–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
October 28, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
RASSA Masters players limped up the ramp to the stadium on a cold, gray morning. There was no evidence of a sun and JD Lille used his bat as a cane on the long walk. Umpire Phillip Cheek loomed over home plate as he waited for game time. “Mike Jackson is makin’ big bucks refereeing volleyball today and the league wanted a real expert umpire to handle these games.” Blue manager Sid Hilton and Orange manager Duffy Vanderford were counting players. Sid shook his head. “I’ve got a long bench today and I’ll be batting 16 players. It’s tricky working that many players into the lineup.” Duffy was missing some players and only planned to bat 12. “I’m not sure why some of our players aren’t here. I’ll havta review their contracts. But all of us managers know we havta do the best we can with what we’ve got.”
Matthew 20:16 says “the last shall be first”, and that’s how it worked in the RASSA Masters playoff. The Blue team won the regular season, followed by Orange and Red, with Sky Blue bringing up the rear. But the playoff didn’t follow form. Orange beat Red in the playoff opener and Sky Blue upset Blue. Blue beat Red in the loser’s bracket and Sky Blue beat Orange in the winner’s bracket, setting up a Blue versus Orange semi-final in the loser’s bracket. Blue batted first and David Ferguson and Hootie Ingram led off with hits. JD Lille drove in David with a sacrifice fly, David Bedwell, Cindy Sewell, David Brasfield, and Cecil Kwong all hit RBI singles and Blue started off with 4 runs. But Orange came right back with 5 to take the lead. Steve Entrekin, Tom Wasmer, Pete DiCiara, Ken Sransky, Mark Lilla, Jim Hill, Harold Easterwood and Gary Singleton all got hits and Mike Madden drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.
Blue scored 2 in the second. Dan Peek opened with a double and Brian Gierlatowicz drove him in with another double. Doug Harper singled and Holly Whitmire drove in Brian. Orange answered with another 5 to take a 10 to 6 lead. Wayne Graham, Buddy Cannon and Duffy Vanderford led off with consecutive singles and Steve Entrekin drove in Wayne with a sacrifice fly. Tom Wasmer walked to reload the bases and Pete DiCiara drove in 2 runs. Ken Sransky drove in Tom Wasmer and Mark Lilla drove in Ken.
Blue chipped away at the Orange lead, scoring 2 in the third and 1 in the fourth while shutting out Orange. David Ferguson and Hootie opened with hits in the third and Sid Hilton and Cindy Sewell drove them in. Cecil Kwong opened the Blue fourth with a double and Brian G drove him in. Orange 10, Blue 9 after four. Blue took the lead by scoring 5 in the top of the fifth. Dinah Sewell walked and David Ferguson and Hootie followed with singles. JD Lille drove in Dinah with a single and David Bedwell drove in everybody else with a grand slam homer. But Orange took the lead right back with 5 in the bottom. Ken Sransky and Mike Madden singled and Mark Lilla drove in Ken with a fielder’s choice. Jim Hill singled, Harold Easterwood reached on a fielder’s choice, and Gary Singleton and Wayne Graham singled to load the bases. Buddy Cannon then cleared the bases with a 3-run double. Orange 15, Blue 14 after five.
Orange shut out Blue for the first time in the sixth and added a run to their lead when Duffy V and Steve Entrekin walked, Tom Wasmer reached on a fielder’s choice, Pete DiCiara singled and Ken Sransky drove in Steve with a fielder’s choice. The game went into the open seventh inning with Blue behind by 2. Orange got 2 quick outs on Blue when Tom Wasmer caught a fly in left and Gary Singleton threw out a runner at first. Blue put the tying runs on base with Doug Harper and Holly Whitmire singles, but a grounder to first ended the game. Orange 16, Blue 14.
Orange hitters were 24 for 36 with 3 walks for a .667 team batting average and a .692 on-base percentage. Jim Hill and Wayne Graham were 3 for 3 and Steve Entrekin was 2 for 2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. Blue hitters were 26 for 45 with 2 walks for a .577 team batting average and a .596 on-base percentage. David Ferguson, Hootie Ingram, and Doug Harper were all 3 for 3.
