning twice during the season, but 11 runs is the topper, so far, for runs in an inning.

The scoring tsunami was innocently started with full-count walk to Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri. Welzy slashed a hit to left. Wookie then grounded a hard hit into right-field that scored Salmo and a hustlin' Welzy. Next, Evy walked on five pitches to put runners at first and second. A failed pick-off of Wook at second base put the ball into center- field, advancing the runners with Thunder at the plate. A sac-fly to center scored Wookie. Up next, Tomahawk ripped a single to center putting Buzzards at the corners. With one out and three runs in, Milli launched a sacrifice fly to left-field that scored Evy. Cagey then hit a flare to left. With the line still moving, Flash crushed a 2-1 pitch for a stand-up double to left-center field to drive-in Tomahawk.

With two down and two runners in scoring position, Brooklyn laced a line-drive single to right-field and scored Cagey and Flash. Salmo then came up to bat for the second time in the fourth and took a base on balls again. Batting next, Surf Dawg walked on four pitches to fill the bases with Buzzards for Welzy. Thunder ran for Surf Dawg. T-Welz then smacked a two-out single to left to score two more runs with Brooklyn and Salmo crossing home plate. Wookie, the 14th batter of the inning, blasted a long double to deep right-center to score Thunder. Evy followed with a double to right-center to score Welzy for the 11th run of the inning. The score after four was 17-nothing.

The Buzzard's excellent pitching and good defensive plays shut-down the Astros all game. There was no scoring in the fifth and sixth innings. The Astros brought in their first baseman, righty, John 'Flinger' Schwefel #40 with his unorthodox pitching style, a stiff-back with an over the top fling of the ball, to take over at the end of the fourth.

The Ol' Buzzards scored three more times in the seventh frame. Welzy led-off with a deep double to left-center. Wook then hit a chopper to the first baseman that clanked off of the glove for an error. Evy followed with his patented liner into right-center field to score Welzy. Thunder walked to load the bases. Tomahawk hit into a fielder's choice that scored Wook. Milli, up next, was winged by a pitch to reload the bags. Cagey bounced into a fielder's choice to score Evy and put the finishing touches on a 20-run trouncing.

Surf Dawg finished off the Astros in the bottom of the seventh. The seven-inning mercy-rule stopped the 20-run romp at the 2-hour and 20-minute mark.

Buzzard pitching was impressive. Welzy pitched the first three inning and the line score had lots of zeros. There were no runs, hits, or walks plus three strike-outs. Taylor faced 10 Astros in throwing 33 pitches (24 strikes & 9 balls). Surf Dawg entered the game in the fourth frame and faced 16 Astros in giving up no runs. Gregg threw 49 pitches (26 strikes & 23 balls). The Astros got two hits and two walks off of Novotny, but no runs and one strike 'em out.

The big O scored 20 runs off of 19 hits, six walks and six Astro errors. The hit club for the game included: Brooklyn, Cagey-3, Evy-3, Flash, Milli, Tomahawk, Thunder-2, Wookie-3, and Welzy with four timely hits (triple, double & two singles). The ribbies were cooked up by: Brooklyn-3, Cagey, Evy-3, Flash-2, Milli-2, Tomahawk, Thunder-2, Welzy-2, and Wookie-4. The 20-runs were scored by (in batting order): Welzy-4, Wook-4, Evy-2, Thunder, Tomahawk-2, Milli, Cagey, Flash, Brooklyn, Salmo-2, and Surf Dawg. The eagle-eyed Buzzards with six walks were: Evy-2, Salmo-2, Surf Dawg and Thunder.

The Buzzard defense was solid, but there were no double plays. There were six fly ball outs. Brooklyn in left-field hogged three of them. And all without his standard basket-catch for the game's first out in the bottom of the first, and the first out in the fourth and sixth innings. Flash tracked down two high flyers in the fourth and eighth digs with runners on base, while Cagey caught a deep liner for the last out of the third frame in right-field.

The infield had eight assists with the 11 put-outs. Evy had just one assist at shortstop. It was a nice play in the seven inning, when with one out, a fast runner grounded one deep into the hole. Evy handled the hops and made a strong throw to Cagey. The high throw was snagged with good glove work and an acrobatic first baseman with his foot glued to the bag for a spectacular put-out.

