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Some 1970
Season Highlights
Little League - St.
Mark
JUNE 7 - BYMC, directed by the
wise old owl, Joe Powers, moved back into first place with a 3-1 conquest
of St. Mark. Denny Murrio drove in Mark Wenger, the winning pitcher, with
the lead run in the 4th inning. Wenger rapped a single and double in two
trips while Steve Sabina was rapping a pair of singles and drawing a walk
for BYMC. Kevin Walsh batted 2-for-3 and Bobby Johnson drove in St.
Mark's only run with a double. Bobby (Wheel) McNeil hurled one-hit ball
for three innings and struck out five before Wenger took over in
relief.
JUNE 12 - Kevin Walsh won his own
game with a 5th inning single as St. mark, guided by manager Walt Evans, squeezed by Manco, 3-1. Walsh had a
2-for-2 record at the plate.
JUNE 28 - Bobby Johnson chucked a
3-hitter and double to drive in the winning run as St. Mark tripped
Manco, 3-1. S. Mark manager Walt Evans, a pouting victim of Manco manager
Poosh 'Em Up Tony Colangelo at The Meadows race track, out-maneuvered his
baseball opponent by going with Johnson all the way. Colangelo divided
the pitching between loser Jimmy Miserendino and Louie (Nino)
Benvenuti.
JULY 1 - Rege (Li'l Elroy) Carver,
limited to 4 innings by LL rules, shared an 8-0 shutout with Joe Lang as
Droz knocked St. Mark from the unbeaten ranks in second half play. Mark
Constantino, Vince Panucci and Lang swatted two hits each for Droz. Jeff
Buskirk slapped two safeties for St. Mark.
JULY 7 - Walt Evans, obviously
figuring that if it's good enough for Tony Colangelo "I'll give it a
whirl," went to the two-pitcher routine and his St. Mark proteges
drubbed Quaill, 10-4. Kevin Walsh hurled three shutout innings to get
the victory. Bobby Johnson chucked the first three and was trailing,
4-2, when Walsh came on in relief. Brian Albert helped the St. mark
cause with a two-run blast, his 2nd of the season. Johnson tripled and
singled to drive in two. Ron Miller socked two hits for
Quaill.
JULY 10 - Brian Albert kissed a
knee-high pitch for his 3rd homer of the season, high in LL, but it
wasn't enough as St. Mark bowed to Legion, 3-2, in eight innings. That
shoved Legion into the second-half lead with a 5-2 record, a half game up
on St. Mark and BYMC, both tied at 4-2. Jim (Little Jumbo) Wheeler drove
in the winning run and had a 3-for-4 night at the plate. Albert and Kevin
Walsh had 2 hits each for St. Mark.
JULY 21 - Kevin Walsh outdueled
Regis (Li'l Elroy) Carver as St. Mark, managed by Walt Evans, toppled
Droz, 5-3. Jeff (The Little Plumber) Buskirk stroked a single to drive in
the clinching run in the 5th inning. Carver and Mark Constantino belted 2
hits each for the losers.
JULY 23 - Louie Giordano fanned
seven and twirled airtight ball as St. Mark completed the regular season
with a 2-0 conquest of BYMC. Tim Pillion drove in both runs with a
double.
LL Playoffs - JULY 26 - BYMC,
managed by the old fox, Joe Power, got the jump in the best-of-three
series as Steve Sabina rapped a high-bounding infield single to drive in
the winning run of a 4-3 victory over St. Mark. Only moments before,
Vince Charamella singled to drive in the tying run in the bottom of the
6th and final frame. Mark Wenger, third pitcher for BYMC, was the winner.
Bobby (Wheel) McNeil stroked 3 hits for the winners. The game marked the
end of 20 years for Bud Auen in Little League service.
Note: St. Mark did
go on to take the next two championship series games from BYMC, giving
Walt Evans his seventh title in eleven seasons as a Little League
manager, and Bud Auen, although no longer a league officer, did continue
to umpire games until 1975. In my mind, there was no better umpire when
I played Little League (1971-74) than Mr. Auen.
Senior League - Denmark's
Cafe
JUNE 10 - Ron Baumiller and Gary
Inerthal paved the way as Denmark's Amazin' Milts steamrollered McGaffin
Construction, 19-2. Inerthal included two homeruns and three singles in
his 5-for-5 assault, driving in eight runs. Baumiller, whiffing nine
enemy batters, smashed a homer and three singles in five trips while
teammates Buddy Brust and Dave Scharding collected three and two hits,
respectively. Mike Boris had a 2-for-2 plate record to lead McGaffin's
futile attack.
