GCAB News Page

2010 Organizational Meeting: February 6, 2010 –8:30AM ~ Bedford
6442 Metro Ct. Unit B, Bedford 44146.

Amateur Baseball has held a place close to my heart for many years. When I learned of the demise of the old league many of us played and managed in, I volunteered right at the start to help the league re-group. I am pleased that not only did we re-group, we have experienced growth in the past three years. I am proud of the work we have accomplished and sincerely thank my fellow officers and board members for their support and effort.

Now reorganized as a non-profit with each manager having a seat on a Board of Directors, I am confident that this league will continue to exist and serve the Greater Cleveland area. I am certain that it will continue to channel the passion that we all have for the game, as players, managers and board members.

I strongly believe that the league structure, with equal votes and equal participation, is the right format to continue into the future and I am proud to have had a hand in its formation. It is with this confidence in my fellow board members that I have decided to resign my position of President, effective February 6^th, 2010.

I wish you and the board as well as all members of the league, the best of luck as you continue to develop, grow and welcome those who share our passion for the game.

The 2009 championship game is rained out 11/1. That concludes the season, as that game will no longer be attempted to be made up. Have a great off season and keep checking in for updates on winter activities.

RESCHEDULED PART XXXXXX: The game is 1 PM on 11/1 Sunday in Berea.
If it rains, Baraona and Trabert are mud wrestling for the title.

Greater Cleveland Adult Baseball is now on FACEBOOK.

The Championship game is rescheduled for Saturday, October 24th at 1pm in Berea. If that game is rained out it will be rescheduled for Saturday, October 31st, same time and place. GCAB is determined to get that game played before the snow flies, to determine the league winner. Appreciated are calls to mother nature asking for her to cooperate and finally give us a break!! Ballparkers vs. Steve's Sports.

The board will meet Saturday, October 24th, 9am at the offices in Willoughby Hills for the fall wrap up meeting.

Championship game was rained out Saturday, 10/3. It remains unclear if it will be made up as one of the team's managers wrote that his team will not be available after this weekend.

The All Star game was played Sunday and comments were, "Awesome all star game! Exciting!".

East: A's-Bob Bleck, Jerry Lomurno, Lee Koch
Legends-Pat O'Neil, Tom Vlicka, Jim Smith
Arcs-John Spiedel, Ed Crann Jake Miceli
Reds-Joe Hetzel, Joe Hawkins
Winking Lizard-Ray Carr, Bill Morgan, Mike Hanlon
Indians-Bob Suydam, Roger Flickinger

EAST beats WEST 4-3. East comes up with 3 runs in the 9th for the victory. Joe Cooper pitched 5 innings of shut out ball for the West, allowing only one hit. Cooper matched Ray Carr pitch-for-pitch for the East. Ray Carr's only bad inning was the 4th giving up a base hit to Jim Hawkins scoring 2 runs. West manager Kleinhenz wrote, "This is the first time I have seen Pirates' Joe Cooper pitch, and I must say, this guy is something special. The Pirates should be proud to have Joe as teammate". Big Ron Myeress, representing the Bisons had 3 hits for the WEST. Tim Burton representing the Bisons, played 2nd base for the first time ever and had 8 putouts, some of which were All-Star spectacular. Great exhibition game enjoyed by all players.

The Championship game has been rescheduled for 1pm on Saturday 10/3. The All Star game will be Sunday at 1pm in Berea. Check with your manager for rain out info this weekend.

Rained out Championship and All Star game will be rescheduled for Saturday, October 3rd at 11am and 2pm respectively at the Berea HS field.

Steve's Sports won 9-3 against Winking Lizard and the Ballparkers beat the Bisons 7-4. Congratulations on the two top teams on having a tremendous season and advancing to the championship game.

The Championship game will be played at 10am at Berea. An All Star game featuring 3 players from each of the ten teams not in the Championship game will be played following the Championship game at 1pm. East All-stars will be managed by Bob Bauders of Winking Lizard and West All-stars will be managed by Bison's Don Kleinhenz.

Congratulations to the teams advancing to the second round. All the higher seeds advance. Second Round games will be at Berea with Bisons vs Ballparkers at 10am and Steve's vs Winking Lizard at 1pm. Good luck guys!

