Gold Country Buzzards

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #16

Game: August 5, 2012

Ol' Buzzards beat young Dodgers 8-6

With three games left in the regular season, the Gold Country Buzzards were on the road at El Camino High to take on the Rancho Cordova Dodgers. The Dodgers (8-9) began the season 1-6 and are on a nice roll with an outside chance to catch the Mudville Nine (9-7-1) for fourth place. The Buzzards (11-5-1) have third place locked up for the playoffs, but want to keep the heat on the teams ahead by collecting wins.

The game was played on a field (El Camino Varsity) new to many Buzzards. The field dimensions were interesting: 285 ft. down the line in right, 410 ft. in dead center, and 315 ft. down the left field line. The summer Sunday was mild at 90° for a 2:30 in the afternoon start time. The Dodger team insisted their schedule showed the Buzzards as the home team, so without fuss the Buzzards took the field.

 The starting pitcher for the Dodgers was hard throwing righty, Tim 'Gunner' Halverson #30. Taking the mound for the Buzzards was the tough right-hander, Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe #32.

Both teams loaded the bases in the first inning, but did not score. The Dodgers put two unearned runs on the scoreboard in the second inning with an infield pop-up error, a sacrifice bunt, a wild pitch, then a base on balls putting runners at the corners, followed by a double-steal play pulled-off for the first run. Next a single to left field scored the second run.

The Buzzards scored a run in their half of the second dig. With two outs, Don 'Redondo' Colbert hit a long fly ball that was misplayed by the left fielder putting Redondo on second base. Mark 'Weed' Fowler then crushed a 3-1 fastball over the left fielder's head for a run-scoring double.

In the third inning the Buzzards added two more. Dave 'Evy' Everingham hit a hard bouncer through the left side for a lead-off single. Evy advanced to second base on a wild pick-off throw to first. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz followed with a run scoring blast to the fence in left field. The ball got stuck in the bottom of the fence for a ground-rule double. Batting next, Bob 'Woody' Wooden looped a 3-1 pitch into shallow left field for a run scoring single to take the lead 3-2. Woody later stole second base, but the scoring ended with two.

Another run was added in the bottom of the fourth frame. Scott 'Donut' Reeves started it off with a one-out infield single. Up next, Redondo slugged an 0-1 pitch down the left field line that landed fair and then bounced up and hit the fair pole screen to stay in play for a double. Donut, running on the play, scored from first. The Dodgers protested and claimed the play was a ground-rule double and Donut should go back to third base. The home plate ump, Brandy, denied their protest and the play stood. The Dodgers were adamant the rest of the game that that was a bad call according to baseball rules.

The Dodgers got a run back quickly in the fifth inning following an infield error, a ground ball out to advance the runner and a base hit. The Buzzards countered with a three-spot in the bottom half of the inning. Evy led-off with a single up the middle. After he was picked off in a close play at first, Welzy singled to center. A wild pick-off throw moved Welzy to third.

Batting next, Kevin 'Flash' Krantz walked on a full-count. Woody was walked intentionally to load the bases. Dave 'Keppie' Kephart then hit a clutch line drive single to right field to score Welzy and Flash. The pitcher, Big Mac, then grounded out to the shortstop and Woody scored from third to make the score 7-3 after five frames.

The pesky Dodgers would not go away and scored again in the next three innings with single runs to keep the score close. The Buzzards scored once more in the seventh inning.

With two outs and Woody at the plate with Sean Harrigan #11 now pitching, Woody swung hard and missed at the first pitch with the Dodger scorekeeper yelping that Woody almost came out of his shoes - for a chuckle. Woody then launched the next pitch high over the left field fence for a solo home run, over the 360 sign. Bobio did comment upon touching home plate that his shoes were still on - for a team chuckle. Wow what a hit, and Woody said he didn't get all of it.

Keppie came in to pitch in the eighth inning and finished off the game for a save. The Dodgers scored one last time in the eighth inning on two infield errors (rough infield) and a single. The game went nine innings and just minutes short of three hours with the final score of 8-6.

