Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #17

July 25, 2010

Buzzards swoop in late to defeat Dragons

On another warm summer day, the Buzzards gathered at Antelope High for a battle with their recent nemesis, the Dragons. The 10 o’clock start time and the breeze kept the temperature down for this hot game with playoff implications. The 9-7 Buzzards needed to beat the 10-6 Dragons for the fourth and last spot in the playoffs.

Before the regular game, the teams needed to complete the game from June 13th when the umpire crashed from the heat in the top of the ninth inning with the Dragons ahead 6-2. It took four batters, but the Dragons got three outs and the official victory that was already included in the season record.

The task now for the Ol’ Buzzards was to beat the Dragons without their ace pitcher. The Dragons went with Jeff “High Socks” Hansen #11 who had beaten the Buzzards earlier this season. The Buzzards started Taylor “High Socks’ Welzy” Welz #4 on the mound.

The visiting Buzzards manufactured a run in the top of the first when Welzy, leading off, hit the first pitch hard on the ground to third, which got bobbled by the third baseman, allowing T-Welz to reach first base on the error. Welzy then stole second and advanced to third on a grounder to the pitcher. High Socks then scored on a ground ball to the right side to take a 1-0 lead.

The Dragons jumped on the scoreboard with five runs in their half of the inning. A lead-off walk followed by six base hits was a huge lift for the Dragons. The Dragons were swinging the bat well and smacked several shots down the third base line - just fair - for extra base hits plus a few flares just out of reach of the defense. At this point Welzy was still throwing strikes with good pace, but five runs had scored and there were runners at the corners and no outs.

It was not looking good, when the Dragons got greedy and sent the runner from first on a 1-2 count to draw a throw going to second and send the runner from third to home. The next pitch was a strike for an out and the throw to second base was cut-off by the shortstop, Dave “Smooth” Everingham, and he zipped it back to the catcher, Scott “Donut” Reeves to tag the runner at home for the second out of a different kind of double-play. T-Welz struck out the next batter on four pitches to end the inning.

The Buzzards have been swinging some hot sticks lately, so the 5-1 early score did not faze them. Scoring two runs in the top of the second showed this was going to be a high scoring battle. Mike “Bake” Baker started the inning with a base-on-balls. Running for Bake was Charles “CJ” Jackson. Batting next, Dan “Wookie” Wukmir, waited for CJ to steal second base before looping a hit into center field. With runners at first and third, Wookie stole second base on the first pitch. Pete “Baron” Von Zboray followed with a flare to short left field, near the foul line with several hard charging Dragons converging, but the ball landed for a single scoring CJ. The throw from the fielder got away and an alert Wook scored from third for the second run.

Not going away and facing a new pitcher, Fred “Freddie” O’Donoghue #26, the Dragons matched the scoring with two of their own in the bottom of the inning. With a two-out single and two extra base hits, the Dragons quickly scored to make the score 7-3 after two innings. The last double was the killer hit for two runs and came after a 1-2 count (should have been called strike three) pitch. Those hurt.

Welzy started off the third inning with a sharp single to left field on the first pitch. After stealing the next bag on the first pitch, he scored one out later when Everingham hit a bouncer thru the right side for a single and the lone run this inning. The Buzzards kept chipping away at the lead and scored two more in the next inning. With one out Don “Redondo” Colbert hit a big-swing dribbler down the first base line that was picked up by the pitcher. In a close play at first base, Redondo dove head-first and with a large cloud of dust in the air the umpire yelled safe. Good call & good hustle.

Next, Barry “Walk-off” Forman singled up the middle. Batting next, Donut appeared to beat out an infield hit and was called safe, but the appeal to the home plate ump by the Dragon’s manager resulted in a change of the call to an out. After a quick WTF discussion between Wook and the home plate ump, the game resumed with two outs and two on. Freddie then sent a flare that dropped into left field scoring Donnie and Barry making the game tighter at 7-6.