The pickup game at Independence last Saturday at 10:00am was attended by about 13 guys from the four non playoff teams and had a GREAT time. We'll do it again this Saturday and the Saturdays in September at Independence at 10am. You are welcome to attend.

Makeup's are the idea, with an extended week to battle the Greater Cleveland weather in 2009. Steve's destroyed the Pirate ship with a 18-0 blast in Euclid Tuesday night. A game is set for Wednesday night and teams are looking to the upcoming Labor Day weekend for finishing up their schedules.

On a beautiful Wednesday night for baseball, the Legends gave the Reds all they could handle before succumbing to the pitching of Roy Krall and the hitting of Andy Cross. Krall goes 7.1 innings and allows 3 runs. Ed Lewis comes in and pitches 1 and 2/3 innings to close out the Legends. Final Score at Euclid in 8.5 innings: Reds 7, Legends 3.

The Brewers met the Indians at Classic Park in their final game of the regular season, on Saturday the 5th. The pitchers ruled as the Indians won, 4-3 in a well-played game. Bill Russo kept the Brewers off balance for 9 innings and Jeff Allison went the distance for the Brewers. The melancholy for the end of the Brewers' season was tempered by the prospect of Fall Ball at Independence yet to come. There was a sense of accomplishment as the expansion Brewers felt they belong in this league after ending the season with a 4-4 run. Indians scored two in the 2nd, and one in the 5th to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Brewers came back to score two in the 7th and one in the 8th but that was all she wrote. Holub's single in the top of the 8th drove in what proved to be the winning run. Indians left 10 men on base as they continue to come up short with men in scoring position. Suydam and Ciani had two hits a piece for the Indians. Valenti had three hit to lead the Brewers attack.

The Winking Lizard took two today from the Reds. Final score of the first game was WL 4, Reds 3. The second game was WL 6, Reds 3. Ed Lewis went the distance in game one and pitched wonderfully but got little run support. Same story in game two as Greg Skrocki pitched great baseball in relief of Rich Barberic allowing no earned runs. The Reds could not sustain any rallies.

In the first game at Classic Park, the Bisons John Jacobs pitched a complete game for a 4-2 win over the Lumber and Lightning. The Bisons traveled to meet the Ballparkers for a second game at University School and were stopped by a Parkers triple play in the 7th that helped the 14-12 score fest in the Parkers favor. Although the Bisons managed a 7 run rally in the 9th it wasn't enough. The B-Parkers also won against the Arcs 5-2 in the earlier makeup.

Sunday saw an 8 inning mercy rule 10-0 shutout by Legend ace Bill Venter over the Lumber's slumber. The Legends bats came out of their year long slump.

Wed. Behind the pitching of John Toth and Ed Lewis combined with the 5-5 hitting of Rich Barberic and Brian Snider's and John Toth's 3-5 performances the Reds defeat the Arcs at Euclid on a rainy Wednesday night by a final score of 13-6. The Reds played excellent defense as exemplified by Rob Stahler's spectacular diving catch of a line drive denying a sure Arcs hit that snuffed out a potential rally. The game was played in innings due to 3 hour time limit.

Saturday 8/22. Bisons win 8-0 over Indians at Solon. Bisons score 7 in the second to put this game away early. John Jacob threw 7 innings of shut out ball, Tom Frey came in for relief and did the same, Bisons played error free ball best game of the year on offense and defense.

At Independence today, it was L&L winning over the Reds by a score of 12-10. L&L used three pitchers to keep the Reds in check. Greg Skrocki pitched well for the Reds while Roy Krall provided excellent relief work. The Reds stranded 13 runners on base which made the difference in the outcome of this game.

The Brewers met the Ballparkers for their doubleheader in a new setting for the league, the field at University School in Hunting Valley. The infield was well-manicured and the outfield grass was like a thick carpet. Just remember to bring extra balls to this field because when they go over the backstop they'll likely roll down into the ravine.