McCabe pitched an excellent game against the free-swinging young Dodgers. He went seven innings, giving up just one earned run on eight hits with one walk and one hit batsman while striking out five. Big Mac threw 104 pitches at 32 batters with 72 strikes and 32 balls and hit just one mad big blue Dodger in the first inning. The batter ducked at a curve ball on a 3-0 count, it skimmed off his back before hitting the bat and he blew up at Mike for throwing at his head. And then he looked like he might march out to the mound on his first few steps toward first base as he spewed cuss words on the way to the bag.

Keppie finished the game with two innings in relief giving up no earned runs on one hit, one walk and with one strike-out. Kep faced nine blue batters and threw 34 pitches (24 strikes & 10 balls) for the save. It's great that the Buzzards have terrific pitching.

The Buzzard offense scored in five innings and threatened in several others. Eight runs on 14 hits is productive and respectable. The hit club for this game included Donut, Evy (2), Flash, Keppie, Redondo (2), Weeder (2), Woody (2), and Welzy (3). The important ribbies were courtesy of Big Mac, Keppie (2), Redondo, Weeder, Woody (2), and Welzy. A base on balls were awarded to Flash and Woody (twice - once intentionally, the at-bat before the homer).

The defense pulled off some nifty double-plays to shut down Dodger rallies. The ground was rough and prevented at least one more, but the three double plays came at good times. In the third inning with runners on, the hit-by-pitch cry baby, this time hit a grounder to Wookie's left playing second base. A scoop and turn with a good feed to Evy covering the bag and then a strong throw to Kep at first for a close-play out to end the inning. In the seventh with two runners on, a grounder to Welzy at second resulted in a 4-6-3 double-play. The topper though was in the ninth.

With a runner on and one out (a good knock down and throw from Woody at third), the batter hit a one hop bullet to Evy's left. With cat-like reactions, Dave went to his left and down to the ground while back-handing the pill. Evy, lying on the ground, then quickly threw a strike to Welzy covering second for the force. Welzy made an outstanding turn with the runner bearing down for a strong throw to Big Mac at first and the game ending double play with the ESPN 'great play' tune coming from the dugout. Wow, a fabulous way to end the game.

A good win against the Dodgers sweeping the three-game series this season with two games left in the regular season. Another good day to be a Buzzard.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #15

Game: July 29, 2012

‘On the air’ Ol’ Buzzards claw young Giants, 8-2

On a nice warm Sunday afternoon with temps in the high 80’s, the Gold Country Buzzards circled-in on James Field in Auburn for Giant prey at 2 o’clock. For the fifth time the local radio station, KAHI 950AM, broadcast a ‘live’ Buzzard baseball game. This time the opponent was the Fair Oaks Giants (11-5), a second year team in the single-A 45+ division that came up from 38+ division, so a younger bunch of guys.

Both teams wore orange jerseys with gray pants and black hats with an orange bill. At a distance the only difference was the Buzzards’ black sleeves under the orange vest vs. the Giants’ full orange jerseys. It would have made for a lousy TV game, but it worked on the radio.

Local radio personality and afternoon show host on KAHI, Dave Rosenthal, was the play-by-play announcer. Alongside him, Dave ‘new local radio personality’ Kelley was the ‘color man’ for this game being broadcast at 5,000 watts from the top of Pilot Hill. And available to the world on the internet streamed 'live' on KAHI's web site.

The starting pitcher for the Giants was big right-hander, Jim 'Wild' Scott #41. Taking the mound for the Buzzards was southpaw, Dave 'Keppie' Kephart #21.

The Giants jumped on top in their first at-bat with two quick runs. The lead-off batter, Dimo DiMiceli hit an 0-2 pitch to the left-center field gap for a double. Batting second, Larry 'Chief' Rehberg, former Buzzard, walked on five pitches. The next batter, McMuller, singled up the middle to knock in the first run.

Up next, the big right-handed clean-up hitter, Jim Scott, bounced a grounder with spinning-English to the right-side hole. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir, playing second base, went far to his left to field the ball and threw back toward second base to get the force-out on a close play with the shortstop, Dave 'Evy' Everingham covering the bag.

With one out, runners at the corners and Mike Scott at the plate, the Giants pulled off the double steal play. The throw to second was high and the throw home was late, as the second and last run of the inning scored. The Buzzards had two walks in their half of the first, but were held scoreless in the first. The team threatened in the second dig with the bases full of walked Buzzards, but again no score. Through three innings Wildman Scott was throwing a no-hitter, but with six walks and leading 2-0.

