Game recaps

This week the main opponent was the unbearable heat. With real feel temps soaring to triple digits we weren’t sure “weather” or not we should be playing. With the heat in mind maybe these will cool you off.

What did the pig say on the hottest day of the year.....I’m bacon!! 

It was so hot that Bud's granddaughter tried to watch Frozen but all that would play was Aquaman.

What is faster heat or cold, well obviously it’s heat because even Dewey can catch a cold.

Ok onto the games.

Eagles

The Eagles had three 5 inning games scheduled on Monday against the 68+ Upstate Joe’s in Mauldin.

Game 1 - Eagles 17   Joe’s 15

It was a “heated” battle as both teams smacked around the yellow ball with the Eagles coming out on top. Gary Kelley stayed “Hot” with the bat as he had 4 hits including a “scorcher” for a homerun. Bob Foss also had 4 hits and C’mon Steve Musielak, Claude Smith, Danny Stancil and Mike Steffen each had 3 hits and Steffen had 4 rbi’s. On the mound, Woody King recorded 2 strikeouts. 

Game 2 - Upstate 19   Eagles 1

Like last week, Mother Nature had a lot to do with the outcome in game number 2.  The heat took a big toll on the Eagles as many of the players were showing signs of dehydration.  Somehow, Danny Stancil and Woody King managed to get 2 hits each and Mike Young had the “only the lonely” rbi.  

Game 3

Due to the extreme heat the Eagles decided “No Mas” and didn’t take the field for game 3. That was a smart move as many of the guys were not feeling up to snuff.

Lakers

The Lakers learned from the Eagles and decided to cancel their games with Lake Lanier. To quote Pete Tibaldi "It's too damned hot".  A makeup is in process of being scheduled.  Of note, as much as we all love to play this game, paying attention to the possibility of heat stroke and heat related illness is much more important than playing sometimes. I’m sure Medical coach Carol Rochester would agree.

This week we had 14 at practice, none more important than Woody, he  brought the fan.  Good to see a few more of you at practice. 

This week I was honored to visit with the “Original Batman”, Johnny Kelley and his lovely wife Lisa at their new “Period Correct Victorian” home on East Main St in Walhalla.  What a beautiful place, so I guess you can make a good living selling bats to the guys from Lake Keowee🤭.  Lisa gives the best hugs, fortunately for me Johnny doesn’t.😎.  Now onto the games.

Eagles

Game 1 - Rabun County 27   Eagles 14

The Eagles put up a good fight in the first few innings but the offense slowed down in the later innings. Bob Foss, C’mon Steve Musielak and Rich Hesemann led the way with 4 hits, Hesemann also had a homerun.  Mike Steffan, Ken Uhlig, Doug Rochester and Greg Reighard each had 3 hits, Reighard also had 4 rbi’s while staying clear of any wayward balls.

Game 2 

Mother Nature had a lot to do with the outcome in game number 2 as it was rained out. Big storms can just appear over the mountains in Clayton.

Lakers

This week saw the Lakers visiting Mauldin for the “Mauling in Mauldin” with a sweep of the Upstate Joes. 

Game 1 - Lakers 21   Upstate Joes 8

The Lakers sped out to a big lead scoring early and often while playing good defense which quickly put the game out of reach. Tracy Hamiliton and Cliff Kaiser led the hit parade with 4 hits each.  Dave Young, Bob Rothring, Dewey Post and Dave Nykalo each contributed with 3 hits and Nykalo had 5 rbi’s and shot a high and long scud missile that once again caused the Airforce to send up an F-16 to make sure the skies were safe.

Game 2 - Lakers 15   Upstate Joes 8

This game saw the Lakers slow down a bit but still had enough to keep the Joes in their place.

Dale Bradley and Dave Nykalo smacked 4 hits each. Cliff Kaiser, Matt Koeplin and Bud Blide contributed with 3 hits each and Blidehad a homerun and 4 rbi’s.  Of note, the Lakers turned 3 double plays and Tracy Hamilton shut down the Joe's many attempts to hit up the middle.

Thanks again to Buckey Bradley for umpiring and handling a difficult situation during the 2nd game.

