–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
May 5, 2026 (Liberty {Park Sports Complex)
Bright sunshine greeted RASSA players on a chilly May morning. Last week’s rainouts gave old bones some recovery time and there was a noticeable spring in their steps. Umpire Action Jackson got the game underway a few minutes early and the players were ready to go. Red led off against Sky Blue’s Dale McWhorter who threw nothing but strikes. Jim Raley got a hit and Harold Fincher drove him in. Earle Dunn reached first on a fielder’s choice, Bill Lovell singled and Wayne Graham drove Earle in. Sky Blue kept up; Chuck Killough singled, Mike Richards and Scott Wadsworth walked, and Ronnie Muro drove in 2 runs with a single. Red got three more runs in the second on Buddy Cannon and Jim Anderson’s walks, Ron Oliver’s RBI hit, another hit by Jim Raley and Hootie’s 2 RBI single. Then Sky Blue took the lead. David Bedwell led off with a home run. Jeff Tyler and Glenn Little got hits and Charles Jones drove them in with a triple. Wayne Sheets drove in Chas, Duffy Vanderford singled, and Dale McWhorter drove in the fifth run. Sky Blue 7, Red 5 after two.
Red opened the third with 6 straight hits by Finch, Earle Dunn, Bill Lovell, Wayne Graham, Wayne Pike, and Buddy Cannon, and 4 runs. They scored 5 more in the top of the fourth on Holly Whitmire’s single, Jim Anderson’s walk, and hits by Jim Raley, Hootie, Bill Lovell, and Wayne Graham. Holly’s first swing was a tipped foul that caught umpire Mike Jackson by surprise, hitting his left cheekbone. Bent over in pain, the superstar professional wrestler said, “I been hit harder than that, but I got paid a lot more for it.” Red shut out Sky Blue in the 3rd and 4th innings and took a 14 to 7 lead.
Red added 2 more in the 5th on Wayne Pike’s single, Buddy Cannon’s RBI double, Ron Oliver’s single, Jim Anderson’s walk and Jim Raley’s RBI single. Sky Blue came back to life with 5 in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap to 16-12. Dale McWhorter, Chuck Killough, Mike Richards, Scott Wadsworth, Ronnie Muro, and Clarence Kornegay got 6 straight hits and Jeff Tyler’s 2 RBI hit finished the inning. Both teams scored one run in the 6th; Finch hit a home run for Red and Duffy V. drove in Glenn Little for Sky Blue. The teams entered the open 7th with Red ahead, 17 to 13.
Holly, Jim Anderson, and Jim Raley opened the Red 7th with 3 hits and Hootie drove them all in with a double. Finch drove in Hootie and Wayne Graham drove in Finch for 5 more runs. Sky Blue needed 9 runs to tie the game. Chuck Killough singled and Mike Richards hit a 2-run homer. Scott Wadsworth singled, Ronnie Muro reached on a fielder’s choice, Clarence K singled and David Bedwell drove in Ronnie with a double. Jeff Tyler drove in Clarence with a single, but that was it for Sky Blue and Red won the game 22 to 17.
Red hitters were 31 for 49 with 6 walks for a .633 team batting average and a .673 on-base percentage. Jim Raley was 5 for 5, Bill Lovell was 4 for 4 with a walk, Buddy Cannon was 2 for 2 with 2 walks, and Jim Anderson was 1 for 1 with 3 walks. Hootie Ingram had 7 RBIs for Red. Sky Blue hitters were 29 for 44 with 4 walks for a .659 team batting average and a .688 on-base percentage. Mike Richards was 3 for 3 with a walk and Wayne Sheets was 2 for 2 with a walk.
Wayne Graham was feeling pretty good about his game and was willing to talk, as usual. “I used to be a fireman and worked my way up to captain where one a my jobs was to screen new recruits. I asked one eager recruit what steps he would take in case of an explosion. His answer was “Really big ones.”
Blue faced Green in the late game and shut Green out in the first 2 innings while scoring 7. Edwin Yergen, Sid Hilton, Mike Richards and Steve Belcher got hits for Blue in the first inning and Harold Easterwood, Rick Alston, Cece Washington, Brian Gierlatowicz, Rick Erdimer, Edwin Yergen, and Sid Hilton got the hits and RBIs in the second.
Green got untracked in the 3rd. They shut out Blue and then scored 5 on hits by Larry Enzweiler, Mark Branin, Mike Madden, Dennis Horne, Dan Peek, Mark Lilla, Steve Entrekin and Jerry Bevel’s bases loaded, one-run homer. Blue was ahead 8 to 5 after 3 and stretched it to 10 to 5 after scoring 2 in the 4th and shutting out Green. David Brasfield doubled, Tom Wasmer drove him in with another double, and Rick Alston drove in Tom for Blue. Blue scored 2 more in the 5th on Edwin Yergen’s single, Sid Hilton’s RBI triple and Ken Sransky’s RBI double. Green came back with 5 in the bottom of the 5th to inch within 2 runs, Blue 12, Green 10 after 5. Mark Branin and Mike Madden singled to lead off the inning but Blue got the next two batters out. Dan Peek drove in a run with a double, Mark Lilla drove in 2 more with his double, Steve Entrekin hit an RBI single, Jerry Bevel followed up with another single and Chuck Killough drove in the fifth run of the two-out rally.
Neither team could score in the 6th and the game entered the open 7th with Blue ahead by 2 runs. Green shut Blue out in the top half of the 7th and needed 2 to tie, 3 to win. Mark Branin and Mike Madden singled to open the inning. The crowd got tense. Carlos urged them on. Dennis Horne reached on a fielder’s choice and Blue got the second out on a strikeout. With runners on first and second, Mark Lilla hit an RBI single. The tying run was on second. But Ken Aubin scooped up a hard grounder behind second base and tossed to Ken Sransky for the third out. Blue won, 12 to 11.
Blue hitters were 20 for 39 for a .513 team batting average. Sid Hilton was 3 for 3. Green hitters were 22 for 31 for a .537 team batting average. Mark Branin, Mike Madden, and Dan Peek were all 3 for 3. The pitchers, Steve Belcher for Blue and Jerry Bevel for Green, didn’t walk anyone in the game. In another unusual result, the losing teams in both games hit for a better average than the winning teams.