Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #3

Game: April 27, 2014

Buzzards claw Astros, 7-3

Game three was meant to be, as the weather forecasters guessed wrong on the showers, and the Buzzards took-on the Astros on Sunday afternoon at C-Bar-C Park in Citrus Heights. The region could always use more rain, but it was nice to avoid another rain-out this season. By 2 o'clock the clouds were still heavy and dark, but the sun was breaking through and later the storm clouds passed along for an eventual nice afternoon with temps in the high 60's.

The Astros have improved as a team over the last couple of years and they did beat the Buzzards last year, and split the season series 1-1. With this year's new format for the 52+ division, the Ol' Buzzards will play the older Astros four times. Their manager and former long-time Sacramento NABA president, Barry Spiller, said his team was missing their catcher and a couple of his best players for this first meeting of the 2014 season.

The starting pitcher for the home team Astros was ol' timer Rankin 'Fireplug' Lyman #01. The small right-hander with the loud pitching sound effects. On the mound for the Gold Country Buzzards was Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny #1, starting for the third time this season.

The visiting Buzzards struck first with two runs to open the game. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir lined a 3-1 pitch to the opposite field in left for a single. After two were out, Wook stole second base and waited as Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray walked on a full-count to put two on with two down. Batting next, Norm 'Burner' Tucker knocked the first pitch into center-field to drive in Wookie with the first run. Jim 'Milli' Milligan followed with a blast near the left-field line for a run-scoring long single that plated the Baron from second base to take an early 2-0 lead. That #2 ended up being the only crooked number on the scoreboard for the rest of the game.

The Astros scored a run in the second inning to tighten the game. The lead-off batter, Roy 'Slugger' Van Kempon smashed a double over Buzzard left fielder, Barry 'Crush' Forman's head. Barry made a valiant attempt at a running, high over-the-shoulder catch, but that left arm needed the Inspector Gadget arm-extendo feature, as the ball glanced off of the tip of the glove and bounced toward the fence for a two-bagger. A flare to right then put runners at the corners. The next batter hit into a timely double-play (4-6-3) while the Astros' first run scored from third base on the double-outs play.

The Buzzards threatened in the second dig with back-to-back line drive singles to left field by Mike 'Mickey' Wilson and Paul 'General' Lee, but no more hits and no score.

In the third inning the Buzzies added a run. With one out, Dave 'Evy' Everingham singled and stole second before the Baron knocked him in with a sharp single to left-field. Pete then stole second base, but advanced no further than third before the dig ended with two infield outs.

The Buzzards scored another run in the fourth frame with a one-out infield hit by the surprisingly speedy Dave 'Mumbles' Kelley. Since Mumbles has only two - half lungs, he gets a runner. Barry ran for Dave and quickly stole second. Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri followed with a flare to short right-field for a base hit with Crush holding at second. Batting next, Mickey hit a potential double play grounder to short. The force-out at second was made but the throw to first was in the dirt and got past the first baseman, which allowed a hustlin' Barry to come all the way from second base to score on the play. Mickey then stole the second base bag before the inning ended. The score after four was 4-1 Buzzards.

The Gold Country gang continued to add single digits to the score book with a run in the fifth. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz led-off with a solid single to right-center. Welzy then quickly stole second. Up next, Wookie sharply lined a shot off of the pitcher, Fireplug Rankin. The ball bounced away and a hustlin' Wook beat the throw to first from the tough fire plug, Rankin, to put two Buzzards on.

One out later, Welzy and Wook moved to third and second on a double steal. With the infield now in, the Baron hit a hot shot that was back-handed by the shortstop. Welzy broke for home on the play, but the good snag by Terry Porter on his knee and throw home, put Welzy in a run-down. With lots of speed, a few dance steps and a little luck, Taylor beat the pickle and scored on the play for the only run of that inning.

The Astros fought back with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. A lead-off walk and two hits drove in the run making the score, Buzzards 5 and Astros 2.

