October 2006 News Archive
 October 3rd
Team one lead from the starting gate & never looked back. Since Joel Freedman was under the weather, teams were divided by the draw of the cards. It appeared the teams were fairly even going into the game, but the final score proved otherwise. The winning pitcher was Ted Granoski since his team scored 23 runs. Ted gave up 15 runs when he was on the mound. Rich Palmer pitched for the team that scored 15 & he gave up 8 runs to the opposing team. Dick Sessink pitched for the team that scored 8 runs. One player connected for an inside-the-park homer today. Newcomer Wayne Mundy drove an opposite field hit past defending rightfielder Bill McDonough for a three run shot. Wayne went 2 for 2 in his first two plate appearances. There were many players who did well at the plate. Vassurl Bess lead the charge with a 5 for 5 effort. Dean Schapeler, Rich Palmer, Chuck Duff, Jim Laffoon, & Jack Valliere also each had a perfect batting day. Others who hit well were Ted Granoski, John Fulton, Ron Butler, Fred Dampier, & Ron Thompson. Only one double play was executed in the three team contest today. With no one out in the bottom of the 7th inning, a grounder was hit to shortstop Wayne Mundy. He fielded the ball & flipped it to rover Jack Valliere covering 2nd base. Jack completed the 
twin killing with a throw to 1st baseman Jose Agosto.
Elvis Abney, playing 3rd base, charged in to nab a pop up hit by Wayne Mundy for the out. Shortstop Ron Thompson stopped a potential base hit up the middle from the bat of Jim McPartlan. Ron flipped the ball to rover Floyd Welton for the force out at 2nd base. Several players returned to the old ballpark. Two local residents, Rich Kralik & George Summers, stayed away from the park during the hot summer. George chose not to play today while Rich worked at 1st base. Floyd Welton returned from Jefferson City, Tennessee & did a nice job at the rover position. Frank Miller returned from Byron Center, Michigan. He didn't play & will join the club on the field after he has had ample recovery time from his shoulder operation. Welcome back, Rich, George, Floyd, and Frank. A new player joined the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club. Wayne Mundy is a regular player with the Lakeland Senior Softball program. In fact, Wayne had originally joined the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club in 1999. Welcome aboard again, Wayne. October 6th
Team three was down by 5 runs going into the bottom of the 7th and last inning. They pounded out hit after hit to win the game. The deciding run crossed the plate with a hit up the middle by Marshall Bloom. The winning pitcher today was Rich Palmer as his team scored 14 runs. When in the field, Rich gave up 13 runs. Dick Sessink pitched for the team that scored 8 runs & he gave up 14 runs & Ted Granoski pitched for the team that scored 13 runs. Wayne Mundy continued his 
power hitting display with a 2 run triple that sailed way over the head of leftfielder Randy Lane. Later in the game, Wayne hit a similar shot with runners on 1st & 3rd base, but his team only needed one run to score the maximum runs in the inning. Otherwise, it would have been another extra base hit. Nice hitting Wayne.
Jack Valliere hit a nice gapper triple to the opposite field. The ball went between right centerfielder Cal Leigh & rightfielder Jack Donnelly. Freddy Gonzalez connected for a 2 run homer that got by rightfielder Dan Connelly. That hit also was an opposite field blast. Other players that had a productive day at the plate were Bill Ravo, Ron Thompson, & Ron Butler. In the field, Vassurl Bess was back at his old familiar position of 2nd base after playing right centerfield for the past few games. He made a tremendous stop on a hot grounder hit by Ron Thompson & made the throw to 1st baseman Hank Gomez for the out. Third baseman Elvis Abney caught a hard line drive from the bat of Ron Butler & another 3rd baseman, Sam Harrell, stopped a grounder & threw to catcher Jack Valliere for the force out at home. Pitcher Dick Sessink reacted quickly to catch a hard line drive hit directly back at him and chest high. Cal Leigh returned from Coulterville, Illinois to begin playing again. Cal got a single in his second at bat for the day. Welcome back, Cal. October 10th
Until the final two innings, Team One had a rout on their hands. Going into the 6th inning, they lead 14-2-3 in the three team contest. The final score ended up 15-9-3 as Team Two, with Rich Palmer pitching, attempted a dramatic comeback. Since Team One had no full time pitcher in the lineup, Ted Granoski pulled a double duty & threw for the 1st and 3rd teams. As a fill-in, Ted received the win for the 1st team. Rich Palmer's team scored 9 runs & Ted's actual team scored 3 & he gave up 9 runs. With the speedy Freddy Gonzalez pinch running from home plate, Hank Gomez blasted a 3 run homer to the opposite field. Rightfielder Jack Donnelly had to chase down the ball. Elvis Abney drove a gapper 
double between right centerfielder Vassurl Bess & rightfielder Gary Reed. Nice hit Elvis.
