September 1st - There was a "nail-biter" game played today. The final score was 12-11. Going into the top of the 9th inning, the visiting team was holding a 10-9 lead. The first two batters made two quick outs before Jim Laffoon smacked a double up the middle. The next batter, Fred Dampier, was walked since 1st base was open. The walk allowed the defense to have a force at any base. Doug Chamlee got a single that scored Jim & advanced Fred to 3rd base. Tim Gallagher followed that with a single that scored one run. As it turned out, those two runs were vitally important.
The bottom of the 9th inning produced run scoring hits by Bill Walker & John Fulton. Don Witmer & Freddy Gonzalez scored on the hits after reaching base safely with hits of their own. With two outs & the tying run on 2nd base, Shannon Steinmetz
singled in the direction of right centerfielder Sam Harrell. Sam relayed the ball to Jim Laffoon, who cut down the runner at home plate for the final out. Catcher Joe DeForge caught the accurate throw from Jim.
Rich Palmer returned from his travels to receive the win for the visiting team while Ron Thompson was on the mound for the home team.
There were 22 ballplayers on the field but Tim Gallagher hit the only ball over the short fence & that occurred in the very 1st inning of the game.
Some good plays were made in the infield today. John Fulton, playing 3rd base, scooped a hard grounder from the bat
of Sam Harrell & had time to throw to 1st baseman Jose Agosto for the out. Later on in the game, John fielded a grounder, stepped on 3rd base for the first out, then threw to rover Jim Margolin covering 2nd base to complete a double play.
First baseman Jose Agosto made an unassisted double play when he caught a line drive hit by Billy Spring then tagged the baserunner who had broken for 2nd base when the ball was hit. Nice play Jose.
Pitcher Rich Palmer caught a screaming liner that was face high & hit by Don Witmer. The ball was hit so hard, the impact of the catch forced Rich to take a step or two backwards. Wow! It is tough to be a pitcher & so close to the batter.
Shortstop Jim Laffoon backed up 3rd baseman Elvis Abney as Elvis tried to stop a grounder. The ball was booted & Jim made the stop. Elvis alertly retreated back to 3rd base & caught Jim's throw to get the force out.
In the outfield, leftfielder Fred Dampier charged in on a ball hit by John Fulton & made the catch in foul territory before running into the fence. Fred also made a long running in catch on a sky high ball hit by Bill Walker.
Right centerfielder Bill Walker made a fantastic shoestring catch on an opposite field hit by Tim Gallagher.
Dropping by to watch the action today was Russ King. Russ is on a week vacation from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Thanks for visiting Russ.
September 5th - Although the sides were basically even on paper, the final score indicated otherwise. When the 9 innings were over, the visitors won 31-9 & scored in each and every inning. Pitcher Rich Palmer continued his winning ways and racked up another victory against rival pitcher Ron Thompson.
A total of seven balls cleared the outfield fences for ground rule doubles. Fred Dampier drove two balls
over the fence in his first two plate appearances. Dean Schapeler & Elvis Abney also hit two out of the park. Tim Gallagher connected for a centerfield shot.
With the exception of only two or three players, the entire lineup of the winning team hit well today, so it is only fitting to list everyone in their proper batting order. Leading off was Elvis Abney followed by John Fulton, Rich Palmer, Jaime Rivera, Fred Dampier, Ron Butler, Jack Valliere, Vassurl Bess, Tim Gallagher, Bob Bailey, Jim McPartlan, & Billy Spring.
The losing team had a few good hitters today, too. Rusty Landahl, Jim Margolin, Ron Thompson, & Dean Schapeler all hit well.
There were a total of four double plays in the game today. Rover Vassurl Bess fielded a grounder cleanly, tagged 2nd base & threw to 1st baseman Elvis Abney for the second out. Shortstop Ron Butler began a double play, threw to Vass, & Vass competed the play by throwing to Elvis.
One double play was nicely executed when 1st baseman Elvis Abney fielded a Ron Thompson grounder, tagged 1st then threw to rover Vassurl Bess, who applied the tag on the runner from first.
On the losing team, third baseman Sam Harrell fielded a grounder & threw to shortstop Reg Barnes covering 2nd base, & Reg threw to 1st baseman Rusty Landahl for the completion of the double play.
John Fulton, playing 3rd base, made a nice stop on a grounder near the line & had time to make the long throw to 1st baseman Elvis Abney for the out.