Welzy had six assists and made them all look easy. Three on come-backers (1-3) while pitching and three ground ball outs (4-3) covering second base. Surf Dawg had the other come-backer while pitching in the sixth dig. There were two evil pop-ups ably handled by Evy in the third and Welzy with a long run for the first out of the seventh inning. Milli, behind the plate, had three put-outs while handling Welzy's hot pitches and the three K's. Salmo caught the last three innings and had one put-out with Dawg's K in the fifth. The four strike-outs and one line-out to Welzy to end the fifth accounted for the 21 outs of the game.

It was a good Father's Day blow-out with plenty of good stats for everyone. The Buzzards' record is now 8-3 and comfortably in first place in the 52+ division. The next game is at the Tri City Fields in Rocklin at 10 am. The opponent is the young Dodgers. The Dodgers will want revenge for the 9-3 drubbing they got in April at James Field.

Ol' Buzzards love to dine on young Dodger meat. Come to the game hungry. The next four games are the toughest remaining on the schedule. 1) June 28th vs. Dodgers at Rocklin at 10 am; 2) July 12th vs. Rays at James at 2 pm; 3) July 19th vs. Solons at James at 10 am; 4) July 26th vs. Colt .45s in Davis at 10 o'clock.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #10

Game: June 14, 2015

Light Buzzards defeat Yankees, 13-6

At the half-way point of the season, the Buzzards were scheduled to play a light-weight team on a hot afternoon in Citrus Heights. So, lots of Buzzies missed the game for various reasons leaving a stalwart eight behind to defend the C-Bar-C Park diamond against 16 Yankees. The temps were in the low 90s with a nice breeze to make for pleasant game conditions. The field conditions were a different story. The ball field is still suffering from low maintenance and now, a low water supply for the outfield.

The starting pitcher for the visiting Buzzards was the steady, right-hander, Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1. While, the Yankees sent their righty, Randy 'Slinger' Dettman #28 to the mound to start the game.

The Buzzards struck first with five runs in their first at-bat. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir slapped an opposite-field liner that the left-fielder muffed for an error. Batting third, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia knocked a single to center. The clean-up batter, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray was walked on five-pitches to load 'em up for Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman. A close fielder's choice play at second base allowed Wookie to easily score from third and put runners at the corners.

Up next, the catcher, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri took the seven-pitch base-on-balls to re-load the bases for Surf Dawg. Dawg hit a hard bouncer through the left-side for a two-run single that knocked in Cagey and a hustlin' Brooklyn. With two outs, the gimpy warrior, Mike 'Mickey' Wilson, drew a walk to put runners at first and second. The Baron ran for Mickey at first. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz then smacked a single to center that scored Salmo and kept the bases full. Wookie then walked to force in Surf Dawg and give the Buzzards the five-run early lead.

The Yankees battled back with three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. After two were out on nice defensive plays, a seven-pitch walk and four straight hits were responsible for the crooked number in the scorebook. The score after the first frame had the Buzzards up 5 to 3.

The Ol' Buzzards added a run in the third dig. Welzy led-off with a sharp single to left-field. After second base was stolen, Wookie pulled the 3-0 pitch right-down the first baseline with the hot grounder hitting the bag and bouncing over the first baseman into short right-field to score Welzy. Later, the Buzzards loaded the bases with a lined single to center by the Baron and walks to Brooklyn and Salmo. The Yanks changed hurlers and brought in their shortstop and hard-throwing righty, John 'Stocky' Davis #7. The inning ended shortly with just the one score.

The game stayed at 6-3 until the sixth inning when the Gold Country Eight tacked on two more runs. Welzy started it off with a hard-hit double over the left-fielders head. After an out, Cagey hit a flare to right-center to score Welzy. Cagey stole second and moved to third on the over-throw before the Baron walked. Brooklyn followed with a sharp single to left that scored Cagey from third to make the score 8-3 Buzzards.

The Yanks added a run in their half of the six inning with three singles. Two hits came with two outs to secure the run and tighten the score to 8-4.

The Ol' Buzzards were hurtin' and tired and could not break the game open to shake the Yankees through six innings of play. The boisterous team of 16 players plus a non-playing manager and coach and their fairly large fan club was smelling blood and talking stuff. Yes, the Yankees.

To pad the lead and quiet the Yankee dugout, the Buzzards scored two quick runs in the seventh inning. After one away, Welzy and Wook were walked on five-pitches each by the wild lefty, Jerry 'Look-out' Whelan #11. Look-out was then replaced by the big right-handed first baseman, Jim 'Clank' McAdams #26. After a six-pitch full-count battle, Clank then served up a fastball to Cagey. Kelly launched it to deep left-field for a two-run double scoring Welzy and Wook and taking a 10-4 lead. Welzy #26 replaced Surf Dawg on the mound entering the bottom half of the seventh inning.

