–for IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
September 9, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Another cool morning greeted the plethora of fans and players under a bright sun and puffy clouds (by the way, I’d like to thank the dictionary for helping me understand “plethora”; it means a lot). Handsome Herb and Mike Richards were talking while they waited for the game to begin. Mike said, “I went to the grocery the other day and bought a banana, an apple and eggs. As I was checking out the cashier said, ‘you must be a bachelor’ and I asked her why she thought so. She said, ‘because you’re ugly.” Herb laughed. “That’s too bad. My wife compares me to George Clooney. She says, ‘You’re nothin’ like George Clooney’.”
Orange played Red in the opener and each team had innings where they were excellent and innings where they weren’t. Red won the first three innings 5 to 2, 3 to 1, and 4 to 3 for a 12 to 6 lead at the end of the third. Mike Madden, Ken Sransky, Scott Wadsworth and Bobby Watkins drove in the Orange runs. Ron Lentz, Glenn Little, Earle Dunn, Cecil Kwong, Mike Richards, Alicia Johnson, Wayne Sheets and Jim Anderson drove in the Blue runs.
Orange won the fourth and fifth innings 2 to 0, and 5 to 2 to tighten the score to Red 14, Orange 13 after five. Scott Wadsworth hit a two-run homer high over the left field fence for Orange in the fourth, and Steve Entrekin, Tom Wasmer, Ken Sransky, Mark Lilla, Bobby Watkins, Wayne Graham, and Harold Easterwood got a string of hits for Orange’s runs in the fifth. Rel Underwood’s hit, Ron Lentz’s walk, Little Glenn’s RBI hit, and Cecil Kwong’s RBI fielder’s choice accounted for Red’s runs.
Then Red shut out Orange in the sixth and seventh to win the game. Two grounders to Red shortstop Sid Hilton and a strikeout did Orange in in the sixth. Then hits by Tom Wasmer and Mike Madden put runners on first and third in the seventh, but two fly balls to Cecil in center field ended the game. Red scored two unneeded runs in the sixth on Bob Newton’s walk, Alicia Johnson’s hit, Dennis Horne’s RBI single, and Dale McWhorter’s RBI single. The final score was Red 16, Orange 13.
Red hitters were 21 for 38 with five walks for a .558 team batting average and a .605 on-base percentage. Dennis Horne was 3 for 3, Ron Lentz, Glenn Little, and Earle Dunn were all 2 for 2 with a walk, and Bob Newton was 1 for 1 with two walks. Orange hitters were 25 for 44 for a .568 team batting average and on-base percentage. Tom Wasmer was 4 for 4, and Harold Easterwood and Scott Wadsworth were 3 for 3.
Sky Blue played Blue in a nail-biter of a late game. Blue outscored Sky Blue 2 to 0 in the first on RBIs by Ron “Hootie” Ingram and David Brasfield. Both teams scored three in the second. Orange’s came on hits by Steve Belcher and Harold Hagler, a Dean Farris walk, a 2 RBI hit by Ron Allen, and Larry Enzweiler’s RBI single. Red’s were the result of a single by Rick Erdimer, a double by Brian Gierlatowicz, a Jennifer Martinez RBI grounder to first, and Doug Harper and Sid Hilton’s RBI singles. Then Sky Blue tied the game with 2 in the third and shut out Blue in the bottom of the inning. Sky Blue’s runs came on hits by Ken Sransky and Bobby Watkins, Carlos Davis’s RBI fielder’s choice, and Rel Underwood’s RBI single.
Sky Blue exploded for 5 runs in the fourth and shut out Blue again to take a 5-run lead. Ron Allen led off with a single for Sky Blue, Larry Enzweiler walked, Ron Lentz singled, Ken Sransky drove in Ron, Carlos Davis drove in Ken, Rel Underwood drove in Bobby Watkins and Carlos, and Steve Belcher drove in Rel. Then Blue returned the favor and scored 4 after shutting out Sky Blue in the fifth on 2 strikeouts and a pop fly. Blue sent 9 batters to the plate to score their runs. David Ferguson singled, Sid Hilton walked, Cecil Kwong singled, Carl Hall hit an RBI fielder’s choice, Hootie and David Brasfield each drove in a run with a single, and Rick Erdimer drove in the fourth run. Sky Blue led 14 to 13 going into the open seventh. All Sky Blue could manage in the seventh was a grounder to shortstop, a strikeout, a Larry Enzweiler single, and a fly ball to Cecil. Blue came to bat needing a run to tie and two to win. David Brasfield led off with a single, advanced to second on Dan Peek’s hit, went to third on Rick Erdimer’s fielder’s choice and scored to tie the game on Brian G’s RBI single. Jennifer Martinez strode to the batter’s box with runners on first and third and took a mighty swing. The ball flew toward right field and was just out of everyone’s reach for the game-winning hit. Blue 15, Sky Blue 14.
Blue’s batters were 26 for 45 with one walk for a .578 team batting average and a .587 on-base percentage. David Brasfield was 4 for 4 and Sid Hilton was 3 for 3 with a walk. Sky Blue hitters were 22 for 41 with 5 walks for a .537 team batting average and a .587 on-base percentage. Steve Belcher was 4 for 4.
Players lingered in the dugouts enjoying the nice day and discussing life. Pete Manown was talking about his contact lens problem. “There’s no solution”, he complained. Sky Blue manager Steve Belcher felt discouraged. “Darn it. We tried hard and we had our chances, but we couldn’t hang on. God said, “Come forth”, but we came in fifth again.”