Dan Klett, a well known Cubs fan, rode up to the game with his "friend" Bud. During game number 2, Dan was umpiring at 1st base and called Bud out on a close play.  Funny thing, when we passed Bud on the way home there were no passengers in his truck, but 2 legs were visible dangling from the tailgate and a dirty Cubs jersey was seen waving like a victory flag from Bud's antenna.  By the way, Dan didn’t make it to practice on Friday, coincidence.....we think not.

This week we had 10 at practice, hopefully we will begin to see more of you.  Until next we meet. 

Week 9’s theme is the grilling party for Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads, granddads, great granddads, great great granddads and if possible great great great granddads on our team.  The propane has been lit and the “Frankfurters” and Ray”buns” are on the grill, so let’s put on your master grilling apron, start spinning the spatula and stick a fork in those “roll”ing softballs and get cooking. 

Eagles

This week the Eagles were hoping to “relish” a few victories from those Frankfurters of Franklin but they just didn’t have the “mustard” to “get er done”.

Game 1 - Franklin 26    Eagles 16

The Eagles put up a good fight in the first few innings but seemed to run low on propane at the end. C’mon Steve Musielak led the way with a big scoop of potato salad to go along with his 4 hits.  Bob Foss, Mike Young, “Cash only” Luke and Doug Rochester each had 3 hits, Doug also had 4 rbi’s. Knowing those guys I bet they wore out a path to the cooler for liquid refreshment.

Game 2 - Franklin 14   Eagles 3

The Eagles were “grilled” in this game only scoring 3 runs. Danny Stancil, Mike Young, Rich Hessman and Doug Rochester each recorded 2 hits, just not enuff to keep their “goose” from being cooked.

Lakers

Let me start out by explaining the catch up rule or for this week we will call it the “Ketchup Rule”. 

Rule 55-to keep the games competitive, when either the Dahlonega Gold or the Raybun Relics are behind by more than 5 runs they are allowed to score more than the usual 5 run max per inning until they catch up to the leading team.

This week saw the Lakers hosting a Wednesday morning cookout hoping to toast the Ray”bun” Relics. 

Game 1 - Lakers 29    Relics 24

A strange game that didn’t seem close as the Lakers scored the maximum 5 runs allowed per inning to take a quick lead but the Relics were allowed to use the “Ketchup” rule to their advantage scoring 7 runs in 2 consecutive innings to make it close.  Since the Lakers scored 29 runs in only 6 at bats you can imagine there were many hitting stars. Cliff Kaiser, Bob Rothring, Dale Bradley, John Waugaman and Tracy Hamilton each had 4 hits, while Tracy also had 4 rbi’s and pitched his way to earning what appeared to be several burgers and hotdogs. Several others recorded 3 hits including Pete Tibaldi and Dave Nykalo each going 3 for 3.

Game 2  - Lakers 27   Relics 25

Again utilizing the Ketchup rule, the Relics were able to keep the Lakers from winning by a large margin.  Dave Nykalo continued his assault on the poor “yellow orb” with 4 hits and an Ice Screamer over the fence, almost hitting the grill and ruining the cookout. Pete Tibaldi, Dave Young , Dewey Post and Matt Koeplin smacked 4 hits while Matt also grilled a homerun. Tracy Hamilton, Bob Rothring , John Waugaman, Doug Rochester, Tony Witte and Cliff Kaiser each contributed 3 hits while Cliff added a homerun to go along with a team record of 5 burgers consumed while running the bases.

Of note, Pete Tibaldi was 7 for 7 on the day while also driving Dewey to the game, now that is a notable accomplishment. Thanks again to Bucky Bradley for keeping the burgers and dogs cooked to perfection while umpiring as well.

This week we had 9 at practice, let’s swing for the fences next week and try to get enuff to play a game. Enjoy the day.

This week we see C’mon Steve Musielak and Super Dave Nykalo, the 2 coaches of the Eagles and Lakers, standing in line at the well known Steak House Cafeteria on main street Walhalla. Rumor has it they were discussing having a couple of “well done” Rib Eye Steaks and hoping to recreate the winning formula of the “Clobber-A-tion” of the North Georgia Patriots by the Eagles and the Dahlonega Gold by the Lakers. Fast forward to an hour later when I personally witnessed the two coaches shaking their heads when finding out the long standing joke in Walhalla was on them.............The Steak House doesn’t serve steak at all, mostly chicken. Oh well.