Ted Granoski also got an opposite field hit as he drove the ball over defending right centerfielder Marshall Bloom. For the winning team, two players had a 5 for 6 day at the plate. Jim Laffoon & Sam Harrell were those two players who wore their hitting shoes today. Elvis Abney, Jack Valliere, Freddy Gonzalez, & Dean Schapeler also had good hitting days. Joe DeForge tipped his cap twice today. Whenever Joe gets a hit, he takes off his cap & waves it in the air. Way to hit the ball Joe. Some nice plays were recorded in the game today. One double play was executed with runners on 1st & 2nd bases. Dean Schapeler, playing 3rd base, fielded a grounder, stepped on 3rd & threw to rover Reg Barnes covering 2nd base for the second out. Jose Agosto, playing 2nd base, made a nice stop on a grounder to his left. Jose flipped the ball to rover Reg Barnes to get the force out at 2nd base. In the outfield, four excellent catches were made in the game today. Left centerfielder Ed Neumyer had to charge in to catch a ball hit by Jack Valliere. Left centerfielder Fred Dampier had 
to run quite a distance to his right to chase down a potential gapper by Ted Granoski.
Freddy Gonzalez, playing leftfield, had to race back to catch a long fly ball hit by Gary Reed. Another deep ball was hit to the opposite field by Fred Dampier. Leftfielder Cal Leigh ran back & made a super overhead catch. Nice grab Cal. Two players returned from the north to begin playing today. Bob Lewis returned from Cheshire, Massachusetts & Ed Schmiedeke returned from St. Louis, Missouri. Welcome back, Bob and Ed. October 13th
It was a battle between Team Two & Team Three, but it seemed the rally in the 4th inning turned the momentum into Team Two's favor. All five runs in the inning were scored after two outs were made in the inning. Randy Lane threw the final punch with a single that scored two runs. Pitcher Rich Palmer recorded the victory. Rich gave up 12 runs while on defense. Cal Leigh pitched his first game of the fall as his team scored 12 runs. Cal gave up only 7 runs so it was a victory of sorts for him. Pitcher Ted Granoski pitched for the team that scored 7 runs & he gave up 16 along the route. A regular pull hitter for the most part, Ron Butler drove a ball deep in the gap between right centerfielder Ed Neumyer and fill-in rightfielder Fred Dampier for a triple. Nice hit, Ron. Fred Dampier had a solid day at the 
plate with a 4 for 5 performance. Of the four hits, one was a double.
Leftfielder Larry Powell was playing off the line for pull hitter Bill Ravo & Bill took full advantage by connecting for a sharp grounder down the line. By the time the ball made its way back into the infield, Bill had a triple. Joe DeForge & Bob Bailey each had a hit today & Bob ran for himself from home plate. Rich Palmer had two timely hits today. He drove in 
one run on his first hit of the day & two runs crossed the plate on his second hit.
