To better understand our local rules and enhance player safety, we are periodically highlighting one of our local rules.
8.4.2 Run Through Line. A base runner going from first to second or second to third may run full speed through the line. Should the runner beat the throw, he is safe and may return to the base without being tagged or forced out. The runner must return to the base and touch it prior to advancing to the next base. If a runner proceeds through the run through line heading towards the next base/home scoring line (as applicable) without touching the target base and, in the judgement of the umpire, displays intent to advance to the next base without having first touched the base from which he ran past, he/she can be tagged out.
2.5 Run-Through Line: If a runner runs through the space between the base and the beginning of the run through line, the runner is considered off the base and can be called out if the fielder tags the runner or the base prior to the runner returning to the base.
This video explains and provides examples on how to utilize the run through lines on both 2nd and 3rd base.
Two teams with winning records and playoff aspirations clashed in a tightly contested game at Alga Norte eventually won by That Pizza Place 24-18 over Plotkin Group.
PG started the game by taking a 2-0 lead that was quickly relinquished when TPP scored 5 in the bottom of the 1st inning. PG bounced back with 4 runs in the top of the 2nd to reclaim the lead at 6-5 on the strength of a 3-run homer by Pat Driscoll. TPP scored 2 more in their half of the inning to nose ahead 7-6, which is where things stood after 3 innings. In the middle innings, TPP tried to pull away, but the relentless PG batters kept producing, tying the game at 13-13 after their half of the 6th inning.
TPP finally created some separation by scoring 5 runs in each of their next 2 innings, capped by 3-run homers by Gene LaChimia and Mike Endeman, respectively, to close out each inning and give TPP a 23-14 advantage after the end of the 7th. Not willing to roll over, the undaunted PG batters mounted rallies in their last 2 innings, but the rallies came up short when TPP threw out a runner at home plate in each of the 8th and 9th innings, leading to the 24-18 final score.
PG crushed 4 home runs in the game, led by Pat Driscoll (4 for 5, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs), Rich Keefer (4 for 5, HR, 6 RBIs) and Michael J. (4 for 4, 1 HR, 1 RBI). In addition, Oscar Lara went 5 for 5, Oscar Castillo was 4 for 5, Gary Soper went 3 for 4, and Cathy McDonald and Steve Newberg contributed 3 hits apiece. The two Oscars were also nominated for best fielding performances for some excellent plays at shortstop and 3rd base.
TPP once again got solid hitting performances from the 2nd part of their batting order, led by Mike Endeman (3 for 4, HR, 3 RBIs), Karl Stern (3 for 3, 1 RBI), John McDaniels (3 for 4, 1 RBI) and David Buck (2 for 4, 2 RBIs). The top of the order was productive as well with Gene LaChimia driving the ball to all fields (4 for 5, HR, 5 RBIs), and the 1-2 punch of Johnny Brand (4 for 5, 3 runs, 2 RBIs) and Mike Brower (3 for 3, 4 runs, 3 RBIs) continuing their hot hitting streaks.
The teams thank Jimmy Smythe for serving as umpire and calling a fair game.
In their previous game of woe, Worden's spirits sank low,
Scoring just eight runs, their confidence took a blow.
But today, at Pine Park, a different tale to tell,
As they rose from the ashes, breaking their spell.
What sparked this revival, some pondered and guessed,
Perhaps a pep talk, borrowed and blessed.
From the Durham Bulls' manager, wise words were heard,
Simple as can be, like a chirping bird.
"You throw the ball, you hit the ball, you catch the ball,"
Echoed through the team, inspiring one and all.
With newfound zeal, they took to the field,
And oh, what a performance their efforts did yield!
Solo homers soared, by Loperena and Tahimic's might,
While Buscher and Baptista's bats gleamed bright.
Four RBIs by Porter, a stellar display,
An "All Bobs" offense, leading the way.
On the defense, Cameron and Delgado stood tall,
Making stops aplenty, answering every call.
Hard-hit grounders, pop-ups in the air,
Nothing got past them, a formidable pair.
And in centerfield, returning with glee,
Heinz proved his worth, for all to see.
Both at bat and in fielding, he shone bright,
Adding to Worden's triumphant flight.
Yet, let's not forget Village Pie Shoppe's fight,
Weinberger's homers, a beacon of light.
Steele's strong bat, Peterson's perfect swing,
In the face of defeat, they still dared to cling.
Remarkably, both teams took charge of the game's fate,
Managing their own umpiring, no need to debate.
In this tale of baseball, resilience took the lead,
A victory for Worden, in a game of true deed.
You might ask the score. It was 19 to 8.
A fitting end without much debate.
The teams shook hands and flashed good looks
Another game goes into the books.
