Aug 13

August 13, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)

As August days unfold, Alabama gets hotter and player’s shirts get sweaty just from walking up the ramp to the ballpark. Fans huddled in the spots of shade they could find and the league director decided to limit the game to six innings to try to avoid heat-related illnesses. Blue batted first in the early game versus Green. Ken Sransky led off with a walk and advanced a base at a time with Ken Aubin and Dale McWhorter hits and finally was forced home by Tom Wasmer’s walk. Green pitcher Bobby Waykins struck out the next batter to end Blue’s inning. Green’s Mark Lilla led off the game with a home run. Gene Garcia tripled and Phillip Cheek drove him in. Carlos Davis hit another triple and Larry Enzweiler drove him in. Green 3, Blue 1 after one. Blue scored 3 in the 2nd inning. Edwin Yergen singled and David Brasfield drove him in with a double. Rick Erdimer got a hit and Harold Eastwood drove in David with a fielder’s choice. John Kuklinski doubled, Melinda Adkins singled and Jerry Anger drove in John. Green scored 5 in the bottom of the 2nd; Bobby Watkins singled and Cecil Kwong drove him in with a double. Pete Manown singled and Doug Ferguson drove Cecil in with a fielder’s choice. Dennis Horne singled and Dinah Sewell drove him in with a single that rolled all the way to the fence. Mark Lilla doubled and Gene Garcia drove in Dinah and Mark. Neither team scored in the third. Green 8, Blue 4 after three.

Tom Wasmer and Mike Richards singled to open the fourth, and Edwin Yergen drove in Tom with a fielder’s choice. Blue loaded the bases with a David Brasfield hit and a Rick Erdimer walk but fly balls ended the scoring. Blue shut out Green in the bottom of the fourth. Both teams scored 5 in the fifth. A Jerry Anger double was sandwiched between two Blue outs, but then Ken Sransky drove in Jerry with a double, Rel Underwood drove in Ken with another double, Ken Aubin singled, Dale McWhorter drove in Rel, Sid Hilton drove in Ken Aubin, and Tom Wasmer drove in Dale. Green started their half of the fifth with singles by Doug Ferguson and Dennis Horne, but a double play ball left Doug alone on third base with 2 outs. Then a Mark Lilla RBI single, a Gene Garcia double, a 2 RBI single by David Ferguson and a 2-run homer by Phjillip Cheek left Green with a 13 to 10 lead after five. Blue tied the game in the top of the sixth; Mike Richards doubled, Edwin Yergen singled, David Brasfield drove home Mike with a double and Harold Easterwood’s single drove in Edwin and David. Green needed one run to win the game. Carlos Davis led off by legging out his second triple of the game and Larry Enzweiler hit a shot to right and pumped his fists into the air as he ran to first with the game winning hit. Green 14, Blue 13.

Green hitters were 23 for 32 for a .714 team batting average and on-base percentage. Mark Lilla and Gene Garcia were 3 for 3 and Cecil Kwong and Dennis Horne were 2 for 2. Blue hitters were 24 for 40 with 3 walks for a .600 team batting average and a .628 on-base percentage. Ken Aubin and David Brasfield were 3 for 3, Ken Sransky and Tom Wasmer were 2 for 2 with a walk, and Jerry Anger was 2 for 2.

The late game between Red and Sky Blue was even hotter as the temperature soared to a muggy 97. Sky Blue got 2 quick outs on Red before Harold Finchem got a double. Bill Lovell walked and Wayne Graham drove in Finch for Red’s only first-inning run. Dale McWhorter singled for Sky Blue and Gary Singleton moved him to third with a hit but that’s as far as Dale got. Neither team scored in the second. Red got 4 in the third and Sky Blue tied the game with 5 in the bottom of the third. Red’s runs came from a Jim Raley double, Pete DiCiarra’s walk, Finch’s RBI hit, Bill Lovell’s 2-RBI double and new player Jim Smith’s first RASSA RBI hit. Sky Blue’s 5 came from a 2-out rally; Chuck Killough doubled in Wayne Sheets, Gary Singleton drove in Chuck, Scott Wadsworth drove in Gary, Duffy Vandeford drove in Scott and Jeff Tyler hit a 2-run homer.

Neither team scored in the fourth. Red pressured Sky Blue with 5 in the fifth. Jim Raley singled, Pete DiCiarra drove him in and Finch hit a 2-run homer. Bill Lovell walked, Wayne Graham singled, Buddy Cannon drove in Bill and Jim Smith drove in Wayne. Sky Blue went down 1,2,3 in the bottom of the fifth but shut out Red in the top of the sixth so they needed 5 runs to tie, 6 to win. Sky Blue started with a long fly ball out to center. Then Duffy got a hit and Jeff Tyler hit an out of the park ground rule single. A long fly to right was the second out. Duffy scored on Clarence Kornegay’s sharp single but a fielder’s choice ended the game. Red 10, Sky Blue 6.

Red hitters were 15 for 30 with 5 walks for a .500 team batting average and a .571 on-base percentage. Finch was 3 for 3, Wayne Graham was 2 for 2 with a walk, and Bill Lovell was 1 for 1 with 2 walks. Sky Blue hitters were 13 for 30 with one walk for a .433 team batting average and a .452 on-base percentage. Jeff Tyler was 3 for 3 and hit 2 balls over the fence.

Players sat in the stands talking after the games. Jim Anderson complained, “Lately I’m feelin’ old and ugly. I need a compliment.” Holly chimed in. “Your eyesight is good.” Jim said, “I got a dog and named him 5 Miles. Now I can tell people I walk 5 miles every day. I went to a general store, but they wouldn’t let me buy anything specific.” Jeff Tyler was talking about his theory of management. “I don’t think a word to the wise does much good. It’s the unwise people who need advice.” Chuck Killough trudged toward his car. “I’ve had a wonderful day, but this wasn’t it.”

Reminder: We are invited to attend Marvin Entrekin’s celebration of life this Saturday, August 15, at noon at the One-eighty Church, 2024 Redemption Way, Springville, AL 35146. Casual attire is welcome-RASSA players should wear their team colors. Marvin was a long-time RASSA player and was Steve’s older brother. He was a fun guy and a heck of a player.