Only one double play was turned in the game. John Fulton, playing an excellent 3rd base today, fielded a grounder & threw to rover Marshall Bloom covering 2nd base. Marshall completed the twin killing with an accurate throw to 1st baseman Hank Gomez. Early in the game, outfielder-turned-shortstop for the day Randy Lane ran into the outfield grass to make an overhead catch with his back to the infield on a "parachute" hit by Hank Gomez. Nice catch Randy. Shortstop Bill Ravo leaped high into the air for a perfectly timed catch on a line drive hit by Shannon Steinmetz. Third baseman John Fulton made not one but two nice plays on balls hit by Sam Harrell. The first play was a catch on a hard line shot & the second was on a hot grounder his way. With no one on the base, John made a strong throw to 1st baseman Rusty Landahl for the out. Rightfielder Ed Schmiedeke fielded a hit his way & threw to rover Jack Valliere covering 2nd base to get the batter-runner out when Jack applied the tag. Ed also made a nice catch on a fly ball hit by Freddy Gonzalez. October 17th
Team One, lead with the pitching of Ron Butler, took an early lead with three runs in the first and second innings in today's three team, seven inning contest, but Team Two stole the show in the very last frame. Three runs crossed the plate with two outs on RBI hits by Dean Schapeler & Wayne Mundy & pitcher Cal Leigh recorded the victory. Along the way, Cal allowed 5 runs. Pitcher Ron Butler gave up 12 runs while his team scored 11. The pitcher for Team Three, Ted Granoski, gave up 11 runs and his team scored 5 of their own. Two balls were hit deep today, but neither were for inside-the-park homers. Dean Schapeler 
drove a deep double to right centerfield over the head of Reg Barnes early in the game. Fred Dampier slammed a long hit over the heads of leftfielder Jaime Rivera & left centerfielder Freddy Gonzalez. Freddy raced to the fence & relayed the ball in
to the cutoff & held Fred to a triple. Nice hits Dean & Fred.
A crafty hitter, Shannon Steinmetz, hit a hard grounder just inside the 3rd base line for a double past defending 3rd baseman Sam Harrell. Fill-in leftfielder Freddy Gonzalez retrieved the ball. Several players made only one out while hitting today. Bob Lewis, Dean Schapeler, Ron Butler, Wayne Mundy, & Doug Chamlee all did well. Three double plays were recorded in the game but only one was turned in the traditional way. Sam Harrell, playing 2nd base, fielded a grounder & flipped to fill-in shortstop Jim Laffoon covering 2nd base. Jim completed the double play with an accurate throw to 1st baseman Bob Lewis. An unusual DP was turned when pitcher Cal Leigh fielded a grounder hit up the middle & tossed to 1st baseman Hank Gomez. Hank noticed the runner heading for home so he threw to catcher Shannon Steinmetz for the 2nd out. Left centerfielder Dean Schapeler charged in hard & made a nice shoestring catch. After the grab, Dean fired the ball to 2nd baseman Vassurl Bess to double the base runner who had thought the ball would drop in for a sure hit. Nice play, Dean. A play was made at the plate for an out in the game. Leftfielder Randy Lane fielded a hit & threw to cutoff man, fill-in 3rd baseman Jim Laffoon. Jim fired the ball in to catcher Shannon Steinmetz for the out. Freddy Gonzalez, filling in at leftfield, made a nice running in catch on a potential hit by Vassurl Bess. Two hard line drives were caught by infielders. Jack Donnelly, playing 2nd base, caught a hard liner from the bat of Reg Barnes. Pitcher Cal Leigh caught a blistering line drive directly back at him. Cal caught the ball about chest high. Good reaction Cal. The results are in for the Board of Directors election that had a cutoff date of October 15th. Ron Thompson was elected Commissioner as of October 15th & will hold office for the next two years, replacing Joel Freedman. Jack Valliere & Ed Neumyer have replaced Vassurl Bess & Bill Walker on the Board of Directors & will serve for two years. Joel Freedman was elected to serve for the next two years as Treasurer. The Board of Directors for the period from October 15th, 2006 until October 14th, 2007 are: Ron Thompson, Commissioner; Joel Freedman, Treasurer: Fred Dampier, Jack Valliere, & Ed Neumyer as Board members. Fred Dampier is beginning his second year of a two year term. During the last Board of Directors meeting, it was voted upon & approved that one of the Director's positions will specifically be for the preparation of the fields before game time, including unlocking the gates to the complex, placing the softball equipment on the fields, & spraying the outfield hash marks. The position has been named Director of Field Maintenance. Currently, Fred Dampier performs those duties so he will assume the duties as Director of Field Maintenance.
Pitcured are Board of Director members Ron Thompson, Joel Freedman, Fred Dampier, Jack Valliere, & Ed Neumyer.