Evy led-off the fourth with a bouncer to the left-side deep in the hole for an infield single. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz, up next, swung at the silent balk call by field umpire Carlos (former Reds Manager) and grounded out on a close play at first. But because of the balk call, the runner, Evy, moved to second and Welzy batted some more. One pitch later, a high fly ball to the shortstop was out number one.

Another walk to Kevin 'injured Flash' Krantz put runners at first and second. Bob 'Woody' Wooden then hit a ball hard down the third base line, but right into Dan 'the Greatest' Hasey's glove playing third base. The Greatest, former Buzzard, then stepped on third for the force and threw to second base for a quick double-play to end the inning. The score after four was 2-0 Giants.

The Buzzard offense finally came alive in the fifth. Tony 'Honey Badger' Brashear hit a 3-1 pitch on a line into right field for a base hit. Welzy ran for Tony and promptly stole second base. After a pop-up to short, the Giants changed pitchers. The other Scott brother, Mike 'Wilder' Scott #10, came in and got injury warm-up time on the mound before getting a fly-ball for out number two. Batting next, Keppie got hit by a slow curve in the dirt.

The radio announcer had fun with Kep not moving and getting hit by such a slow pitch. Later with beers in hand, Rosenthal asked Keppie about the play. DK pointed out that he did not know which way the ball was going to bounce, so not moving could have worked out just as well as moving in the batter's box. Good baseball sense, but too late for the radio audience that heard Rosenthal's original play-by-play.

The next three batters, Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe, Wookie and catcher Scott 'Donut' Reeves walked on full counts. Wook and Donut's base on balls scored runs and tied the game. Still with two outs and the bases full, Don 'Redondo' Colbert was coming to the plate. On an 0-2 pitch, Redondo hit a flare to short right field scoring two runs. Mark 'Weeder' Fowler then walked on five pitches to re-load the bases. Jim 'Milli' Milligan followed with an infield single to the left-side hole scoring Donut from third.

The radio announcer would often say with runners on base, there were 'ducks on the pond'. This time there were three 'ducks on the pond' for Evy. On a 1-1 pitch, Dave knocked in two with a line drive single to center field. The Buzzards had just scored seven runs after two outs and with just one runner on second base. With three more hits and four walks plus a hit batter, the Buzzards put up a nice big crooked number on the scoreboard for a 7-2 lead.

Keppie started mowing down the Giants in the fourth inning. Kep was throwing a lot of pitches, but there were no Giant threats after the third inning. There were runners in every inning for both teams, meaning there were no short innings. And there were lots of high pitch-counts in nearly every inning. After four innings, DK had thrown 85 pitches.

The Ol' Buzzards added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning. A lead-off walk to Flash - his third of the game - with his bad wheel (lower hamstring pull - left leg). Welzy ran for Kevin. Woody followed with a double down the left field line putting runners at second and third. One out later, TWelz scored on a fielder's choice by Mike 'Bake' Baker to make the score 8-2.

The three-hour time limit kicked-in and the game ended after seven innings with the score 8-2 Buzzards. A nice win after falling behind on the radio. The Buzzards have not lost a radio game.

Buzzard pitching and the defense were terrific. The offense only had seven hits, but enough timely ones with runners in scoring position, to win comfortably. Kephart, with family in attendance, pitched a seven-hitter giving up only the two runs in the first inning. Kep walked four and struck out eight in facing 31 batters and throwing 136 pitches (82 strikes & 54 balls).

The offense did score eight runs on seven hits. And the 12 walks certainly helped. The hit club for the game included: Donut, Evy (2), Honey Badger, Milli, Redondo, and Woody. The always crucial RBI's were knocked in (in order) by: Wookie, Donut, Colbert (2), Milli, Evy (2), and Bake. The Ol' Buzzards getting walk(er)s were: the Baron, Big Mac (2), Donut, Flash (3), Redondo, Weeder, Woody, and Wook (2).

