6/16 Game Recaps
The 50's has become a four-team scrum. Epic, Incredible Pets, and Elite/Onyx are all knotted at 5–2, with Hunter's a single game back at 4–3. And the way they got there is the fun part: Epic and Elite both lost this week (Epic to Capital, Elite to BJ's), cooling off right as Incredible Pets surged in with their win. If you want a tiebreaker angle, run differential separates them cleanly even though the record doesn't — Epic is +40, Elite +29, Pets +22. So the standings say dead heat, but the underlying math still tilts Epic's way.
New Dawn isn't just winning the 60's — they're lapping it. At 8–1 they own a +65 run differential, and the real weapon is run prevention: they're giving up 13.9 runs a game, easily the stingiest mark in either division (everyone else sits 15.4 or higher). In a league where 20-run innings happen, a team holding opponents to the low teens is the closest thing we have to a dynasty.
BJ's is the league's great paradox. They carry the best team batting average in the 50's (.764) and just won two in a row — but rewind three weeks and they'd dropped five straight. The bats have always been there; the leak is on defense, where they surrender 22.6 runs a game (second-worst to only winless Legacy). If the run prevention ever catches up to the lineup, they're dangerous. Right now they're a 3–5 team that scares people.
Realty's 30-spot was a genuine outlier, which makes it better, not worse. This is a club averaging a league-low 15.8 runs per game — and they hung thirty on Hayes. That's nearly double their season norm in a single afternoon, sparked by Ron Landers' 6-for-6, 6-RBI night. For a lineup that's scuffled all year, that's a "wait, where did THAT come from?" performance worth its own headline.
Three 60's hitters literally have not made an out in three weeks. Darrell Heim (Efficient), Ron Segon (Hayes), and Greg Goodell (Realty) have each gone a perfect 12-for-12 across their last three games. Nobody in the league is hotter — they're not just hitting, they're unretirable right now.
Mikey Rodriguez's lonely power show. He leads the entire 50's with 10 home runs (including that four-homer game two weeks back) — and he's doing it for an 0–7 Legacy team that had a bye this week. Meanwhile the 50's HR and RBI crowns are both genuine races: Rodriguez (10), Tobin (9), and Buck (8) are bunched at the top in homers, while Mike Tobin (31), Bill Buck (30), and Matt Widell (28) are tight in RBI.
Will Myers is running away with 60's MVP. He leads the division in home runs (6) and RBI (39), and he's tied for the hits lead (31). The RBI gap is the eye-opener — 39 to the next-best 29. Nobody else in the older division is close to that kind of all-around line.
🪦 Hard-Luck Team of the Week: Scott's Exterior Property Svc
The scoreboard says 3–6. The math says they're a coin flip. Scott's has scored exactly as many runs as they've surrendered this season (151 apiece) — the profile of a .500 ballclub — yet they sit five games under in the standings, because when it's close, it breaks the wrong way. They're 1–3 in two-run games, and Monday was the latest gut-punch: up 10–7 on Wholesale, then three zeros in a row and a 12–10 loss. Somebody buy these guys a rabbit's foot.
Players to Watch (red hot right now)
50's:
Chris Feeney (BJ's) — four home runs and 13 RBI over his last three games, hitting an excellent .880 on the season.
Bill Buck (BJ's) — five homers across his last three weeks; he leads the division with eight on the year and 30 RBI.
Mike Tobin (Elite/Onyx) — the division's RBI leader at 31, with nine home runs.
Lupe Villareal (Epic) — quietly red hot at .917 over the last three weeks.
60's:
Will Myers (New Dawn) — leads the division in home runs (6) and RBI (39), hitting an excellent .886. The most complete hitter in the bracket.
Three perfect streaks: Darrell Heim (Efficient Energy), Ron Segon (Hayes Auto) and Greg Goodell (Realty Management) have each gone a flawless 12-for-12 over the last three weeks.
David Koch (Realty Management) — .929 over his last three games with 11 RBI, and riding the wave of that 30-run night.
60s Division
New Dawn Awning 27, Efficient Energy 12
For four innings, this looked like a fight. Efficient struck first with a five-run opening frame and hung tough — New Dawn only led 13–11 after four. Then the league's best team did what it does, pulling away in the fifth and slamming the door with an 11-run seventh to turn a ballgame into a laugher.
It was the usual New Dawn buffet: Butch Maciel went 5-for-5, Mike Clary and Don Outlaw each went 4-for-4, and Mike Cacy added a 4-for-5 night. Will Myers homered and drove in three (a single, two doubles and the homer — one triple shy of the cycle), while Carlos Rodriguez turned in a single, double and two triples (just missing the cycle himself for lack of a home run). At 8–1, New Dawn isn't just leading the division — they're lapping it.