It was a foggy morning commute to the old ball field & the mist remained in the air throughout the first couple of innings. As a result of the high humidity, the morning atmosphere was hot & muggy with just a trace of a weak breeze blowing in the air. The heat didn't deter 35 ballplayers from the sport they love though. We are almost ready to occupy two fields for the morning games now, but today's contest pitted two teams of 12 players & one team of 11 players. Team Three got out of the gates quickly with 7 runs in the first two innings against pitcher Ted Granoski & had a 4 run lead going into the 6th inning. Consecutive hits by Reg Barnes, Don Witmer, Fred Dampier, Wayne Mundy, John Fulton, & Rusty Landahl sealed the victory with 5 more runs in the 6th. Pitcher Don Witmer picked up the win & he allowed 9 runs while on defense. Ted Granoski allowed 17 runs while his team scored 5 & Cal Leigh gave up 5 runs while his team scored 9. Former Lakeland Senior Softball player Al Andrews drove a deep ball over left centerfielder Fred Dampier for a triple late in the game. Early in the contest, Cal Leigh hit a rocket liner over Fred's head for a double. Nice hit Cal. Several players got 3 hits in 4 at bats today. Newcomer Mike Stepp, Marshall Bloom, & Rusty Landahl all 
achieved that feat. Bill McDonough also had a productive hitting day at the plate as he singled in his first two at bats this morning.
Two players were thrown out at home in the game. One of the players tried to score from 1st base with the help of the batter/runner behind him. The ball was hit to rightfielder Bill McDonough. He relayed the ball to 2nd baseman Bob Douglas & Bob threw to pitcher Don Witmer covering home for the out. The other out at home occurred when the batter tried to stretch his gapper hit into an inside-the-park homer. The ball was hit between left centerfielder Fred Dampier & right centerfielder Marshall Bloom. Fred retrieved the ball & threw to the cutoff man, shortstop Wayne Mundy. Wayne threw to pitcher Don Witmer but the throw was 
going to be too late if the ball wasn't cutoff & relayed again. Don left home plate & raced to the pitcher's mound to catch the ball on the fly, turned & threw to catcher Lee Heidler for the out & to the surprise of the baserunner.
For other defensive plays, in the infield, 1st baseman Bob Lewis caught a foul pop up that was hit next to the 1st base dugout fence. The ball was hit by Ted Granoski. In the outfield, right centerfielder Ron Thompson made a good running catch to his left on a hard drive hit by Fred Dampier. Left centerfielder Fred Dampier tracked down a deep fly ball hit by Freddy Gonzalez. Bob Douglas returned from Coulterville, Illinois to begin playing again today & Fred Ducham returned from Sanford, Michigan. Welcome back, Bob and Fred. Four new ball players joined the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club. Jim Corbeil lives in Thedford, Ontario, Canada & will spend six months in Winter Haven. Al Andrews is a snowbird from West Port Island, Maine. Mike Stepp is from Clinton, Michigan & lives there in the summer. Lee Heidler lives in Winter Haven year round. Welcome aboard, Jim, Al, Mike, and Lee. October 24th
It was a cold & windy day as a cold front passed practically all over the United States & it didn't miss Winter Haven. The temperature was 48° F at about 7:00 AM & warmed up to 55° F by game time. The main problem with the weather was the 25 MPH wind associated with the cool temperatures. Had the wind not be whipping so hard, it would have been a more comfortable & tolerable climate. Team Two took a 1 run lead into the 4th inning & coasted to an easy victory. Pitcher Ted Granoski was the winning pitcher. He gave up 5 runs while on the mound. Jerry Witter pitched for Team Three & he surrendered 9 runs while his team was in the field. Pitcher Cal Leigh allowed 23 runs while his team scored 5 runs. Fred Dampier had a good day at the plate. In the 1st inning, he connected for a long gapper triple between left centerfielder Jaime Rivera & right centerfielder Jim Corbeil. Later in the game, he collected a double to the opposite field. Leftfielder Dean Schapeler fielded that hit. Chuck Duff blasted a gapper triple too. His hit was between right centerfielder Jim Corbeil & rightfielder Jim McPartlan. Other players who had a good day at the plate were Al Andrews, Randy Lane, & Wayne Mundy. The wind affected the flight of the ball, making it difficult to cleanly glove fly balls. Left centerfielder Chuck Duff stayed with a ball hit his was to make a nice catch. He stated that the ball was tailing off to his right as he ran to his right to make the catch. The wind was blowing in from leftfield so no long balls were hit that way during the game. Two double plays were executed. The first one began with a grounder hit to 3rd baseman Jack Valliere. He scooped up the ball, threw to rover Sam Harrell covering 2nd base, & Sam finished with a toss to 1st baseman Bob Lewis. The other double play involved two players. Rover Reg Barnes fielded a grounder, tagged 2nd base, & threw to awaiting 1st baseman Hank Gomez. Hank Gomez also made an excellent stop on a grounder hit to his right. After cleanly fielding the 
ball & stopping his momentum, he turned & threw to pitcher Ted Granoski at 1st base. Nice play Hank.
