–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
April 16, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Green manager Cecil Kwong was in a quandary. “Steve Entrekin is havin’ eye surgery today and Bobby Watkins went to the hospital because his back is killin’ him. I’m don’t know if we’ll have enough players.” The Red team took the field and Cecil still didn’t know who he could play, but Sid Hilton walked up at the last minute and said he could pitch and the game got underway. Despite their player shortages Green immediately scored 5 runs on 8 straight hits including out-of-the-park shots by Jeff Tyler and Sid. Red got the 5 runs back in their half of the inning including homers by Harold Fincher and Bill Lovell. The game was on.
David Ferguson hit one out and Green scored 3 in the second inning. Red got 2 on hits by Dick Baguley, Jim Raley, Wayne Graham’s walk and Finch’s 2-run single. Green got 4 more in the third and then shut out Red, but Red held Green to 2 in the fourth and scored 5 to tighten the score to Green 14, Red 12. But Red couldn’t keep pace and Green shut them out in the fifth and sixth while adding 8 runs of their own to bring the score to Green 22, Red 12 after 6. Only Red batted in the open 7th under the league’s flip flop rule. Holly Whitmire, Alicia Johnson, Keith Frederick, and Dick Baguley drove in 5 runs but Green stopped the rally and won the game, 22 to 17.
Green hitters were 30 for 46 with 5 walks for a .652 team batting average and a .686 on-base percentage. David Ferguson was 5 for 5 and Sid Hilton was 4 for 4 with a walk.
Sky Blue faced Blue in the late game and struggled to get started. It took them 3 innings to work their way through the batting order and they didn’t score a run until the 4th. Meanwhile, Blue cruised, scoring 1 in the first, 5 in the second, and another 5 in the third to take an 11 to 0 lead. Sid Hilton hit a solo homer in the first, Buddy Cannon, David Brasfield, John Kuklinski, Jerry Anger, Rick Erdimir, Tom Wasmer, and Sid Hilton all got hits in the second and Edwin Yergen, Mike Richards, Ken Sransky, Buddy Cannon, and David Brasfield got 6 straight hits to open the third and John Kuklinski and Rick Erdimir both had RBIs for the 4th and 5th runs.
When Sky Blue finally got untracked they scored 13 runs in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings. Wayne Sheets led off the Sky Blue 4th with a walk, Chuck Killough got a hit and Jeff Tyler drove them in with a home run. Duffy Vandeford got another walk, David Bedwell singled and Rod Ellis and Clarence Kornegay drove them in for 5 in the 4th. Hits by David Richey, Chuck Killough, Gary Singleton, Jeff Tyler and Mark Lilla and a Wayne Sheets walk got 5 more runs in the 5th. David Bedwell hit a triple to open the Sky Blue 6th and Rod Ellis drove him in. Glenn Little and Clarence K reached base and Harold Hagler drove in 2 runs with a shot down the third base line.
But Blue kept on scoring, matching Sky Blue with 5 runs in the 4th on six hits by Tom Wasmer, Sid Hilton, Edwin Yergen, Mike Richards, Ken Sransky, and Buddy Cannon and another 5 in the fifth when David Brasfield opened with a triple. Harold Easterwood drove in David with a single; John Kuklinski and Jerry Anger got hits and 3 straight walks to Rick Erdimir, Tom Wasmer, and Sid Hilton set up RBIs for Edwin Yergen and Mike Richards. Blue went 2 innings without making an out, but Sky Blue shut them out in the sixth and went into the open 7th needing 8 runs to tie the game, 9 to win. They came close to pulling it out. Chuck Killough doubled, Gary Singleton singled, Jeff Tyler doubled, Mark Lilla singled, Duffy walked, David Bedwell hit an RBI fielder’s choice, Rod Ellis, Little Glenn and Clarence K got hits and Harold Hagler drove in a run with another hit. But Blue finally got the third out and won the game, 21 to 19.
Blue hitters were 27 for 37 with 4 walks for a .730 team batting average and a .756 on-base percentage. Edwin Yergen was 4 for 4 and Sid Hilton was 3 for 3 with a walk. Sky Blue hitters were 25 for 42 with 6 walks for a .595 team batting average and a .646 on-base percentage. Chuck Killough was 4 for 4 and Clarence Kornegay was 3 for 3 with a walk.
Sky Blue manager Jeff Tyler was philosophical. “Our team never gave up and we made it exciting at the end. Harold Hagler pitched a good game. I told him to practice throwing the ball over a ladder to get used to throwing pitches over the safety screen. He said he only had a step ladder. He never knew his real ladder.”