Realty Management Company 30, Hayes Auto Sales 24
Buckle up. The team that came in with the fewest runs in the division hung THIRTY on Hayes. Realty led 5–4 after one, then the teams traded blows into the middle innings, with Hayes nudging ahead 19–16 after five. And then Realty detonated: a 14-run top of the sixth that flipped a three-run deficit into a 30–19 lead. Hayes' five in the bottom half was a polite formality.
The line of the week belonged to Ron Landers, who went a perfect 6-for-6 with six RBI. David Koch went 5-for-6 and drove in five, Greg Goodell added five RBI of his own, Omar Randle went 5-for-5, and David Corral chipped in a 5-for-6, four-RBI night. Hayes had its own fireworks — Ettore Minor went 5-for-5, Richard Griffin and Ector Hernandez both went 4-for-4, and Michael Kendall and Randy Morreira each drove in five — but you can't out-slug a 14-run inning.
Wholesale Outlet 12, Scott's Exterior Property Svc 10
After all that scoring elsewhere, this one was a defensive struggle by our league's standards. Scott's jumped out 5–1 after a big first inning and led 10–7 through five — and then their bats simply went to sleep, posting zeros over the final three frames. Wholesale stayed patient, plated four in the sixth to grab an 11–10 lead, tacked on an insurance run in the seventh, and held on 12–10.
Bobby Delgado led Wholesale at 5-for-5, with Kevin Brewer and Mike Brewer each going 4-for-5 and Dusty Shaw driving in three. For Scott's, Steve Wilcox and Paul Olson went 4-for-4, but a lineup that went scoreless after the fourth couldn't protect the lead.
Big Sticks of the Week
🏆 Home Runs: Will Myers (1)
🏆 RBI’s: Ron Landers (6). David Koch, Greg Goodell, Randy Morreira, Michael Kendall, Darrell Rinde (5)
🏆 1.000 Club: Ron Landers, Bobby Delgado, Butch Maciel, Ettore Minor, Omar Randle, Don Outlaw, Ector Hernandez, Greg Goodell, Mike Clary, Paul Olson, Richard Griffin, Steve Wilcox, Tony Michael, Darrell Heim, Jeff Jackson, Michael Kendall, Ron Segon, Roy Reid
50s Division
Incredible Pets 20, Hunter's Barber 19
A one-run classic. The teams stood toe-to-toe early, knotted 10–10 after two, before Incredible incredibly inched ahead and built a 20–15 cushion heading to the final inning. Hunter's wouldn't fold, pushing four across in the top of the seventh to climb within a single run — but the rally stalled at 20–19, and those Incredible Pets exhaled.
Mike Surita did the heavy lifting with two doubles and five RBI, while Shant Hagopian and Glen Weller both went 4-for-4 and Jay Zetz added a 4-for-5 night. Hunter's got a perfect 5-for-5 from Aaron Brinley, a 4-for-5 from Jeff Kerns, and home runs (with four RBI apiece) from Derek Wilson and Deion Mays — just not quite enough. The win lifts the Pets into a three-way share of first.
Capital Gold Bail Bonds 17, Epic Sports Cards 15
Epic looked ready to roll, jumping out 5–2 behind a big first. But Capital answered with a five-run third to seize the lead, then stretched it to 17–8 by the fifth. Epic made it interesting with a seven-run sixth to pull within 17–15, but the comeback ran out of outs. The result knocked Epic out of sole possession of first place.
If you love leadoff solos to start a game, this is the lineup to do it! Capital set the tone with two home runs in the opening inning — solo shots from Aaron Tavalero (last week's grand-slam hero) and Kevin H. Al Smythe, The Flyin Hawaiian, went 4-for-4, and Billy Valine (four RBI), Dave Moylan and Troy McKim all chipped in multi-hit days. For Epic, Kenji Kishimoto homered twice and drove in five in the losing effort.
BJ's 22, Elite/Onyx 16
The BJ's bats stayed scorching, and this time it added up to a win. They handled Elite/Onyx 22–16 behind a balanced attack: Aaron Gallwitz went 4-for-4 with four RBI, Kevin Robinson and Rowdy Ruelas each went 4-for-4, and Bill Buck (a home run, five RBI) and Chris Feeney (a home run, five RBI) supplied the thump.
Elite/Onyx had the week's most fun footnote: Mark Korte legged out an inside-the-park home run in the fourth. Mike Tobin added a homer and four RBI, Pat Williams and Robert Ilaga both went 4-for-4, and Chris Fry went 4-for-4 with a single, double and two triples — a near-miss on the cycle.