The Buzzards scored next to tie up the game in the top of the fifth. Smoothie led off the inning by fouling off four pitches before hitting a line drive single into center field. CJ singled thru the left side putting runners at first and second with no outs. Bake then got the bunt sign and placed a beauty on the ground to advance the runners. Wookie, batting next, walked on five pitches to load the bases with one out. Next, the Baron hit a drifting pop-up into the sun toward the second baseman and on the outfield grass. The field umpire did not call for the infield-fly rule because he saw the second baseman struggling as he said, with the ball in the air, that he did not see the ball. However, after a delay and as the ball was coming down, the home plate umpire called for the infield-fly rule. A moment later, the ball hit the fielder’s glove, after lunging at the ball, but the ball hit the ground. By then the runners were down the line and way out of position for the call. The ball did not roll away very far from the fielder, so the throw to second for the tag out was made, but not before Dave scored from third before the third out was made. The score was now 7-7.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Dragons fought back with a run to re-take the lead. The dreaded lead-off walk started the inning. A single, putting runners at the corners, was followed by a terrific Buzzard double-play 4-6-3 with the runner holding at third base. But a single down the right field line with two outs scored the go-ahead run. 8-7 Dragons after five.

Lots of hits and lots of pitches had now made the three-hour time limit a factor in the game. The multiple runners and a slow Dragon pitcher was adding to the slow pace of the game. There was about 20 minutes left in the time limit and this was the start of the sixth inning. With the Dragons taking their sweet-ass time between innings, the Buzzards came to bat in the top half of the sixth. With the first two batters getting out on five pitches, it took Scottie to start the rally with a hard bouncer thru the left side for a single. Donut got the steal sign and took the bag on the next pitch. Freddie then singled up the middle putting runners at first and third. Welzy, batting next, doubled to left field scoring Donut to tie the game. Bob “Woodie” Wooden followed with an infield hit that scored two runs. Welzy was hustlin’ from second base and scored the second run on the play by beating the throw from first to the plate.

Still with two outs and time still a factor, Dave then hit an RBI single to left field scoring Woodie. CJ followed with a hard grounder to short that was bobbled for an error and another run. Five runs scored after two outs and no one on base. Wow. What a great rally to take a 12-8 lead. The dragging Dragons were now on their heels, but were determined to score some more. They put two runners on in the sixth, but Freddie shut them down with a come-backer and throw to second for the force out and a nice try at a double-play and then a strikeout. The inning ended with 30-seconds left in the 3-hour time limit, so we took the field for one more inning.

Both teams did not score in the seventh, so the game ended with the Buzzards fighting back from a 5-1 and then 7-3 early deficits to beat the Dragons 12-8. Great game, you Ol’ Buzzards.

Freddie threw well and kept the batters off-balance much of the game. Danny’s father faced 29 Dragons, slaying 18 of them, while throwing 101 pitches (67 strikes & 34 balls) in six innings of work. The Dragons got nine hits and two walks plus a hit batter and struck out five times. Welzy gamely finished the first inning on a high note when everything before that seemed to go the Dragons way. He did not want to give up the mound before the second inning, but the change was made for a warmed-up Freddie. Taylor faced nine batters and threw 31 pitches (19 strikes & 12 balls). There were six hits, one walk and two strikeouts in the inning.

The Buzzard offense was strong with 18 hits. The multi-hit group for the game were Forman, Jackson, O’Donoghue and Reeves with two knocks each and Everingham and Welz with three hits. The ribbies were courtesy of Barry, Dave-3, Freddie-2, Pete-2, Welzy, and Woodie-2. The Buzzards were frisky this game with nine stolen bases to go along with two walks and executed the bunt when necessary with Baker in the fifth inning. Good overall game with good gloves and hot bats and a really exciting come-back victory.

Buzzard Note #1: The game this Sunday to be broadcast live on KAHI 950 AM has been confirmed for a 3:30 pm start time. Some still have not completed the bio. Blanks will be available before the game, but get there at 2:30 if you still need to fill one out. Remind any attending Buzzard fans to bring a radio to listen and watch the game. Since the game is live on the radio without a delay, cussing is seriously discouraged, meaning no F-bombs or any other loud cuss words. The game is being taped and copies on CD will be available in a couple of weeks.

Buzzard Note #2: There has been a change of plans regarding a BBQ after the game. The game is now starting later, so we will skip the BBQ and just have our regular cold drinks and snacks afterwards for those that can hang around.

Buzzard Note #3: The Colbert’s have graciously invited us over to their place to show-off their new pool and have the Gold Country BBQ on the 100-acre spread in Auburn on August 14. Time and more info to come.