In the outfield, Kenny Duell tracked down a fly ball & made an overhead catch to his left. Nice grab Kenny.
September 8th - A bunch of ballplayers showed up today &, by game time, the visiting team had 13 players & the home team had 14 in the lineup. As usual, there could be only 11 defensive players so some guys had to rotate in & out of the defensive alignment.
The home team prevailed 19-17 but it took 6
runs in the top of the 9th to bring the game within two runs of a tie. Ted Granoski & Dick Sessink shared the pitching duties for the winning team while Rich Palmer pitched for the visiting team.
Everyone found out after the game that we will be playing back on the regular field again beginning Tuesday, so this game marked the last time the short field
would be used for awhile. Three balls cleared the short fences today. Doug Chamlee hit one over the centerfield fence, Larry Powell cleared the left centerfield fence, & Fred Dampier drove one over the right centerfield fence.
Hank Gomez returned to the old ball field & had a good day at the plate, going 2 for 3. Hank can still connect for that opposite field hit. Welcome back, Hank; we all have missed you.
Jack Valliere went 2 for 2 before leaving after 7 innings. Ted Granoski hit well & went 3 for 4. The out was recorded with an outstanding stop by rover Sam Harrell on a hard ground ball. Fred Dampier went 4 for 4 with two doubles.
In the field, 1st baseman Jim Bright made two stops on grounders hit his way & tagged 1st for outs. One of the balls was hit by Billy Spring & the other was drilled by Ron Thompson.
Two outstanding plays by outfielders are worth mentioning today. Leftfielder Kenny Duell made a great running back catch to his right on a drive by Sam Harrell. Kenny had to reach over his head to make the grab.
On a single by John Fulton, left centerfielder Tim Gallagher retrieved the ball & threw a strike to 3rd baseman Doug Chamlee, who applied the tag on the swift base runner Vassurl Bess. Vass tested the arm of Tim when he tried to advance from 1st to 3rd on the hit. Nice throw Tim.
Ted Granoski returned from Hazleton, Pennsylvania to begin playing again. Welcome back, Ted.
A new player joined the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club. Gary Reed retired from Gainsville, Ohio & now resides in Winter Haven. On his first plate appearance in the league, Gary blasted a double over the head of leftfielder Kenny Duell. Welcome aboard Gary.
September 12th - Most of the "regulars" showed up to play today so there were three teams of 10 per team. On defense, one player from the sitting team filled in for the team in the field so there would be 11 defending players. Also, Fred White Field is now the field of choice for the games.
The final score was 11-10-5 with Rich Palmer picking up another win. Rich is pitching well & sports a 3-1 record since returning to the old ballpark.
The opposing pitchers were Dick Sessink & Ted Granoski.
The winning team held the lead the entire game until the middle of the last frame, when team two rallied for four runs to take a 10-9-5 lead going into the bottom of the 7th inning. With two outs and the tying run on 3rd base & the winning run on 2nd, Jim Bright came through with a single to right centerfield. Tim Gallagher scored easily from 3rd, but Freddy Gonzalez had to employ every bit of his speed to score from 2nd base for the deciding run.
A few long balls were hit today for inside-the-park homers. In the 1st inning, Fred Dampier drove a ball over defending right centerfielder Kenny Duell for a two-run homer, scoring Sam Harrell
ahead of him. That player combination both scored in the 1st, 3rd, & 5th innings and accounted for 6 of the 11 runs for the team.
With speedster Vassurl Bess running from home plate for him, Rusty Landahl connected for a gapper two run homer between leftfielder Ed Neumyer & left centerfielder Jaime Rivera.
In the last inning, back-to-back
solo homers were hit by Ron Butler & Ron Thompson in their team's comeback to take the lead into the bottom of the 7th. Both were hit in the direction of leftfielder Ed Neumyer & left centerfielder Jaime Rivera. The homer in the last inning gave Ron Butler the shot he needed to hit for the cycle in his 4 at bats today.
Besides those already mentioned, Gary Reed had a good day at the plate as well as Ted Granoski, Ed Neumyer, & Hank Gomez.
