–FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—
October 23, 2025 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)
Spirits were high on another chilly autumn morning as team managers, always uncertain about who would show up to play, fretted with their batting lineups. Blue and Red were facing each other in the loser’s bracket of the playoff with the loser facing elimination. Blue batted first and went down with a grounder, a fly, and a strikeout. Red’s batters didn’t do any better, and the score was zero, zero after a quick first inning. Blue batters started to hit in the second inning and scored 8 runs before Red got on the board. David Brasfield, Pete DiChiara, Dick Baguley, Brian Gierlatowicz, and Edwin Yergan combined hits to score 3 runs in the second. Blue blanked Red in the bottom of the second and scored 5 in their half of the third. Beth Moore led off with a hit to the opposite field. David Ferguson and Cecil Kwong got hits to load the bases and Bill Lovell drove in a run with a single. Late arrival JD Lille drove in a second run with a fielder’s choice and Sid Hilton ended the inning with a 3-run home run. Red finally got 2 runs in the bottom of the third on what was turning out to be a bleak day for the Red hitters. David Richey led off with a hard hit double to the fence, and Dale McWhorter followed with his second hit of the game. Rel Underwood drove in David and Jeff Tyler drove in Rel.
Blue kept on hitting and scored 5 in the top of the fourth. David Brasfield, Pete DiChiara, Dick Baguley, Brian G, Doug Harper, Edwin Yergan, and Rick Erdimer got successive singles before Red got anyone out. Then Beth Moore drove in the fifth run with a single. Only Bob Slanovits reached base for Red in the bottom of the fourth. Blue kept the heat on in the fifth, scoring 4 runs on hits by David Ferguson and Cecil Kwong, Bill Lovell’s RBI sacrifice fly, Sid Hilton’s double, Pete DiChiara’s 2-run single and Dick Baguley’s RBI single. Red could only answer with 1 run in the bottom of the inning on a hit by Bob Newton, a walk by Jim Anderson, and Dale McWhorter’s RBI single. Blue led 17 to 3 after five innings.
Fans stirred after Red shut out Blue in the top of the sixth, but Red could only muster 2 runs in the bottom on Ken Sransky’s double, Ronnie Muro’s RBI single, a Bob Slanovits hit and Bob (Fig) Newton’s RBI single. By rule, Blue skipped its turn at bat and Red batted again and went down 1,2,3 to end the game, Blue 17, Red 5.
Blue hitters were 26 for 39 for a .667 team batting average. Pete Dichiara and Dick Baguley were 3 for 3, Bill Lovell was 2 for 2 with a sacrifice fly, and Beth Moore was 2 for 2. Red hitters were16 for 35 with 2 walks for a .457 team batting average and a .486 on-base percentage. Bob Slanovits was 3 for 3.
Blue manager Sid Hilton told reporters, “The secret to good management is having your players hit the ball and score runs. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. Since they did today, I’m taking full credit.” Handsome Herb had a similar message. “We have a good team with lotsa good hitters, but they didn’t hit today. You can’t win a slow-pitch softball game with 5 runs, but absolutely none of it was management’s fault. See ya next year if my contract gets renewed. I’m countin’ on my buyout being too expensive for them to let me go.”
Sky Blue and Orange faced off in the winner’s bracket in the late game. More fans entered the stadium for the featured game and the crowd noise behind the Orange dugout went up substantially. Orange batted first and loaded the bases on a Steve Entrekin hit, walks by Pete DiChiara and Jerry Bevel, and Ken Sransky’s fielder’s choice. Then Mike Madden hit a shot to third that Chas Jones fielded, touched third for the second out and threw home to catch Pete for the third out, and Orange was left with a zero. Sky Blue, who has suddenly gotten serious, scored 5. Bobby Watkins led off with a hit and Chuck Killough followed. Larry Enzweiler drove in a run with a single and Jeff Tyler reached base on a fielder’s choice. Bill Lovell loaded the bases with a hit and Rod Ellis drove in Larry and Jeff with a double. Chas Jones got a hit and Rick Alston drove in the fourth and fifth runs. Both teams scored 3 in the second. Mark Lilla, Scott Wadsworth, Wayne Graham, Gary Singleton and Buddy Cannon’s hits accounted for the Orange runs. Desiree Cook, Jerry Anger, and Harold Hagler started the inning with hits and Pete Manown drove in 2 runs with a single. Chuck Killough drove in the third run. Sky Blue 8, Orange 3 after two.
Steve Entrekin and Pete DiChiara got hits to open the Orange third and Ken Sransky drove in the fleet Steve with a fielder’s choice. Then Jerry Bevel hit the hardest hit single ever seen in the league, but died on first, and Orange only scored 1. Sky Blue extended their lead with another 5 runs. Bill Lovell, Carlos Davis, Rod Ellis and Chas Jones got 4 straight hits and 2 runs to open the inning, but Orange got the next two batters out. Then Desiree drove in a run with a single and Jerry Anger drove in the last two runs with a double. Sky Blue 13, Orange 4 after three.
Sky Blue, behind crafty 84 year old Harold Hagler’s pitching, shut out Orange in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Orange defense rose to the occasion and held Sky Blue to 1 run in each of those innings. Larry Enzweiler drove in Bobby Watkins with his second hit in the fourth and Rod Ellis drove in Bill Lovell in the fifth for Rod’s fourth RBI of the game. But Orange stayed with it and outscored Sky Blue 4-0 in the sixth inning. Pete DiChiara opened the inning with a hit and Ken Sransky reached on a fielder’s choice. Jerry Bevel singled, Mike Madden drove in Ken, Mark Lilla singled, Jim Hill drove in Jerry, Harold Easterwood drove in Mike and Scott Wadsworth drove in Mark. Sky Blue got Desiree as far as third but couldn’t get her home. Sky Blue 15, Orange 8 after six.
Orange needed 7 runs to tie the game in the open seventh. Gary Singleton and Duffy V got hits but nobody got past second base (just like the story of my youth) and the game was over.
Sky Blue hitters were 25 for 40 with 3 walks for a .625 team batting average and a .651 on-base percentage. Chuck Killough, Bill Lovell, Rod Ellis, and Pete Manown were all 3 for 3, and Larry Enzweiler, Desiree Cook, and Harold Hagler were 2 for 2 with a walk (8 of Sky Blue’s 14 players had perfect days at the plate).
Orange manager Duffy V said, “It wasn’t our day, but it ain’t over yet.” Sky Blue manager Pete Manown said, “I’ll be darned.”
The playoffs continue on Tuesday, October 28. Red has been eliminated. Blue and Orange each have one loss and will play in the 9:00AM game. The loser of that game will be eliminated. The winner will play Sky Blue in the 10:30 game. If Sky Blue wins, the playoffs are over. If they lose, there will be a final game on Oct 30.