What a remarkable week it was for the Lake Keowee Softball Club as both the Eagles and Lakers were victorious.

Eagles

Game 1 - Eagles 21   Patriots 10

The Eagles were flying high in this game right from the start. Scoring 9 runs in the first 2 innings  When the Patriots scored 4 runs in the top of the 5th inning to make the score 9-8, the Eagles countered with a 5 spot in the bottom half of the inning and then put up another 5 in the 6th  to glide into victory. Mike Steffen was 4 for 4 with a homerun and 4 rbi’s.  Welcome back Bob Foss who had 3 hits and 4 rbi’s and a homerun. Mike Young, Woody King, Rich Hesemann and C’mon Steve also contributed 3 hits to help seal the deal.

Game 2 -  Eagles 27    Patriots 23

This game was what Crazy Eddie would have called “Insane”. The Eagles vaulted out to a large lead mostly on the wings of Mike Young, Doug Rochester and Bob Foss. Scoring 27 runs in 6 innings the Patriots were allowed to have a flip/flop inning where they batted twice in a row because they were behind 27-6.  The Patriots went on to score 5 in the “flip inning” and 12 in the “flop inning” which is also an open inning where you can score as many as you can. The game ended on a dramatic play where Danny Stancil was pulled off first base by a somewhat questionable throw from Rocky Rochester, Danny then executed the tag and the game was over, a huge sigh of relief was heard all the way to the Last Chance Saloon in Walhalla. To go along with Bob, Mike and Doug’s 4 hits (1 HR) were Danny Stancil’s 3 hits and 4 rbi’s. Rich Hessman, Mike Steffen and C’mon Steve each contributed 3 hits.

Of note in this game was a strange rib injury to Mike Young that forced him to the sidelines in the 7th inning causing the Eagles to play a man short. About halfway through that 7th inning the “no man left behind” mentality of “Marine Mike” kicked in and soon he was back on the field to help in this victory. Scorekeeper Carol was heard to say about Mike's return “the Baseball gods were on our side today”.

Lakers

Game 1 - Lakers 28    Gold 10

This game was total Laker domination right from the start scoring 5 runs in each of the first 5 innings and another 3 to finish it off. As you might guess with 28 runs scored there were many hitting stars, but no star shined brighter than lead off man Tracy Hamilton. He was 5 for 5 with 2 homeruns and a mind boggling 8 rbi’s.  Dale Bradley, Matt Koeplin and Bud Blide continued their torrid hitting as Dale was 5 for 5, Matt was 4 for 4 and Bud was 4 for 4 with 1 homerun and 5 rbi’s.  Five other Lakers had 3 hits.

Game 2 - Lakers 24   Gold 9

To quote the great Yogi Berra this game was “Déjà vu all over again” as the Lakers scored 13 runs in the first 3 innings and continued the onslaught by finishing with a total of 24 runs in 6 innings of work. Dale Bradley, Bob Rothring, Bud Blide , Dewey Post, Pete Tibaldi and Tony Witte all had perfect games at the plate.  Dave Nykalo once again took it out on the poor little yellow ball by smashing 2 home runs one of which was seen rolling down rt 441 in Clayton. Bud Blide also contributed a homerun.  

2 things of note, Tracy’s 5 for 5 game included going for the cycle (single, double, triple and home run). Pretty cool. The other thing of note is that the youngest guy on the team, Matt Koeplin, was overheard complaining how tired he was because he had to run for Bud. Bud mentioned to Dewey that he now knows what it is like to be Dewey when Cliff runs for him.  Another note, Dewey ran for himself today since Cliff was on Wedding duty. 

Again thank you to Carol Rochester who kept score for both teams this week and to Bucky Bradley for a great job umpiring.