A defensive gem it was not. The Hennessey’s third baseman/manager will be approaching the league commissioners about setting up a hockey goal behind third base at Calavera to capture all of the ground balls that go through his legs.
But it was a day to improve your on base average and if your name is Dave Grull, you had an incredible day at the plate.
The visiting Drafters jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead at the top of the opening frame, and after the Hens recorded a single run in the bottom of the first, responded with a five run bottom half of the second powered by one of Dave’s 3 homeruns on the afternoon. The Draft, playing without some key players were held scoreless in the top half of third, but the Hens added five more in the bottom half as Mr. Grull connected on the second of his round trippers. Trailing 11-3, the Draft exploded with back to back five run innings in the fourth and fifth innings to take a 13-11 lead. But in the home half of the fifth, the Hens added a five spot of their own as Mr. April, Dave Grull hit his third four bagger of the day.
The Hens had back to back five run innings in the sixth and seventh innings, while the Drafters added a single run in the seventh, and the Hens took a commanding 26-14 lead. Mr. Grull would have had a fourth homerun in the seventh, but his run would have been the sixth of the inning. He had to settle for a measly single. The Drafters added a single run in the eighth, resulting in a flip, whereby they erupted again for six in the ninth before the final out was recorded. The final score, 26-20 in favor of the Hens in green.
The hitting stars for the Drafters were Dave Frantz who collected five hits and was perfect at the plate. Tony Coppin, Jack Schwarzel and Steve Sexton who each collected four hits. A shout out to Kathy O’Neil playing second base who caught a screaming line drive off the bat of Keith Richards.
For the Hens, Mr. Grull (five total hits) had some company in having a good day at the plate. Jim Goertzen had four hits, while Ruby Murphy, Joe Uribe, Steve Doan, Dario Santana and Keith Richards each collected 3 hits. Joe also did a great job of filling in at first base and shows the depth the team has on defense.
The Hens want to thank Skip Moyer (pitcher) and Joel Kudren (second base) for subbing and adding to the hitting attack.
Both teams would like to thank umpire Al Cabacungan for taking time out of his schedule to call the game and the lesson on the proper hand signals for a greenie.
"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona." (George Will, author and journalist)
Ah, the joys of playing softball at our age on a beautiful spring day in Carlsbad. We are very fortunate to be enjoying this great American sport in the prime of our lives. Carlsbad Inn faced off against a tough Nucci’s team today. Nucci’s was the early aggressor, easily scoring 5 runs in the top half of the first inning. CBI answered back with 5 of their own with no outs recorded. Nucci’s rallied for another 5 spot in the third and CBI answered with 3. CBI kept adding a few runs each inning until they finally went ahead for good in the 5th, 11-10 and then scored another 5 in the sixth to extend their lead. Alas, good defense kept Nucci’s from scoring the rest of the way until the 9th when they pushed one more run across for a final score of 18-11.
Nucci’s was led by Robert Kroger (3 for 4), Marty Topper (3 for 4 and 2 RBI’s) and newcomer Keven Davidage (3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s). Kudos to Roney Lewis for snagging every line drive, pop fly and grounder that dared come close to his rover domain.
Carlsbad Inn had solid hitting throughout their lineup today. Hitting stars include super sub Tom Benacka (5 for 5 with 5 RBI’s), Gene Smith (4 for 5), Daniel Malchow (4 for 5, 3 RBIs), Dan Hacker (4 for 4 and 3 RBI’s), and big Jeff Jacobs (a perfect 4 for 4, with one of those hits being poked to right field). CBI’s defense showed up big time today as well. Gene Smith made another one of his diving catches in left center, cradling the caught ball like a little grandbaby while rolling onto his back. Sherre Lovick seamlessly moved from right field to first base, making some difficult, critical catches on close plays at first. Rod Johnson pitched another fine game, inducing several 3rd strike foul balls.
Many thanks to Greg Lorton for calling a great game, to Tom Benacka for subbing for CBI and to Nucci’s for supplying a catcher.
Bye Teams: Pizza Port Brewery
Gaspar
A beautiful day at Alga today. The shorts were broken out and the sweet smell of sunscreen filled the air. If this was 1994 and not 2024, the players would have been screaming to play two. But then again if this was 1994, most of us would not be playing senior softball.
