May 2008 News Archive
 May 2nd - Since Joel Freedman is on vacation and away from the old ball park, teams were decided by the draw of the cards. A pitcher, catcher, and shortstop were assigned to each of the three teams, and the remaining ballplayers chose from a deck of cards, which decided their designated team.
Al Andrews made his pitching debut for the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club. Since he isn't a regular pitcher, strikes were called but no balls were called by the home plate umpire. Al pitched well in his first appearance on the mound. Team One got the luck of the draw as they scored four runs in the first two innings, another four in the fourth, and one in the fifth. The lead off batter, Don Witmer, drove two deep balls to left centerfield for triples. Second batter Freddy Gonzalez pounded the ball well as he went 5 for 5 with four doubles and scored four runs. Fred Dampier batted third and went 4 for 4 with two gapper inside-the-park homers between leftfield and left centerfield. He scored four times. Clean up 
batter Russ King connected for two triples to right centerfield and scored four times.
Team Three waited until the final inning to mount a serious rally. They overtook Team Two for second place as six runs crossed home plate. Vassurl Bess, Al Andrews, Doug Chamlee, Hector Marinacci, Ron Thompson, John Fulton, and Rusty Landahl all safely hit in the last frame. Ron produced a double, the only extra base hit in the final inning. Bill Spring went 2 for 3 while fielding the second base position for Team Three this morning. Bill is an inspiration to everyone, since he will turn 90 years young in December of this year and he is still playing the sport. In addition, he very seldom misses a play date. Good hitting today, Bill. Team Two just couldn't put it all together this morning. The only inning they scored more than one run came in the sixth. Bill Walker and Reg Barnes began with singles and scored two of the three runs. Singles by Randy Lane and Sam Harrell accounted for the final run. LEADING HITTERS: Freddy Gonzalez - 5 for 5 with 4 doubles. Fred Dampier - 4 for 4 with 2 homers, 1 triple, 1 double, & 1 sacrifice fly. Russ King - 4 for 5 with 2 triples & 1 double. Reg Barnes - 3 for 4. John Fulton - 3 for 4. Sam Harrell - 3 for 4. Ed Neumyer - 3 for 4. Two players are heading back home for the summer. Bob Lewis is returning to Cheshire, Massachusetts and Hector Marinacci in returning to Windsor, Michigan. Have a safe trip and please return in the fall Bob & Hector. Angel Merced dropped by the park and watched the game today. He is recovering from triple bypass heart surgery. We all look forward to seeing you on the playing field after you are fully healed, Angel. May 6th - Once again, the teams were decided by the draw of the cards. One team dominated the game and another mounted a tremendous rally but still came up nine runs short.
Every player in the lineup for Team One scored at least one run, with Jim Laffoon leading the pack with five runs scored. Fred Dampier was close behind with four runs scored. Team One scored the maximum five runs in three of the seven innings and every player in the lineup contributed at least one run in those three productive frames. The last five batters scored five in the sixth. Shortstop Russ King snagged a lineout from the first batter, then Larry Powell, Rich Palmer, Jim McPartlan, and John Merritt all singled and scored. The last batter, Joe DeForge, walked and 
scored. The pinch runner for Joe stopped at second when lead off batter Freddy Gonzalez singled and scored on a single by Fred Dampier.
When Team Two came to bat in the middle of the fifth and down 19-2, they came within a distant earshot of a tie before the inning was complete. The first two batters immediately recorded outs. What followed was an inning to remember. Leadoff hitter Reg Barnes singled and Jack Valliere also got a base hit. Don Witmer blasted a gapper triple and Ron Thompson hit a rightfield double. Singles came from the bats of Elvis Abney, Dick Sessink, Sam Lopez, Sam Harrell, Rich Moots, and Bill Spring. Leadoff hitter Reg Barnes hit his second single of the inning as did Jack Valliere before the third out was made. Nine runs crossed the plate on 12 hits after the first two batters were out. Team Three had their problems all game. A total of seven hits were logged into the score sheet the entire game. Much credit can be given to opposing pitcher Dick Sessink for holding the bats in check. Dick has pitched extremely well in the off season, compiling a 6-1 record since March 28th. Inside-the-park homers were hit this morning by Fred Dampier and Don Witmer. LEADING HITTERS: Doug McLellan - 5 for 5 with 1 triple & 1 double. Jim Laffoon - 4 for 4 with 1 triple & 1 walk. Fred Dampier - 3 for 4 with 1 homer & 1 walk. Larry Powell - 3 for 4 with 1 double. Sam Harrell - 3 for 4. John Merritt - 3 for 4. Rich Palmer - 3 for 4. Since Chuck Duff hasn't been 
able to play while his shoulder is healing, he has been umpiring behind the plate. Another player on the DL, Ted Granoski, umpired the bases again. Both Chuck and Ted have umpired many games for the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club.
