–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
August 14, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Handsome Herb was in a quandary. “Our Red team is missing a ton of people today–Bob Slanovits is gamboling on the Danube somewhere, Dennis Horne is in Texas, Glenn, Wayne and Bob Newton are at the doctor, Shelly is injured—we’re depending on a lotta one-day contract players. Bobby Watkins was going to play for us but he was drivin’ down 459 mindin’ his own business when somebody smashed into the back of his truck. He was goin’ to get a new one before long anyway but he was angry about missin’ the game. So it looks like we’ll play with 10 players instead of 11. Fortunately, Chuck Killough, Carlos Davis, and Buddy Cannon all showed up although Carlos is already griping about his one-day contract. I told him he was getting the same as everybody else.”
Red took the field at 9AM and Blue’s Ken Sransky (also on a one-day contract) stepped to the plate. Red’s pitcher, Jim Anderson, took careful aim and threw a ball, one of 12 he threw to the first 4 batters before he threw his hands in the air in disgust. Earle Dunn replaced Jim and walked in another run before he found the range. Terry Lewis and Dick Baguley drove in 2 more runs before Red got the third out. So Red came to bat 4 runs down and scored a quick 5 as Dale McWhorter, Earle Dunn, Mike Richards, Carlos Davis, Rel Underwood, John Woychak and Buddy Cannon all reached base. Red 5, Blue 4 after one.
Red held Blue to one run in the second and then scored another 3 after making two outs. They might have had more but Mike Richards got trapped between second and third in the first of a number of base-running errors on both teams. Blue got 2 runs in the third on RBIs by David Brasfield and Terry Lewis, but Red came back with 5, highlighted by Dale’s three-run double and Mike Richards’ bases-loaded home run that only resulted in one run because of the 5-run limitation, to take a 13 to 7 lead.
Both teams scored 5 in the fourth inning. Holly Whitmire, Beth Moore, Rick Erdimer, Ken Sransky, Sid Hilton, Cecil Kwong and David Brasfield got a string of hits for Blue, and Red’s runs came from hits by Carlos Davis, John Woychak, Buddy Cannon, David Richey, Dale McWhorter, and Earle Dunn and a Chuck Killough walk. Then Blue scored another 5 in the fifth and held Red to one to tighten up the score. Red 19, Blue17 after five innings. Brian G, Holly Whitmire, Beth Moore, Rick Erdimer and Ken Sransky drove in Blue’s runs. John Woychak drove in Carlos Davis for Red’s run.
Blue tied the game by scoring 2 in the top of the sixth on Carl Hall’s single and David Brasfield and Terry Lewis’ RBI hits. But Red took the lead back with 5 runs in the bottom of the sixth when David Richey and Jim Anderson opened up the inning with hits, followed by two outs. Then a clutch two-run triple by Chuck Killough started a rally as Earle Dunn drove in Chuck and Rel Underwood drove in Earle and Carlos Davis.
Blue needed five runs in the open seventh to tie the score but couldn’t get any and Red won, 24 to 19. Red hitters were 30 for 42 with 5 walks for a .714 team batting average and a .745 on-base percentage. Earle Dunn was 5 for 5 with 5 RBIs, and Carlos Davis was 3 for 3 with two walks. Blue hitters were 29 for 45 with 5 walks for a .644 team batting average and a .694 on-base percentage. Sid Hilton, Carl Hall and David Brasfield were all 3 for 3 with a walk.
Ron Oliver was getting ready for the second game. “I got to the park early and Herb asked me to play so the Red team would have 11 on the field. I told him I would but didn’t want to get worn out. I went in in the fifth inning and, as it turned out, I never touched the ball but I did have to run to first base once. I got the same pay as Carlos.”
Sky Blue took on Orange in the second game with only five of their own players. Manager Pete Manown had contracts in his hands as players were passing by. “Apparently our players are on strike except for Bobby who is probably at his car dealer right now. But we’ll go with what I can scrounge up.”
Sky Blue batted first and came up with 4 runs on a walk by Chuck Killough, a two-run homer by Royce O’Donnell, a hit by Rel Underwood, an RBI triple by Sid Hilton and an RBI hit by John Woychak. Orange scored 5 in the bottom of the inning on hits by Tom Wasmer, Jeff Tyler, Mike Madden, Ken Sransky, Gary Singletary, Jim Hill, and Scott Wadsworth. Then neither team scored in the second. Orange 5, Sky Blue 4 after two.
Sky Blue scored 4 again in the third. Royce opened up with a triple and Carlos, Rel, Sid, John Kuklinsky, and Earle Dunn drove in the runs. Orange scored 2. Mike Madden got a double but was thrown out at home trying to score on Ken Sransky’s double. Then Ron Oliver drove in Ken, and Jim Hill drove in Ron. Sky Blue 8, Orange 7 after three.
David Brasfield and Chuck Killough singled and Royce walked to open the Sky Blue fourth and Carlos, Rel and Sid drove them in. Orange came back with one on a Buddy Cannon hit and a Keith Fredrick RBI. Then Sky Blue exploded for 5 in the fifth and shut out Orange to take a 16 to 8 lead. Harold Hagler, David Brasfield, Chuck, Royce, Carlos, and Sid got the hits that got the runs. Chuck scooped up grounders for all three Orange outs.
Orange held Sky Blue scoreless in the sixth but could only put up one run in their half of the inning on a Jim Hill hit and a Scott Wadsworth sacrifice fly. So the teams went into the open seventh with Sky Blue leading, 16 to 9. Sky Blue added 2 runs in the top of the inning with two-out RBIs by Carlos and Rel. Orange needed 9 runs to keep the game going but only got 4. Tom Wasmer, Jeff Tyler, Ken Sransky, Ron Oliver, Jim Hill and Harold Easterwood got hits and Ken, Ron, Gary Singletary and Harold got the RBIs, but it wasn’t enough and Sky Blue won, 18 to 13.
Sky Blue hitters were 28 for 46 with 2 walks for a .609 team batting average and a .625 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky and Jim Hill were 4 for 4 and Scott Wadsworth was 1 for 1 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. Orange outhit Sky Blue, going 29 for 44 with 2 walks for a .659 team batting average and a .674 on-base percentage.
Orange manager Duffy Vanderford shook his head. “There were a lotta different colors playin’ on Sky Blue today, but that’s the way this league works so we can have games every week despite player unrest. We got more hits, but they got ‘em at the right times.”