August 2005 News Archive

August 2nd - It was a hot & humid day at the ballpark & the final score of 7-6 may have indicated that the players were feeling the heat.  For the second game in-a-row, Rich Palmer was the winning pitcher.  Jack Hamon pitched for the visiting team. A new player joined the Club today.  Mike Swartz transferred from a Lowe's Home Improvement location in Ohio.  He is still working but will be playing once a week.  Welcome aboard, Mike. August 5th - Although the game ended up 12-8, it wasn't close until near the end of the contest.  The home team prevailed & Rich Palmer racked up his third win in-a-row since returning from the National Senior Games.  Jack Hamon began the game for the visiting team & Russ Winner, a player from the Lakeland Senior Softball Club, also pitched for the visiting team. Fred Dampier had a perfect 4 for 4 game, including a double & a triple. Several ballplayers from the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club also play tournament softball in the 65+ age bracket for Winter Haven American Legion Post 8.  This month's Half Century tournament will take place tomorrow & Sunday at the Winter Haven DiamondPlex fields.  Come out & support the guys this weekend. August 9th - Great game today fellows!  Jack Hamon, pitching for the home team, won 22-18.  Rich Palmer pitched for the visiting team.  The big inning that basically sealed the game had four batters in-a-row hitting deep shots to the outfield.  Jaime Rivera began by burning leftfielder Randy Lane.  Jim Bright, Bill Walker, & Fred Dampier followed with deep hits to various fields.  The longest hit was a solo home run by Freddy Gonzalez of the visiting team. Some good defensive plays were made, too.  Leftfielder Randy Lane made a shoestring catch on a line drive off the bat of Elvis Abney.  Bill Spring, playing 2nd base, made two putouts in one inning.  Catcher Joe DeForge caught a foul ball barely over the head of the batter Fred Dampier.  As everyone is aware, that kind of foul ball jumps off the bat & gets back to the catcher in a hurry.  Great catch Joe! The game on Friday will be moved from Fred White Field to Field "B", since chemicals will be applied Thursday afternoon to treat the outfield grass on Fred White Field & Field "D". August 12th - Don Witmer, pitching for the visiting team, held the lead until the 6th inning of today's game.  Jack Valliere started for the home team & was relieved by Jaime Rivera.  While Jaime was pitching, the home team staged a comeback & took the lead for the first time in the 6th inning after scoring 5 runs.  Jim Laffoon relieved Jaime in the 7th inning with a one run lead.  The home team scored 5 runs again in the 7th inning & 8th inning to seal the victory by a score of 24-17.  Jaime Rivera received the win while Jim Laffoon recorded his first save. Jim also had the longest hit of the day as the fly ball landed in the middle of the warning track in leftfield.  Ed Neumyer gave chase but was unable to catch up with the hit. The defensive play of the day occurred when Jim Bright picked up a ground ball base hit to right centerfield, relayed the ball to shortstop Freddy Gonzalez, who in turn, threw to pitcher Don Witmer covering home plate in time to nail base runner Joe DeForge. August 16th - The home team scored in every inning & won today's contest 26-16.  Jack Valliere pitched the complete game for the home team.  The score was deadlocked 12-12 after five innings.  Jaime Rivera began the game for the visiting team. Shannon Steinmetz, a good spray hitter, accumulated 3 hits today. Fred Dampier went 4 for 5 with 2 doubles & a triple.  Jim Laffoon connected for a homerun with a gap hit between leftfielder Bill Walker & left centerfielder Fred Dampier. The four bright orange cones in the outfield have been replaced with four lines sprayed orange on the outfield grass.  The cones tended to be a distraction to the fielders. A new player was introduced to the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club.  Al Monohan, a friend of Dean Schapeler played third base & second base in the game today.  He got a hit in his second plate appearance.  