Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #5

Game: May 5, 2013

Buzzards beat Dodgers 7-4 in late game come-back

On Cinco de Mayo afternoon, the Ol' Buzzards circled-in on Auburn for a game against the young (45+) Dodgers at James Field. The Dodgers are one of three 45+ teams the Buzzards will face this season. The Sacramento NABA 18-game regular season includes two games with each of the three teams. It's always a good day when the Buzzards get to play, but it's even better on a nice Spring day. The game started at 2 o' clock with temps in the high 60's and clouds building for later thunder bumpers in the Sierras.

Just prior to the game when the Buzzards gathered for the pre-game huddle, the routine Buzzard information like game signs and the manager's plea to not get hurt was handled by the skipper. Then, Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray added on with a pep talk on playing a younger, faster, stronger team that included a reference to how the younger Dodgers were expecting to win this game against the old guys. The huddle erupted in shouts of: Says who?! Not here! Oh yea?! and some other non-printable comments that fired up the team. The Baron finished his stirring pep talk and the huddle broke on an extra loud - BUZZARDS. Great job of inspiration.

The Ol' Buzzards were short, though, of healthy players. With only 9 1/2 non-injured players available, the team used the services of two more old Buzzards, now MSBL Pirates, than normal. Dave 'Evy' Everingham and Mike 'Bake' Baker filled in key spots for the team in the game. Evy pitched the first three frames and Bake played third base for the entire game.

The schedule showed the Dodgers as the home team and they took the field with a big, mean-looking southpaw with no gray hair, Phil 'Captain' Morgan #11. Captain Morgan threw the entire nine innings with an assortment of off-speed pitches including a knuckler and with occasional hard stuff that was not easy to read or hit solidly.

The Buzzards jumped on the score board first with a run in the second inning. Baker started it off by hustling down the line on a grounder and getting on base via an infield error. Kelley 'KG' Garcia followed with a line drive single to left field, putting runners at first and second. With two outs, Evy then hit a flare to right field for the run-scoring base hit.

The Buzzards put a second run on the board in the top of the fourth. With one out, Pete walked down to first on a base on balls. He then ran the rest of the way home on Baker's rocket launch to the center field fence for a run-scoring, long double.

The Dodgers tacked on their first run in the bottom half of the fourth. A double, a grounder moving the running and a sacrifice fly on a diving catch by KG on the left field line accounted for the run. The Buzzards were up 2-1 after four innings of play.

There were not many scoring opportunities for both teams as the pitching and defense held the score down. The damn Dodgers did score three runs in the sixth inning to take the lead, 4-2. The white-uniformed Dodgers strung together five hits in the inning to score the runs. The score remained 4-2 until the eighth inning.

With six outs left and down by two to the now giddy, happy Dodgers, the Buzzards sent a message with three big runs to take back the lead. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir started it off with a lead-off, line-drive double down the right field line. Wook moved to third on a close-play at the bag on a passed ball. Welzy then walked putting runners at the corners. A play with runners at the corners did not work out in the fourth inning, so no 'base stealing' play was called this time.

Batting next, the Baron singled sharply to left-center field driving in Wook with Welzy moving to second. Captain Morgan then attempted for the umpteenth time to pick off a runner. This time the throw to second base got away and went into center field. Taylor was able to race home on the play to tie the score. Bake followed with a looping single to center moving Pete to third. The Baron scored on a Norm 'Burning Man' Tucker bouncer to second. The score after eight was 5-4.

Looking for some insurance runs in the ninth dig, Wookie started it off again, this time with a one-out sharp grounder through the legs of the pitcher for a hit. Welzy, batting next, laid down an excellent bunt for a hit. After a fielder's choice put runners at the corners, Bake hit a two-out single to score Wook. KG followed with a high flare to left field for a single that scored the Baron. The score was 7-4 going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Dodgers went an easy 1-2-3 and the Buzzards then celebrated the come-from-behind win. The 2:50 hour game ended with the final score Buzzards 7, Dodgers 4. Some of the real die-hard SF Giants fans that are on the team, really enjoyed beating a team called the Dodgers.

Buzzard pitching was fabulous. Evy threw a scoreless three innings before turning the game over to Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri in the fourth. Dave faced 12 Dodgers and threw 44 pitches (32 strikes & 12 balls) in giving up two hits with no walks, one hit batter and three strike outs. Salmo faced 24 batters in his six innings and threw 82 pitches (58 strikes & 24 balls). The Dodgers scored four runs on seven hits with no walks and had two strike 'em outs against Salmo. Great job on the hill by the hurlers. No walks were given-up in the game by Buzzard pitching.

