Sept 17

September 17, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)

Rel Underwood wandered toward a group of players early on a bright morning. “I ran into some friends of mine the other day and we got to talkin’ about RASSA softball. I told ‘em we were havin’ a home run derby at 10:00AM on Monday the 21rst and I was gonna be the announcer so I was storin’ up anecdotal information about the participants, some of which might be true. They were from Kentucky and weren’t sure what I was talkin’ about. To them, a derby is a horse race so they were wonderin’ if we were gonna have a buncha old guys run around the bases. I explained it was to see who, among the players who hit the most fair balls over the fence during our season, could hit the most in a competition where all they were doin’ was tryin’ to hit balls over the fence.” Mike Madden spoke up. “It might be funnier to watch ‘em run around the bases.”

Hitters in the home run derby will include Jerry Bevel, David Ferguson, Harold Fincher, Sid Hilton, Cecil Kwong, Mike Richards, Ken Sransky, Jeff Tyler and Scott Wadsworth. Pitching will be done by a carefully adjusted Juggs machine. Hitters will get 15 swings in the first round. Then the top 5 after the first round will each get 10 more swings. The two hitters with the highest number of fair balls over the fence in the second round will then get 10 more swings each to determine the champion. The totals for each round will not accumulate; each round starts from zero. Ties will be resolved by “sudden death” swings.

Red played Green in the early game and neither team made an out in the first inning. Ken Sransky, Pete DiChiara, Finch, Bill Lovell, Jeff Tyler and Buddy Cannon got hits for Red and Mark Lilla, Gene Garcia, and Larry Enzweiler reached base for Green so Carlos Davis could hit a grand slam homer with his first swing. Cecil Kwong drove in Phillip Cheek for the fifth run. Green shut out Red in the top of the second; then Mike Madden, and Dinah Sewell got hits and Mark Lilla and Gene Garcia drove them in. Phillip Cheek drove in Mark and Gene and Green led, 9 to 5, bringing back memories of Dolly Parton. Red scored 5 in the third. Jim Anderson walked, Ken Sransky singled, Pete Di drove in Jim, Finch hit a 3-run homer, Bill Lovell and Jeff Tyler singled and Holly Whitmire drove in the fifth run. Green got 2 in the bottom of the third on hits by Mike Madden, Doug Ferguson and Dinah Sewell, and RBIs by Mark Lilla and Gene Garcia. Green 11, Red 10 after three.

Red was scoreless in the fourth and Green added 5 more runs. Carlos, Phillip, Bobby Watkins, Cecil, Mike, Doug, Mark and Gene all had hits. Red came back with 5 in the fifth; Ken Sransky hit a solo homer, Pete Di singled, Finch hit an over the fence single, Bill Lovell drove in a run with a double, Jeff Tyler drove in 2 runs with a single, Buddy Cannon singled and Holly drove in the fifth run. Bobby Watkins drove in Larry Enzweiler for Green’s only fifth inning run and the score was Green 17, Red 15 after five. Both teams scored 4 in the sixth. Rel Underwood and Dick Baguley singled for Red and Alicia Johnson reached on a fielder’s choice. Jim Anderson walked and Ken Sransky drove in Rel and Alicia. Pete Di drove in Jim and Finch made Pete run all the way around the bases with a single to the right field fence. Doug Ferguson led off with a single for Green and Gene Garcia drove him in. Larry Enzweiler drove in Gene, Carlos walked, Phillip Cheek drove in Larry and Bobby Watkins drove in Carlos. Green 21, Red 19 after six.

Red was two behind in the open 7th. Jeff Tyler doubled and Buddy Cannon drove him in. Holly moved Buddy to third with her third hit of the game, but a double play and an infield out ended the game. Green 21, Red 20.

Green hitters were 30 for 43 with 4 walks for a .698 team batting average and a .723 on-base percentage. Gene Garcia and Phillip Cheek were both 5 for 5. Red hitters were 26 for 40 with 2 walks for a .650 team batting average and a .667 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky, Finch, and Jeff Tyler were all 4 for 4.

A lot of conversations drift into the scorekeeper’s booth from unseen sources. A couple of guys were talking between games, and one of them sounded unhappy. “I heard my wife sayin’ some really mean things about me in her sleep last night, so I mentioned it to her this morning. She told me I was completely mistaken. She said she wasn’t asleep.”

Blue and Sky Blue played in the late game. Finch hit a 3-run homer for Blue in the first and Scott Wadsworth hit a grand slam for Sky Blue. Jeff Tyler drove in Bill Lovell for Sky Blue’s fifth run. Then neither team scored in the second. Don Dietz and Tom Wasmer led off with hits for Blue in the third and Don scored on a fielder’s choice. Ken Sransky reached first on another fielder’s choice and then raced home on Finch’s single for Blue’s 2 third inning runs. Dale McWhorter and Chuck Killough singled for Sky Blue and Ronnie Muro drove in Dale with a single and Scott Wadsworth drove in Chuck with a sacrifice fly. Bill Lovell walked, Jeff Tyler doubled Ronnie in and Chas Jones drove in Bill and Jeff, and Sky Blue led 10 to 5 after three.

Blue tied the game with 5 in the top of the fourth and shut out Sky Blue in the bottom. Blue’s runs came from hits by Rel Underwood, Buddy Cannon, Rick Erdimer, Brian Gierlatowicz, a Don Dietz RBI walk, Tom Wasmer’s RBI single, Ken Aubin’s 2-RBI hit and Finch’s RBI hit. Blue 10, Sky Blue 10 after four. Blue scored 2 in the top of the fifth on Mike Richard’s walk, Edwin Yergan’s hit and Rel and Buddy’s RBIs. But Sky Blue took back the lead with 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Dale and Chuck singled, Ronnie walked, Scott drove in Dale, Bill Lovell drove in Chuck and Jeff Tyler cleared the bases with a 3-run homer. Sky Blue shut out Blue in the top of the sixth and scored 5 more to take a 20 to 12 lead into the open seventh. Chas Jones, Glenn Little, David Richey, Harold Hagler, Wayne Sheets and Dale McWhorter all reached base and Chuck Killough drove in the last 3 runs with a triple. David Brasfield and Mike Richards started a Blue rally in the 7th with a hit and a homer, but it fizzled out and Sky Blue won the game, 20 to 14.

Sky Blue hitters were 22 for 31 with 3 walks for a .710 team batting average and a .735 on-base percentage. Dale McWhorter and Chuck Killough were 4 for 4, Jeff Tyler and Charles Jones were 3 for 3, Ronnie Muro and Bill Lovell were both 2 for 2 with a walk, and Scott Wadsworth was 2 for 2 with a sacrifice fly. Blue hitters were 24 for 43 with 4 walks for a .558 team batting average and a .596 on-base percentage.

Handsome Herb commented on his impending birthday. “Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.”