The Gold Country Eight notched three more runs on the scoreboard in the eighth inning. Salmo hit a lead-off liner into left-field for a base hit. Surf Dawg then banged out a long single to left with Salmo advancing to third. Surf Dawg stole second, before Welzy's run-scoring single sent Salmo across the plate and Surf Dawg to third. T-Welz then stole second base, putting both runners in scoring position. Up next, Wookie hit a high chopper to a deep playing first baseman. Surf Dawg easily scored on the play with Welzy, blazing around third and heading for home, as the fielder was tagging first base. Welzy beat the throw home as two runs scored on the ground-out by Wook for the last runs of the game for the Buzzies. The Buzzard lead was 13-4.

With time running out, the bottom of the eighth was going to be the last Yankee at-bats of the game. Some sloppy play and a screaming double to the center-field fence by the feisty old veteran, Dave 'Tortuga' Harden, with just one down gave the Yanks hope. However, Welzy shut them down with a grounder and a strike-out to end the afternoon affair.

The final score of the three-hour and six-minute, eight-inning game, was Buzzards 13 and the Yankees 6.

Buzzard pitching was solid with Surf Dawg getting the win. Novotny threw 100 pitches (61 strikes & 39 balls) to 27 Yankees in six innings of work. Gregg gave up four runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks with five strike-outs. Welzy pitched the last two inning and threw 47 pitches (35 strikes & 12 balls) to 11 Yankees. Taylor gave up two runs (none earned) on two hits and one walk with two K's.

The Ol' Buzzard's offensive engine was operating with only 7½-cylinders at best. The short batting rotation ensured six or seven at-bats each, to add additional wear and tear during the game. The 16 hits were combined with 10 walks and five Yankee errors for the 13 runs. The Buzzard hit club for the game included: the Baron, Brooklyn, Cagey-4, Salmo-2, Surf Dawg-2, Welzy-4, and Wookie-2. The ribbies were knocked in by: Brooklyn-2, Cagey-3, Surf Dawg-2, Welzy-2, and Wook-4. The always important runs were scored by: Brooklyn, Cagey-2, Salmo-2, Surf Dawg-2, Welzy-4, and Wook-2. The six Buzzards taking free passes to first base were: Brooklyn, Mickey, Salmo-2, Welzy, Wookie-2, and three times to the clean-up hitter, the Baron.

The defense was solid especially considering the rough infield and difficult outfield conditions. The eight-man team went with two outfielders: Barry in left-center and Kelly in right-center.

The pitchers did a good job of getting a lot of ground balls for outs, while each outfielder had one fly-ball put-out. Only the hard liner to center-field for a two-run double in the seventh caught a gap in the outfield. With just two outfielders, it was ironic when the first Yankee out of the game was a line-drive scorcher to the right-center field gap, right where Cagey was positioned for an easy out, and to loud groans from the Yankee dugout. For his put-out, Brooklyn made a nice running basket-catch with Yanks on the bases to end the seventh dig.

There were two double plays to the pitchers' delight. In the fourth with a runner at second base and no outs, a short pop-up in front of home plate looked like trouble. Surf Dawg got to the ball from the mound and snagged it, to the surprise of the runner way-off of the bag. Surf Dawg threw a quick strike to Wookie covering second base for the force-out and the first double play.

With the lead-off runner at first in the seventh, another short pop-up was hit closer to the front of home plate than the last double play. Welzy, in full sprint from the bump, then used his Inspector Gadget extendo-arm to reach out and snatch the ball a half-second before it hit the grass. Welzatron then turned and snapped a throw to Mickey at first base to nail the surprised runner.

The Baron held down third base for seven innings and snared two hot liners for put-outs and two tough bouncers for assists (5-3). The Baron covered shortstop with Welzy on the mound for the last two innings. Mickey had a busy game at first base with eight put-outs while covering the bag and the right-side with a bum right hip. Welzy had seven assist playing shortstop and on the bump. Wookie had two put-outs and two assists at second base, while Surf Dawg had one put-out and one assist with the double play in the fourth inning. 

Salmo gets the Iron Man award for catching the entire game and having enough energy for his two hits, two walks and two runs. It was a good overall game with eight tough Buzzards to pull it off.

It may have been the only eight-man (whole game) win of a baseball game in Sacramento in a long time. Not a record the Buzzards were aiming for, but the mighty eight did a fabulous job of bringing home the win.

