Royal Palms Upsets Highlands Merchants

A cold, windy day on Tuesday, March 3, saw the Highlands County Sports Complex active with the Sebring Senior Softball League on the fields.

A true upset was Royal Palms inching past Highlands Merchants by one run and enjoying a 12-11 victory.

Palms Jim Longman went 2-for-3 and drove in the winning run, Larry Lane and Bob Weiss each clubbed a home run and had two RBI.

Doran Quigg had a triple and three RBI, while Bob MacCarrick and Cal Bready turned three double plays.

The Merchants Bill Yeager and Ross McMinn each slugged ahome run, Jose Torres, Ron Lewis and Bob Roth each had three hits and Harry Bell went 2-for-3.

Highlands Ridge bats came alive when they faced Andrews Allstate Insurance with a 24-7 final score. Walker Spence went 4-for-5, including two homers. Andy Timermanis rounded the bases on a home run, Curt Brown and Dennis Birkholz each went 4-for-5 with three runs scored.

Earl Kunkel went 4-for-4, while John Bielman, Dave Majick and Doug Ebeling crossed home plate three times.

Allstate made some quick moves and turnedfour double plays and Jim Hensley slammed a two run homer.

The Blue Jays defeated Highlands Independent Bank with a final score of 15-6. The Bank held a 2-1 lead through the fourth inning until the Jays forged ahead. A routine infield fly that was dropped turned into a triple play.

Blue Jays Dick Schiltz was an important part of the Jays success again byslugging a home run.

The top hitter for the Bank was Bob Burley banging out a grand slam, while Jimmy Johnson had three hits.

The bats of the Silent Salesman first six hitters in the lineup were hot as they racked up 18 of the team's 23 hits and 12 of the 14 runs. That was enough for a 14-4 win over the Rebels.

The Salesman's Mike Jurmu went 4-for-5, including a homer and Roque Socarras had four hits.

Richard Godfrey collected three hits and Don Cunningham went 3-for-4.

Good defense by the Salesman is reflected in the low run total scored by the Rebels. Another major factor was five consecutive shutout innings pitched by Harley Smith.

An interesting sideline for the team was that Kenneth Filppula and Richard Godfrey ran the 5K Gasparilla Run in Tampa on Saturday with 9,500 plus other runners and did well in their respective age groups.

The Rebels Jim Strietzel went 3-for-3 with a double, Don Purdy had two hits with a triple, Rick Vancuren went 2-for-3, including a double and Jim Munroe and "Moose" Tom Morrissette had three hits each.

Thursday's Games

Thursday, March 5th at the Sports Complex the Sebring Senior Softball League experienced closer final scores than usual.

The Merchants and Highlands Ridge played a tight game with the Merchants winning 15-14.

Merchants Bill Yeager had four hits, including a home run, Wayne Hill went 4-for-5, Bobby Fulcher had three hits and Ron Lewis had two hits, including the game-winning RBI.

Harry Bell went 2-for-3 and four other players had two hits.

Ridges Doug Ebeling went 3-for-4 with five RBI, Dave Majick was 3-for-4 and scored three runs, while John Bielman and Tommy Gaiowonik had two hits.

In a low scoring contest the Silent Salesman outlasted the Blue Jays 6-4.

Good defense was in evidence as both teams left numerous men on base. After connecting for 19 hits, 18 ofthem singles, the Salesman left 13 men on base.

Marvin Strope's good pitching for the Jays had a lot to do with that.

Salesman's Jerry Johnston and Richard Godfrey had three hits, Sergio Prietowent 2-for-3, including the lone extra-base hit of the game for the Salesman.

Another close matchup was Andrews Allstate Insurance and Royal Palms ending with Allstate the winner at 16-13.

Allstate's Robert Fahnestock and Larry Solomonboth had four hits, Rudy Pribble, the winning pitcher, had three this, while Rod Palmer, James Gilbert and Jim Larnard had three hits.

Palms Ross Anderson and Charlie Quigg went 3-for-4, Bob Weiss, Bob MacCarrick and Jim Quartie each had two hits.

Highlands Independent Bank came on strong against the Rebels and gave them a good game. The final score was 9-5 in favor of the Rebels.

Don Purdy went 4-for-5, Tony Caristo and Jerry Mattis had four hits, Les Reab and Stan Turl each had three hits.

The Banks Charlie Williams, Hugh Mason, J.C. Brown and Dale Demar collected two hits each.

Reflections won the 50-over softball league with a record of 11-5, Anderson Animal Clinic was 9-7 and Lake Wales 2-10.

Reflections clinched the regular season title with a 17-4 thumping of Lake Wales.

The postseason tournament is set for Thursday morning with Reflections playing the winner of the elimination game between Anderson Animal Clinic and Lake Wales.