In the field, the infielders were busy with sparkling plays. Double plays were executed with combinations of shortstop Jim Laffoon to rover Tim Gallagher to 1st baseman Elvis Abney; rover Jack Valliere to shortstop Freddy Gonzalez to 1st baseman Jim Margolin; rover Jack Valliere unassisted for the out at 2nd base to 1st baseman Jim Margolin; & a fine stop on a grounder hit by Rusty Landahl up the middle & fielded by shortstop Jim Laffoon. Jim flipped the ball to rover Freddy Gonzalez covering 2nd base & Freddy completed the double play with a strong throw to 1st baseman Elvis Abney.
Jack Valliere, playing rover, made an excellent catch on a liner hit by John Fulton. Another great catch was made by 1st baseman Elvis Abney. He caught a rocket liner from the bat of Ron Thompson.
In the outfield, left centerfielder Ron Thompson had to run in hard to make a shoestring catch on a hit by Rich Palmer.
Ed Neumyer returned today after laying off for most of the summer. He still has that good batting stroke to the opposite field. Welcome back, Ed.
September 15th - A total of 26 ballplayers signed in today so the players were divided into three teams. Team one dominated the game and won 16-9-4.
The winning pitcher of record was Ted Granoski & the opposing pitchers were Rich Palmer & Dick Sessink.
Some outstanding defensive plays were more memorable than the offense throughout the game, but some players did have good offense stats today. Only one player recorded an inside-the-park homer. Tim Gallagher drove a deep ball over defending right centerfielder Ron Thompson for a solo shot. Bob Bailey
got two hits & drove in two runs while Jim Laffoon also hit well. Returning player Bill Ravo went 2 for 2 before departing the game early due to a prior engagement.
During the seven inning game, one infield double play was executed & it all began with a great stop on a hard grounder hit up the middle by Hank Gomez. Sam Harrell had to quickly move to his right to make the stop. He flipped the ball to shortstop Jim Laffoon covering 2nd base & Jim completed the twin killing by firing a strike to 1st baseman Bill Walker.
Rover Reg Barnes reacted swiftly to catch a hard line shot from the bat of Don Witmer.
In the 1st inning, right centerfielder Ron Thompson made a nice running in catch & was able to double off the runner from 1st who had thought the ball may drop in for a hit. The play was close but 1st baseman Elvis Abney caught the accurate throw just before the retreating runner got back to the base. Nice throw Ron.
The 3rd inning produced a similar play when Tim Gallagher flew out to Ron Thompson with runners on 1st & 2nd base. Ron threw to 3rd baseman Doug Chamlee in an attempt to get the runner tagging from 2nd base but the throw was late. When Ron released the ball, the runner tagged from 1st base & headed to 2nd. Doug alertly threw to 2nd baseman Hank Gomez & Hank applied the tag for the out.
Left centerfielder Fred Dampier had to run in as fast as his legs would take him to be able to catch a Texas Leaguer hit by Vassurl Bess that was out of the reach of fill-in shortstop Jim Laffoon.
In the 7th inning, Jim Laffoon drove a ball deep to right centerfield & within about 10 feet of the warning track. Tim Gallagher got an excellent jump on the ball & followed it in the air to make an outstanding overhead catch.
Bill Ravo returned from Saunderstown, Rhode Island to begin playing again. Welcome back Bill.
September 19th - The total number of ballplayers today equaled 31 as the number of players naturally has a tendency to rise as the weather becomes more comfortable for outside sports. The temperature at game
time was hovering around 82° F.
The final score was 15-14-10 but it took the winning team an extra inning to pull off the victory. Team one, the winning team, played defense against the 2nd place team all game but that wasn't the case for team two. Ted Granoski, the pitcher for the last place team, had pitched against the first team until the extra inning, when the tied teams squared off with the score knotted up at 14-14. A single by Chuck Duff towards right centerfielder Kenny Duell scored the only extra inning run when Freddy Gonzalez crossed the plate for the 15th run. The 2nd place team was held scoreless in the bottom of the 8th inning. Rightfielder Shannon Steinmetz made a nice catch on
a long line drive down the line that was hit by Ron Thompson. That catch was a crucial out since Ron hit well all game long.
The winning pitcher was Rich Palmer while Dick Sessink pitched for the 2nd place team.
Early in the game, John Fulton drove a ball down the 3rd base line past fill-in 3rd baseman Doug Chamlee for a two run homer. Leftfielder Freddy Gonzalez had to chase down the ball. Randy Lane drove a ball deep over the leftfielder's head for a triple. The hit by Randy was the longest hit of the day.