The Buzzard offense scored seven runs on 11 hits with six walks and three Dodger errors. The game's hit club included Bake-3, Baron-2, Evy-1, KG-2, Welzy-1 and Wookie-2. The big ribbies were courtesy of Bake-2, Baron-2, Burning Man-1, Evy-1, and KG-1. The eagle-eyed Buzzards taking walks, without canes, in the game were the Baron, Evy, Tom 'TK' Keatly, Paul 'Youngin' Lee, Welzy and Wook. Great job Buzzards with five runs in the last two innings.

The solid defense combined with terrific pitching held the young Dodgers to four runs. The tough defense had no errors and one double-play. In the eighth, a wicked line drive going down the right field line was snagged by Pete deep behind first base. The runner at first with no outs was going on the play, so after the clutch catch the Baron calmly walked over to the bag for the force-out to squash a rally. Garcia made four good catches in left field including the sideways diving catch in the fourth inning that only a lefty could make. TK was the only other outfielder to have a put-out with two. Dave 'DK' Kelley and Youngin' held down the fort in right field.

This was another good Buzzard game for a season record of 4-1. What an exciting come-back win. The next game is May 19th at 10 am at Antelope High against the 45+ Miners.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #4

Game: April 28, 2013

Buzzards shut out Solons 12-0

The Ol' Buzzards gathered in Davis for a 2 o'clock game against the Solons at Playfields Park. The ball field is one of the nicest in the area and it was good to see they still maintain it well. The temperature got to 90° during the game, but the breeze made it seem cooler. It was another fine day for Buzzard baseball.

The manager for the Solons, John Mason, is the guy that purchased the rights to the historic name Sacramento Solons several years ago when it was available. The Solons are a MSBL team and new to NABA and to the 55+ year old division. On the mound for the home team was the big right-hander with the slow stuff, Frank 'Dante Club' Smith #10. Starting for the visitors from the Gold Country was the tough righty and Buzzard rookie, Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #7.

The Buzzards did not score in the top of the first frame. As the bottom of the inning was about to begin, Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman was doing odd contortions in left field and grabbing his left thigh as if he had a cramp. The skipper ran out to assist and then let him start the game in left after Barry was able to walk-it-off, but gingerly. Of course, with runners at second and first and two outs, big Dante Club hits a long fly to left field. Ordinarily, that fly ball is an easy out for Brooklyn. However, as the ball's arc was reaching its height and returning to earth, Barry was working his way to a spot with a pronounced stiff-legged run. Barry made the catch to end the inning, then gimped into the third base dugout not happy that his game day was over, so soon.

The Buzzards jumped on the board in the second inning with two runs. With two outs, Tom 'TK' Keatley stayed back on the pitch and stroked a line drive single the opposite way to right-center field. Batting next, the starting catcher, Dave 'Mumbles' Kelley was hit by a 1-1 count curve-ball on the left hip putting two runners on. Steve 'Cookie' Cook followed with a walk to load the bases for Paul 'Youngin' Lee. The team's youngest stud then scorched a first-pitch liner into left field scoring two runs to take an early 2-zip lead.

In the third dig, the Ol' Buzzards scored two more runs. Taylor 'Welzy' Welz led-off with an infield single and promptly stole second base. Up next, Norm 'Burning Man' Tucker looped a singled to shallow left putting runners at the corners. Burning Man then stole second putting both runners in scoring position. Salmo, batting in the game for the injured Barry, knocked in a run with an infield grounder. Now with two outs, TK hit another laser beam to the deep outfield, this time to center field, for a sweet looking base hit to score the second run of the inning. The score after three was 4-0.

The Buzzards added a quick score in the fifth frame. Welzy led-off with a sharp double down the left field line on an 0-2 count. He then moved to third base on a grounder to the right side. Taylor, still nursing a bad wheel but looking a lot better, scored on an infield hit by Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray for a 5-0 lead.

The Solons got runners on base in each of the first five innings with several good scoring opportunities, but the Buzzard defense stiffened and held the Solons to no runs. The Buzzard defense included throwing out two runners at home plate for crucial outs in the third and the fifth innings. And a fabulous bases-loaded, no outs, double play, pitcher to catcher to first (a 1-2-3 in the books) in the fourth frame. Each defensive gem squashed a Solon rally and preserved the shut-out.