Gaglione pitched for the Ballparkers in the first game and dominated as the Ballparkers won, 12-8. Jeff Allison displayed a mastery of the mound for the Brewers in the second game, pitching the Brewers to a complete game 9-3 win, giving up only 4 hits and striking out 11 along the way. A split for the doubleheader seemed fitting as both teams made many outstanding baseball plays.

Winking Lizard won their morning game 15-4 (7 innings) against the Pirates. In the afternoon, they beat the Indians 19-5 (7 innings). Ray Carr, Paul Johnson, and Chuck Doehring pitched well in the first game and Joe Allanson led WL's hitting with 3 hits. In the second game Ray Carr and Paul Johnson pitched very well and Steve Farrington and Bob Rios led Lizard hitting with 3 hits each.

Wednesday 8/19. Behind 7 solid innings from Ed Lewis and 2 spectacular innings of relief pitching from Rich Barberic, the Reds prevail over the feisty Pirates by a final score of 12-3 at Euclid under the lights Wednesday evening. The Reds jumped to an early lead and then sailed home on the solid defense behind starter Ed Lewis. Rich Barberic came in to pitch the 8th and 9th innings and struck out five of the final six batters to capture the flag from the Pirate ship.

Tuesday 8/18. It was another beautiful night for baseball under the lights Tuesday at Euclid as the Brewers faced the Legends in their only meeting this year. The Brewers were able to out-hit their mistakes and ended up on top, 18-8, in the seven-inning game. Wayne Creasap, Jerry Popiel and Brian Bartuccio each contributed 4 hits while Jeff Allison had the 5-hit category all to himself. Joe Killen and Jerry Popiel shared the pitching duties for the Brewers while Jim Smith and Mike Radey manned the mound for the Legends. As much work as it has been to reschedule all the rainouts, playing under the lights has turned out to be a side benefit of all the weather problems earlier in the season.

Saturday 8/15 In the first game at Euclid, Reds win in 7 innings behind Ed Lewis' excellent pitching. Final score, Reds 14, Brewers, 3. A shortage of pitching caught up to The Brewers in this game, lasting seven innings. The Reds were pleased to get an early start over to Stafford for the second game of their doubleheader. Highlights? Well it wasn't the 15 walks the Brewers gave up in the first five innings, proving that throwing strikes is the best way to keep your defense on their toes. Matt Popiel is a late addition to the Brewers depleted roster and had 2 RBI in the first inning. At some point this season, The Brewers may feature an all-Popiel outfield and still have six more brothers who haven't migrated over to hardball yet.

In the 2nd game at Berea, Roy Krall goes 6 strong innings for the Reds, but gets no run support against a terrific pitching and defensive effort by Steve's Sports. Rick Siebert throws a 7 inning shutout and the final score was 13-0, Steve's over the Reds.

Indians whooped the Legends 21 to 11. Steve's got two, dominating over Arcs and Reds.

Bisons and A's are becoming a classic rivalry with the close games in the last few years. It doesn't get any closer than the 3-2 Bisons victory over the A's today at Bay's early game. The A's dropped the second game exhausted by the heat of Avon's dirt infield and handed the Lumber & Lightning a 11-1 run rule victory.

Bisons win over Pirates 14-3 in 7 innings in the second game at Bay. The Ballparkers won 15-0 in the first game at Avon. Bob Yuzwa, after “Wally Pipping” Ballparkers All-Star catcher last week, “Wally Pipped” the entire pitching staff by throwing a 3 hit shutout Saturday. It was a great team effort by the Ballparkers as all but one player had a hit, all but one player scored a run, and all but two players had RBI’s.

Thursday. In the rematch between the Brewers and the Pirates at Euclid this week, the tables were turned as the Pirates came out on top, 11-8. This time it was the Brewers who were shorthanded. Dave Sansone filled in admirably on the mound and left with the score tied 6-6 in the sixth inning. Wayne Creasap contributed 4 hits and Gerry Markovic had 3 hits in the losing effort for the Brewers. One thing both teams shared was a growing list of injuries. Hopefully, these will all be minor and both teams can continue to play respectably the rest of the way.