Welcome aboard, Al. August 19th - The visiting team won the game today by a score of 18-6, but 9 of the first 10 runs were unearned due to a number of fielding errors. John Fulton, Bill Walker, & Freddy Gonzalez all hit well for the visiting team.  One of Freddy's hits was a three run homerun over right centerfielder Ron Thompson.  Dan Connolly also hit a deep shot to burn Ron for a double.  Morris Rosenhack had a hit to left centerfield for the home team & Jack Valliere hit a homerun over left centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez. Rich Palmer returned after 10 days off due to minor surgery & was the winning pitcher today. August 23rd - Hmmmmmmmm - where to begin?  There were numerous hits today & the visiting team won by the final score of 31-16.  The leading hitters for the visitors included two players who went 7 for 7 - Jose Agosto & Fred Dampier.  Fred hit for the cycle today in his first 4 at bats.  Jack Valliere went 5 for 7 with a walk, & Joe DeForge collected 4 hits. The home team's first four batters got on base almost every time at bat.  Those four players are Vassurl Bess, Kenny Duell, John Fulton, & Dwight Pavkovich. Fred Dampier hit a two-run homerun between right centerfielder Kenny Duell & rightfielder Shannon Steinmetz.  Randy Lane scored on the homerun after a line drive single to leftfield. There were several excellent fielding plays, too.  With the bases loaded, 3rd baseman Hank Gomez fielded a ground ball, tagged 3rd base, & then threw to catcher Joe DeForge to complete the inning ending double play.  Hank also threw to Joe later in the game to get another runner out at the plate.  Bill Spring, playing 2nd base, recorded 3 assists & several putouts, including 2 line drive outs. Pitcher Rich Palmer recorded the win for the visiting team & Jack Hamon pitched for the home team. August 26th - With Hurricane Katrina looming in the Gulf of Mexico after passing through southern Florida, the winds were gusting from 15-25 MPH today at the ballpark.  Batting practice was interrupted by a downpour but the game was played.  The visiting team won 7-6 in a game mostly dominated by the defense.  Don Witmer made several excellent plays at shortstop & Jaime Rivera did exceptionally well in leftfield for the visiting team.  Joe DeForge, playing catcher for the visiting team, fielded a swinging bunt from the bat of Al Monohan in time to made a strong & accurate throw to first baseman Joel Freedman for the out. Dan Connolly, playing right centerfield for the home team, threw out a runner at homeplate.  Another nice play by the home team began when 3rd baseman Ron Thompson fielded a ground ball with the bases loaded, forced the runner out at 3rd base, then threw to catcher Jack Valliere to complete a double play. Freddy Gonzalez hit a two-run homerun to right centerfield, scoring Dan Connolly. Rich Palmer pitched for the winning team & Jack Hamon was on the mound for the home team. August 30th - Under cloudy skies for most of the game, the contest ended in a close 14-13 score.  Jack Hamon was the winning pitcher today for the home team.  The leading hitters were Randy Lane, who went 3 for 5, Hank Gomez who went 3 for 4, & Doug Chamlee returned from knee surgery to record a perfect 4 for 4 game. Jim Laffoon hit a triple down the leftfield line to the right of leftfielder Randy Lane.  Fred Dampier hit a triple over left centerfielder Jaime Rivera.  Fred also hit a two-run homerun over right centerfielder Bill Walker scoring Kenny Duell, who got on base with a single to leftfield.  Doug Chamlee hit a two-run homerun over left centerfielder Dean Schapeler.  John Fulton singled to leftfield prior to the homerun.  Vassurl Bess pinch ran from homeplate for Doug.  Welcome back, Doug. It's great to have you back playing ball again. Some fine defensive plays were made today.  Rich Palmer, playing 1st base, reached far to his left to catch a line drive off the bat of Jim Laffoon.  Jaime Rivera made a shoestring catch in left centerfield, then moved to shortstop later in the game & stopped a ground ball up the middle to force the runner at 2nd base.  Great playing Rich & Jaime.

July 2005