Lastly I would like to make a shout out to the “Great Eight” folks who showed up for practice on Friday.  Led by Dancing Debbie, Wolfman Steve, C’mon Steve, Tony bag of donuts, Dan Klett, Lucky Luke, Rocky Rochester and of course Sleeveless Dewey.  Bill Kimpton was also there riding the golf cart named the Blue Flash.  Hopefully we will have a better turnout next week.

Let this be a reminder that the last Monday of May is the day our nation mourns and honors its deceased service men and women. Remember if not for those brave soldiers who died for our freedom, we wouldn’t be able to do the things we enjoy doing.

Eagles

The Eagles games were rained out again this week, therefore nothing to report.

Lakers

Game 1 - Lake Keowee Lakers 20    Tri State Wolves 7

Both teams started off slow as the Lakers only managed 3 runs in the first 2 innings while Tony "Ohtani" Witte held the Wolves scoreless through the first 3 innings. The torch was lit in the 3rd inning as the Lakers began to catch fire on both offense, scoring 17 more runs and on defense throwing out 2 runners at the plate to knock the wind out of those big bad wolves. Bud Blide and Dave Young each hammered 4 hits while Cliff Kaiser, Dave Nykalo, Dewey Post, Matt Koeplin, Gary Kelley and Mike Steffen each bashed 3 hits.  Super Dave continued his merciless bashing of the little yellow softball using his fancy “Cookies and Crème” bat to blast a missile well over the centerfield fence. 

Game 2  - Lake Keowee Lakers 17    Tri State Wolves 18

This game was a real barn burner as the Lakers took an early lead and held it through 4 innings.  The Wolves then proceeded to make it a see-saw battle scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th to snatch the victory from the good guys. Pete Tibaldi, Cliff Kaiser, Dave Young, Dewey Post and Birthday boy Doug Rochester each contributed 3 hits while Super Dave Nykalo and Kaiser each homered. 

Just a quick shout out to 2 great plays on defense...

In the first game on a shot to the fence, Cliff Kaiser hit the cutoff man and Golden Arm Bud Blide made one of the most impressive throws in the history of Lakers softball to gun down a shocked Tri State runner at the plate, Doug Rochester also made a nice play to catch the speeding bullet one hopper.  In the 2nd game Cliff Kaiser made a diving play that seemed at the time to be a game saver. Also, as usual the Lakers turned a few double plays.

Thanks to Carol Rochester for keeping score and providing cheerful support for the Lakers.

Let this be a reminder that the last Monday of May is the day our nation mourns and honors its deceased service men and women. Remember if not for those brave soldiers who died for our freedom, we wouldn’t be able to do the things we enjoy doing.

Eagles

The Eagles games were rained out again this week, therefore nothing to report.

Lakers

Game 1 - Lake Keowee Lakers 20    Tri State Wolves 7

Both teams started off slow as the Lakers only managed 3 runs in the first 2 innings while Tony "Ohtani" Witte held the Wolves scoreless through the first 3 innings. The torch was lit in the 3rd inning as the Lakers began to catch fire on both offense, scoring 17 more runs and on defense throwing out 2 runners at the plate to knock the wind out of those big bad wolves. Bud Blide and Dave Young each hammered 4 hits while Cliff Kaiser, Dave Nykalo, Dewey Post, Matt Koeplin, Gary Kelley and Mike Steffen each bashed 3 hits.  Super Dave continued his merciless bashing of the little yellow softball using his fancy “Cookies and Crème” bat to blast a missile well over the centerfield fence. 

Game 2 -  Lake Keowee Lakers 17    Tri State Wolves 18

This game was a real barn burner as the Lakers took an early lead and held it through 4 innings.   The Wolves then proceeded to make it a see-saw battle scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th to snatch the victory from the good guys. Pete Tibaldi, Cliff Kaiser, Dave Young, Dewey Post and Birthday boy Doug Rochester each contributed 3 hits while Super Dave Nykalo and Kaiser each homered.

Just a quick shout out to 2 great plays on defense...

In the first game on a shot to the fence, Cliff Kaiser hit the cutoff man and Golden Arm Bud Blide made one of the most impressive throws in the history of Lakers softball to gun down a shocked Tri State runner at the plate, Doug Rochester also made a nice play to catch the speeding bullet one hopper.  In the 2nd game Cliff Kaiser made a diving play that seemed at the time to be a game saver. Also, as usual the Lakers turned a few double plays.