Top notch Buzzard defense was shown in the first inning. Two runs had scored and a runner was in scoring position at second base. The next batter hit a screamer into deep right-center field that appeared to be falling in for a hit and roll to the fence. With a good angle to the ball, Flash raced a long way, but he still had to use his turbo booster to reach up and snag the ball just as the hamstring muscle went twang. Great catch and it saved a big inning, but the catch was kind of painful to watch as the left leg stiffened on the just-in-time reach-out to catch the ball.

Flash was receiving leg treatments in the dugout by team trainer, Milli, but there was no need to push it by playing in the outfield anymore. This hammy injury is in the lower left leg. Last year's major hammy injury in the Phoenix World Series was in the right leg. Heal quickly.

Keppie fielded his position well and had two nice assists from around the mound. Evy went to his knees in the second inning, on a tough hopper up the middle to field the ball and then threw out the runner at first. For the last out that inning, Evy went into short left field to catch a pop-up, looking into the sun then with a couple of back-pedals to make it look easy. With Flash in the dugout after the second inning,

Welzy moved from third to center and made two excellent catches in the fourth inning - both long running catches and looking toward the sun in the fourth inning. In the fifth with one on and one out, Welzy made another running catch of a sinking liner in right-center field to surprise the runner on first going to second. A nice catch followed by the throw to Bake at first base for the inning ending double-play was the only DP of the game for the Buzzards.

Excellent pitching, good defense and timely hitting was the recipe for a well done win. Good job Buzzards. Field clean-up and prep progressed while Honey Badger tended to the grill. Sausages and dogs with fixings and cold drinks followed. A couple of hours later and most were still sticking around enjoying the team and family gathering. The Buzzard curfew is dark and no beer, so at dark with no beer left, the remaining Buzzards dispersed. Another good day to be a Buzzard.

Buzzard Note #1: Thanks to our radio sponsors for their commercials. Granite Bay Energy, Keys Plus, NABA baseball, RAH Environmental, Sierra Carpet Care, Those Were The Days vintage clothes and antiques, Pioneer Costumes, and Welz Financial Services.

Buzzard Note #2: This Sunday's game is at El Camino High (El Camino and Eastern) at 2 o'clock against the Rancho Cordova Dodgers. The Valley Cats lost last week to the Mudville Nine 10-7. With three games left in the regular season, the Dragons are 15-2 (we play them in two weeks); Valley Cats 11-4-2; Buzzards 11-5-1; and coming on strong, the Mudville Nine at 10-6-1.

Buzzard Note #3: Thanks to Tony and Wook for the team gathering afterward and for the food and drink. Management thanks you for no mutiny, temper tantrums or getting caught drinking on school campuses again this year, so far. Your continued cooperation is appreciated. Thanks to Tony and his son, Chase, for the grilling and set-up and for the field prep along with Pete.

Buzzard Note #4: To make a copy of the radio game or to listen again, go to KAHI.com and cclick the Audio On Demand button, then select NABA Baseball 2012 and then download.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #14

Game: July 22, 2012

Buzzards stomp on Free Agents, 18-4

Thankfully the Ol' Buzzards were playing the morning game on this very hot Sunday. With temps already in the 90s, the Buzzards' bats would heat up as the day got hotter. Missing some key players for the game, the Free Agents were the opponent in Davis at 10 am. The Gold Country Buzzards, also missing key players, showed up 11 strong for the game. The home team, Free Agents, had two games scheduled at Playfields with the Bulldogs coming for a 2 pm game.

The starting pitcher for the Buzzards was going to be Jim 'Moxey' Steiger #13, but during warm-ups Steigy felt a twinge in his left elbow and decided to take the safe road and not pitch. With only a short time until game time, right-hander Scott 'Donut' Reeves #1 loosened up on the mound for his first start with the Buzzards. Troy 'Action Figure' Nogosek lugs that catching gear around, so this time he strapped it on and went behind the plate. The battery of Donut and Nogy was a surprise, but very effective and lasted the entire 2 1/2 hour game. Taking the mound to open the game for the Free Agents was the usually nasty southpaw, Tim 'Balk' Marguardsen #22.

