–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
September 4, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Dennis Horne and Jim Anderson arrived early for the opening game between Red and Blue (astounding Handsome Herb who had scheduled Jim to pitch), but Jim said he didn’t want to waste his energy warming up. “I only got so many pitches in me and I don’t want to waste ‘em. I don’t know how many pitches I throw in a game, but it seems like a lot. But then I’m not that good at numbers. Heck. If I had 50 cents for every math test I failed I’d probably have $7.20.”
Blue batted first and were patient while Jim tried to find the plate. He walked 6 of the first 8 batters; miraculously, Blue only scored 3 runs. JD, pitching for Blue, didn’t walk anyone and Red scored 4 on hits by Dale McWhorter, Steve Entrekin, Royce O’Donnell, Mike Richards, Rel Underwood, and Bob Slanovits.
Red shut out Blue in the second and scored 5 to take a bigger lead, 9 to 3. Red had two outs before hits by Wayne Sheets, Dale, Steve E., Ken Sransky, and Royce pushed across the runs. Blue scored 3 in the third. Cecil, Sid Hilton and David Ferguson led the inning off with three hits and worked their way around the bases on Carl Hall’s sacrifice fly and hits by David Brasfield, Terry Lewis, and JD Lille. Red scored 1 on hits by Mike Richards and Rel Underwood and a fielder’s choice by Glenn Little. Red 10, Blue 6 after three innings.
Both teams scored five in the fourth. Rick Erdimer and Holly Whitmire got hits, Beth Moore walked to load the bases and Dinah Sewell drove her in with a walk. Cecil drove in two more with a single and Sid wrapped things up with a two-run dinger. Red started off with Jim Anderson’s hit, Wayne Sheets’ walk, and Dale’s hit that loaded the bases. Then Steve E drove in a run with a walk, Ken Sransky drove in three more with a triple, and Royce drove in Ken for the fifth run. The number of runs were higher for both teams, but Red’s lead was still four.
Blue creeped up in the fifth, outscoring Red 3 to 2. Terry Lewis hit a three-run homer for Blue after hits by Carl Hall and David Brasfield. Red’s two runs came on a string of hits by Rel, Little Glenn, Bob Slanovits and Bob Newton. Red 17, Blue 14 after 5 innings.
Jim Anderson had indeed thrown a lot of pitches and time ran out on the game so the sixth was the final and open inning. Blue needed 3 runs to tie the game and loaded the bases on 3 walks and a fielder’s choice. Then Sid Hilton hit a rifle shot toward first that Glenn Little caught just above the ground to end the game, Red 17, Blue 14. Pitcher Jim chuckled. “I was pretty sure I could throw strikes when I had to. I was just teasin’ ‘em with those walks”.
Red hitters were 22 for 33 with two walks for a .667 team batting average and a .686 on-base percentage. Dale McWhorter, Rel Underwood, and Bob Slanovits were 3 for 3, Steve Entrekin was 2 for 2 with a walk, and Royce was 2 for 2 plus a sacrifice fly. Blue hitters were 17 for 30 with 10 walks for a .567 team batting average and a .675 on-base percentage. JD Lille was 3 for 3, David Brasfield was 2 for 2 with a walk, and Rick Erdimer was 1 for 1 with two walks.
Orange faced Sky Blue in the late game. It started and ended late, hence its name. Both teams scored one run in the first inning. David Ferguson drove in Carlos Davis for Sky Blue’s run and Ken Sransky drove in Steve Entrekin for Orange’s run. Orange shut out Sky Blue in the second and third innings and scored 6 more runs to take a 7 to 1 lead. Harmon Turner drove in Orange’s two runs in the second with a two-run double that drove in Gary Singleton and Harold Easterwood. Their 4 runs in the third resulted from a walk by Tom Wasmer, Mike Madden’s RBI double that sent pinch-runner Steve Entrekin flying around the bases, hits by Ken Sransky and Mark Lilla to load the bases, an RBI fielder’s choice by Gary Singleton, a Harold Easterwood walk and Scott Wadsworth’s 2 RBI single.
Sky Blue put up one more run in the fourth when Desiree Cook drove in Carlos, but Orange scored another 5 to stretch its lead to 12 to 2. Keith Frederick, Steve Entrekin, Tom Wasmer, Mike Madden, and Ken Sransky got a string of hits, Mark Lilla walked, and Jim Hill drove in the last two runs with a single.
Sky Blue finally got on track with five runs in the top of the fifth. Rick Erdimer got a hit, Pete Manown walked, Bobby got a hit to load the bases, and Larry Enzweiler got a hit to drive in two runs. Carlos walked to reload the bases and Royce drove in three runs with a double. Orange only came back with two runs on a Gary Singleton hit, a Harold Easterwood walk, a Scott Wadsworth RBI hit, and an RBI walk by Duffy Vanderford. Orange now led, 14 to 7. Sky Blue added another run in the top of the sixth when Rick Erdimer drove in Desiree Cook with a double. But Orange stayed hot and scored four more runs in the bottom to take an 18 to 8 lead into the open seventh. Mike Madden and Ken Sransky got hits, Jim Hill walked to load the bases, Gary Singleton drove in two runs with a hit, Harold Easterwood walked to reload the bases, Scott Wadsworth had an RBI hit and Duffy V drove in a run with a walk.
Sky Blue faced a daunting 10-run deficit in the seventh inning. They rallied for 3 runs; Pete started the inning with a hit and Larry moved him to third with another hit. Carlos drove in Pete with a sacrifice fly, Royce got a hit and David Ferguson loaded the bases with a walk. Rod Ellis’ RBI hit drove in Larry and Desiree’s walk drove in Royce, but a fly ball put an end to things and Orange won, 18 to 11.
Orange hitters were 23 for 39 with 8 walks for a .590 team batting average and a .660 on-base percentage. Scott Wadsworth was 4 for 4, Jim Hill was 3 for 3 with a walk, and Harold Easterwood was 1 for 1 with 3 walks. Sky Blue hitters were 17 for 35 with 5 walks for a .486 team batting average and a .550 on-base percentage.
Handsome Herb looked up from his meticulous scorebook. “Two days ago these same 4 teams had a combined 4 walks and both games ended early. Today’s games featured a combined 25 walks and both games ran long. To be frank, I’d have to change my name.”
Cathy Brasfield and Betty Vanderford were chatting after the game. “I got upset when Duffy put a stick in a non-stick pan, said Betty, but a good wife always forgives her husband when she’s wrong.”