–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE–
June 23, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Keith Frederick and Handsome Herb arrived at the field at about the same time and walked up the long ramp together. Herb puffed. “I stopped at the store on my way here. I just looked in the bag. I thought I was getting organic vegetables, but they turned out to be glazed donuts.” Keith had been using his computer and expressed some frustration. “People use initials instead of typing out the words and it’s hard for me to know what they’re talking about. I’ve been asking people what idk means and they all keep saying I don’t know.”
After weeks of rain, it was a glorious morning with partly sunny skies and a cool breeze. Red faced Sky Blue in the early game. Dale McWhorter threw the first pitch a few minutes early as everyone was anxious to play. Jim Raley ripped it to left. Harold Fincher singled and Earle Dunn, his heart beating regularly after a bout with afib, drove in a run. Wayne Graham drove in Finch and Buddy Cannon drove in Earle. Dale McWhorter led off for Sky Blue with a walk. Charles Jones singled and Ronnie Muro drove in Dale with a double. Chuck Killough drove in Chas and Cecil Kwong drove in Ronnie but the inning ended when Ron Oliver caught a line drive at second and doubled off the runner at first. Red didn’t score in the second but Sky Blue added 2 more runs on hits by Scott Wadsworth, Wayne Sheets, Ken Sransky and Glenn Little. Red scored one in the third when Earle Dunn drove in Bill Lovell and Sky Blue broke out with 5 in the bottom of the third to take a 10 to 4 lead. Chas Jones singled, Ronnie Muro walked, Chuck Killough doubled, Cecil Kwong hit a 3-run homer, Jill Kelley walked, Scott Wadsworth singled and Ken Sransky drove in Jill for the fifth run.
Sky Blue shut out Red in the fourth and Chas Jones drove in Jeff Tyler for Sky Blue’s only run. Red scored 2 in the fifth when Bill Lovell and Finch got hits and Wayne Graham and Buddy Cannon drove them in. Sky Blue scored one when Jill Kelley got a hit and Ken Sransky drove her in. Sky Blue then shut out Red again in the sixth and added 3 more runs on hits by Dale, Ronnie Muro, Chuck Killough and Cecil Kwong to take a 15 to 6 lead into the open 7th. Red’s Jim Raley doubled and scored on Bill Lovell’s double. Then Finch hit a 2-run homer. Red loaded the bases on hits by Wayne Graham, Lisa Phipps and Holly Whitmire, but a fly ball ended the inning and Sky Blue won 15 to 9.
Sky Blue hitters were 23 for 36 with 5 walks for a .639 team batting average and a .683 on-base percentage. Cecil Kwong was 4 for 4 with a home run and 6 RBIs, Ken Sransky was 3 for 3, and Ronnie Muro was 3 for 3 with a walk. Red hitters were 23 for 42 (Dale pitched a walk-free game) for a .548 team batting average and on-base percentage. Harold Fincher was 4 for 4 with a home run.
Blue played Green in the late game which also started a few minutes early. Blue’s Harold Easterwood arrived ready to play after getting hit in the face by a fly ball in the last game he played. “Getting’ hit in the head by a ball isn’t a very good idea. I’m glad it was soft. The ball I mean.”
Blue batted first. Tom Wasmer and Ken Sransky got hits and Sid Hilton walked. Edwin Yergen drove in Tom with a sacrifice fly, but a fielder’s choice and a fly ball ended their inning. Green scored 4 in their half of the inning to take a lead they never gave up. Mark Lilla, Gene Garcia, Jim Raley, Steve Entrekin, Bob Slanovits and Mike Madden all hit singles to account for the runs. Then Green shut out Blue in the second and scored five more. Joey Johnson led off with a hit for Green but a double play wiped out Joey at second and saddled Green with two outs. Undaunted, Mark Brannin, Dennis Horne and Mark Lilla singled, David Ferguson walked, Gene Garcia hit a 2-run single, and Jim Raley and Steve Entrekin drove in the 4th and 5th runs. In a 9 to 1 hole, Blue rallied for 5 runs in the third; Rick Alston and John Remley led off with hits and Rick Erdimer drove in Rick with a single. Tom Wasmer drove in John, Ken Sransky drove in Rick Erdimer, Sid singled and Edwin Yergen drove in Ken and Sid. Green scored 2 in the bottom of the third on Bob Slanovits’ hit, a Mike Madden fielder’s choice, Cecil Kwong’s double, Joey Johnson’s single, and Pete Manown’s 2-run single. Then Green shut out Blue again in the fourth and scored 5 on a David Ferguson single, Gene Garcia’s walk, Jim Raley’s 2-run triple, Steve Entreken’s RBI single, a Bob Slanovits walk, and Mike Madden and Larry Enzweiler’s RBI singles. Green 16, Blue 6 after four.
Green shut out Blue again in the fifth and scored 3 more. Cecil Kwong and Joey Johnson singled, Pete Manown drove in Joey, Mark Brannin singled and Dennis Horne drove in Pete and Mark with a 2-run single. Blue scored 3 in the sixth when Ken Sransky doubled and Sid drove him in with a towering double to right. Edwin Yergen singled and Steve Belcher drove in Sid with a sacrifice fly. David Brasfield singled and Rel Underwood drove in Edwin with a single. But a hot Green team scored two more in the bottom of the sixth to take a 21 to 9 lead into the open 7th. Jim Raley doubled, Bob Slanovits drove Jim in with another double and Mike Madden drove in Bob with a third double. Brian Gierlatovicz led off with a single for Blue in the 7th, but a strikeout, a fly ball and a fielder’s choice ended the game.
Green hitters were 29 for 44 with 3 walks for a .659 team batting average and a .681 on-base percentage. Jim Raley was 4 for 4, Bob Slanovits was 3 for 3 with a walk, and Joey Johnson was 3 for 3. Blue hitters were 20 for 34 with 3 walks for a .588 team batting average and a .622 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky and Rel Underwood were both 3 for 3 (but Rel never made it past second base), Sid Hilton was 2 for 2 with a walk, and Edwin Yergen was 2 for 2 with a sacrifice fly.
There are more makeup games on Thursday, June 25, weather permitting. Green plays Sky Blue at 9:00AM, and Red plays Blue at 10:30. Please let your manager know if you will not be present for the game.