Leading off for the Gold Country Buzzards and again starting the game with a base hit was Dave 'Evy' Everingham. This time a double to the right-center field gap. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz fought off eight pitches before dropping a flare into right field for a run-scoring single. A couple of wild pitches later and Welzy was standing on third. With one out, Bob 'Woody' Wooden - the clean-up hitter - fouled off three pitches with two strikes before chipping the end of his bat on the last outside pitch.

After having to retrieve a new bat from his bag with lots of dugout comments about the cork or the lightning bolt or wonder boy bat, Woody then sent the next pitch on a long high trip to deep left field before the left fielder ran under it for a sacrifice fly scoring Welzy. For a moment it looked like Woody was going to pull off the unbelievable after all those light-hearted comments.  The scoring stopped at two runs in the top of the first inning.

The Free Agents fought back with one run on two infield errors and two hits. The score after one frame was 2-1 Buzzards.

The Buzzards scored another run in the top of the third inning. Donut led off with a looping single into left field. Kevin 'Flash' Krantz ran for the pitcher, Reeves, at first base. Flash stole second on a close bang-bang play. Two outs later, Evy knocked him in with a flare to right field.

The Free Agents scored one run in their half of the third. A lead-off double, a runner advancing on a ground ball out, then a sac fly to deep left field in foul territory(?) was the trick.

At this point, the pitchers were pretty even with the score 3-2 going into the fourth inning. The Free Agents' lefty 'Balk' Marguardsen gave up four hits with many uncalled balks while holding runners on. He picked-off Evy in the third and in the fourth nearly caught Welzy - saved by a long run-down and a gutsy head-first slide to second. Meanwhile, Donut had given up only three hits and was looking good on the mound. He confidently threw curves and even a change-up for strikes. Impressive. The Buzzards fourth dig began with a line drive single to left by Welzy. With Nogy at the plate, Welzy leaned the wrong way as Balk balked and threw to first. Taylor then got into a long run-down ending with a head-first (chin up - protecting the recent and visible seven stitches) slide with an out-stretched left hand to the outside part of the bag alluding the swipe tag. Good call ump.

Welzy then popped-up and ran to third base, since the third baseman had backed up the run-down and left the bag open for a fairly rare version of a double steal. After that play, the next seven Buzzards got on base - six with hits and a walk to Woody. The last of the five runs scored in the inning was via a sacrifice fly by Tony 'Mongoose' Brashear that knocked in Flash from third.

In between, Action Figure continued the parade to the plate with a smash down the third base line for a base hit. After the Woody walk, Mike 'Bake' Baker hit a flare to right, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray got an infield single, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir sent a hard grounder through the hole on the right-side for a single, and Flash followed with a hard grounder through the hole on the left-side for a hit. Up next, Donut hit a line drive single to right-center field for the last hit of the five-run fourth inning.

With the temperature rising into the high 90s and going up over 100 degrees later and with an 8-2 lead, the Buzzards smelled Free Agent blood coming to bat in the fifth and wanted to score a bunch more to end this game with the 10-run mercy rule as soon as possible.

So, the Buzzards proceeded to score 10 runs in the fifth and put the end in sight. The frame began with an Evy single to right. Welz bunted for a single putting runners at first and second. With one out, Woody hit a shot down the third base line to score Evy. Batting next, Bake singled to left to knock in TWelz.

After a fielder's choice put runners at the corners, Wookie hit a two-out liner into the right-center field gap for a run-scoring double. Next, Flash hit a looper into right field for a two-run single. Donut followed with his third hit of the game to put two runners on with two out. Mongoose walked to load the bases and Moxey walked to push in Flash from third base.

Up next with the bases loaded and a struggling pitcher, Evy hit the first-pitch belt-high fastball over the center fielder's head for a bases clearing three-run double. Welzy followed with a double to right-center to score Evy for the 10th run of the inning. The score was now 18-2.

The Free Agents scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth. Two hits, a throwing error and a sac fly produced the runs to make the score 18-4 after five digs. After a scoreless sixth inning and 2 1/2 hours of playing in the hot sun, the Free Agents asked that the mercy-rule be invoked an inning early, the Buzzards and umps agreed, so the game ended with the final score 18-4.

Donut pitched a complete game and did a great job against the Free Agents. He gave up only six hits with two walks and two strike-outs for two earned runs. The T-Bone Donut threw 68 pitches (46 strikes & 22 balls) in facing 27 Free Agent batters. Nice job.