In the outfield, left centerfielder Jaime Rivera fielded a ball hit his was & threw to cutoff man, shortstop Wayne Mundy. Wayne fired the ball to catcher Lee Heidler to get the runner out at home. This may be the last day for a while that there will be a game with three teams. There were enough players to justify two fields today since there were 37 in attendance. Please remember that, after 18 are signed in, the remainder of the reporting players will warm up & have batting practice on Field "E". After warm ups & batting practice, everyone should return to Fred White Field (Field "C") for team assignments. Jerry Witter returned from Addison, New York to pick up with his pitching duties. Jerry also pitched quite a bit of batting practice, which is very appreciated by everyone. Others need to volunteer to pitch BP some time so a select few aren't always having to take on that task. Doug McLellan returned from Keswick, Ontario, Canada. Doug still hits for power well as he hammered out a double in the game this morning. Welcome back, Jerry and Doug. October 27th - A total of 45 ballplayers signed up for the game today, so two fields were allocated for the first time since last season ended. The work was cut out for Joel Freedman, who has the unenviable task of assigning players to teams, and he did a fantastic job as usual. Thank you, Joel, from all of the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club members.
The game on Field E ended up with the visiting team coming out victorious by a score of 15-13. Ted Granoski pitched for the winning team against opposing pitcher Dick Sessink. Dick is nursing an injury & just returned from the injured reserve list. He had not intended to pitch today. Dick showed tremendous heart & team spirit as he took the mound after being placed into that position. On Field C, Jerry Witter hurled for his squad as they won 13-11 against pitcher Rich Palmer. One player connected for an inside-the-park homerun. Ron Butler drove a hard line shot in the direction of left centerfielder Fred Dampier, who attempted unsuccessfully to field the ball on a short hop. While the ball was rolling toward the fence & 
then being relayed into the infield, Ron was racing around the bases for a solo homer.
Bill Ravo went 3 for 4, with two of his hits to the opposite field. Rightfielder Marshall Bloom had to field both shots. In his first two at bats, Joe DeForge got two singles. He walked in his third plate appearance. Nice hitting, Joe. Other players who hit well on Field C were part time player Bill Hepworth, who got three hits in the direction of three different fielders. Bill lives in Pensacola and occasionally plays here. Ron Thompson had his line drive swing today as he got three hits down the rightfield line and teammate Don Witmer hit with authority in the game. To mention some defensive plays in the infield, 3rd baseman Bill Ravo began a double play when he fielded a grounder with the bases loaded. He stepped on 3rd base & fired home to catcher Bob Douglas for the double play. If that batted ball down the 3rd base line not been stopped by Bill, two runs would have surely scored. Instead, two outs were recorded. Nice play, Bill. Pitcher Jerry Witter displayed quick reflexes as he nabbed a hard grounder back to the mound that was hit by Don Witmer. Bill Walker, playing 1st base, made an excellent scoop on an errant throw for the out. Bill had to use every bit of his height & long arms and legs to make that play. In the outfield, left centerfielder Cal Leigh made a nice running in catch on a liner hit by Larry Powell. On a ball hit in the gap between leftfielder Larry Powell & left centerfielder Fred Dampier, Fred cut off the ball & threw to the relay man, shortstop Wayne Mundy. Wayne fired the ball to 3rd baseman Bill Ravo & Bill applied the tag on the base runner attempting to stretch a double into a triple. Leftfielder Fred Ducham tracked down a base hit & threw to shortstop Don Witmer, who threw to catcher Joe DeForge to get the runner out at home. Returning players today are John Ormsby from London, Ontario, Canada, Russ King from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Erv Szewczuga from Waupaca, Wisconsin, & Ken Wilson from Dundas, Ontario, Canada. Welcome back John, Russ, Erv, and Ken. |
September 2006
