–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
June 10, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
It was a cool and cloudy day at the stadium. Rain had been falling nearly every day for a week but the field was still playable and the games were on. Orange led off in the first game versus Red and the first four batters, Ron Oliver, Mike Madden, Ken Sransky and Carlos Davis got hits and scored 3 quick runs. Red took the lead with 5 runs in the bottom half of the inning as Dale McWhorter, Rel Underwood, Ron Lentz, Mike Richards, Glenn Little, Earl Dunn, and Joey Johnson all reached base safely. Orange came back with 5 in their second inning highlighted by Ken Sransky’s two-run triple. Red could only answer with 2 on Cecil Kwong’s double, John Woychak’s RBI single and Jim Anderson’s RBI single. Orange didn’t get any runners past second in the top of the third and Red had another out-free inning and scored 5 as Wayne Sheets, Dale McWhorter, Rel, loaded the bases with singles and Ron Lentz hit a bases-clearing homer, followed up by Mike Richard’s solo homer. Red 12, Orange 8 after three.
Red blanked Orange again in the fourth when Glenn Little vacuumed up short throws at first. Red stretched its lead with 3 more runs on singles by Little Glenn, Earl Dunn and Joey Johnson followed by Cecil’s RBI fly, and Alicia Johnson’s 2-RBI single. Orange scored 2 in the fifth on Ken Sransky’s double and Carlos’ two-run homer but Red matched them when Mike Richards and Glenn Little drove in Dale and Ron Lentz. Orange came back with 2 more in the top of the sixth when Lisa Phipps, just returned from elementary concentration camp, tripled in Buddy Cannon and then scored on a fielder’s choice. The score was Red 17, Orange 12 after six innings.
Orange came to bat in the open seventh needing 5 to tie but never got untracked because Ron Lentz caught what came his way and Glenn Little scooped up his throws. The game ended Red 17, Orange 12. Red batters were 24 for 35 with two walks for a .686 team batting average and a .703 on-base percentage. Ron Lentz, Mike Richards, Glenn Little, and Joey Johnson were all 3 for 3, and Wayne Sheets was 2 for 2. Orange hitters were 22 for 40 with one walk for a .550 team batting average and a .561 on-base percentage. Ken Sransky was 4 for 4 and Buddy Cannon and Wayne Graham were 3 for 3.
The late game between Sky Blue and Blue was nip and tuck. Sky Blue started with 5 runs in the first on six straight hits by Chuck Killough, Larry Enzweiler, Royce O’Donnell, Carlos Davis, Rick Alston and Pete Manown. Mike Richards drove in 2 runs with a triple for Blue in their half of the first. Then Blue blanked Sky Blue in the second and scored 5 to take the lead, 7 to 5. Rick Erdimer, Brian G., Hootie Ingram, Sid Hilton, and David Ferguson got singles and Mike Richards drove in the final 2 runs with a double.
Chuck Killough and Larry Enzweiler opened the Sky Blue third with hits and Royce and Rick Alston drove them in, but 2 was all they could get. Holly Whitmire led off the Blue third with a single, David Brasfield moved her over to third base with a single and she scored on a fielder’s choice as Sky Blue held them to 1 run and crept closer, Sky Blue 7, Blue 8, after three.
Sky Blue could only manage 1 run in the next three innings on a sacrifice fly by Carlos, but Blue couldn’t score at all as their bats went cold and the Sky Blue defense got hot, so the game was tied 8 to 8 after six innings with the open seventh inning left to play. Sky Blue’s John Woychak led off with a hit and Dave Johnston followed up with another. Larry Enzweiler got his third hit of the day and a crippled Royce hit a three-run homer so he wouldn’t have to run. Carlos, Pete Manown, Steve Belcher, Ron Allen, Mike Madden all got hits and John Woychak drove in three runs with his second hit of the inning, a triple. Sky Blue ended up with 9 runs in the seventh to take a 17 to 8 lead and an overwhelmed Blue team could only manage two hits and no runs in the last of the seventh to lose a game that was close until the last inning.
Sky Blue’s hitters were25 for 43 with one walk for a .581 team batting average and a .591 on-base percentage. Royce O’Donnell and Pete Manown were 4 for 4. Blue hitters were18 for 32 with one walk for a .562 team batting average and a .576 on-base percentage.
Cecil Kwong looked discouraged after the game. “I got some hits today but I made some errors and I made a bad base-running mistake.” Mike Richards was close by and chimed in. “Everybody makes mistakes so the best thing to do is embrace them and try to do better. I said the same thing to my wife the other day and she gave me a big hug.” Sid Hilton walked up. “It’s best just to forget bad days,” he said, “but it’s hard if you have a good memory. My memory is so good I remember things that never even happened.”