–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
October 21, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Players in long sleeves were trying to warm up on a chilly autumn morning as the 2025 RASSA Masters Playoffs were set to begin. Second and third place finishers, Orange and Red were scheduled to play in the opener, and first and fourth place finishers, Blue and Sky Blue would play in the late game. In fact, all four teams had similar won-loss records in the regular season and there were no “favorites”. Commissioner Tom Kilgore told the media “90 percent of the games in this league were decided in the last inning by one or two runs and it’s a wide-open playoff.”
Red batted first in the opener and scored a run when Earle Dunn drove in Rel Underwood. Orange answered with 3 in the bottom half of the inning on doubles by Steve Entrekin and Tom Wasmer and singles by Mike Madden and Pete DiChiara. Orange shut out Red in the second and scored another run on Jim Hill’s single and Harold Easterwood’s RBI double. Red manager Wayne Sheets started off the third with a hit followed by Rel Underwood and Jeff Tyler singles, Earle Dunn’s triple and Ronnie Muro’s single to add 4 more runs, but Orange came back with 5 on a string of two-out hits by Duffy Vanderford, Keith Fredrick, Steve Entrekin, Tom Wasmer, Ken Sransky and Jerry Bevel. Orange 9, Red 5 after three innings.
Neither team scored in the fourth. Jim Anderson and Alicia Johnson reached base on walks for Red but two fielder’s choices and a fly ball left Jim at third. Orange went down on two grounders and a fly ball. Red scored 5 in the fifth. Dale McWhorter and Jeff Tyler singled and Mike Richards drove in 2 runs. Earle Dunn followed Mike with a single and Ronnie Muro drove them both in with a double. Edwin Yergin drove in Ronnie. Jim Hill and Harold Easterwood got hits for Orange but were stranded on base and Red took the lead, 10 to 9.
Neither team scored in the sixth and the game came down to the open, “all-you-can-get” seventh. Red started with a strikeout, but then their bats came to life. Dale McWhorter, Rel Underwood, and Jeff Tyler singled and Mike Richards drove Dale and Rel in. Earle Dunn walked and Ronnie Muro drove in Jeff and Mike. Edwin Yergin drove in Ronnie, Bob Newton singled and Alicia Johnson drove in Edwin and Bob, and Red ended up with 7 more runs and a comfortable lead, 17 to 9. But no lead is safe in the Masters League. Ken Sransky, Jerry Bevel, Mike Madden and Pete DiChiara got 4 hits and two runs for Orange before Red got anyone out. Then Mark Lilla and Jim Hill drove in 3 more runs with doubles. Scott Wadsworth drove in a run with another double, Gary Singleton singled and Buddy Cannon drove in the tying run. Orange manager Duffy Vanderford strode to the plate and ended the game with his third, and game-winning, hit. Orange 18, Red 17.
Orange batters were 27 for 44 with no walks, for a .614 team batting average and on-base percentage. Steve Entrekin, Jim Hill and Duffy V were all 3 for 3. Red hitters were 22 for 41 with 5 walks for a .537 team batting average and a .587 on-base percentage. Earle Dunn was 3 for 3 with a walk.
Duffy was ebullient. “I was due. I been savin’ up my hits for when it counts and they counted today.”
Sky Blue manager Pete Manown scrambled to get a team on the field for the late game against Blue, but the game started on time. Sky Blue batted first and scored 2 on hits by Chuck Killough, Larry Enzweiler, Jeff Tyler and Bill Lovell. Blue matched them with walks by Hootie Ingram and Cecil Kwong, hits by David Bedwell and Sid Hilton and Cindy Sewell’s RBI fielder’s choice. Blue shut out Sky Blue in the second and scored another run on hits by Rick Erdimer, Dan Peek, and Dick Baguley to take a 3 to 2 lead. Sky Blue scored 5 in the third with hits by Harold Hagler and Pete Manown, a Bobby Watkins walk, RBI hits by Chuck Killough, Larry Enzweiler, Edwin Yergin, and Jeff Tyler, and Bill Lovell’s home run, highlighted by his major-league bat flip. Blue could only answer with 2 on hits by Brian Gierlatowicz, David Ferguson, Hootie Ingram, and Cecil Kwong. Sky Blue 7, Blue 5 after three.
Sky Blue scored 2 in the fourth and held Blue to 1, to extend their lead. Sky Blue got hits from Charles Jones and Jerry Anger and Pete Manown’s two-RBI single. Cindy Sewell scored for Blue after her single, Sid Hilton’s double, and David Brasfield’s sacrifice fly. Rick Erdimer and JD Lille loaded the bases with a single and a walk, but Sky Blue ended the inning with a double play. Then neither team scored again until the open seventh, with Sky Blue leading, 9 to 6. Fans, still excited by the dramatic finish to the early game, were buzzing as Sky Blue came to bat. Harold Hagler got a hit, but Blue got an out on a fly ball to shortstop David Ferguson. After that, Sky Blue went on a tear. Bobby Watkins and Chuck Killough got hits and Larry Enzweiler drove in 2 runs with a double. Edwin Yergin and Jeff Tyler got RBI hits and Bill Lovell hit his second home-run of the game, but only got to first base by rule. John Kuklinsky drove in Sky Blue’s sixth run before Blue could get the third out. Blue needed 9 runs to stay in the game.
Cecil Kwong opened the Blue seventh inning with a hit, but Sky Blue got two quick outs on grounders. Sid Hilton reached base on a fielder’s choice, David Brasfield singled and Rick Erdimer’s third hit of the game loaded the bases. Then JD Lille drove in 3 runs with a triple. “I gotta hit a ball really hard to run out a triple these days,” said the gimpy Lille later. “Luckily, I had some help.” Fans came to life as hope emerged, but Bobby struck out the next batter to end the game, and Sky Blue upset Blue, 15 to 9.
Sky Blue hitters were 26 for 44 with 2 walks for a .591 team batting average and a .609 on-base percentage. Jeff Tyler was 4 for 4. Blue hitters were 18 for 39 with 2 walks for a .462 team batting average and a .488 on-base percentage. Rick Erdimer was 3 for 3 and Dick Bagulet was 2 for 2.
Umpire Mike Jackson was hurrying toward the men’s room. “It’s been a long morning and I need some relief. I don’t call it a John anymore. I call it the Jim. People are impressed when I tell’em I been hittin’ the Jim.”