The Buzzards finally got the timing down on big Frank's deceiving pitches in the top of the sixth and scored five runs to take a commanding 10-0 lead. Cookie led-off the inning with a line drive single to center field. Lee, batting next, singled up-the-middle putting two runners on. Up next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir, a lefty swinger, was hit on the back foot by a curve-ball gone bad to fill the bases. Welzy followed with a hard single to left field that scored two runs and put runners at first and third. Welz then stole second and scored with Wook on Burning Man's two-run single to left field. The Solons then changed pitchers and brought in John 'Look Out' Mason #11. After moving to second on a wild pitch, Norm scored on a lined single to left by the Baron.

The Buzzards, going for the kill and early cold beers, put two more on the scoreboard for some cushion with the seven-inning 10-run mercy rule. Cookie started it off by getting nailed by a fast ball in the back, right between the numbers (32). Youngin' walked putting two on. With one out, Welzy hit a hard bouncer down the third base line for his fourth hit of the game and scored a hurting Cookie from third. Tucker followed with a base on balls before the Baron knocked in the final run with a fielder's choice. The Solons did not score in the bottom of the seventh inning, so the game ended at 4:20 pm with the final score 12-0.

Buzzard pitching put zeros in the scorebook every inning. Great job by Salmeri in the first five frames, while Welz closed it out crisply in the last two digs. Rick faced 24 batters in throwing 76 pitches (44 strikes & 32 balls). Salmo gave up seven hits and four walks with one strike-out in pitching a scoreless five innings. Welzy pitched the last two innings quickly and efficiently by throwing 24 pitches (15 strikes & 9 balls) in facing six Solons. Taylor gave up no hits or walks while striking out half the batters he faced.

The Buzzard offense scored in five of the seven innings. There were 13 timely hits to go along with four walks and three hit batsmen for the 12 runs. The hit club for the game included the Baron-2, Burning Man-2, Cookie-1, TK-2, Welzy-4 and Youngin'-2. Those critical RBI's were knocked in by the Baron-3, Burning Man-2, Salmo-1, TK-1, Welzy-3 and Youngin'-2. Stay hot.

The Buzzard defense was responsible for several noteworthy plays. In the third with one out and runners at first and second, a base hit to right field sent the fairly fast runner, Mike 'Angels Minor Leaguer' Johnson racing for home. A good relay throw from Youngin' in right-center to Welzy covering the relay from shortstop, and then throwing a long bullet to Kelley at the plate in plenty of time to tag a surprised Solon standing up.

The following inning with the bases loaded and no outs, Salmo snagged the come-backer and threw to home where the new catcher, Burning Man Tucker, got the force out and made a strong throw to Pete at first base to complete the double play (1-2-3). The next batter grounded to second to end a promising Solon inning.

The last gem happened in the fifth frame. With two outs and runners at second and first, the runner on second got a good jump on a single to right field. Paul fielded the ball and threw to Salmo acting as cut-off in the infield. Rick wheeled and threw home to Norm in a close sliding play at the plate. Ol' Minor Leaguer Johnson was thrown out at home on a nice looking inside hook slide, but Burning Man was not fooled and nailed him at the plate in a bang-bang dust-raising play. Mike #13 was thrown out twice at home in the game.

Good game all around. The tough Buzzards won this game with 10 players on Sunday. And after Barry got hurt in the first inning, there was no margin for any more injuries. Hopefully, the new injuries sustained (Barry - pulled hammy & Cookie - pulled groin) were minor tweaks and not serious. Other injured Buzzards - get healthy quick.

The next game is Sunday, May 5, at James Field in Auburn at 2 o'clock against the 45+ Dodgers.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #3

Game: April 21, 2013

Buzzards pound Yankees, 29 to 5

The Gold Country Ol' Buzzards gathered at James Field on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon to take on the visiting Yankees. The 1-1 Buzzards were anticipating an easy win against the always weak Yankee team (0-2) and soon to be 0-3. It took 2 1/2 hours to finish off the Yanks in seven innings due to the Buzzards scoring in every inning.

On the mound for the Buzzards was the crafty right-hander, Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe #15. The starting pitcher for the Yankees was the hard throwin' righty, John 'Wild Man' Schweiter #9. Buzzards like hard throwers.