Ted is a former ASA umpire with over 20 years experience in ASA sanctioned games. He was elected to their Hall of Fame in his home state of Pennsylvania. Chuck played during the 2008 season but umpired during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Thank you, Chuck and Ted. You are two first class guys for volunteering your services. Russ King played his last game and is returning to Kalamazoo, Michigan. See you in the fall, Russ. May 9th - The deck of cards was set aside this morning while Chuck Duff and Wayne Mundy put their heads together to set lineups for three teams. Nine players made up two of the three teams and one team manned eight players. Chuck Duff volunteered to play in the field for all three teams and not bat at all. That brought two teams to 10 players and the third to nine.
Team One began well as they scored three runs in the top of the first inning. After the leadoff batter flied out to leftfielder Bob Zelazny, the next hitter, John Fulton, drove a single to the same field. Afterwards, Jim Laffoon doubled and Al Andrews singled. All three players scored before the inning was complete, although only one more hit was produced. Pitcher Eddie Diaz had an RBI single but was forced at 
second when the next batter grounded to first baseman Sam Lopez. Sam threw the ball to shortstop Don Witmer to force Eddie out at second.
Team One scored only two runs the remainder of the game. Team Two began slow with no runs in the first but scored in five of the next six innings. With the exception of the last batter in the lineup, the bottom third of the order produced four of the 14 runs. Sam Harrell and Rich Kralik scored two runs apiece. The two runs scored by Team Two in the seventh were important since they ended up winning by only one run. Fred Dampier doubled and scored on a Bill Walker triple and Bill crossed the plate after Sam Harrell hit a sacrifice fly to leftfielder John Fulton. Team Three kept score only in the first inning when they scored three runs. Bob Zelazny crushed a ball over the left centerfield fence for a solo home run. There was a nice defensive play in the bottom of the seventh inning. After the first batter reached base on a single, the next hitter sent a popup towards second baseman Rich Kralik. Rich caught the ball and noticed the runner from first had wandered too far from the base when the ball was hit. Rich alertly threw the ball to first baseman Sam Harrell and Sam tagged the runner for a double play. That DP was critical, since the fielding team was leading by three runs going into the bottom of the last frame. Nice play, Rich and Sam. LEADING HITTERS: Eddie Diaz - 4 for 4. Doug McLellan - 4 for 5. Bill Walker - 4 for 5. Doug McLellan is returning to his summer home in Keswick, Ontario, Canada. Thank you for volunteering your services as an umpire during the 2008 Winter Haven Senior Softball Club season, Doug. Take care, stay healthy, and please return in the fall. May 13th - It was a beautiful day for a ball game. The temperature was in the low 80s and there was a soothing breeze blowing about 5 MPH or so. Hardly anyone broke a sweat this morning.
After the first inning, it seemed like no one wanted to score again. The defense was strong and several nice plays were made both in the infield and the outfield. Team Two began with five runs in the first inning. Frank Acevdeo started it off with a single towards leftfielder Randy Lane. Two doubles immediately followed the hit by Frank. Chris Constantine and Fred Dampier each connected for two baggers. 
After the next batter reached on an error, Doug Chamlee and Sam Harrell got base hits. Two fly outs followed before Gale Doty drove in the fifth run with a single.