The Buzzard offense was effective from the start with 15 hits against the tough lefty Balk Marguardsen. With 22 total hits, the Buzzards' hot sticks were burning up the scoreboard. The hit club for the shortened game included (in batting order): Evy (4), Welzy (4), Action Figure, Woody, Bake (3), Baron, Wookie (3), Flash (2) and Donut (3). There were only four extra base hits in the game with doubles by Evy (2), Welzy and Wook. Ribbies were knocked in by every Buzzard: Action Figure, Bake (2), Baron, Donut, Evy (4), Flash (3), Mongoose, Moxey, Welzy (2), Woody (2), and Wookie.

A nice solid win then it was off to the nearby shade and cold drinks.

Buzzard Note #1: This Sunday's game is at 2 o'clock at James Field. This is the annual game that is broadcast live (with no delay) on radio station KAHI 950 AM. Complete the Player Bio Sheet before the game. Cussing is highly discouraged during the game and NO F-Bombs, especially in the batter's box. Bring a battery-powered radio, especially if a family member or friend is coming to watch and can listen to the game also.

Buzzard Note #2: The plan after the game is to move to the picnic area and grill up brats and sausages with rolls and condiments with chips, potato salad, plus cold drinks. The coals will start before the game ends, so the food should be ready fairly soon after the game. Let Dan know if you plan to bring more than yourself to the gathering (for food planning purposes). Family and friends are invited.

Buzzard Note #3: Four more regular season games remain. Two home and two away. The critical, single-elimination playoff game will be on August 26th most likely against the Valley Cats. Please mark your calendars and don't miss that game. The three-game championship series will begin after the Labor Day holiday on September 9th.

Buzzard Note #4: The top four teams in our division and their records are: Dragons 13-2, Valley Cats 11-3-2, Buzzards 10-5-1, and the Mudville Nine at 8-7-1. Our next opponent, the Giants, are in first place in the single-A division with an 11-5 record.

Gold Country Ol’ Buzzards Game Report #13

Game: July 15, 2012

Buzzards fall in Mudville, 11-4

The Ol’ Buzzards circled in on Lembi Field to meet the Mudville Nine in a game pitting the third and fourth place teams in the double A, 45+ division of Sacramento NABA baseball. The late 5 o’clock start time with temps in the mid to high 90s on an abused field (third game of day) and that had not been kind to the Buzzards in the past, was the setting for a home game for the younger Mudville Nine team.

The visiting Buzzards were going to use the group plan for pitching starting with lefty Jim ‘Moxey’ Steiger #13, still on limited duty from the elbow tune-up late last year. Throwing for the Mudville team was big right-hander Steve ‘Goofy’ Goggans #26.

The Buzzards jumped on top in the first inning with two runs. Dave ‘Evy’ Everingham started his umpteenth game with a base hit. This time it was a line drive single to left-center field. Batting next, Taylor ‘Welzy’ Welz bunted for a hit. Troy ‘Action Figure’ Nogosek followed with a shot to right(?) field on a 3-2 pitch, scoring Evy from second and putting runners at the corners. One out later, Kevin ‘Flash’ Krantz knocked in Welzy with a grounder to short.

The Mudville gang tied it up in the bottom of the third frame with a walk, two hits and a sacrifice. The score remained 2-2 through the fifth inning.

Mudville Nine pitching was effectively gettin’ the Buzzards to ground out to the shortstop and hit catchable fly balls. Except for a couple of wild throws from the lanky shortstop, M-9 consistently made the defensive plays to stifle the Buzzards all game.

The Buzzards did not score again until the sixth dig. With two outs, Terry ‘Caveman’ Kelley got aboard on a high shortstop throw. After a passed ball put Caveman at second, Scott ‘Donut’ Reeves hit a 3-1 pitch sharply to left field for a single with TK holding at third. Now with fast runners at the corners, the double steal was called. With both runners going on the pitch, the catcher threw to the cut-off infielder, but Caveman had a good jump and scored on a high throw to make the score 3-2, Buzzards.

Mark ‘Weed’ Fowler entered the game in the fifth for Moxey. Weeder needed just eight pitches to dispatch the M-9s in the inning.

