Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Buzzards Game Report #17

July 26, 2009 

Buzzards Soar On Radio Waves, Slay Dragons 15-8 

With the Buzzards’ first game this season at the other home field, James Field in Auburn, they prepared to take on the Dragons from Folsom.  The game was special due to KAHI Radio Station setting up the equipment behind home plate for a live broadcast of the game going over the local air waves and streaming on their web site.  As the Buzzards and Dragons warmed up, David ‘DK’ Kelley was runnin’ around getting player information and taking care of last minute details with the radio announcer, Dave Rosenthal, to make sure this game was a success and enjoyable for everyone.  DK provided Buzzard history and factoids to be used during the broadcast.  Great job again, Kelley, with the radio game.   

The Buzzards and Dragons played nervous for the first couple of innings before settling down.  Probably the radio game plus there were also quite a few boisterous fans at the game.  It was a nice surprise to see Dennis and Sherry Viegas at the game also.  She shouted out the Ol’ Buzzard call she used last year (Caw - Caw - Caw) many times during the game.  The pitching match-up was righty Steve ‘Sidewinder’ Shaw #19 for the Dragons versus Bob ‘Woody’ Wooden #22 throwing for the Buzzards.  This was Woody’s first game as a pitcher since he broke a bone in his left foot (kick boxing) in June. 

The Dragons came out swinging and scored a run in the first on a walk and two singles.  The Buzzards countered with one of their own in the bottom of the first inning.  Taylor ‘Welzy’ Welz started it off with a single to left field.  He stole second base and moved to third on a ground out.  With Jim ‘Milli’ Milligan at bat, Welzy raced home on a pitch in the dirt, that got past the catcher, for the first Buzzard score of the day to tie the game at 1-1. 

The second inning started out with two base hits for the Dragons.  With runners on second and third, the next batter hit a line shot at Mark ‘Ronnie’ Wronski playing third.  Mark snagged the ball and then threw a strike to Steve ‘Cookie’ Cook quickly covering second base to nail the returning runner.  A nice quick double play like that usually leads to a quick inning.  Not this time however, as the Dragons sent seven more batters to the plate to score four runs and take the lead.  The long inning took a bad turn right after the double play.  The next batter, speedy ‘Little’ Salazar #16, then hit a multi-bouncing, slow roller going slower in the thick grass toward second base.  Cookie rushed up to field the ball and then pulled a ‘Billy Buckner’ as the last bounce slowly hopped over the glove and threw his legs for a memorable or forgettable miscue scoring the runner from third.  The top of the Dragons order then came up.  Their first five batters had 12 of their 14 hits and were tough outs all day.  Mark Weathers #47 was 4 for 4, Mark Parsons #32 was 3 for 4 and the catcher, ‘Dicky’ Dicksons #3 was 3 for 4.  With some sloppy play, plus four hits, a walk and another catchable pop-up between infield and outfield Buzzards, the Dragons scored their four runs after the two outs to make the score 5-1. 

After the long frustrating inning for Woody taking 39 pitches, the Buzzards needed to settle down and start hitting the ball and making the plays - which is what they did.  The Gold Country gang came back with three runs to close the gap.  Ronnie led off the bottom of the second with a liner to left for a base hit.  Next, free swinging Barry ‘Brooklyn’ Forman walked for only the second time this season.  Pete ‘Baron’ Von Zboray then took a mighty cut at the first pitch to hit the mighty bunt that didn’t go very far, but far enough so he could show good hustle and beat out the throw for an infield single.  Charles ‘CJ’ Jackson, fresh from spending most of July on the Disabled List, hit a rocket shot to the gap in left-center for a double knocking in two runs.  CJ moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Welzy’s double down the left field line to make the score after two, Dragons 5 - Buzzards 4. 

After throwing 65 pitches in the first two innings with too many batters, too many deep counts and lots of foul balls (example-Weathers had a 10 pitch at-bat ending with a single in the 2^nd inning), the Buzzards needed to hold the Dragons back with some short innings.  Right on cue, the Dragons were swinging and Woody got the next three batters on five pitches with two grounders (5-3 Ronnie to Baker and a hot come-backer at Woody with a nice 1-3 play) and a 1-2-3 strikeout to end the inning.   

After stopping the Dragons, the Buzzards kept scoring with five runs and took the lead for good in the third inning.  Woody started the rally with a flare to left.  Woody stole second base on the second pitch, but the umpire called out Milli for batter interference and sent Bob back to first.  Milli had a late swing that looked good at the curve ball, but the catcher bumped into Milli in throwing to second base. Tough call.  Mike ‘Bake’ Baker then got an infield single putting two runners on base.  Batting next, Ronnie stepped to the plate and pointed toward left field or was he scratching his nose, he then launched the 0-1 pitch over the left field fence for a three-run homer.  The ball appeared to bounce on the warning track before sailing over the fence, so it will count as a ground-rule home run, as the umpire’s vision was blocked by the - running toward the fence - left fielder and ruled a home run.  Still, a nice shot and three big runs.  Mark brought lots of family and friends, so the cheers were loud while he circled the bases and was met by the team for high fives and fist bumps at home plate. 