The lead off batter for the winning team, Jim Bright, was perfect at the plate with a 5 for 5 performance, including a double & a triple. Great hitting, Jim. Ron Thompson and
Rich Palmer each went 4 for 5 in the game.
Other players who hit well were Dean Schapeler, Bill Walker, Vassurl Bess, Randy Lane, & Shannon Steinmetz.
Catcher Morris Rosenhack drove a ball towards leftfielder Randy Lane for a single during the contest. The hit was a line drive that easily cleared the infield.
In the field, a double play was executed when shortstop John Fulton fielded a grounder & flipped the ball to fill-in rover Ron Thompson, who was covering 2nd base. Ron completed the play with a throw to 1st baseman Hank Gomez.
Jim Bright, playing 2nd base, reached out & snared a line drive from the bat of Jaime Rivera & threw to 1st baseman Rusty Landahl to force out the retreating runner before he returned to the base.
In the outfield, rightfielder Herb Oesterreich turned a clean hit into a fielder's choice when he fielded a potential single by Bill McDonough & threw the runner from 1st out at 2nd base. Fill-in 2nd baseman Ron Butler took the throw from Herb.
Leftfielder Freddy Gonzalez caught a line drive hit by Jaime Rivera & doubled the runner trying to score from 3rd base with an accurate throw to catcher Joe DeForge. Nice throw Freddy & nice catch Joe.
Herb Oesterreich returned to play after taking most of the summer off from the old ballfield. Welcome back Herb.
September 22nd - The three team contest today was somewhat on the low scoring side. The third team won by a score of 11-8-2. Dick Sessink picked up the win against opposing pitchers Ted Granoski & Don Witmer.
The defense dominated the game as zero after zero was entered onto the scoreboard. Possibly the longest ball hit today that wasn't caught for an out was from the bat of Dick Sessink. The blast sailed over the head of defending left centerfielder Tim Gallagher. Chuck Duff scored from 1st base on the hit for the 5th & final run of the bottom of the 1st inning. Hank Gomez went 2 for 3 & neither hit went into the direction of right centerfield or was one of Hank's patented "parachute" hits.
One double play was turned by the infield. Elvis Abney, playing 3rd base, fielded a grounder, threw to fill-in rover Ron Thompson covering 2nd base for the first out, & Ron relayed the ball to 1st baseman Jim Margolin for the 2nd out.
Fill-in shortstop Don Witmer
made a fantastic stop on a grounder hit up the middle by Tim Gallagher. Don flipped the ball to a very surprised Ron Thompson for the force out at 2nd base. It was a Kodak moment to have seen Ron's eyes when the ball was tossed lightly to him because his eyes were as wide as saucers as the ball floated from Don's hands to Ron's glove. Ron must have thought the ball couldn't have been stopped.
With the bases loaded, Chuck Duff drove a ball between right centerfielder Gary Reed & rightfielder Shannon Steinmetz. Gary fielded the ball & threw it in to 2nd baseman Jack Valliere, who threw home to pitcher Don Witmer covering the plate. The throw was in time to nail the runner from 1st base by one-half step. Nice throw Jack.
In the outfield, fill-in right centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez made a difficult running in catch on a "Texas Leaguer" hit attempt by Vassurl Bess.
Left centerfielder Fred Dampier tracked down a deep fly ball that was hit by Jim Laffoon. The ball wasn't far from the warning track when it was caught.
Chuck Duff, playing leftfield today, made a nice catch on a long foul hit by Jose Agosto. The ball was hit over Chuck's head & toward the leftfield fence beyond the 3rd base dugout.
On a single by Ed Neumyer, left centerfielder Tim Gallagher fielded the ball & threw a perfect strike to 3rd baseman Doug Chamlee to nail the base runner trying to advance two bases on the hit. Nice throw Tim.
Dan Connolly joined the group for the game today. Dan has taken most of the summer off & is recovering from a mild heart attack he encountered two & one-half weeks ago. Welcome back Dan.
September 26th
| Sessink | 1 1 1 | 0 6 1 | 2 = 12 | ||||||||
| Granoski | 4 4 0 | 1 0 0 | 0 = 9 | ||||||||
| Thompson | 2 0 0 | 4 0 2 | 5 = 13 |
The old Yogi Berra saying that "It ain't over until it's over" certainly was true today. With the score 3-8-2 after three innings in the three team contest, who would think that team two, with the 8 runs, would end up in 3rd place at the end of the game today? It happened.
