Aug 25

August 25, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)

It’s hard to get through the dog days of August. I take my wife everywhere I can but she keeps finding her way back. I hate housework. You make the beds, do the dishes, vacuum; then a month later you have to do it all again. I haven’t slept for 3 days, only because that would be too long. My cooking’s so bad we pray after we eat. I went to the doctor; he took a look at me and said don’t eat anything fatty. I asked him if he meant stuff like cheeseburgers and he said “No fatty. Don’t eat anything.” Worst of all I got caught peeing in the community pool. The lifeguard yelled at me so loud I almost fell in.

Chuck Killough led off for Sky Blue in the early game versus Red and got a hit. He was forced out at second after a strikeout, but Scott Wadsworth smacked the first pitch out of the park for a 2-run homer. Ronnie Muro got a hit but couldn’t get any farther than first. Jim Raley flied out to open the inning for Red but then the next 5 hitters got hits. Hootie doubled, Finch hit a sky high homer, Bill Lovell doubled, Wayne Graham doubled, Buddy Cannon, star of stage, drove in Bill, Keith Frederick drove in Wayne, and Holly Whitmire drove in Buddy for Red’s fifth run. Red held Sky Blue to one in the second when Cecil Kwong drove in Duffy Vandeford, and Sky Blue held Red to 2. Jim Raley and Hootie singled, Finch drove in Jim and Bill Lovell drove in Hootie. Both teams scored 5 in the third. Chas Jones, David Bedwell and Scott Wadsworth got hits to load the bases for Sky Blue; Ronnie Muro drove in Chas and David, Clarence Kornegay got a hit and Jeff Tyler hit a 3-run homer. Keith Frederick, Ron Oliver, Holly, Jim Smith, Jim Anderson, Jim Raley and Hootie got consecutive hits for Red; Holly drove in Keith, Jim Anderson drove in Ron and Holly, Jim Raley drove in Jim Smith, and Finch drove in Jim Anderson with a sacrifice fly. Red 12, Sky Blue 8 after 3 innings.

And that was it for Red. They didn’t score a run in the rest of the game while Sky Blue scored another 14 to win the game, 22 to 12. Red got one hit in the 4th, 5th, and 6th innings while Sky Blue got 18. Everyone on the Sky Blue roster got a hit and all but one scored at least one run.

Sky Blue hitters were 28 for 40 with 3 walks for a .700 team batting average and a .721 on-base percentage. Scott Wadsworth, Ronnie Muro and Jeff Tyler were all 4 for 4. Duffy Vandeford was 2 for 2 with 2 walks, and Royce O’Donnell was 2 for 2. Red hitters were 21 for 38 for a .553 team batting average and on-base percentage (Harold Hagler, Sky Blue’s pitcher, didn’t walk anybody). Hootie Ingram was 4 for 4 and Harold Finchem was 3 for 3 with a sacrifice fly.

Green played Blue in the second game. The sun was hot but the air was dry and a breeze made the day tolerable. Bobby Watkins led off with a hit for Green; Gene Garcia followed with another and David Ferguson hit a double to drive them both in. Jeff Tyler drove in David, Larry Enzweiler got a hit, Cecil Kwong drove in Jeff and Mike Madden drove in Larry with Green’s 5th run. Blue matched Green with 5 of their own. Tom Wasmer and David Brasfield got hits, Sid Hilton drove in Tom, who is running like a deer these days, Edwin Yergen drove in David, and Ken Sransky hit a 3-run homer. Five runs, no outs. Green only scored one in the second. Pete Manown doubled and Don Steuckler drove him in. Blue scored 5; Rel Underwood singled and Ken Aubin hit a 2-run homer. John Remley singled, Rick Erdimer walked, Rick Alston singled, Brian Gierlatowicz singled, Tom Wasmer drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and David Brasfield drove in Rick Alston for the 5th run. Both teams scored 3 in the third. For Green, Gene Garcia and Phillip Cheek singled; Jeff Tyler drove in Gene, Cecil Kwong drove in Phillip and Mike Madden drove in Jeff. Pete Manown singled to load the bases but no one else scored. Blue runs resulted from a Sid Hilton single, an Edwin Yergen double, and Ken Sransky’s 2-run double. Ken Aubin drove in Ken Sransky. Blue 13, Green 9 after three.

Green scored 2 in the 4th on Gene Garcia’s 2-run homer but Blue added another 5. Rick Alston and Brian G got hits and Tom Wasmer walked. Sid drove in Rick and Brian, Edwin Yergen drove in Tom, Ken Sransky doubled and Rel Underwood drove in Edwin and Ken. Then Blue shut out Green in the 5th and scored 2 more on hits by Ken Aubin, John Remley, CeCe Washington and Rick Alston’s 2-run double. Blue 20, Green 11 after five. Green scored 3 in the top of the 6th but Blue matched them to maintain a 9-run lead. Green’s runs came on three straight hits by Don Stueckler, Bobby Watkins and Gene Garcia, a Phillip Cheek sacrifice fly to the fence, and Jeff Tyler’s 2-run double. Blue’s came from hits by David Brasfield and Sid Hilton, Ken Sransky’s out-of-the-park ground rule single, and a 3-run single by Rel Underwood. Green needed 9 runs in the open 7th but could only score 2; Cecil Kwong, Mike Madden and Pete Manown got hits, Dennis Horne drove in Cecil with a hit, Don Stueckler singled, Gene Garcia drove in Pete with his 5th hit of the game, but then with the bases loaded, David Ferguson hit a shot to the right of shortstop. Ken Sransky launched into a dive and caught the ball a foot off the ground, and that was the ballgame. Blue 23, Green 16.

Blue hitters were 28 for 39 with 3 walks for a .718 team batting average and a .738 on-base percentage. Sid Hilton and Ken Sransky were 4 for 4. John Remley and Rick Alston were 3 for 3. Green hitters were 28 for 44 with 2 walks for a .636 team batting average and a .652 on-base percentage. Gene Garcia was 5 for 5. Jeff Tyler and Mike Madden were 4 for 4. Cecil Kwong was 3 for 3 with a walk.

Holly was telling a group about her ballroom dancing. “I used to do the Hokey-Pokey, but I turned myself around.” Someone in the group spoke up. “C’mon. We’re not as dumb as we look.” Holly raised an eyebrow. “How could you be?”