Team Three attempted to match the five runs but came up one short. Leadoff batter Randy Lane singled and John Fulton doubled. The batter after that flew out and then Bob Zelazny singled to leftfield. Eddie Diaz blasted an inside-the-park homer for the third and fourth run of the frame. It took until the fifth inning before Team One put enough offense together to score. And score they did. They were down five runs and ended up tying the leading team before the inning was over. Rich Moots, Sam Lopez, and Gene Baker banged out consecutive singles before the next two batters recorded outs. Vassurl Bess, Jim Laffoon, Bill Walker, and Jack Valliere all had singles, with Jack's hit driving in the fifth run. Team Two was tied with Team One 8-8 going into the last frame. Each team can score as many as they can in the final inning and Team Two took full advantage of the opportunity. Nine runs crossed the plate on six hits and two bases loaded walks. Chris Constantine slammed a three run inside-the-park homer and Wayne Mundy hit a deep double to left centerfield. After all the dust had settled, Team Two had a whopping 17-8-4 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh and the final score was 17-8-8. LEADING HITTERS: Chris Constantine - 4 for 5 with 1 homer & 1 double. Doug Chamlee - 4 for 5. Eddie Diaz - 3 for 4 with 1 homer. John Fulton - 3 for 4 with 1 double. Bob Zelazny - 3 for 4 with 1 double. Jim Laffoon - 3 for 4. Jack Valliere - 3 for 4. Bill Walker - 3 for 4. Ed Sampson dropped by the old ball park in the fourth inning and took over duties as umpire behind the plate. Before that, the sitting team supplied the umpire. Also, Chuck Duff arrived soon afterwards and umpired the bases. Thank you Ed and Chuck. May 16th - A total of 27 ball players signed in today for the game so there were three teams of nine per team. Two players from the sitting team helped on defense.
Team Three scored nine runs in the first two innings. The first three batters each scored twice for six of the nine runs. Lead off hitter Sam Harrell and the second batter, Jack Valliere, each had two singles while third batter Jim Laffoon had a double and a single. Team Two wasn't far behind as they scored six runs. Lead off man Reg Barnes scored twice as he 
reached base on a fielding error and had a single. The third batter, Chuck Duff, scored twice after connecting for a single and a double.
The game remained close between Teams Two and Three, with Team Three holding a slight lead. Meanwhile, Team One slowly crept up on the two leaders. Their big inning came in the sixth as four runs scored. Bob Zelazny doubled in two runs. The two base runners that scored were Eddie Diaz, who reached on an error, and Larry Powell had a single. Team Three was leading 14-9-7 going into the final frame. The first team chased two players across the plate. Randy Lane and George Radlein lead off with singles. Rich Moots singled and Randy scored. George scored on a ground out. Eddie Diaz relieved George Radlein in the seventh inning after George pitched the first six frames. The first two batters recorded outs with Eddie striking out the second batter on a swinging strike three. After that, the troubles began. Chuck Duff and Wayne Mundy hit back-to-back doubles and Dick Sessink reached base on an infield error. Roger Edwards doubled, followed 
by two more fielding errors. Bill Spring came through in the clutch with a single and Reg Barnes walked. Vassurl Bess had a single and Chuck Duff, up for the second time in the inning, drove a deep inside-the-park grand slam homer over the head of defending right centerfielder Bob Zelazny. Fred Dampier relieved Eddie Diaz on the mound and Wayne Mundy hit a hot grounder between short and third for a solo homer. The next batter grounded out.
Every batter in the lineup scored one run and Chuck Duff and Wayne Mundy each scored two runs. By the time the inning was over, 11 runs scored and Team Two had a six run lead over Team Three. Team Three could manage only one run in the bottom of the seventh on a solo homer by Fred Dampier. After Team Three had the lead from the first through the sixth inning, Team Two exploded in the seventh for the win. Winning pitcher Dick Sessink extends his record to 7-2 since the season ended. In the infield on defense, Bill Spring had time to react to a line drive hit by Rich Palmer. Bill took a step towards first and completely extended his glove arm to snag the quick liner to the opposite field. Nice catch, Bill. The best outfield catch this morning was made by left centerfielder Al Andrews. He raced in to make a sparkling shoestring catch on a hard low line shot from the bat of Jim Laffoon. Great catch, Al. LEADING HITTERS: Fred Dampier - 3 for 3 with 1 homer, 2 doubles, 1 walk, & 1 sacrifice fly. Chuck Duff - 5 for 6 with 1 GS homer & 3 doubles. Wayne Mundy - 5 for 6 with 1 homer & 1 double. Jim Laffoon - 4 for 5 with 2 doubles. Jack Valliere - 4 for 5. George Radlein - 3 for 4 with 1 triple. May 20th - The temperature was in the 80s and the skies were cloudy with threatening rain. That adds up to a comfortable day at the old ball park.