The Buzzards got it going early with a lead-off single by Paul 'Youngin' Lee. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir took a walk and was followed by fellow walkers Kelley 'KG' Garcia to load the bases and Norm 'Burning Man' Tucker to push in the first run. Pete 'Baron' Von Zboray hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score the second run. Batting next, Barry 'Brooklyn' Forman smashed a double to deep center field to drive in two runs. Big Mac then hit a liner to center field for a base hit. Barry got a good jump off of second, but ran the bases in low gear and was thrown out at the plate - standing up - for the third out. Score 3-0.

In the top of the second inning the Yankees battled back and scored three runs on three hits and two infield miscues to make the game close. The Buzzards responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Tom 'TK' Keatley started it off with a line drive single to right field. David 'Mumbles' Kelley took a base on balls as did Steve 'Cookie' Cook. Youngin' then knocked in a run with a fielder's choice. Wookie followed with another walk before Taylor 'Welzy' Welz scalded a pitch down the left field line for a two-run single. Even with a bad wheel Welzy couldn't help himself and he then stole second base before the inning ended with the score at 7-3.

The Buzzards scored four times in the third dig. A lead-off double by Burning Man followed by base hits by the Baron, Brooklyn, Big Mac and Mumbles accounted for the runs. After three innings the score was 11-3.

The Yanks scored a run in the fourth on a walk, stolen base, wild pitch and a run-scoring single. The Yankees' changed pitchers to open the bottom of the fourth. A hard throwing lefty, Tom 'Fazio' Offazio #17 looked impressive in warm-ups. However, the gang from the Gold Country proceeded to score 10 runs on nine hits including Tucker's second double of the game. Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri was hit by a pitch in the left forearm with a loud thud. The first of two catcher's interference plays occurred in the inning. The score after four was 21-4.

In the fifth the Yanks added an unearned run. The not so Ol' Buzzards added seven more to the score board for a 28-5 lead. Seven hits including a nice double to left-center by Cookie and a couple of Yankee errors led to the scores.

The league's mercy-rule kicks-in when a team has a 10-run lead after seven innings. So in the bottom half of the sixth frame, the Buzzards tacked on one more run. A couple of walks to the Baron and Ray 'Bull Dog' Henry by their fourth pitcher plus a sharp single to right field by Salmo ended the scoring spree with a final score of 29-5.

Buzzard pitching dominated the Yankees. McCabe threw the first five innings and Welz closed-up the game in the final two frames. Big Mac faced 24 batters and threw 73 pitches (52 strikes & 21 balls). The Yanks scored five runs (three earned) on five hits with one walk and five strike outs with Mike on the hill. Taylor threw the last two innings and faced seven Yankee batters. He threw 27 pitches (19 strikes & 8 balls) in striking out five with no runs, walks or hits. Awesome pitching.

The Buzzard batters had a field day with their big sticks and got 27 base hits. The hit club for the game included the Baron-3, Big Mac-4, Brooklyn-3, Burning Man-3, Cookie-2, Mumbles-1, Salmo-1, TK-3, Welzy-4, Wook-2 and Youngin'-2. The ribbies were courtesy of (in batting order): Youngin'-2, Wookie-3, Welzy-3, Burning Man-3, Baron-1, Barry-3, Big Mac-4, TK-1, Salmo-1, Mumbles-2, and Cookie-4.

A good game for stats and running the bases. And no one got hurt for the first game this season. Let's keep that streak going. Next game is in Davis at 2 o'clock. Playfields Park against the Solons on April 28th.

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #2

Game: April 14, 2013

Buzzards beat up Astros, 28 - 14

The second game of the season for the Gold Country Ol' Buzzards was a 10 am game in Citrus Heights against the Astros at C-Bar-C Park. It was a great day for baseball, sunny with temps in the low 70's and a mild breeze. Both teams were looking for their first win of the new season.

The starting pitcher for the Astros was righty Rankin 'Fire Plug' Lymon #01. On the mound for the Buzzards was right-hander Rick 'Salmo' Salmeri #7 making his Buzzard debut. Everyone was set at 10 o'clock except the umpires. They were lost and arrived a little late. The game started at 10:15, so the delay was not too bad.

