Aug 18

August 18, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)

Sky Blue manager Jeff Tyler was perplexed. “Where is everybody?” he asked. But the few players with him on the bench didn’t know, so he started to look for volunteers so the game could start. Once Bill Lovell got his shoes on, the team was ready. Sky Blue batted first and Jeff topped a ball but beat the throw to first. The next two batters were out but Scott Wadsworth drove in Jeff for the game’s first run. Then Finch drove in Scott. Blue came to bat facing Sky Blue and Red shirts in unusual positions. Unphased, the first four batters walked. Ken Aubin got the first hit and drove in 2 runs. Rel Underwood drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, John Remley, showing no ill effects from the ball he headed last week, got a hit and David Brasfield drove in the fifth run. Neither team scored in the second and Blue shut out Sky Blue again in the third and then scored 3 more runs to take an 8 to 2 lead. Sid Hilton hit a double and Ken Sransky drove him in with another double. Then Mike Richards hit a 2-run homer. Sky Blue scored 2 in the fourth; Finch hit a line drive homer to open the inning. Then Chuck Killough and Duffy Vandeford followed up with two more hits and Clarence Kornegay walked to load the bases. Glenn Little hit a popup behind third base that both Sid Hilton at third and Ken Sransky at shortstop went for and they collided where the ball came down. Sid, Ken and the ball all hit the grass and laid there. Chuck scored but Duffy stopped at third to see if the fallen players were okay. Ken  got up; Sid didn’t for awhile until some players helped him to his feet. Sid left the game and eventually headed for the emergency room to see whether his brain was scrambled. Blue got runners to second and third but didn’t score in the bottom of the fourth.

Sky Blue bats came to life in the fifth and they scored five. Charles Jones and David Bedwell got hits and Scott Wadsworth reached on a fielder’s choice. Chuck Killough drove in 2 runs with a single to right, Duffy got a hit, Clarence Kornegay drove in Chuck, Jim Raley drove in Duffy and Little Glenn drove in Clarence. Blue scored one in the bottom half to tie the game at 9. Tom Wasmer and Ken Sransky singled and Tom scored on Ken Aubin’s single but a quick relay from Bedwell to Killough to Finch got Ken Aubin out trying to stretch the hit to a double before Ken Sransky could cross the plate with a second run. Sky Blue scored 4 in each of the sixth and seventh innings and shut out Blue to win the game 17 to 9. Scott Wadsworth drove in Jeff Tyler and Chas Jones, and Finch drove in David Bedwell (who reached base by hitting to an abandoned left field as Blue overshifted to right against the lefty) and Scott with a sacrifice fly to deep right field in the Sky Blue sixth. Then Jim Raley drove in Duffy, Glenn Little drove in Clarence and Jim, and Chas Jones drove in Glenn for the Sky Blue runs in the seventh.

Sky Blue batters were 23 for 41 with 3 walks for a .561 team batting average and a .591 on-base percentage. Duffy Vandeford was 3 for 3 with a walk. Blue hitters were 18 for 34 with 4 walks for a .529 team batting average and a .579 on-base percentage. Ken Aubin and David Brasfield were 3 for 3, Ken Sransky was 2 for 2 with a walk, and Sid Hilton was 1 for 1 with a walk.

Green faced Red in the late game but as the day got hotter the Green bats went cold. Green got shut out in the first four innings and 5 of the 7 innings, but they made a game of it anyway. Red scored 5 in the first inning as their first 9 batters all reached base. Jim Raley opened with a triple and Pete DiCiarra drove him in. Finch and Earle Dunn singled and Bill Lovell drove in Finch and Buddy Cannon drove in Earle. Jim Smith got a hit and Ron Oliver and Holly Whitmire each drove in a run with a walk. Buddy Cannon robbed Mike Madden with a lunging backhanded grab at third to shut out Green in the second and Jim Anderson’s double became a Red run when Pete Di drove him in. Red added 2 more in the third after shutting out Green again; Bill Lovell doubled, Buddy Cannon singled, Jim Smith drove in Bill and Ron Oliver drove in Buddy. Red shut out Green again in the fourth and scored 3 more in the bottom of the inning to take an 11-0 lead. Jim Anderson singled, but Green got 2 outs on fielder’s choices. Then Pete Di got a hit and Finch hit a 3-run homer.

Green finally came to life in the fifth. Larry Enzweiler singled and Bobby Watkins reached on a fielder’s choice. Buddy Cannon caught another fly at third for the second out, but Cecil Kwong walked, Pete Manown singled, Don Stueckler drove in a run with a walk, Steve Entrekin drove in 2 runs with a double and Gene Garcia drove in 2 more with single. Then Green shut out Red in the bottom of the fifth and Red’s lead was down to 11 to 5 after 5. Dave Ferguson and Scott Wadsworth opened the Green sixth with hits but a double play grounder and a strikeout ended the inning. Red scored one in the bottom of the sixth; Jim Raley singled but a fly ball and a fielder’s choice left Pete Di on first with 2 outs. Finch singled to right and got caught in a rundown between first and second but stayed alive long enough for Pete to get all the way home before 85-year old Larry Enzweiler ran down Finch and tagged him. Red had a 12 to 5 lead going into the open seventh inning. Green gave the fans a thrill, but it wasn’t quite enough. After a fly ball out, Mike Madden, Cecil Kwong and Pete Manown loaded the bases with singles. Steve Entrekin drove in Mike and Cecil with a single and Gene Garcia drove in Pete and Steve with a double. Dave Ferguson came up with Gene on second and hit a ball to the center field fence but David Bedwell reached up and caught it before it could go over and that ended the game. Red 12, Green 9.

Red hitters were 20 for 35 with 3 walks for a .571 team batting average and a .605 on-base percentage. Bill Lovell and Jim Smith were both 3 for 3. Green hitters were 16 for 34 with 2 walks for a .471 team batting average and a .500 on-base percentage. Cecil Kwong was 2 for 2 with a walk.

Sid Hilton had his brain scanned and found out it was scrambled but not otherwise damaged. He expects to be able to identify the elephant and bear on his next cognitive test and will be back at the field on Thursday.

Pete Manown put his car into reverse as he was leaving. He sighed. “Ahh, this takes me back.”