The 7-3 Buzzards will face the Astros this Sunday at 10 am in Davis at Playfields Park. This is the Father's Day game, but the team has no special plans. There will be cold ones and snacks after the game in the parking lot.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #9

Game: June 7, 2015

Buzzards fly the airwaves, bury the Miners 13-3

The Buzzards love the airwaves and were planning to prove it again in the match-up with the Miners at James Field. The afternoon game was broadcast live on KAHI 950 AM and on the internet at kahi.com. For the seventh year in a row, the radio game has followed an A's game. This year the A's game in Boston against the Red Sox went long and ended just in time for the 2 o'clock start time. The high temp in Auburn was 93 degrees, so the game was a warm one.

The Ol' Buzzards were the visiting team and were facing the spunky lefty, Mike 'Hook' Vargas #11 on the mound. The Gold Country Buzzards sent crafty, righty Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #6 to the bump to face the young Gold Country Miners in a battle royale for local bragging rights with a radio in the dugouts.

The Buzzards jumped on the scoreboard first with two important runs to set the tone for the game. The game opened with a long sharp single to left-field by Taylor 'Welzy' Welz. With one out, Dave 'Evy' Everingham hit a screamer to left-center for a double that put runners at second and third. Later in the inning, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray hit a clutch two-strike, two-out single to left to drive in both runs to take an early lead.

The Ol' Buzzards added a run in the top of the third on one hit. Kevin 'Flash' Krantz started it off with a hard bouncer to second that was bobbled for a moment, but a moment is all it takes for Flash to beat it out for an E-4. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir looped one near the line in shallow right-field for a base hit that sent Flash to third. Evy followed with a deep liner to right-center field, but was caught with a nice running catch. Those young guys sure can cover some ground impressively. Flash tagged-up and scored on the sacrifice fly. The score after three digs was 3-zip Buzzards.

In the fourth frame, the gold country old timers put two more nuggets on the scorer's table. The Baron singled with one out to start the rally. Mark 'Thunder' Weathers ran for the gimpy Baron. After a second-out, Jim 'Milli' Milligan ripped one to left for a loud single. Tom 'Tomahawk' Keatley ran for Milli. With speed on the base-paths, Kelly 'Cagey' Garcia walked on a full-count to load the bases for Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman. With two-outs and two-strikes, Brooklyn singled to the opposite field to knock in Thunder. Flash followed with a liner to left to send Tomahawk home and make the score 5-0.

The Miners were hitting the ball harder in the fourth and fifth innings, but Salmo only needed eight pitches in both innings to put them back on defense. It took 30 pitches to quiet the Miners in the sixth as they put two marks in the scorebook. Two walks and two hits did all the damage to tighten the score at 5-2.

The Buzzards came up with seven runs in the seventh to ice the game. Flash led-off with a liner to left for a single. Welzy followed with a beautiful bunt single up the third base line. Wookie grounded to the second baseman, but beat-out the hand-cuffed fielder for an error. Batting next, Evy slammed his second double to an outfield gap to score Flash and Welzy. Thunder's hard grounder was misplayed by the second baseman for a costly error and sending two hustlin' Buzzards, Wookie and Evy, across the plate.

With one out, Tomahawk slugged a long double to right-center that scored turbo-charged Thunder from first base. Next, Milli drilled a base hit to left to score Tomahawk from second. Tom ran for catcher Jim. With two outs Barry, beat out an infield hit to first that ended with the first baseman with the ball diving then crawling to the bag from foul territory, while Brooklyn raced then tap danced his way past first base for an interesting single. With two on and two out, Flash was then walked by a tired Vargas. Welzy ended the scoring with a line-drive single to left that scored Tomahawk. The score in the Gold Country contest was Buzzards 12 - Miners 2 going into the bottom half of the seventh inning.

The Buzzards now had a 10-run lead and if they could hold the Miners to no runs in their half of the seventh, the game would end with the 10-run mercy rule. The Buzzards brought in Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny to finish-off the Miners in the last inning. Without much fanfare, it was three-up and three-down on nine pitches to end the game with a final score of 12-2 Buzzards.

The 2-hour and 45-minute ball game lasted only seven innings. The Buzzard pitching did a terrific job of mixing it up and limiting the Miner's bats to nine singles. Salmo pitched six innings and faced 30 batters. Rick gave up two runs on nine hits with two walks and one hit batsman. Salmeri threw 97 pitches (57 strikes & 40 balls). Surf Dawg pitched the last inning and closed out the game. Gregg only needed nine pitches (6 strikes & 3 balls) to dismiss the Miners. Novotny gave up no runs, hits or walks in his inning of work.

