–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
July 24, 2025 (Liberty Park Coliseum)
White clouds scudded across a sunny sky, and a refreshing breeze stirred the air as Red and Blue faced off. Both teams scored 5 runs in their first at bats and the game seesawed all the way to the end. Blue manager Sid Hilton said, “These are two good hitting teams, and we have to score every inning.” Red manager Handsome Herb agreed and added that the game would probably be decided by which team made the fewest mistakes in the field. As it turned out, both teams could hit but neither could catch the ball. By the end of the third inning the score was 11 to 11. At the end of the fifth it was 18 to 18. Then in the top of the sixth, Red finally shut Blue down with a strikeout and two grounders to shortstop. Fans hummed in the stands as the top of Red’s fearsome batting order came up. The first four batters loaded the bases with one out, but only one run scored on a sacrifice fly. The teams went into the open seventh inning with Red ahead, 19 to 18.
Blue sent seven batters to the plate but somehow only scored two runs to take a 20 to 19 lead. Red got runners to first and third, but two strikeouts and a grounder ended the game with Blue victorious.
Blue hitters were 30 for 45 with three walks for a .667 team batting average and a .687 on-base percentage. David Ferguson was 5 for 5 with 5 RBIs, Carl was 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs and a walk and Sid added to his home run total with a solo shot in the fifth. Red batters were 32 for 45 with one walk for a .711 team batting average and a .717 on-base percentage. Mike Richards and Bob Newton were both 4 for 4 and Glenn Little was 3 for 3. Mike and Glenn had 4 RBIs each.
Sid was gracious after the game. “It coulda gone either way. Red outhit us but our defense came through when it had to.”
Handsome Herb just shook his head. “If we’d won even half the games we’ve lost by one run, we’d be contenders. Oh well. Jim Anderson has been talking about hitting a home run sometime this year and he finally did it today, though in an unusual way. He’ll probably tell his friends he hit an inside-the-park homer, but the truth is speedy Ken Sransky legged it out for him.”
Sky Blue and Orange played the second game of the day, another game decided by one run but in a very different way. Sky Blue scored the maximum of 20 runs in the first four innings and Orange almost matched them with 17. Then Sky Blue scored four more in the fifth on hits by David Ferguson, Cecil Kwong, John Kuklinski, a walk by Desiree Cook, and a three-run double by Sid Hilton, and shut out Orange in their half of the fifth with two grounders and a fly ball. Sky Blue 24, Orange 17 after five.
Orange held Sky Blue to one run in the open sixth inning and Orange needed 8 runs to tie the game and 9 to win it. Orange fans groaned. But Orange sent 11 batters to the plate in the sixth and never made an out as they got 9 hits and 2 walks to win the game, 26 to 25. Fans danced in the concourse.
Orange hitters were 35 for 46 with 5 walks for a .761 team batting average and a .784 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky was 4 for 4 with a walk, a grand slam homer and 7 RBIs. Keith Frederick and Harmon Turner were also 4 for 4.
Ken Sransky wasn’t completely happy about his day even though he was an offensive juggernaut. “I had a tough time in the field. I couldn’t pick up the ball half the time and when I did I couldn’t throw it where I wanted to. I’ve been makin’ mistakes lately. My wife asked me to go get a gallon of milk at the store and said if they had eggs, I should get six. Then she was unhappy because I brought home six gallons of milk.”