Sept 8

September 8, 2026 (Liberty Park Sports Complex)

It was cloudy and breezy and a little cooler at the ballpark, a welcome change. Players were warming up energetically. Phillip Cheek was muttering about his weekend. “My wife told me to mow the lawn because her women friends were coming over and she wanted it to look nice. I told her she should let ‘em graze. After I finished I went looking for our cat. I would have found it sooner but I had the grass catcher hooked up to the mower.”

Sky Blue was the visiting team versus Blue. Dale McWhorter batted first and lined out. After that Chuck Killough tripled, Jeff Tyler doubled, Scott Wadsworth, Glenn Little, David Bedwell, Ronnie Muro, and Duffy Vandeford all singled and Sky Blue posted the 5-run limit. Blue matched them. Tom Wasmer, Edwin Yergen and Sid Hilton all singled to load the bases and Ken Sransky hit a grand slam homer. Then David Brasfield and Rel Underwood singled and Ken Aubin drove in David for Blue’s fifth run. Sky Blue scored 4 more in the second. Chas Jones doubled and Wayne Sheets walked. Dale McWhorter drove in Chas with a double and Chuck Killough drove in Wayne and Dale with another double. Then Jeff Tyler drove in Chuck. Blue only scored one in the bottom of the second when John Remley doubled and Brian Gierlatowicz drove him in. Blue held Sky Blue to one run in the top of the third and then scored 5 in the bottom to take an 11 to 10 lead. David Ferguson doubled and Ronnie Muro drove him in for the Sky Blue run. Sid Hilton led off the Blue third inning with a home run and Ken Sransky followed with an out-of-the-park ground rule single. Rel Underwood drove in Ken with a double, Ken Aubin singled, Rick Erdimer drove in Rel, and John Remley drove in Ken Aubin and Rick with a home run.

Blue’s lead didn’t last long. Sky Blue scored 5 in the top of the fourth and then shut out Blue in the bottom. Dale McWhorter and Chuck Killough singled, Jeff Tyler drove in Dale, Scott Wadsworth drove in Chuck, and David Bedwell hit a 3-run homer. Rick Alston got a hit for Blue and went to second on a fielder’s choice. Rick got called out at third on another fielder’s choice and Blue’s third out occurred when the baserunner at first walked off the field because he thought the play at third was the third out. Players over 75 need base coaches. Sky Blue scored one more in the top of the fifth; Ronnie Muro and Duffy singled and Chas Jones drove in Ronnie. Blue tightened the score 16 to 14 by getting 3 runs in the bottom. Ken Sransky reached on a fielder’s choice and Mike Richards singled. David Brasfield drove in Ken, Rel got a hit and Ken Aubin drove in Mike and David. Sky Blue scored 4 in the top of the sixth to stretch their lead out again. Dale McWhorter, Chuck Killough and Jeff Tyler all singled and Scott Wadsworth drove in Dale and Chuck. Glenn Little singled and David Ferguson drove in Jeff and Scott with a double. Blue answered with three runs to close in on the Sky Blue lead. John Remley and Rick Alston singled for Blue and Brian G drove in John. Then Tom Wasmer and Edwin Yergen singled and Sid Hilton drove in Brian. Ken Sransky drove in Tom with a sacrifice fly but no one else made it home. Sky Blue 20, Blue 17 after six.

Duffy walked to open the Sky Blue 7th, but the next three batters all made outs, so Blue came to bat needing 3 runs to tie the game. David Brasfield led off with a hit and Ken Aubin followed with another. But Ken was forced out at second base for the second out so Sky Blue had runners on first and third with 2 away. John Remley drove in David but the next batter made the third out and the game ended Sky Blue 20, Blue 18.

Sky Blue hitters were 28 for 46 with 2 walks for a .609 team batting average and a .625 on-base percentage. Chuck Killough and Jeff Tyler were both 4 for 4 and Duffy Vandeford was 3 for 3 with a walk. Blue hitters were 29 for 45 with one walk for a .644 team batting average and a .652 on-base percentage. Sid Hilton, Ken Aubin and John Remley were all 4 for 4.

Green led off in the late game and scored 5 runs without making an out. Mark Lilla, Jeff Tyler, Carlos Davis, David Ferguson, Phillip Cheek, Cecil Kwong, and Bobby Watkins got 7 hits in a row. Red matched Green in the bottom of the first with 7 hits, a walk, and a sacrifice fly. Jim Raley, Ron Ingram, Earle Dunn, Wayne Graham, Buddy Cannon, Keith Frederick, and Holly Whitmire got the hits, Harold Finchem got the walk, and Bill Lovell hit the sacrifice fly. Mike Madden singled and Sid Hilton hit a 2-run homer in Green’s second inning. Then they shut out Red to take a 7 to 5 lead. Green scored 2 more in the third when Carlos Davis singled and David Ferguson drove him in with a 2-run homer. Red only added one run in the third on Finch’s double and Wayne Graham’s RBI single, and Green led 9 to 6 after three.

Red shut out Green in the top of the fourth and got within one run by scoring two on Jim Anderson and Jim Raley hits and Hootie’s 2-run single. But Green pulled away again by scoring 3 in the fifth and shutting out Red. Carlos Davis hit a solo homer to lead off for Green, David Ferguson singled, Phillip Cheek doubled, and Cecil Kwong drove them both in. Green scored 3 more in the top of the sixth. Jeff Tyler singled and Carlos Davis drove him in with a double. David Ferguson followed with a double but a Bedwell to Muro to Finch to Frederick relay cut Carlos down at home. Phillip Cheek doubled home David and Phillip scored on Cecil Kwong’s hit. Red got one run in the bottom of the sixth; Hootie drove in Jim Anderson. So Green took a 15 to 9 lead into the open seventh inning and promptly scored another 3. Sid Hilton doubled, Pete Manown singled, Mark Lilla drove in Sid and Carlos drove in Pete and Mark with a triple. Red needed 9 runs to stay in the game but didn’t get any and Green won, 18 to 9.

Green hitters were 31 for 48 with no walks for a .646 team batting average and on-base percentage. Carlos Davis was 5 for 5. Red hitters were 18 for 35 with 3 walks for a .514 team batting average and a .553 on-base percentage. Jim Raley was 3 for 3 with a walk.

David Ferguson and Phillip Cheek were discussing the press releases as they put away equipment. David said “I’m not so sure all those stories are true.” Phillip smiled. “You can’t believe everything you read but you can repeat it.”