The next inning was a different story. The bottom half of the sixth inning looked like a chapter out of the “Bad News Bears” baseball book. Nearly everything that could go wrong did. On the first batter, the ball skimmed his baggy jersey for a free trip to first base. A balk followed by a couple of ‘shoe box size strike zone’ walks and the inning was off to a bad start. After a single, an infield fly-rule out, and a walk, it was time for some pitching relief.

Southpaw Dave ‘Keppie’ Kephart #21 entered the game. Things didn’t get much better for a while. A base hit followed by a true baseball rarity, an Everingham fielding error, then a terrible call at third on a simple force-out, then a ball bounding off of a leaping Kep’s glove and the bad news continued until seven runs had crossed the plate. The score after six was now 11-3.

The Buzzards sent righty Mike ‘Big Mac’ McCabe #32 to the mound to start the seventh inning. The hot hittin’ Mudville Nine scored two more in the next inning on a bunt(?) single and some sloppy infield work followed by a run-scoring single and walk.

The Buzzards scored one more in the ninth inning. With one out, Keppie got on base via a shortstop over throw. Another out later, Big Mac singled putting two runners on. Running for Mac at first was Wookie. Caveman then walked on four pitches to load the bases. Batting next, Donut hit a 3-2 pitch toward first base for an infield hit driving in Keppie. On the play Wook rounded third base hard and tried to score, but the third out was made in a cloud of dust at the plate, leaving the Buzzard’s look-a-like to Mudville’s ‘Casey at the plate’ story, Tony ‘Honey Badger’ Brashear in the on-deck circle with the final score 11-4.

The Mudville Niners scored 11 runs on only 10 hits with five walks, two hit batters, two(!) balks, and three Buzzard infield errors. The Buzzard offense got nine hits on pretty good M-9 pitching. After Goofy pitched five innings for the M-9s, lefty Pat ‘High Kick’ Taylor #29 also stymied Buzzard batters for a total of just four runs.

The Buzzard hit club in the game included Action Figure, Bake, Baron, Big Mac, Caveman, Donut (2), Evy, and Welzy. The ribbies (in order) were knocked in by Action Figure and Flash in the first inning and Donut in the last inning.

The Buzzards have a winning record on every other field in the area except Lembi, and the deteriorating conditions of the field in Folsom makes this baseball ground to avoid. However, the eye candy was special on the adjacent softball games and the beer tasted pretty good after wards with fellow Ol’ Buzzards and some interesting fireman stories.

The Buzzards remain in third place with a record of 9-5-1. Next Sunday will be another tough game against the Free Agents.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #11

Game One: July 8, 2012

Buzzards claw Dodgers, 4-1

In the first real hot spell of the summer with temps in the low 100s in the Sacramento Valley, the Ol' Buzzards were up in Colfax playing in nicer conditions, the low 90s with a Sierra breeze at the 2400 foot elevation varsity baseball field. The Gold Country Buzzards were takin' on the Rancho Cordova Dodgers in a double bill. The third place Buzzards (7-4-1) needed to sweep the Dodgers, last year's single A division champ, to keep pace with the AA division leaders. This season the Dodgers (4-6) are in battling for fourth place in the double A division.

The starting pitchers for this game were tough and lanky, right-handers. For the traveling Dodgers - in blue jerseys and white pants with an RC on the Dodger blue cap - there was, Tim 'Slinger' Halverson #30. Taking the mound for the Buzzards was Mark 'Weed' Fowler #11.

The Buzzards threatened in the first two innings leaving Dave 'Evy' Everingham stranded at third base in the opening frame, and Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray at second base after a nice double to the right-center field gap in the second dig (Aussie for inning).

With both pitchers gettin' the outs in the early innings, the Ol' Buzzards finally broke through with three runs in the bottom of the third. With one out, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir started it off with an eight-pitch walk. Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe followed with a line drive single to right-center field moving Wookie to third. The Baron ran for Mac at first base. One out later, Scott 'Donut' Reeves smashed a clutch double to deep right field scoring Wook easily and Pete - well pretty easily - from first base. The hustlin' Baron crossed the plate running hard and commenting through the huffing and puffing about the 90 yard (270 foot) distance he had just traveled, "whoa that's a long run - need oxygen" with a smile.