JUNE 15 - Ron (Bubbles) Baumiller,
who arrived belatedly with the Denmark squad because of high school
baseball, belted two more homeruns as his team played Miller to an 8-8
tie, called because of darkness in the seventh inning. Buddy Brust also
homered for the Amazin' Milts. Johnny DelGreco boosted his Senior
homerun leading total to nine by bombing a 3-runner for Miller. Brust
had three singles in addition to his homer.
JUNE 16 - Tommy Baginski, the
winning pitcher, and Denny Calabria rapped homers as Spadafore upended
Denmark, 8-6. Calabria drove in the winning run with a single. Jim Weber
had two hits for the victors. Ron Baumiller, although failing to homer,
rapped three hits as did Ed Kovach for the Amazins.
JUNE 19 - Ron Baumiller had
bubbles sprouting everywhere by belting his 5th homerun, striking out 14,
walking nobody and allowing only a single to Joe Ehland as Denmark bombed
lowly DeBor, 9-0. The story was almost completely Bubbles Baumiller as he
also spanked two singles. Ed Kovach and Buddy Brust also hit two singles
each for the winners. The addition of Baumiller to the Denmark squad and
Billy Farrell with Legion promises to make the second-half chase an
interesting one. Both boys missed the early first-half grind because of
high school baseball participation.
JUNE 25 - Murray Farber, kid
brother of Mike and nephews of Milt Denmark, sponsor of the Amazins,
smacked his 1st homer of the season with a mate on base as Legion nipped
Denmark's ace, Ron Baumiller, 5-4 in eight innings. Baumiller struck out
14 in a losing cause.
JUNE 29 - LL Prez Sam Bryen opened
a box of the "K-5" balls and six of them disappeared over his fences as
Denmark outslugged Spadafore, 11-7. Jim Weber smashed a pair of 2-run
homers for Spadafore. Ed Kovach bombed one with the sacks packed. Other
Denmark homers were hit by Ron (Bubbles) Baumiller, Kenny Winkler and
Buddy Brust.
JULY 2 - Ron Baumiller rapped
another homerun and struck out 10 as Denmark squeezed by DeBor, 7-4. Dom
Parker also homered for Denmark. Bobby (Nice Guy) Kuhn smashed a 2-run
homer for DeBor, his 3rd of the season.
JULY 7 - Ron (Bubbles) Baumiller,
who missed five early season games, climbed into a tie for 2nd place in
the homer derby by smashing a pair, both with two mates on base, as
Denmark crushed McGaffin, 10-4. It was the first loss in six games for
McGaffin. Denmark, with a 4-1 record, now trails by only a half game.
Gary Inerthal homered and singled while Dom Parker slapped two hits for
the winners. Johnny Molinda fanned 12 to get the pitching
win.
JULY 21 - Ron (Bubbles) Baumiller
smashed a grand-slam homer and pitched airtight ball as Denmark, unbeaten
since Phil (Felix) Sciulli took over as manager, belted Spadafore, 9-5.
Jim Weber continued in the homer derby with a 3-run blast.
JULY 23 - Denmark, with Ron
Baumiller blasting another grand-slam, creamed Miller's first half
champs, 16-4. Gary Inerthal and Dom Parker also connected for Denmark.
Johnny DelGreco bombed his 13th homer to stay even with Baumiller in
the home run battle.
JULY 26 - Ron Baumiller equalled
the Senior home run record set in 1962 by Steve (Butchie) Kohut by
blasting his 14th and 15th as Denmark clinched the second-half
championship by beating Legion, 3-2. Denmark finished 9-1 in the second
half, McGaffin 8-2. Denmark is booked to play Miller's first half
champions in a best-of-three series. Baumiller collected his 15 homers in
only 15 games while Kohut required 20 to get his 15 back in
1962.
NOTE: Denmark's
Cafe went on to silence Miller Roofing in a two-game playoff sweep to win
the 1970 championship. It was Milt Denmark's first Senior League
championship (a Pony League title was earned in 1961) as a sponsor, and
aging veterans like Moe Buskirk and Ronnie Baumiller remember fondly how
the Amazin' Milts were feted by their loyal supporter.
"It was his first
championship as a sponsor," Buskirk recalls, "and Milt went all out
after the season. He was so excited that he took the whole team to the
Holiday House to celebrate. I'll never forget it." Bubbles Baumiller
echoed the same sentiments. "He took us out after the season for a huge
banquet in Monroeville. It was something else."
Milt Denmark
sponsored a team in the Brookline program for 22 years. Six of those
years were with the Pony Prep League, and sixteen of them were with the
Senior League program. The year 1970 was the only season his Senior
Leaguers brought him a trophy, and it was a thrill he never let go
of.
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All write-ups reprinted from the Brookline Journal * |