For the fourth consecutive inning, the Buzzards added a run to the scoreboard. The sixth began with a one-out infield single by the always hustling Mumbles. Barry ran for Dave and then stole second base on the next pitch and moved to third on the wild throw. Up next, Salmo grounded one to the right-side to score a cautious Crush from third.

The top of the seventh started well with an opening walk to General Lee. A fielder's choice ground-out put Surf Dawg on first. Welzy, up next, smashed a grounder up-the-middle that hit second base and gave the ball a hop as it skipped into center-field for a single putting runners at first and second. With Wookie up next, the infield shifted to the right with the shortstop playing near second base and leaving a big hole on the left side. On a nicely placed grounder through the hole and into left, Wook loaded the bases with his third hit of the game. With the bases full and one out, Evy hit the dreaded sharp grounder to the third baseman for an easy 5-3 double-play to end the inning abruptly.

The Buzzards added their last run in the top of the eighth for a 7-2 lead. The Baron started it off by crushing a 3-1 pitch into right-center field for a base hit. Up next, Burner got aboard on an error by the third baseman. Crush then followed with a blast to right on a 3-1 pitch to score Pete.

In the ninth with one out, the General (former Astro) hammered a liner down the left-field line for what appeared to be an easy two-bagger. Paul's former teammates hustled on the play and followed with good throws in an attempt to nail him at second. A close play developed forcing the General to slide head-first into the bag for the double. Welzy followed later with a hard hit liner to left-field for his third hit of the game. The line drive was hit too hard for the General to score from second putting Buzzards at the corners. Welzy then stole second base to move into scoring position before the inning ended.

As the Buzzard's hard-throwing closer, Welzy #26, came in to pitch the ninth inning and send the pesky Astros home. The Astros fought to the end and scored their final run with a one-out single, followed by a stolen base and an infield throwing error. The final score of the 9-inning, 2¾ hour game was Buzzards 7 and the Astros 3.

Buzzard pitching was superlative again. Surf Dawg pitched the first four inning and gave up one run on four hits and two walks with five strike-outs. Gregg threw 53 pitches (33 strikes & 20 balls) while facing 17 Astros. Salmo took the mound in the fifth and pitched through the eighth. Rick threw 82 pitches (50 strikes & 32 balls) in facing 20 batters. Salmo gave up one run on five hits and two walks with two strike 'em outs. Welzy finished up the game by facing 5 Astros and giving up one unearned run on one hit with no walks and one strike-out. Taylor threw 17 pitches (11 strikes & 6 balls) to put away the Astros.

The Buzzard offense was solid with 18 hits and two walks in scoring only seven runs. The hit club for the game included: Baron (2), Burner, Crush, Evy, General (2), Mickey, Milli, Mumbles (2), Salmo, Welzy (3), and Wookie (3). The always important RBI's were knocked in by: Baron, Burner, Crush, Milli, and Salmo. The eagle-eyed Buzzard walkers for the game were the Baron Von Zboray and General Lee. The Buzzard's only extra base hit, a double in the ninth, belonged to the General. Another good offensive performance by the Fightin' Buzzards.

The defense was solid with just one miscue late in the game. There were only three fly-ball outs in the game. Two catches in center by Paul, one in the fifth and a nice running snatch and slide on the knees for the first out of the ninth inning. Barry ended the seventh frame with a routine fly-out in left. The grounders ruled the game as 13 ground balls became 14 outs for the Astros.

The Baron had 13 put-outs at first base and the team had 13 assists to take care of business on Sunday. The one double play in the second inning was huge and shut-down an early Astros' rally. The smooth looking Welzy to Evy to Baron combination worked well again. While the line-drive out to Evy at short in the sixth was nice, it was not as impressive as the smash he handled in the seventh. The previous out to open the seventh inning was surprisingly the first 6-3 play of the game. The very next play was a one hop bullet at Evy. Dave leaned back as he fell to his knees and gloved the screamer with his backhand. Then quickly got up and threw the stunned runner out. The ESPN highlight tune was heard in the background for the fabulous play.

It was another strong defensive performance by the Buzzards. A good win for a 3-0 early season record. Next week is a home game at 10 am against the Solons at James Field. One of just two morning games in Auburn this season.