Team Albany ran into a steam roller, in the semi-finals this year, in the undefeated top-seeded South Bay Zephyrs. The Zephyrs held the Albany Braves to just three hits, in a 4-0 shut out win! Darrell Duncan did a great job holding this powerful line-up to just 3 runs in his 8 innings of work. Scott Ross, Dean Little and Ron Lochner had the 3 singles for Albany. Albany had their best chance in the 5th inning when Dave Mitchell and Mike Girard reached on errors to start off the inning. Trailing just 1-0 at the time, Ron Lochner was asked to bunt, which he did well, sacrificing Mitchell and Girard into scoring position, with just one out. Ralph Caputo hit a bullet to the right side, but it was speared by the first baseman. Next up was Tim Brown, who promptly hit a laser to left, but it was right at the left fielder. That would be the last time an Albany runner got to third base. The Zephyrs brought on their closer for the 7th - 9th innings (he already had a win and 4 saves in the tourney). That was all she wrote. A little painful to take right now, but Team Albany did us all proud and we had a great time! I will summarize the performances a little later. Right now it is time for the pool and steaks on the grill with my good friends!
Game of not only inches, but decisions. Had the 1st-baseman for the Zephyrs been holding the runner with one in what was a DP situation, Ralph's laser would still be rolling and the game is tied. Brown then gets a SF and we take the lead.
mike , the whole league is Proud of how far you ended up. the talent that you had assembled is a Testamnet to how competitive the Albany Capital District mens baseball league truly is. I think with the Guys you had, talent wise ,class wise, and character wise represented all of us your Baseball brothers incredibly. Now retool reload and get ready for next year. I am proud of you guys AND CONGRATULATIONS on your accomplishments through the tourney. LEX lets represent Albany in any tourney we enter all ages and divisions. we have a team going to Tampa fornthe 45s and the following week for the 50s Lets get it done
Working in Texas for the last five years. Was talking with a woman at work who's husband plays in the MSBL here in Dallas and was in AZ for the World Series. She told me his team won in the 55's. I went online to take a look and it ends up he is on the Zephyr's and I saw they beat Team Albany in the semis. Logged onto the message board to see if I could see who played for Albany. Glad to see you are all still at it! From what I can tell they were a pretty stacked team and it sounds like you played them tough. Had some thoughts about playing down here, but had Cancer surgery shortly after arriving and never got around to pulling the trigger. Although I was never of the tier of player represented on the Albany team described here, I loved playing and miss my time in the CDMSBL and my trips to Florida, from which I have some great memories both on and off the field. I try to catch a game or two when I am back in NY. Continued good luck and health to you all.
Hey Larry - Good to hear from you. I remember you. You were a fine competitor; you got some timely hits. You were also a thoughtful, cerebral ballplayer, which meant you could figure out pitchers. Trouble for the likes of me.
Thanks for writing to us. i'm really glad to hear that you've successfully battled cancer. You may not be playing the game any longer, but I'm glad that you've kept a part of your head, and doubtless, your heart in it.
You're in Texas? I returned to baseball in Texas, 1992 in San Antonio, after a 30-some-year absence. Great group of guys there. Here, too. Thing about baseball, it seems to draw good guys, which makes us all lucky.
Continued good health to you, Larry. Hope you'll stay with baseball, even if it's as a fan and a reader. Those are strong, rewarding ties, too.
-Mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Wednesday 1st of November 2017 01:03:41 AM