The offense did its share by getting the lead and building on it throughout the afternoon affair. The Buzzards used 17 hits, three walks and three errors to beat-up the Miners. The hit club for the game includes: Baron-2, Brooklyn-2, Cagey, Evy-2, Flash-2, Milli-3, Tomahawk, Welzy-3, and Wookie. The ribbies were cooked up by: Baron-2, Brooklyn, Evy-3, Flash, Milli, Tomahawk, Thunder-2, and Welzy. The 12 runs were scored by: Baron-2, Evy-2, Flash-2, Milli-2, Tomahawk, Welzy 2, and Wookie. The three Buzzard walkers were: Cagey, Flash and Welzy.

The defense was marvelous with stellar plays all over the field. The outfield was especially busy with eight fly ball outs. Only a couple were routine catches and they were all hit hard hit. The nice running catches stranded nine runners on base. All of the outfielders got to register at least one out.

Barry made the first out of the game in left-field with a charging basket catch. Brooklyn also made his patented basket catches on the run to open the fifth and close the sixth innings. Left-field was also busy in the fourth frame, as Mike 'Mickey' Wilson made a tough catch, looking into the sun to end the inning. Flash had two put-outs in center-field. In the fifth he ran a long way to snag out-number three with two runner moving, and the deep high-fly for the second out in the sixth dig. Tomahawk made his catch in the fifth frame while playing right-field. The hard blast was easily handled by Keatley with runners on base.

There was only one double play. In the third with a runner on first, Evy fielded the grounder and tossed it to Welzy covering second. Taylor made a nice catch and turn, but found the runner in the way. Welzy threw around the obstruction and nailed the runner at first with a strong throw and a nice stretch by Thunder to complete the 6-4-3 double out play.

Welzy caught three evil pop-ups during the game. A nice running one-hander in short right-field in the first inning right after Barry's first-out basket catch made a strong statement about the Buzzard defense. T-Welz's other two were short sun-ball pop-ups in the seventh near second base. Weathers made two nice catches of tough high pop-ups near first base in the second and the fourth innings.

Besides the double play in the third inning, there were only three ground balls resulting in outs and it should have been four. The first out of the second inning was a chopper to Wookie and throw to Welzy (5-4). A bouncer to Evy at short and put-out to Thunder at first. And the final out was a grounder to Thunder at first and a step on the bag ended the game. Worth mentioning was Wook's bare-handed grab of a bunt and one-hop throw to nail the runner on a close play. Except the ump got the sights and sounds at first base confused and made another bad call at first base. The pick-off in the first inning was classic with a good move by Salmo and a quick slap by Thunder for the out. However, an out of position field ump got that call obviously wrong also.

In spite of early calls going against the Buzzards, the team kept its composure and did its talking with the bats and gloves.

It was a good game against a tough opponent with a world-wide radio audience. The teams gathering worked out well and food from Joe Caribe's was excellent. The area by the gazebo was pleasant and the evening weather was just right. Another good day to be a Buzzard.

Buzzard Note #1: The KAHI General Manager has already contacted the team on the great game and excellent broadcast. Sponsors for the radio game can write checks to Gold Country Hardball. Thank you to the team member sponsors for allowing the Buzzards to have a special game and get some radio time, while we are still young enough to hear it. Cash to Wook for the food on Sunday for those that forgot.

Buzzard Note #2: The team member sponsors were: Barry with Back to the Drawing Board, Diane with Diane's Pioneer Costumes, Pete with Keys Plus, Realtor Kelly with RE/MAX, and Taylor wins the longest ad award with Welz Financial Services. Former Buzzards also sponsored the game with Ray Henry and RAH Environmental, and Paul Lee with Felipe's Mexican Restaurant.

Buzzard Note #3: KAHI will keep the podcast of the radio game on their web site for a few weeks. You can down load the game easily from the web site. On the main page, click on the Listen button. Select Audio On Demand. Scroll down the bottom of the page and see the Buzzards team photo. Right click on the words Buzzard Baseball. Next select Save Link As. Then create your file and location for the 2015 Buzzard Baseball file and your done. Need help or questions, call your kids.

Buzzard Note #4: The next game, June 14th, is at 2 pm at C-Bar-C Park in Citrus Heights against the Yankees. Our only scheduled game at C-Bar-C this season. After we demolish the Yanks in seven innings, the plan is to go to Felipe's for food and drink.