Team Three had the distinct advantage going into the game because the team was simply the strongest on paper. They didn't disappoint or surprise anyone as five quick runs were scored in the bottom of the first. Frank Acevedo lead of with a single and the second batter lined out to defending shortstop Chris Constantine. With one out in the books, Jim Laffoon, Don Witmer, and Bob Zelazny singled before Al Andrews stroked a bases clearing triple. Reg Barnes drove Al home for the fifth and final run of the frame. Team One also scored in the first. Second batter Vassurl Bess walked and Wayne Mundy advanced him to third with a single. Chuck Duff doubled in both runners for two runs in the opening inning. Team One scored only two more runs the remainder of the game. A Chuck Duff triple in the third scored Vassurl Bess, who had reached second with a double. Vassurl Bess singled home Jim McPartlan in the seventh after Jim singled and advanced to second on a Rich Kralik single. Team Two first got on the scoreboard in the second when Freddy Gonzalez hit a solo inside-the-park homer to the opposite field. Their best two productive innings came in the third and fifth frames. 
The first two batters grounded and lined into infield outs to begin the third. Eddie Diaz then dropped a blooper double just out of reach of rightfielder Jim McPartlan. Fred Dampier, Freddy Gonzalez, and Chris Constantine also connected for doubles. If you're counting, that was four doubles in-a-row. The double by Chris drove in the third and final run of the inning.
Three more runs scored in the middle of the fifth on a three run inside-the-park homer by Fred Dampier after Larry Powell singled and Eddie Diaz got another double. Those three runs brought Team Two within one run of a tie with Team Three. That was as close as they got. Team Three scored two in the fifth and three more in the sixth to wrap up the win. The fifth proved a strange inning for scoring two runs. A lead off triple by Jim Laffoon was the only hit. Don Witmer walked and Bob Zelazny drove a deep sacrifice fly to leftfielder Randy Lane. Don advanced two bases on the out. Al Andrews made the second out with a sacrifice fly to score the second run. In the bottom of the sixth, three runs were scored on just two hits. One walk and two errors were intermingled with the singles by Frank Acevedo and Bob Zelazny. In summary, five total runs were scored in the bottom of the fifth and sixth on three hits. A fine defensive play was made by second baseman Rich Kralik. He ran into the outfield grass and towards first base to reach up and grab a Texas Leaguer hit by Jack Valliere. Nice catch Rich. In the outfield on defense, right centerfielder Al Andrews had to race back and to his left to nab a ball from the bat of Sam Lopez. Al caught the ball in the upper half of the pocket with full extension of the glove hand. The final out in the game was made when left centerfielder Chuck Duff charged in and made a shoestring catch on a sinking liner by Fred Dampier. LEADING HITTERS: Chuck Duff - 3 for 3 with 1 triple & 1 double. Bob Zelazny - 3 for 3 with 1 double & 1 sacrifice fly. Freddy Gonzalez - 3 for 4 with 1 homer & 1 double. Jim Laffoon - 3 for 4 with 1 triple. Chris Constantine - 3 for 4 with 1 double. May 27th - One team ended up to be the dominating force in the three team contest this morning, but the game began without much offense for any of the teams. Early on, it seemed like no team wanted to break out and win the game.
Team One took charge in the fourth inning with four runs after a slow start for all three teams. The bottom two hitters in the lineup today, Sam Harrell and Bill Spring, banged out singles after the first out was made. The lead off batter forced Bill at second base for the second out with no runs scored yet. The next three batters all connected 
for doubles. Chris Constantine hit his second double of the day and Don Witmer & Fred Dampier followed with doubles. The fourth and final run scored when Roger Edwards reached base on a fielding error.
Team Two did their part to stay close in the scorebooks when they pushed three across the plate in the fifth frame. Wayne Mundy, who was perfect at the plate today with his 4 for 4 effort, began the fifth with a single followed by a Chuck Duff double. Bob Zelazny drove a deep sacrifice fly to leftfielder and fill in player Jim Laffoon. The next three batters 
all got base hits. Larry Powell, John Merritt, and Joel Freedman all singled, with Joel's single driving in the third run of the inning. At the end of five innings of play, the score was 7-4-3.
