Last Tuesday saw the end of the summer 2017 Central Florida League season with the completion of the Joel Beason Memorial Tournament.
The tournament’s first round was played on August 1st and featured the third seeded team Synergy Wealth scoring the winning run after losing the lead to the last place CarePlus team, who scored 4 runs in the top of the seventh to go ahead. Credit for the walk off hit goes to sub Rick Fredieu, who stroked a hit to the opposite field following an intentional walk to Dale Neff to score two runs making the final score 13-12. CarePlus came on strong in the last two innings scoring 5 runs in the sixth and 4 runs in the seventh. They were led by the three hits each of Paul Winsor, John Reedy, Tom Winegarden, and Pat Rice. Manny Sanchez and John Wyks added a pair of hits apiece. Synergy Wealth got three hits from Bob Buchanan, Dale Neff, and Rick Fredieu. Adding a pair of hits each were: Dave Pope, Vernon Brooks, Jim Gordon, George Kennedy, Rick Duemler, and Bud Ramsey.
The other game played on the first day of the tournament saw Gators Brownwood, ranked fourth, defeat Palm Ridge Dental the number five team 14-11. Gators had four hits from Ray Bedford and three each by: Fred Hughes, Pat Perkins, and Don Brozick. Chipping in a pair of hits were: John Leone, Al Mahar, and Jack Nagle. Palm Ridge was led by Rod Severson’s four hits, while John Goulet and Gary Coleman had three each. Adding a pair of hits were: Mike Jeffries, Jim Morton, Paul Justice, Vinny Caso, and Ed Krisha.
The semi-final games, played on August 8th, saw Softball’s R Game defeat Gators Brownwood in a low scoring contest 2-1; and, FBC Mortgage best Synergy Wealth 7-5. Gators scored their only run in the top of the first as Don Brozick drove in Pat Perkins. John Leone, Al Deibler, and Chick Cicatelli each had two hits for Gators Brownwood. Softball’s R Game scored their first run in the bottom of the third as sub, John Kushner, stroked a triple and scored on a fielder’s choice by Tom Bortle. Kushner scored the go ahead run in the bottom of the fifth on a single by Bortle. Charlie Clare and Kushner were the only SRG players with two hits. FBC Mortgage jumped out to a five run lead in the bottom of the first inning as their second through seventh batters all had hits. Jim Joseph and Rich Pitts both drove in two runs that inning. FBC scored it’s final two runs in the bottom of the sixth as Manny Sanchez led off with a double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Marty Berger. John Barracato, who singled after Sanchez, scored on a hit by Tim Wilcox following the sac fly. Ed Joseph led FBC with three hits and Tim Wilcox and Ron Goldman added a pair of hits each. Synergy Wealth scored two runs in the fifth on a pair of doubles by Bud Ramsey and Rick Duemler and a single by Dale Neff. They scored their first run in the second on a triple by Art Anton and a single from manager, Vernon Brooks. Synergy’s last two runs came in the top of the sixth as Jim Gordon, Bob Buchanan, Dave Pope, and Art Anton all stroked singles.
The tournament final saw Softball’s R Game shut out FBC Mortgage 11-0. FBC was held to just three hits by SRG pitcher, Ed Krisha. Marty Berger, Tim Wilcox, and Gary Coleman had the only hits for FBC, as their bats cooled off following the win over Synergy. Softball’s R Game got three hits each from Rocky Spottswood and sub, John Reedy. Stroking two hits apiece were: Bill Nisber, Charlie Clare, Jim Crabtree, and subs, Doug St.Andrews and Rick Duemler.
The Fall 2017 season will begin on September 12th when twelve teams will take the field.