Batting next, Evy singled to right sending Donut home for the third run. Dave was thrown out on a close play trying to stretch the two-out hit into a double. A great slide to the outside and a missed swipe tag should have extended the inning, but the third run had scored.

Fowler was mowing 'em down with his off-speed stuff and the defense was making the plays to hold the chirpy Dodgers to four hits with no walks and no runs through seven innings.

The Buzzards threatened again in the fourth inning. Leading off the inning, Taylor 'Welzy' Welz turned a high-arcing looper to left-center field into a double, but he was still on second base three outs later. On the final out of that inning, Tony 'Mongoose' Brashear pulled the hamstring muscle running out a grounder to short. After that Mongoose played Honey Badger and coached third base, kept score, kept himself well hydrated from his ice chest supply, and watched the games for the remainder of the afternoon with an ice bag on his leg while on the bench and a compression wrap on top of the baseball pants while coaching from third.

In the sixth frame, the Buzzards threatened with a lead-off double from Mike 'Bake' Baker. The Baron then ran for Bake at the two bag. Wookie followed with a sharp single to right with the runner stopping at third. The two Buzzards were then stranded with good defense and a key strike-out to keep the score at 3-0.

The Ol' Buzzards scored their final run in the seventh frame. Evy led-off with a hard grounder threw the left side for a single. Batting next, Welzy sent a shot to deep right-center for a double moving Dave to third. Next, Evy was nailed at the plate on a fielder's choice grounder from the clean-up hitter, Kevin 'Flash' Krantz, but it put real fast runners at the corners with two outs.

The double-steal play was called, so Flash took off for second on the first pitch. Kevin stopped 3/4 of the way there to force a rundown as the shortstop caught the ball near second base. Meanwhile, Welzy bolted for home with the throw trailing him to score the run as Flash advanced to second for the double-steal played to perfection. Great fundamentals again.

The Dodgers scored a run in the ninth inning on two singles and a stolen base to prevent the shut-out. The first base coach for the Dodgers was the season's best. Bobbie was a good looking blonde with nice curves in her Dodger jersey that was constantly encouraging her team from the coach's box in front of the dugout to the Buzzards' all-day delight. The final score was 4-1 Buzzards.

The Buzzard pitching was fabulous. Mark pitched a solid seven innings giving up only four hits with no walks and one hit batter with no runs and three strike 'em outs. Weed faced 25 batters in efficiently throwing 77 pitches (50 strikes & 27 balls). Jim 'Moxey' Steiger #13 pitched for the first time in 2012, returning from elbow surgery on his throwing wing last December. Moxey looked good on the mound and more importantly he said it felt good (pain free) in facing eight batters and throwing 22 pitches (15 strikes & 7 balls). In this first outing, Moxey gave up one run on two hits with no walks and one strike-out.

The Buzzard offense got 13 hits, but the runs were hard to come-by. The hit club included Bake, Big Mac, Donut, Milli, Mongoose, Woody and Wookie with one hit each. The Baron, Evy, and Welzy got two hits each. There were five extra-base hits in the game. The doubles were hit by Bake, Baron, Donut and two for TWelz. The three ribbies were knocked in by Donut (2) and Evy. The lone walk in the entire well-pitched game for both sides was Wook's long at-bat in the bottom of the third inning.

The good defense started on the second batter in the first inning with a sinking fly ball to center field. Flash, with a late jump, ran in hard before going to his knees 'like a pro' to make a nice catch. Lots of comments from the dugout and stands on showing-off that quick move to the knees for the sliding catch. Later in the inning, a nice 6-4-3 double play (Evy to Welzy to Mac) ended the inning.

The next inning also had a sweet double play with a come-backer to Weeder on the mound followed by a throw to Welzy covering second and a strong throw to first to get the double outs on the play. One of the more exciting plays was in the ninth. After a lead-off single had the Dodgers in their rally caps and ringing the cow bell, the next Dodger hit a hard line drive to right field that was rising. Don 'Redondo' Colbert initially ran in on the ball, then abruptly stopped and leaped high to catch it, smothering any rally chances for the Dodgers.

A good solid game in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Next game in 45 minutes.