Five more runs scored in the top of the seventh as Team One built up a big lead. Frank Acevedo, Don Witmer, and Roger Edwards each hit singles while Chris Constantine and Fred Dampier had doubles. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the score was 14-5-3. Team Three did their best to rally for some runs and did end up bypassing Team Two for second place today. Jim Laffoon began the inning with a single, which gave him a 3 for 3 day. Doug Chamlee blooped a ball just out of reach of defending fill in rover Don Witmer. Don gave chase into shallow right centerfield but couldn't catch up to the Texas Leaguer hit. After the next batter lined out to Don, George Radlein reached base on an infielder's throwing error. Two out singles by Rich Moots and Gale Doty finished off the offense. Three runs crossed the plate as Team Three edged out Team Two 6-5. Pitcher Dick Sessink made a fine catch on an infield pop up. Dick was the only fielder in position to make any kind of play and he ran back and made the grab with his back to the infield. In the outfield on defense, Chuck Duff made a super catch on a seemingly gapper hit by Don Witmer. Chuck chased down the ball before it fell in for at least a double. LEADING HITTERS: Wayne Mundy - 4 for 4. Jim Laffoon - 3 for 3 with 1 double & 1 walk. Chris Constantine - 4 for 5 with 3 doubles. Doug Chamlee - 3 for 4. May 30th - The last game of the month of May showcased a team that handled the competition with relative ease. Larry Powell recorded the win as that team scored 17 runs while allowing four runs. Dick Sessink pitched for Team Two, which scored four runs and surrendered nine. Eddie Diaz was on the mound for the team that scored nine and gave up 17 runs.
After the first two teams went scoreless in the first, Team Three took the early lead as three runs scored. Jaime Rivera, Vassurl Bess, and Bob Zelazny each singled to get things started off well. All three scored before the inning was over but only one more hit was accomplished in the frame. Bob Chirstiansen singled to rightfield with one out to drive in two runs. Vassurl Bess ended up going 4 for 4 in the game and scoring four of the nine total runs for the team. Team One got on the boards in the second when Sam Lopez walked and Larry Powell hit 
an inside-the-park homer to leftfield.
Team One also scored in the second. Dick Sessink singled and immediately asked for a pinch runner. When Bill Hepworth singled to right centerfield, the runner for Dick advanced to third and then scored on a Bill Spring ground out. That is an excellent example of getting a run by playing "small ball". Team One was 
scored five in the fourth but were assisted with walks and fielding errors. Two of the five runs scored came at the expense of bases loaded walks. Both Reg Barnes and Doug Chamlee walked with the bases juiced. The only hit of the frame was a single by Freddy Gonzalez.
Team One pushed across four more runs in the next inning. Sam Lopez singled and scored on a Larry Powell triple and Larry scored on a Rich Moots single. Gale Doty got a base hit and Lee Baker drew his second walk in as many innings. The deciding hit in the frame was a double by Chris Constantine, which drove in the fourth and fifth runs. Just for good measure, Team One scored five runs in the final frame on five solid hits. They were just one batter short of batting around in the inning. Larry Powell, Gale Doty, Reg Barnes, and Freddy Gonzalez all singled and scored. Rich Moots also scored but he reached base on a fielding error. In the field on defense, shortstop Chris Constantine made an excellent catch on a hard line drive from the bat of Frank Acevedo. The ball appeared to head for the gap between Chris and the third baseman but Chris darted to his right and leaped high in the air to make the grab. In the outfield, Fred Dampier had to charge in with all his effort to make the low catch on a Texas Leaguer hit by Jack Valliere. LEADING HITTERS: Vassurl Bess - 4 for 4. Larry Powell - 3 for 4 with 1 homer & 1 triple. Don Witmer - 3 for 4 with 1 triple & 1 double. Roger Edwards - 3 for 4 with 1 double. Ron Thompson - 3 for 4 with 1 double. Doug Chamlee - 3 for 4. Dick Sessink - 3 for 4. Bob Zelazny - 3 for 4. Bill Hepworth drove over from Pensacola to get in a game with the Winter Haven Senior Softball Club. He is the member who lives the most distance away from the old ballpark. Bill went 2 for 3 today. Thank you for joining the guys for a game, Bill. Gary Reed was given the release from his doctor to begin playing again. Gary had knee surgery and, while in Texas, had to endure a five bypass heart surgery. Gary went 2 for 4 this morning and looked healthy and well. Welcome back, Gary. |
April 2008
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