The Dodgers and Cardinals met at Watervliet HS for the first of two games this week in phase two of the 55+ division season. Crafty veteran John Latorre took the mound for the red birds and had the Dodgers' batters shaking their heads on the way back to the dugout. "I was way out in front". "Ugh, right off the handle" Nobody was shaking his head as hard as our #5 batter, Jim Bradley. In his first time ever facing Mr. Latorre, he chased three straight pitches that never reached the plate. Same three pitches. Same three swings. Strike one. Strike two. Strike three. An experience that set the stage for the top of the 3rd inning.
Trailing by a run, the Dodgers had our sub, Tom Maney at 3rd and our lead-off hitter, Staulters at 2nd with two outs and our clean-up hitter, Coletta coming to the plate. The Cardinals brain trust met at the mound and decided to walk Ray Coletta and go after free swinging Jim Bradley. Seemed like a good idea. But the first pitch fastball didn't land in the dirt in front of home plate. It landed on the hill near the football field! Some redemption for big Jim and a 4 - 1 lead for the Dodgers.
Undaunted, the Cardinals rallied in the bottom of the 3rd with a walk to Latorre, a solid single by Jasefski, a lazy play by the Dodgers catcher (I forget his name!) and another single by Shultis to retake a one-run lead. Typical Cardinals - Dodgers baseball.
The Dodgers scored two runs in the 5th with a walk to Trinchillo, a single by Denicola, a long sac fly by Coletta and a seeing eye single by Bradley.
Meanwhile, Mark Denicola and a solid Dodgers defense clamped down and faced only 13 Cardinals batters in the final four innings.
Ray Coletta drilled a two-run bomb in the top of the 7th to give the Dodgers some breathing room. The 9th run scored on an error to make the final score: Dodgers 9 Cardinals 5
The rematch for this week and the rubber match for the season will be played Thursday. More good baseball!
Good write-up, Don. It's become something of a lost art -- managers don't seem to even want to report scores anymore -- but I believe these quick summaries connect us and make the whole experience just a little richer and more entertaining.
Hey Jimmy P why don't you do write ups any more? I was inspired by your musings here years ago to do the write ups that I do. We would all love to read your recaps of the Whiz games.