Barry hit the next pitch for a single to left.  The Baron hit a tough chopper to shortstop to get on base via error.  With two outs and Jim ‘Wags’ Wagner at the plate, the catcher threw down to first base in an attempt to pick-off Pete.  The throw was wide and Barry hustled around the bases to score from second.  The Baron moved to second on the play.  With two outs, Wags then singled down the line in left on a 3-2 count scoring Pete.  The inning ended with the Buzzards leading 9-5 after three. 

The feisty Dragons fought back with three runs in the top of the fourth.  A walk followed by a couple of looping singles, then a line drive single to left by their clean-up hitter, Mark Parsons, also playing shortstop today.  Mark was then picked-off with a nice move by Woody for the second out of the inning.  A real good move, ‘cause the next pitch was a gapper double to left- center field by the catcher, Dickinsons for two ribbies.  The Dragons would not score again, as the defense stiffened and Woody began to mow them down with decent pitch counts (14 pitches in the 5^th, 12 pitches in the 6^th).   

The Buzzards took control of the game in their half of the fifth inning by scoring six runs.  With one out, the Baron - showing off his wheels - beat out a slow ground ball again for a base hit.  CJ then lined to left to put two runners on.  With two outs, Welzy followed with a grounder to shortstop that was misplayed allowing a run to score.  Dan ‘Wookie’ Wukmir then came to the plate never having been hit by a baseball in his three years batting with the Buzzards.  The 1-0 fastball that nailed him squarely in the right buttocks ended that streak.  Diane thought the bruise was cute, who knew chicks liked bruises. 

With the bases loaded, Woody fouled off four pitches in a six count at-bat before singling up the middle to score the run.  Milli then hit a bloop single down the left field line for another run.  Bake then knocked in a run with a line drive to right-center.  Ronnie batting next was the 10^th batter in an 11-batter inning.  His pop-up, that landed over and past the second baseman, was the last hit and run scored in the inning and the last run of the game for the Buzzards.  With the high scoring game, we were only able to get in seven innings in the three-hour time limit. 

The Dragons had two more chances to score runs.  The sixth was a 1-2-3 inning (two Ronnie to Baker 5-3’s and a screaming liner to Wookie at second that nearly took his glove off).  The Dragons did get two hits and used an infield error to load the bases before their last hitter, Dragon Wagner #24, hit a fly ball out to center field to Buzzard Wagner #24 to end the game.  Final score Buzzards 15 - Dragons 8. 

This was a good win against the team we will likely face in the division championship game on August 30^th.  The Dragons did have six errors that helped the Buzzards.  The hits were pretty even with 14 for the Dragons and 16 for the Buzzards.  Woody pitched a hell of a game and handled the early sloppy play well.  He faced 38 batters and threw 134 pitches (85 strikes & 49 balls).  Woody struck out two and walked three Dragons this afternoon in collecting his fourth Buzzard win of the season. 

The Dragons brought their hittin’ sticks, so there were plenty of fly balls and ground balls to go around.  Bake had 10 put-outs at first base, while Cookie had two put-outs and an assist playing second.  Wookie had two assists and two put-outs playing short and second.  Welzy had a put-out playing center and two assists playing shortstop.  Ronnie was picked-on by the Dragons and made all the plays with four assists to go along with two put-outs at third base.  Woody had two assists (come-backer in the 3^rd and the pick-off play in the 4^th).  Milli was flawless again behind the plate.  Wags had two catches, one in right field and one in center.  And the Baron caught the first out of the last inning with a nice catch of a mean looking slice by big righty, the catcher, Dicky.  With two on and no outs, that was the first time big #3 did not get on base.  The Dragons were tough outs all day. 

The offense clicked with 15 runs on 16 hits with three walks and one hit Buzzard.  Sidewinder Shaw struck out seven Ol’ Buzzards in his six innings on the mound.  The big hit was Ronnie’s  home run in the 3^rd inning.  Ten Buzzards got hits today.  The multi-hit group included Bake, Baron, CJ, Milli, Woody, and Welzy with two hits each and Ronnie with a big day with three hits and four ribbies.  Mark apparently plays well for his wife, Kathy, and a crowd of friends.  Be sure and bring ‘em to the playoffs. 

The KAHI radio game was a good one for the Buzzards.  CD copies of the game will be available soon.  The season record is now 16-1. 

Buzzard Note #1: The Buzzards have clinched first place in the National Division and therefore will have a bye on August 23, while the Dragons and Patriots battle for the play-off spot to face the Buzzards on August 30, maybe at James Field. 

Buzzard Note #2:  Next Sunday’s game will be against the Sultans at Colfax High at 10 o’clock. 

Buzzard Note #3:  Factoids heard on the radio during Sunday’s game:  The four year record of the Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards is now 51-28-2.  The 50^th victory was the second game win of the double-header sweep last week of the Valley Cats.  The 50^th win was not celebrated since it was not known until DK added up the season records in preparation for the radio game.  The Buzzards now lead the all-time series between the two teams at 6-3.  And the only triple play in Buzzard history occurred against these Dragons in 2007. A good looking, running snag of a liner by Wookie at shortstop, then beating the runner on second back to the bag, then the throw to Baker at first base for the third out.