Leading it off for the Buzzards in the top of the 1st inning was Tom 'TK' Keatley with a single through the hole on the left side. Next, Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir hit an 0-1 pitch hard down the first base line for a run-scoring triple. Ray 'Bull Dog' Henry followed with an RBI double to right-center field. Kelley 'KG' Garcia, batting next, hit a flare to left field putting runners at the corners. Up next, Norm 'Burning Man' Tucker singled to center field driving in Bull Dog. Salmo used the element of surprise in his first Buzzard at-bat and bunted nicely on the first pitch for a single that scored KG on the play.  Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe was hit by a pitch on the hip by a curve ball that didn't break to load the bases.

The Astros changed pitchers at this point and brought in another fire plug sized pitcher, Henry 'Bull' Torrez #26. This righty was a hard thrower, but the Buzzards hit him hard also.

After Dave 'DK' Kelley's fielder's choice scored a run, Steve 'Cookie' Cook walked to reload the bases. Keatley batting for the second time this inning, singled again, this time up the middle driving in two runs to end the scoring at nine in the first frame.

A big early lead is nice, but the Astros are a good hitting team and were not giving up. The Astros bounced-back with five runs in their half of the inning for a 9-5 game after one long first inning.

The Buzzards scored two in the second dig (Aussie for inning). Salmo walked on five pitches to open the inning. DK followed with a run-scoring lined double to right-center. A TK walk and a Wookie run-scoring looper to center field added the other run.

The Astros scored a run in the bottom half for an 11-6 score after two frames. The Buzzards continued their onslaught on Astro pitchers by scoring seven more runs in the third inning. After one out, Burning Man was hit by a pitch on his right elbow's funny bone. Not a good spot to get hit and certainly not funny on the throwing arm. The behind-the-back wild pitch found the inside part of the back elbow (nearly an impossible angle) to nail him good. Since there is no crying, just cussing, in baseball Tucker took first base.

Batting next Salmo walked, and was followed by a hit parade. Consecutive hits by Big Mac, DK, Cookie, a double by TK, a single by Bull Dog, a base on balls to KG and a single by Burning Man accounted for the scoring in the seven-run dig.

The Astros changed pitchers again during the inning and another veteran righty Ron 'Belly' Turner #13 was the next Buzzard victim. The Astros scored three runs in their half of the third inning on two doubles and three singles to make the score at the end of three inning, 18-9.

The Buzzards were not done and scored two runs in the fourth. Hits by David, then Steve, a walk to Dan, and more hits by Ray and Kelley scored the runs. The Astros did not score in the fourth, so the score was 20-9.

The Ol' Buzzards added three more in the fifth frame. Salmo started it by advancing to first base on a passed ball strike-out, Cookie and KG were hit by pitches and Wookie and the Bull Dog took a walk for RBI's.  The Astros scored two in the inning to make the score 23-11.

Showing no mercy, the Buzzard struck for five more in the sixth inning. Walks to Salmo and Big Mac started the inning. The latest hit parade followed with singles by Cookie, TK, Wookie, then a long double by Bull Dog, followed by a Garcia single ended the Buzzards' scoring at 28.

The Buzzards sent Ray 'Bull Dog' Henry #27 to the mound in the last inning to get some work. The Astros scored three runs in their last at-bats in the seventh inning to make the final score of the three-hour game 28-14.

The Buzzards were a little short-handed for the game with nine healthy players. Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny was on the field coaching but he was on the disabled list for the game with the hamstring injury. Rick Salmeri was called into the starting role when Big Mac's elbow said no.

With just nine Buzzard batters, the good news was everyone batted seven times, the bad news was everyone had a lot of running on the base paths to do. We heard lots of huffing and puffing crossing home plate. Need more tread mill...

Buzzard pitching displayed the patience of a saint. The umpire's changing strike zone and the spotty defense made for long innings and lots of pitches. The big lead did take the worry away, but the Astros showed they can hit, several over our outfielders' heads, and score runs.  The variety of Astros' pitching that was seen was no match for the Ol' Buzzards bats and that led to nice batting stats.

Salmeri pitched six strong innings giving up 14 runs (5 earned) on 17 hits with four walks and three strike-outs. Rick faced 40 batters and threw 131 pitches (81 strikes & 50 balls). A solid job, especially under the circumstances. Henry closed out the game by pitching the seventh inning. The Bull Dog got a good work out. Ray faced nine batters and threw 40 pitches (18 strikes & 22 balls). #27 gave up three runs (none earned) on two hits and three walks.