Thanks to Carol Rochester for keeping score and providing cheerful support for the Lakers. 

Coming to you this week from the cockpit of Al Brightwell’s Gulfstream G550 luxury Jet co-piloted by Al and Dave “rough landing” Young. It was a shaky flight as they had to dodge (not Doge) surface to air missiles launched from the bats of the Rabun Relics.

Eagles

The Eagles have hit (or not hit) a rough patch as of late. This week it was the Rabun Relics turn to trim the Eagles wings.

Game 1 - Rabun 23   Eagles 15

Rabun put up some big numbers early as the Eagles struggled to keep up.  The last few innings were better as the Eagles scored 11 runs in the last 3 innings but it wasn’t quite enough to catch the Relics. Woody King continued his hot pepper hitting with 4 hits while Gary Kelly, Rich Hesemann, Mike Young and “Ghost Runner” Doug Rochester each slashed 3 hits. 

Game 2 - Rabun 30   Eagles 6

This game was a rough one for the Baldies as the Relics put up 5 runs every inning. Bigfoot Jim Lamarand led the way with 3 hits while Gary Kelley, Mike Young, Danny Stancil, Claude Smith and Al Brightwell added 2 hits each.

Of note, Doug Rochester had a real heads up play as he was able to force out a “Ghost Runner” at 2nd base, unfortunately ghost runner outs don’t count. But he did keep the runner at 3rd from scoring because he was so confused he just stayed put, good job Doug.  Next up for the Eagles is the 68 +Upstate Joes at Sunset Park in Mauldin as they try to get their feathers straightened out to fly right.

Lakers

Unfortunately the Lakers games were cancelled due to a "chicken out" maneuver by the Upstate Joe’s.  From all reports the field was dry as a “chicken bone” and no rain fell during the hours when the games should have been played.  Next week the Lakers play Lake Lanier in Clayton.

Until next time, hope you all stay positive, except of course for any medical tests. 😂🤣

Coming to you this week from on top of the manure pile behind the horse barn at ol' Mc-Giles horse farm in Tamassee, where Dennis learned to swat and catch flies.

Eagles

The Eagles had a bye this week due to some injuries and wandering vagabonds. Hopefully they will put that all behind them and pull it all together and pound those boys from Rabun Monday in Clayton. The Eagles who showed up for practice today seemed ready to go.

Of note, Hematoma Ken Uhlig is playing in a national Tennis Tournament for seniors this weekend hoping to steal a few games from those top level tennis players. Good luck Ken.  Dirty Doug Rochester was at practice today and his uniform was clean, thanks to Carol for that.

Lakers

Game 1 - Lakers 25   Rabun Relics 10

This game started out as a close affair as the Relics jumped out to an early lead, but tremendous defense and timely hitting by our boys sent them old geezers scrambling for their false teeth.  In fact Marty from the Relics said to me “Man you guys sure play some hellacious defense” while their 3rd baseman stated “fiddle sticks (not really the word he used) it don’t matter where I mash it, those darn little rascals in the outfield are gonna catch it”.  Hitting stars for this game were Dennis Giles, Dave Young, Matt Koeplin, Dave Nykalo and Bob Rothring each slugging 4 hits. Dale Bradley and Cliff “Bruise on the belly” Kaiser added 3 hits each, Bud Blide also homered. 

Game 2 - Lakers 26   Relics 1

This one was a true game for the ages as Tony “Ohtani” Witte really had his spin-o-rama pitch working for him as we saw so many swings and misses that the national weather service issued a high wind alert for Rabun County. Then in true Ohtani fashion Tony bashed 2 Ruthian Ballantine Blasts after their third baseman (the fiddlesticks guy) taunted Tony saying “I’m not afraid of you”. After tossing 6 shutout innings he finally allowed 1 unearned run and was heard to mutter “Damn Bud if you only would have bent over”. There were several hitting stars who contributed to this old fashioned butt whoopin. Bud Blide, Dale Bradley and Dave Young each clobbered 4 hits while 8 others chipped in with 3.