Anyway, a game was played between the battling Hens of Hennessey’s and the feisty Groupies from the Plotkin Group. The event was a pitching affair as the Hennessey’s combo of Johnnie Martinez and Frankie Burns held the Groupies scoreless until a single run crossed the plate in the sixth inning. Groupie pitcher Gary Soper held the Hens to three runs in the fourth and not until the top of the sixth did the Hens breakthrough with five more runs. After six it was 8-1 in favor of the visiting Hens. The key hit a three run triple by Dave Grull. If he had hit it in an open inning, the triple would have been a round tripper. The Hens added three in the seventh powered by our favorite Hen, Kirsten Mildbrandt’s 2-run homerun. But head Groupie, Janet Wood rallied her troops for a four run bottom half of the seventh to cut the Hen’s lead to 11-5. Keith Richards, Michael Hart, Dave Grull and Joe Uribe strung together key hits in the top of the eighth inning resulting in four more runs for the Hens, extending the lead to 15-5.
With shouts of “If the Padres can do it, so can we” emanating from the home team dugout in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Groupies, powered by a three-run homerun from Steve Newberg, cut into the lead but still trailed the Hens 15-8 going into the ninth. The Hens added an insurance run in the top half and Hen closer Frankie Burns shutdown the Groupies with a scoreless home half with the final result 16-8 in favor of the victorious Hens.
The hitting stars for the Groupies were Steve Newberg with 3 hits, including the aforementioned homerun. Oscar Castillo, Oscar Lara, Michael Juditz and Ed Silva also added three hits.
For the Hens, Dave Grull had four hits, Joe Uribe collected 3 hits, Phil Kay and Keith Richards also added three hits.
The Groupies want to thank Bill Codner for subbing and doing a fine job as the rover.
Both teams would like to thank umpire Gene LaChimia for taking time out of his schedule to call the game and so sorry for all of the foul balls flying back at him.
PPB forfeited the game due to too few players.
This was a team effort game all the way for Nucci's. Great joy for me to see them WIN!!
The first seven batters on Nucci's all got hits to score five runs the first inning. The Draft followed by scoring two runs in the first and second inning giving the score 5 -4 Nucci's. In the fifth inning Ron Silverman, Steve Berry singled then Al Castaneda hit a homerun to bring in three runs. Robert Kroger, Roney Lewis hit singles and then Paul Thomas hit a double to bring in two runs giving Nucci's a total of 5 runs to take the lead 13-4.
Neither team scored in the 6th/7th except The Draft scored 1 run in the 7th. At the top of the 8th Nucci's batters were on fire and scored 5 runs on singles and doubles. During the game Nucci's had 1 double play. The draft couldn't catch up in the 9th.
Great sportsmanship and team effort on both sides.
Nucci's: Al Castaneda 3/4 1HR, 2 RBI's, Dennis O'Hern 3/4 1 RBI, Robert Kroger 4/4 3 RBI's, Roney Lewis 3/4 1 RBI, Paul 4/4 6 RBI'S, Marty Topper 3/4, Ddavid Bentley 3/4 2 RBI's, Steve Berry 2/4 1 RBI
The Draft: Tony Coppin 3/4, Jimmie Martin 3/4
Thanks to Jimmy Smyth for umpiring.
Bye Teams: Carlsbad Inn
Village Pie Shop
Ah, another beautiful day at Alga Norte 2 as Gaspar visited Worden Williams. In a sure sign that spring had arrived, Gaspar’s Leigh Peterson and Greg Lorton officially retired their big-boy pants in favor of shorts for the rest of the season. Manager Leigh vehemently denied that the glare off the shiny Nordic shins on the Worden Williams batters was the main reason for the ultimate outcome of game.
Always searching for a shiny new game strategy, Gaspar implemented their eco-friendly energy conservation strategy. With the goal of saving energy, they held their hits in the first six innings to nine which they cleverly turned into zero runs. In the meantime, Worden Williams scored two in the first and four in the fourth.
With a 6-0 deficit heading into the seventh inning Gaspar’s scorekeeper, manager-behind-the-scenes, and puppet-master Christine felt compelled to deliver another of her trademarked motivational speeches. The need for these has become so great that she now offers a menu of selections, including expletives in either English or Mandarin.
That speech might have been feather that tipped the scales, with Gaspar scoring six to tie in the seventh and then five more in the top of the ninth. Worden Williams’ one run in the seventh and one in the ninth were not enough to prevent the improbably outcome, 11-8.
Cord Cameron and Bob Loperena went 4 for 4 for Worden Williams. Bob Porter added a home run, and Oscar Delgado imitated a highlight reel going 3 for 4 with a home run and half of Worden Williams RBIs.
For Gaspar, Tom Benacka and Dave Ash both went their usual 4 for 4, with Dave hitting a home run and driving in five RBIs. Bocai, Greg Lorton, Guy McCord were all 2 for 3. But Gaspar’s game MVP goes to Larry Treppel who also went two for three, hitting the singles that started the two rallies, scoring both times, and making a rally-killing catch of a foul pop-up.
Thanks to Al Cabacungan for a controversy-free umpiring.
Standings are posted after all scores have been received (in a timely manner)
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