Local Sports

Sebring 70s going strong

MIRIAM FILPPULA
Published: February 11, 2013

SEBRING - The Sebring Seventy and Over Softball League results Tuesday saw the Silent Salesman tangling with the undefeated VFW 4300 team. A big upset was brewing, but VFW ended a seesaw battle with six runs in the eighth inning to claim a 23-18 win. The game took more than two hours to play with a total of 40 runs and 70 hits.

VFW's Jerry Murphy produced the only double for the team. Ron Lewis was 5-for-5 and Bob Fulcher and Cal Bready went 5-for-6. John Kloet, winning pitcher, had a 3-for-6 effort at the plate.

The Salesman's Don Goodwin is to be commended for stepping in to pitch in place of regular pitcher Victor Rodriquez. It was the first slow pitch game Goodwin had ever pitched and with a little help from VFW batters who swung at bad pitches, he did a good job. Goodwin also went 5-for-5 at the plate.

Going 4-for-5 were Fred Moore, Norm Grubbs and Larry Ambuel. Bill Todd had two triples in his 3-for-5 day.

Richie Birkholz went 3-for-4 with a double. Don Day was 3-for-5, and Cliff Skeans was 3-for-4.

A close match between Royal Palms and Highlands Independent Bank ended with a 19-17 win for the Palms. Royal Palms trailed 7-0 early in the game and improved as the game progressed.

Kyle Saunders had a triple in his 2-for-5 day at bat. Dale Delmar went 2-for-3 with a double. Jim Longman was 3-for-4, Mo Pier 2-for-3 and Doug Hammond 3-for-5. Charlie Quinn was the winning pitcher.

Highlands Independent Bank's Bob Fahnestock and Don Cunningham each went 3-for-5, including a triple. Gene Phillips smacked a double in his 4-for-5 day at the plate. Harry Bell and Russ Moody each were 3-for-4, and Andy Timmermanis was 3-for-5.

Andrews Allstate Insurance held a tight rein on Buttonwood Bay for a 15-5 victory. For Allstate, Jerry Kuffman was 5-for-5, including two triples and a double, getting credit for driving in eight runs.

Dick Ostrich had a triple in his 4-for-5 times up. Dale Baughman was 3-for-4, and Eddie Lindberg went 3-for-5. Winning pitcher was Rudy Pribble.

Buttonwood Bay Rebels' hot batter was Tony Cristo, going 2-for-3 with a triple. Rich Vancuren and John Degnen each went 3-for-3, and Fred Boyd was 2-for-2.

Diz Davis, Jim Monroe and Earl and Nelson Richardson all went 2-for-3.

Thursday, Buttonwood Bay tried hard to get into the win column against the Silent Salesman. The first four innings went quite well for the Rebels as they only trailed 16-12. The Salesman decided to play a little defense the last four innings for a final score of 23-12.

The Salesman were swinging hot bats as they scored five times in four of the seven innings they batted. Grubbs had the only extra-base hit, banging out a double and two singles. Todd went 4-for-4, while Day and Ambuel had four hits each. Skeans had three hits and scored three times. Goodwin singled three times, and Bob Iott, not to be outdone, rapped out two hits and scored four times.

Buttonwood Bay's Jim Delahunt had a perfect day at the plate, going 3-for-3. Cristo was 3-for-4, including a triple. Degnen was 2-for-3 with a double. Earl and Nelson Richardson were both 2-for-3.

The most unusual game of the week was between Highlands Independent Bank and Andrews Allstate Insurance. It was a real barn burner that ended in 10 innings with a 6-5 score in favor of Highlands Independent Bank. Bell pitched nine shutout innings. Allstate only scored five runs, which were in the fourth inning.

The Bank scored in the first, fifth and 10th innings.

In the tenth, Don Sheets got on base with his third hit. Fahnestock hit a double and drove in Sheets with the winning run.

Cunningham was 3-for-4 with a double, while Sheets and Fahnestock each went 3-for-5. Bell, the winning pitcher, was 3-for-4. Timmermanis was also 3-for-4.

For Allstate, Baughman was 4-for-4. Mel Gross, Ostrich, Lindberg and Gonzalez each had a 2-for-4 effort.

VFW 4300 and Royal Palms began with a close game, but VFW pulled away, scoring 11 runs in three innings. The final score was 14-5 in favor of VFW. Kloet went 4-for-4 with a triple. "Spider" McMinn had three hits, including a triple. Roth and Fulcher had three hits.

The team exhibited good defense, with three double plays.

Royal Palms' Longman and Dale Demar each went 2-for-3. Bobby Floodine and Saunders had 2-for-4.

The current league standings show VFW 4300 out in front with an unblemished 10-0 record, followed by Royal Palms (7-3) and Andrews Allstate Insurance (5-5). Highlands Independent Bank and Silent Salesman are knotted with 4-6 records, while Buttonwood Bay (0-10) is looking for its first win of the season.

Teams play on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. at the Highlands County Sports Complex in Sebring.