Buzzard batters feasted on Astros' pitching all game. The game's hit club included the entire line-up. Buzzards with multiple hits were: Bull Dog-4, Burning Man-2, Cookie-3, DK-3, KG-3, Salmo-2, TK-4, and Wookie-3. Ribbies were knocked in by every player (in batting order): TK-4, Wookie-4, Bull Dog-6, KG-3, Burning Man-2, Salmo-1, Big Mac-1, DK-3, and Cookie-1. The hitting was awesome and adjusted well to the variety of pitching types and styles during the game.

The sound of base hits was supplemented with four Buzzards hit-by-pitches plus the 10 walks for a strong offensive showing.

The game ended with a nasty collision between McCabe at first and the runner, Bull Torrez. The grounder was taken deep and a little wide of first. Mike fielded the ball cleanly and was running toward the bag with the intention of tossing the ball to the covering pitcher, Ray. The ball got stuck in the glove and Big Mac decided to end this game and beat the runner, Bull, with a full head of steam to the bag. Uh, oh!

Well, Big Mac won by a half-step, but Bull lowered his shoulder as they collided and both went flying then landed hard. Both were shaken-up, but Bull bounced up and started coming after Mike and shouting not so nice things. He was held back and peace-maker Cook was at his finest. McCabe was up on his knees by then, but still down for several minutes after the game.

That little affair made the end of game greetings with the Astros a little awkward. But Mike was ok and the beer soon afterward made it all feel better. So did passing around the scorebook and trying to remember all seven at-bats.  Buzzard record  is 1-1.

Buzzard Note #1: Next game is April 21 at James Field at 2 pm. The Yankees are the opponent. If you like beating up on a team called the Yankees, then this is your chance.

Buzzard Note #2: The following games are scheduled with some away games sites and times still to be determined:

April 28 Away at Playfields Park in Davis at 2 pm vs. Solons

May 5 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Miners

May 12 Mother's Day and no game

May 19 Away game at 10 am vs. Dodgers

May 26 Memorial Day and no game

June 2 Away game at 2 pm vs. Reds

June 9 Away at Galt Community Park at 10 am vs. Astros

June 16 Away Father's Day game at 10 am vs. Yankees

June 23 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Solons

June 30 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Red Sox

July 7 Independence Holiday and no game

July 14 Away vs. Dodgers

July 21 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Miners

July 28 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Astros

August 4 Away vs. Yankees

August 11 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Reds

August 18 Home at James Field at 2 pm vs. Red Sox

August 25 Away vs. Solons

Sept 8 Playoffs

Sept 15 Championship game

Gold Country Ol' Buzzards Game Report #1

Game: April 7, 2013

Buzzards fall to Reds in pitching duel, 2-1

The Gold Country Buzzards opened the 2013 season at James Field in Auburn on a cool, blustery and cloudy Spring afternoon. Which seemed ironic after a Winter of warm and sunny Sundays. The Reds, managed by Carlos Zamora, brought another good team with lots of Spanish surnames (all but 2, pitcher & third base) to Auburn for the 2 o'clock game. This was the Ol' Buzzards first game in the 55+ division. Both teams have 'history' with each other in the 45+ and old 48+ divisions.

  Pitching for the Reds was the tough ol' righty, Robert 'Ponytail' Stormont #30. Robert, now in his mid-60's, can still sling that ball. Taking the mound for the Buzzards was the best ol' pitcher in the Gold Country, Mike 'Big Mac' McCabe #15. Mike, in his very early 60's, can still 'bring it' with a nice variety of pitches including good heat.

So, the battle royale for gray-haired supremacy of the 2013 NABA Sacramento Baseball League began for the Buzzards with an exciting, but close game loss, 2-1, to the visiting Reds. As it turned out, Stormont pitched a five-hit, complete game (79 pitch) gem to tame the hard hitting Buzzards. Those five hits were limited to the 3rd and 4th innings.  Ponytail did not walk a batter and only went to 3-balls once, and 2-balls in the count just six times to the 32 Buzzard batters in this 9-inning game. That's pretty amazing control for the first game of the season and the fact that Robert has only one 'good' eye. Stormont pitched for the Buzzards in Phoenix in 2011.

Ponytail threw hittable pitches all game and the Buzzards were not easy outs. The Reds played excellent defense and made tough plays - with some pretty young looking old guys - for key outs that snuffed out potential Buzzard rallies. The Reds' outfielders snatched hits from at least two Buzzards by diving for the sinking liners. And that catch in the 4th inning with the full-speed running, leaping and diving back-handed catch into left field's foul territory was deserving of the ESPN tune and worth an ID check next time.

