Greg Morgan’s walk-off grand slam homer leaves his bat at the SSSA Memorial Day Tournament. Seconds later the crowd was on its feet applauding the exciting finale; photo by Dennis Purcell.
Veterans, among the players, volunteers and fans, raised hands and were acknowledged before the playing of Taps and the flag was raised from half-staff to full; photo by Dennis Purcell.
Jonathan Green
Hundreds of Brookers cheered dozens of players, had their fill of free lunch and honored America’s heroes at SaddleBrooke Senior Softball association’s (SSSA) annual Memorial Day tournament.
Ambient Air Heating and Cooling sponsored the affair and Doug Wagers, Window Wizard, cooked the lunch once again.
And all three games were very close with two walk-offs and a total combined differential of only five runs. Here’s that story:
Game 1 – Recreation League: Sunshine Experts/Sunesta/Solatube in Blue managed by Charles Hendryx vs. Tri-Community Lock and Safe in White, Dennis Purcell in charge.
White looked to be a runaway with a 7-1 lead after two innings, but Blue tallied eight in their third and fourth while White snoozed. They woke in the fifth with five runs pulling ahead again 13-9. But Blue scored four in top seven to tie. Then White loaded the bases with two singles and a walk and blue walked in the winning run, 14-13. Blue’s best hitters were lead-off Janet Jarzembinski 4/5 and third in the order Jason Noffsinger 4/4 with a walk. For White, lead-off Charlie Kennedy was 4/4 with a walk, Ron Finelli 4/4, Jim Watts 3/3 and a walk and Fran Weinberg hit a triple.
Game 2 – Community and Coyote Leagues: The Villas Assisted Living in Blue, Jerry Cowart manager vs. Vantage West Credit Union in White, Harold Weinenger manager.
The first two innings were sleepers but Blue ran up four each in the third and fourth before going back to sleep. White saved their waking moments for the last two innings. The seventh started with blue up 10-8. Blue posted one and white came up do-or-die down by three. Greg Morgan stepped in with one out and bases loaded. Bye-bye ball! Morgan hit one past all of the fielders – a grand slam walk-off homer to win 12-11! That’s the most exciting SSSA tournament finish ever! Lead-off Paul Butler was another hitting star for White at 4/5, while Terry Mihora hit a 2-run homer in the 4th for Blue. Rick Ervin was 4/4 when he came to bat in the seventh, but then he hit into a double play. Sorry Rick, no star for you.
Game 3 – Competitive League: The Charles Company in Blue manager Harold Weinenger vs. Twin Lake Air in White, Tim Ward manager.
This one started strong and was tied at 10 after three. White slowly pulled away in the next three and Blue came to bat in the seventh down 17-13. Blue got only one run and they lost 17-14. Blue hitting stars Mark Hojnacki 5/5 with a triple, a double and three singles although in the sixth he was thrown out at 2B trying to extend one of those singles. Steve Garceau went 4/4, Gary Stewart 4/5, Larry Weber 3/4 and Weinenger 3/4 with a walk. White celebrated Greg West with 4/4 and a triple, Rick Keagy 4/4 and lead-off Bruce Fink 4/4 plus a walk.