The final score was 12-9-13 as team three scored 2 runs in the 6th inning & 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th to come up with the victory. The game winning hit occurred with two outs & Freddy Gonzalez pinch running for Jack Donnelly at 2nd base. Jack Valliere delivered the clutch hit with a blooper towards right centerfielder Kenny Duell. The throw home wasn't attempted as the winning run crossed the plate.
Ron Thompson pitched for the winning team & Dick Sessink & Ted Granoski were on the mound for the other two teams.
Early in the
game, Jim Laffoon connected for a sharp grounder down the 3rd base line past defending 3rd baseman Elvis Abney. The ball rolled all the way to the fence & had to be retreived by leftfielder Jaime Rivera. Jim touched all the bases for a solo homer on that hit.
A looooooong bases clearing double was hit by Jim Margolin in the direction of left
centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez. Two runs scored on the hit by Jim, the longest safe hit of the day. Nice blast Jim.
Shannon Steinmetz began the game going 2 for 2 in his first plate appearances & ended up with a 2 for 3 day. Ron Butler also had multiple hits as well as Dick Sessink, Jim Laffoon, Tim Gallagher & Dean Schapeler. One of the hits by Dean was a deep double to right centerfield.
In the field, shortstop Ron Butler speared a grounder up the middle that was hit by Hank Gomez. Ron flipped the ball to 2nd baseman Jack Valliere for the 3rd out force at 2nd base.
Fill-in 1st baseman Tim Gallagher made a super catch on a hard line drive. Guess who hit it? That's right! Hank Gomez got robbed of another hit.
Ron Butler must have brought his gold glove today because he made another worthy play. He chased a "Texas Leaguer" hit attempt by Ted Granoski into right centerfield & made a nice overhead catch for the out.
There was a Board of Directors meeting after the game on Friday, September 22nd. It was decided that each batter will begin with a 1 ball & 1 strike count in order to decrease the number of walks, speed the game along, & to comply with a new Lakeland Senior Softball rule.
Jack Donnelly returned from Akron, Ohio to play today. Jack actually came out to the old ballpark for the game on Friday, September 22nd but didn't play in the game. Welcome back Jack.
September 29th
| Sessink | 0 0 0 | 3 1 0 | 0 = 4 | ||||||||
| Witmer | 1 0 0 | 2 0 2 | 0 = 5 | ||||||||
| Granoski | 0 0 0 | 1 0 0 | 3 = 4 |
It was a beautiful day for a game of softball today. A nice breeze was blowing and it never got hot at all during the game. When the game was over, the temperature was probably hovering around 78° F.
It was one of the lowest scoring contests in quite a while as all three teams scored a total of only 13 runs. Don Witmer began the pitching duties for the winning team & finished the game. Shortstop Jim Laffoon pitched the middle innings while Don
took over the duties of the shortstop position. The opposing pitchers were Dick Sessink & Ted Granoski.
The game was an offense struggle throughout with the exception of a couple of innings, when two of the three teams "exploded" for 3 runs. Jim Laffoon connected for an opposite field two run homerun that was hit out of reach of defending rightfielder & new kid on the block Dale Callender.
Tim Gallagher reached for an outside pitch & steered a fly ball towards the rightfield line past Bill McDonough. Tim was rewarded with a triple on that hit.
Late in the game, Joe DeForge hit a line drive towards leftfielder Chuck Duff. Chuck charged the ball & attempted to make a shoestring catch but couldn't quite reach the ball. By the time the ball was retrieved & thrown back to the infield, Joe had two runs batted in and a double. Nice hit Joe.
In the field, leftfielder Randy Lane had to run in to be able to catch up with a blooper hit by Jack Donnelly.
Vassurl Bess made a tremendous over the head catch as he had to run back and to his left to catch a long drive hit by Fred Dampier. Great catch Vass.
Only one double play was turned in the game today. Fill-in rover Jim Laffoon scooped a grounder, tagged 2nd base for the unassisted out, & fired the ball to 1st baseman Jim Margolin to complete the play.
A new player joined the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club today. Dale Callender was born in Alton, Illinois & is now retired and living in Auburndale. He played rightfield today & got a hit in his final at bat. Welcome aboard Dale.
Marshall Bloom began playing again after taking off most of the summer. Welcome back Marshall.