Their pitching and defense was a tough combination to beat and only getting five hits and no walks is not much offense to work with, so we'll reload and take it out on the Astros next game. The Buzzards ended up having only 10 in uniform at game time with late work and sick calls, and two of them (Welz & Von Zboray) had just played nine for the 40+ Auburn Pirates. We finished with 11, but some were limping Buzzards. Beer afterward made it feel better, but I heard a few Monday mornings were not pleasant.

The Buzzards played well and held the 15 Red base runners to two crossing home plate, both in the first inning and both unearned. There were only two real scoring opportunities for the Buzzards. In the 3rd inning, Norm 'Burning Man' Tucker led off with a first-pitch lined single down the left field line. Steve 'Cookie' Cook followed with a first-pitch line drive single to center field. Gregg 'Surf Dawg' Novotny then hit a short looper into right field that fell just in front of the diving outfielder. However, the near-catch had Cookie in between first and second and leaning the wrong way. The fielder recovered and made the short throw to second base to get the force-out on the play with Burning Man moving to third.

Batting next, Paul 'Youngin' Lee (team's youngest player) hit a hard liner down the left field line that was amazingly caught by the diving back-hand catch mentioned earlier. Norm tagged from 3rd base and scored the first and only Buzzard run of the game. Dan 'Wookie' Wukmir followed with a two-out broken bat single to center field, but the inning ended with a good play by the shortstop on a ball hit up the middle by Taylor 'Welzy' Welz. The scored stayed at 2 to 1 for the next 6 innings. Tom 'TK' Keatley had the only other base hit on an infield single that he beat out in the next inning. TK advanced on the over throw by the shortstop and moved into scoring position for the only other scoring chance.

  Next week, bring your hittin' sticks. Need more cow bell ... and base hits.

Buzzard pitching held the good hitting Reds to 5 hits and was good enough to win this game. McCabe pitched the first six innings and threw 123 pitches (73 strikes & 50 balls) to 31 batters. Big Mac gave up four hits with seven walks and four strike outs. He walked four in the first two innings before finding the groove. The Reds do take a lot of pitches and make the pitcher's work. The infield defense had a few lapses while Mike was pitching that coincided with the circus music.

Mike did show his frustration in the top of the 2nd with two runners on and a 3-1 count, when the third base coach chose to call time-out with the ball in his pocket before the critical pitch. After Big Mac starred at the coach for a bit, he slowly adjusted his sun glasses with the middle finger of his pitching hand. Of course, the next pitch was ball four to load the bases. McCabe then proceeded to strike-out the next batter (Reds clean-up hitter) on three pitches. To make it more exciting, the third strike curve ball was in the dirt and it scooted away from Norm, just behind him. Burning Man alertly found the ball and calmly took two steps to touch home plate, with the runner from third racing down the line, to end the inning with no runs scored.

Novotny took the mound in the 7th inning and cruised through on 7 pitches. In the 8th Surf Dawg gave up a hit to open the inning, but 3 batters later the frame was closed. Gregg warmed up for the 9th before pulling his left hamstring muscle reaching awkwardly for a throw back. Gregg threw 27 pitches (19 strikes & 8 balls) to 7 Red batters. That freak accident required Welzy to come in from shortstop and warm-up to pitch the last inning. Taylor had injured his left knee in a game earlier that day, but he said he would give it a try. Welzy mowed 'em down on 14 pitches (10 strikes & 4 balls), then limped away from the mound.

There were two double-plays in the game and they belonged to the Buzzard defense. In the top of the 5th inning with one out and a jack rabbit runner on second, Big Mac struck out the batter and Burning Man threw out the runner at third with a one hop strike to Wookie and nice tag. A nice strike 'em out, throw 'em out double-play. Not to be forgotten, Burning Man Tucker looked pretty good behind the plate and those yoga classes appear to be paying off with good flexibility and tight buns.

The second DP was in the 6th inning, when Mike caught a mini pop-up off the mound with a nice stretch and then doubled-up the runner at first. Defensively, Mike had five assists and three put-outs in the game.

As the clouds got darker and the wind blew harder, the game ended in 2 1/2 hours. After attending to the field and putting our toys away, the Buzzards enjoyed cold brews and snacks afterwards. Could have used hot chocolate with the cool weather.

Next Sunday's game is at 10 am at C-Bar-C Park in Citrus Heights. The following week's game (April 21) is at James Field at 2 pm. More schedule information to come.