Of note Matt had his streak of consecutive hits stopped at 11, kudos to him. Tim “Big Tree” Tompkins made his Lakers debut by doing what thousands before him have done .... tweaked his hamstring, rookie mistake. Cliff caught a liner with his belly and is now sporting the coveted "softball stitch marks" on his belly.

Next up for the Lakers are the Upstate Joes Wednesday at Nettles Park in Clemson. Should be a barn burner.

Coming to you from the round table at the Rusty Bike in Clayton where the Randy Burgers are the players favorite and Mr. Danny Stancil is the waitresses favorite.

Eagles

It was a tough day for the visiting Eagles as they traveled to Franklin to play the Old Bones. The IIV (injury, Illness and Vacation) list played a big part this week as the MVP (most valuable pharmaceutical) was a bottle of 200 mg Ibuprofen.

Game 1 - Old Bones 19  Eagles 7

What started out as a close game with good defense by 2nd baseman Ken “Egg on the Leg” Uhlig slowly faded as a lack of hitting in the middle innings sealed the Eagles fate. Woody King smashed 3 hits while Gary “The Hammer” Kelley, Danny Stancil, Claude Smith and Dirty Doug Rochester clobbered 2 hits each.

Game 2 - Old Bones 20  Eagles 14

Again what started out as a close game through the first 2 innings began to slip away as the Old Bones scored 5 runs 3 innings in a row.  The Eagles tried valiantly to come back but unfortunately had too big of a mountain to climb. The defense was anchored by Woody “the Hoover” King. One inning in particular he had a part in all 3 outs. Woody also led the way with another 3 hit game while Danny Stancil, Dirty Doug Rochester, C’mon Steve Musielak and Claude Smith also added 3. Ken Uhlig and Gary Kelly added 2 hits each.  Eagles management can expect a bill from the Franklin rec department for a new load of infield dirt as Dirty Doug Rochester was covered in it after attempting to dive into home from halfway down the baseline only to come up about 15 feet short. His ride home (Danny ) was overheard saying “you are so dirty you need to ride in the back”.

Lakers

The Lakers traveled to Clayton for 2 games with the Dahlonega Gold. By the time the games were over the Lakers had mined all the gold out of Dahlonega.

Game 1 - Lakers 18  Gold 2

Great offense and great defense by the Lakers was the name of this game.  Several Lakers had 3 hits. Cliff Kaiser and Super Dave Nykalo each belted homers included in their 3 hits, while Dewey Post and Tony Witte slashed 3 hits, newcomers Dan Klett and Matt Koeplin also chipped in with 3 hits each.  Tracy Hamilton pitched a gem while limiting the Gold to 2 runs. During that game each Lakers position player caught a pop fly.

Game 2 - Lakers 26  Gold 6

This game must have seemed like déjà vu for the Gold as more great offense and defense was shown by the Lakers. Bud Blide, Pete Tibaldi and Super Dave Nykalo each tallied 4 hits. Tracy Hamilton, Bob Rothring, Dennis Giles, Matt Koeplin and Sleeveless Dewey each added 3 hits. 

Of note Super Dave clubbed another homer (2nd of the day). The Gold seemed to taunt him by walking the previous 2 hitters to face Dave, he was angry and grunted loudly as he took it out on the poor little yellow ball, giving it quite a ride.  Also of note was rookie Matt Koeplin who had 6 straight hits without recording an out. Another rookie Dan Klett was warned about being careful while running so as to not pull a hamstring, he then went out and tweaked his hamstring....rookie mistake.  Cliff Kaiser actually played without getting dirty or getting scraped up, a first for him. He attributed it to Dewey running for himself, that’s right I said Dewey ran for himself.

The Eagles are off next week while the Lakers play Rabun at Clayton next Wednesday.

Happy trails to y'all, until we meet again.

