–FORIMMEDIATE RELEASE—
MaY 28, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Gray clouds hovered overhead and the muggy air wrapped everyone up like a wet blanket. But after a week of rainouts players and fans were ready for a game. Green faced Red in the early game and got shut out in the first inning. Red, on the other hand, started hot and scored 5; Edwin Yergen, Harold Fincher, Bill Lovell, and Buddy Cannon got consecutive hits, Holly Whitmire drove in a run with a walk and Lisa Phipps, finally released on parole from kids for the summer, drove in the fifth run with her first swing of the year. Dan Peek drove in Cecil Kwong for a Green run in the 2nd and Red scored 2 on hits by Ken Sransky and Edwin Yergen and Finch’s sacrifice fly. Green finally broke loose with 4 in the 3rd. Mark Lilla singled, Gene Garcia drove him in with a double, David Ferguson drove in Gene, Sid Hilton walked, Steve Entrekin drove in David and Cecil Kwong drove in Sid. Red 7, Green 5 after three.
Green didn’t score in the fourth and Red added one run when Jim Anderson walked, Alicia Johnson singled and Ken Sransky drove in Jim with a sacrifice fly. Neither team scored in the fifth and both scored one run in the sixth; Pete Manown drove in Cecil Kwong for Green and Edwin Yergen drove in Jim Anderson for Red. The game entered the open 7th inning with Red leading 9 to 6. Then Dinah Sewell got a hit to center, Mark Lilla singled and Gene Garcia drove them in with a double. David Ferguson tied the game by doubling Gene home and Cecil drove in David with a sacrifice fly to take a 10 to 9 lead. Red came to bat needing 2 runs for the win. They led off with a popup to third. One away. Wayne Graham got his third hit and went to third on David Brasfield’s hit. Wayne scored to tie the game on a fielder’s choice that got Brasfield out at second. Tie game, two outs, and a fleet Holly Whitmire at first. Ron Oliver, one of RASSA’s original players, hit a shot to right field that went to the fence and Holly dashed around the bases to score the winning run. Red 11, Green 10.
Red batters were 19 for 35 with 6 walks for a .543 team batting average and a .610 on-base percentage. Edwin Yergen was 4 for 4 and David Brasfield and Alicia Johnson were both 2 for 2. Green batters were 17 for 37 with 6 walks for a .459 team batting average and a .535 on-base percentage.
The late game pitted Sky Blue against Blue, and both teams had hot bats. Sky Blue sored 4 in the first when David Ferguson drove in Gary Singleton and Royce O’Donnell with a 3-run homer. Then Scott Wadsworth hit the next pitch over the scoreboard for the 4th run. But Blue came right back with 5 when Edwin Yergen walked, Sid Hilton singled, Ken Sransky drove in Edwin, Mike Madden walked, David Brasfield drove in Sid and David, Mark Lilla singled, Tom Wasmer drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, and Brian Gierlatowicz drove in David Brasfield. Blue outscored Sky Blue 4 to 3 in the second inning. Harold Hagler got a hit, Wayne Sheets reached on a fielder’s choice, Glenn Little singled, and Clarence Kornegay hit a three-run homer for Sky Blue. John Kuklinski singled, Rick Erdimer walked, Sid Hilton loaded the bases with a walk, Ken Sransky drove in John, David Brasfield drove in Rick, and Mark Lilla drove in Sid and Ken. Blue outscored Sky Blue again, 2 to 1 in the third. For Sky Blue, Royce O’Donnell singled and moved to second on David Ferguson’s second out-of-the-park hit, a ground rule single. David Riche drove in David Ferguson. Blue scored on hits by Brian G and John Kuklinski, an Edwin Yergen walk, Sid Hilton’s RBI fielder’s choice and Ken Sransky’s RBI single. Blue 11, Sky Blue 8 after three.
Both teams scored 5 in the 4th. Wayne Sheets walked, David Bedwell singled, Glenn Little drove in Wayne, Clarence Kornegay drove in David, Dale McWhorter drove in Glenn and Royce O’Donnell drove in Clarence and Dale for Sky Blue. Mark Lilla, Harold Easterwood, John Kuklinsky, Rick Erdimer, and Edwin Yergen scored for Blue. Sky Blue scored 3 in the fifth on a hit by David Ferguson, an RBI hit by David Riche, and Jeff Tyler’s two-run homer. Blue got one run when Tom Wasmer drove in Ken Sransky and the game tightened up, Blue 17, Sky Blue 16 after five. But Blue shut out Sky Blue in the sixth and then scored 5 to take a 22 to 16 lead after six. Blue never made an out in the sixth as John Kuklinski, Rick Erdimer, Edwin Yergen, Sid Hilton, Ken Sransky, Mike Madden, and David Brasfield got successive hits. Then Sky Blue exploded for 9 runs in the open seventh inning to take a 25 to 22 lead. Royce O’Donnel and David Ferguson got singles to start the Sky Blue seventh, but the next two batters hit fly-ball outs. Blue fans were ready to storm the field. But Jeff Tyler singled, Harold Hagler and Wayne Sheets got hits that totaled a distance of about 10 feet for the two of them, David Bedwell and Glenn Little both singled and Clarence Kornegay drove in 3 of his 7 RBIs with a double, and Dale, Gary Singleton and Royce all singled before Blue finally got the third out. The Blue fans sat back down. But Sky Blue couldn’t get any of the Blue players out. Mark Lilla singled, Tom Wasmer took his third walk, Harold Easterwood singled, Brian G drove in Mark, John Kuklinski drove in Tom, Rick Erdimer drove in Harold and Edwin Yergen drove in Brian for the win, Blue 26, Sky Blue 25.
Blue hitters were 34 for 46 with 9 walks for a .739 team batting average and a .782 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky was 5 for 5, Mark Lilla was 4 for 4 with a walk and Tom Wasmer was 1 for 1 with 3 walks and a sacrifice fly. Sky Blue hitters were 33 for 49 with 2 walks for a .673 team batting average and a .626 on-base percentage. Royce O’Donnell was 5 for 5 and Clarence Kornegay was 4 for 4. Sky Blue hitters hit 5 balls over the fence.
Tom Kilgore and Sid Hilton were discussing the intrusion of tech on our lives after the game. Tom said, “I heard there’s a male version of Alexa for people who worry about the device listening in. It never listens to anything.”
Makeup games for the rainouts are next week. On Tuesday, June 2, Blue plays Sky Blue in the early game and Red plays Green in the late game. On Thursday, June 4, Green plays Sky Blue in the early game and Red plays Blue in the late game.