Orange switched dugouts and got ready to play Sky Blue. A Sky Blue win would wrap up the championship; an Orange win would extend the playoff to a final game on October 30.
Orange led off the game with 3 runs. Steve Entrekin doubled, Tom Wasmer singled and Pete DiCiara drove in Steve with a fielder’s choice. Ken Sransky followed with a two-run homer. Sky Blue answered with 1 run on Chuck Killough, Larry Enzweiler and Carlos Davis hits. Orange kept the heat on with 5 in the second. Harold Easterwood, Gary Singleton and Wayne Graham started off the inning with hits and Buddy Cannon drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Duffy V walked to reload the bases, Steve Entrekin and Tom Wasmer drove in a runs with singles and Pete DiCiara drove in the last two with a double. Sky Blue came back with 3 runs on hits by Rick Alston, Dale McWhorter, and John Kuklinski, Desiree Cook’s RBI fielder’s choice, and Harold Hagler’s two RBI hit. Orange 8, Sky Blue 4 after two.
Ken Sransky and Mike Madden got hits and Harold Easterwood walked to load the bases in the Orange third. Gary Singleton drove in Ken and Wayne Graham drove in Mike, but Harold was cut down at home trying to score. Sky Blue tightened the score with 4 runs in the bottom of the third. Pete Manown, Bobby Watkins and Chuck Killough loaded the bases with hits and Larry Enzweiler drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. Jeff Tyler then cleared the bases with a 3-run homer. Carlos Davis got a hit but two strikeouts ended the inning. Orange 10, Sky Blue 8 after three. Buddy Cannon and Duffy V got hits to open the Orange fourth, followed by two fly-ball outs. Pete DiCiara singled to right center but a perfect relay from Chuck Killough to John Kuklinski cut down Buddy at home for the third out. Sky Blue surged into the lead with 3 runs in the bottom of the fourth. Dale McWhorter, John Kuklinski and Desiree Cook loaded the bases with hits and Harold Hagler drove in Dale with a fielder’s choice. Jerry Anger drove in a run with a hit and Pete Manown followed Jerry with another RBI hit, but a fly ball to Pete DiCiara in center field ended the inning. Sky Blue 11, Orange 10 after four.
Sky Blue broke the game open by shutting out Orange in the fifth and sixth innings and scoring 8 runs to extend their lead to 19 to 10. Sky Blue’s 5 runs in the fifth came on hits by Chuck Killough and Larry Enzweiler, and RBI hits by Carlos Davis, Bill Lovell, Charles Jones, Rick Alston and John Kuklinski. Their 3 runs in the sixth came on hits by Harold Hagler, Jerry Anger, and Pete Manown followed by a Steve Entrekin 2-RBI fielder’s choice and Chuck Killough’s RBI hit, his fourth of the game.
Orange needed 9 runs to tie the game in the open seventh. Sky Blue pitcher, Bobby Watkins, got a strikeout to open the inning and then Steve Entrekin walked and Tom Wasmer got a sharp hit to left. Pete DiCiara drove in Steve with a hit, Ken Sransky got a hit and Mike Madden drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. A long fly ball caught nonchalantly by Jeff Tyler (Jeff later said he’s never chalant) in left field ended the game and Sky Blue, last place in the regular season, won the playoffs with three straight wins.
Sky Blue hitters were 28 for 45 for a .622 team batting average and on-base percentage. Chuck Killough was 4 for 4 (Chuck led the league with a batting average over .900), and Carlos Davis, John Kuklinski, and Pete Manown were all 3 for 3. Orange hitters were 23 for 39 with 3 walks for a .590 team batting average and a .619 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky was 4 for 4, Wayne Graham was 3 for 3, and Harold Easterwood was 2 for 2 with a walk.
League Director David Ferguson congratulated the winners and Mike Davis awarded the Sky Blue players with championship caps and shirts. The slate gray sky stayed as it was and players and fans milled around, not quite believing the long season was over, and already talking about spring, 2026. Sky Blue manager Pete Manown seemed relieved. “I knew we could compete well with all the teams in the league and they all could compete with us. Sometimes the hits fall in and sometimes they don’t. Everything worked for us in the playoffs and even Bobby Watkins was cheerful today.”