Eagles

On a blustery day in Clayton the Eagles were grounded by the big bats of the North Georgia Patriots by scores of 22-19 and 24-10. In the first game the Eagles hit well but came up just short.  Mike Young-dog, Rockin Doug Rochester and C’mon Steve Musielak all had 4 hits. Gary Kelley, Danny Stancil and Rich Hesemann each had 3 hits and 1 of Rich’s was a Dinger (home run). Hesemann also had 5 rib-eye steaks (rbi’s).

In the afternoon session the Patriots came up big scoring 24 runs while the Eagles were only able to muster up 10. Big foot Jim Lamarand was the hitting star for the Eagles with four hits. A large group had two hits each including Gary Kelley, Doug Rochester, Ken Uhlig, Professor Bob Fjeld and Wolf Davis. Defensive shoutout goes to Mike Young for being part of 3 double plays.

Special thanks to Mrs Rockin Rochester (Carol) for keeping score.

Lakers

The Lakers rebounded from their first week losses by sweeping 2 from the Tri- State Wolves 26-9 and 28-27. The Lakers had their hitting shoes on for sure, scoring 26 runs in the first game and Tracy “ Preacher man” Hamilton shut down the usually potent Wolves bats. Hitting stars were as follows:  Dale "Bucky's Dad" Bradley led the way with five hits and six rib-eye steaks (Rbi's). Tracy, Bud “the glide” Blide, Super Dave Nykalo, Dave “Cubs Jacket” Young (no relation to Mike Young) each had 4 hits. John “Hollywood” Waugaman and Sleeveless Dewey each had 3 hits, the sleeveless one also added 4 rbi's. “Bag A Donuts” Tony  Whitte aka BAD Tony, clobbered an inside the park homer which surprised the right fielder, we heard that guy shout “uh oh” as the ball flew over his head. 

The second game was quite the thriller as both teams came out on fire with the bats. Tri-state threw many “haymakers” but the Lakers kept getting up off the mat to continue the fight. With the score tied at 19 going into the seventh-inning the Wolves scored what appeared to be an insurmountable eight runs in the top of the seventh but once again the Lakers shook it off and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by scoring 9 runs with just 1 out. Hitting stars were as follows:  Dewey, better to be lucky than good, had 5 hits and 5 Rbi’s including the 28th and winning run. Tracy,  Motor City Pete Tibaldi and Bud each ripped 4 hits. Super Dave, Cliff “Pay your dues please” Kaiser, Dennis “Papa Smurf” Giles and BAD Tony each contributed with 3 hits while the BAD one also collected “ 5 frosted crullers” (rbi’s). Super Dave pounded a towering homer which hasn't landed yet, in fact it was such a blast that later 4 F-16's flew over the field searching for a reported UFO. 

I also should mention that Bud 'the Glide" Blide made several questionable little league style base running maneuvers which caused many of us to shake our heads, fortunately he was not thrown out on any of them. 

Shout out to Bucky "Dales Kid" Bradley for umpiring and showing no favoritism even though we pay him quite handsomely to do so. Also thanks to Don “The Bookie” Foster for keeping score. Rumor has it that hopefully his walking boot will be a thing of the past as of today. 

Eagles

The 2 Lake Keowee Eagles games were canceled because of rain caused by South Carolina's version of mother nature's tears due to the defeat of the Lady Gamecocks at the hands of the Uconn Huskies. 

Lakers

In a rematch of last years final, won by the 2024 champion Lake Keowee Lakers, the Lake Lanier Legends swept the Lakers by scores of 23-18 and 23-17. As disappointing as this was for the Lakers, there were several players who deserved notice for their valiant effort.

Cliff Kaiser 8 hits, Pete Tibaldi, Tracy Hamilton, Bud Blide and Rich Hesemann each had 6 hits. Also of note Dave Nykalo had 3 triples in a row.

I should also mention that Bud had many good defensive plays at shortstop, the coach from Lanier mentioned Bud several times while telling his players to try not hitting to Bud. Cliff and Rich made several attempts to injure themselves by diving for balls that they didn’t catch. 

Also big thanks to the gimpy Don Foster for keeping score on one leg. 🩼

Last but surely not least, a big shoutout has to go to Super Dave for his last minute heroics to get enough players, hopefully this won't be an every game occurrence as it caused him to lose a few hairs while the remaining few turned gray.