Week 13

Saturday 8/8

On an overcast Greater Cleveland day that was threatening and sprinkling for most of it, the Indians Terry Kozak goes the distance for the win, Indians 3 - A's 1. Kozak had 9 K's and 3 BB. Suydam and Ciani led the way with 2 hits each. Game was tied at 1 after the first inning and 2 runs in the third for the Indians ended up being the margin of victory. Jeff Hannon had 3 of the A's 9 hits. A's Joe Suvak pitched well with only 2 earned runs. Lee Koch had 2 hits, a run and Jerry Lomunro and Curt Witchey slammed a couple doubles. The Indians second game was 2-1 loss as a makeup with the Ballparkers who forced an error in the third inning. That opened the door as the Ballparkers scored two runs to take the lead. Boodjeh started for the Indians who were led by Angelo who went 2-3 and knocked in their only run. Game was called after the fifth and was a complete game.

The Brewers were happy to get the game in today before the rain came. The Lumber & Lightning were even happier as they triumphed 7-3 today. L & L's pitcher Mark Niemi was hitting his spots all day and The Brewers must have used up most of their weekly allotment of runs in Thursday's game. The injury bug was in season too with several Brewers running into hamstring and quadriceps issues (this is an old man's league?). Jeff Allison hobbled out a double pretty much on one leg in one of the few high spots today. The Brewers took this opportunity to start lining up their pitching rotation, looking forward to seven games still to go in August.

The Mighty Bisons win 11-4 over the Arcs. Bisons only needed the six runs they posted in the top of the third to seal the deal. John Jacob muscled through 7 innings giving up only one earned run. Tom Frey threw two in relief and contributed 3 hits along with John (the mad Italian) Maroli who also banged out 3 hits.

A's and L&L had the game stopped in the 4th by field conditions, with the score being tied 2-2 on the unlikely basestealing of home by Manager Fiebig who broke on Manager Bodnar's throw to second. Unfortunately, the effort will not count as the game will be rescheduled.

Also, the rain stopped the second game of a doubleheader at Eastlake's Classic Park in the first inning with the Reds and Pirates. In the 10am game at Classic Park it was Ballparkers 5 and Winking Lizard 4. Chris Agresta pitches a complete game. Michael DiMino goes 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored. Jeff Nischwitz goes 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s.

Ballparkers win 2-1 over Indians at Solon in 5 innings. Pitcher Rob Gaglione battled while feeling "under the weather" on a rainy afternoon. Gaglione managed to hold the Indians to only one run. Catcher Bob Yuzwa threw out the tying run at second on a steal attempt for the second out of the last inning.

Thursday 8/6

The Brewers and The Pirates played their first makeup game under the lights and under a full moon in Euclid last night. Neither team had their usual starting pitchers so there were some long innings with The Brewers eventually outscoring The Pirates 26-11 in seven innings. These two teams know each other pretty well and thought they knew the hitters tendencies but nothing is ever predictable in baseball. Jerry Popiel pitched the final three innings for The Brewers and stood out at the plate, going 6 for 6. Mike Prendergast went the distance for The Pirates and added an RBI single in his first at bat. These two teams are looking forward to their rematch next Thursday. Pirates Manager Bryan Freeman blamed those, "darn A's, for using up Cooper's arm" on Tuesday. He said, "Last night may have been the most fun game of the year, besides, of course, the one that we won."

Tuesday 8/4

The A's and Pirates made up a July rainout on a perfect night in Euclid. The Pirates J. Cooper started the game and was effective on the hill as well as providing some pop in the way of a two run blast to center field in the third off A's Jerry Lomurno. Lomurno stayed in command to pick up another win, however, as the A's offense crossed the plate for 19 runs. The Pirates battled back in the top of the seventh to avert a run rule, but the 3 hour time limit ended the game with the A's up 19-11. Jeff Hannon hit 3 for 4, pounded in 3 RBI's had 3 stolen bases and a walk in his debut as lead off. Bob Bleck and Art Hansen scored 3 runs each. Ed Ault hammered a triple. Mario Lozada made his first appearance and pitched in relief but it was Joe Suvak who got the final out.

Two more weeknight games are planned for the next two Thursdays featuring the Pirates.

Week 12 (8/1)

Arcs 9 Indians 1. Arcs continue to play good fundamental baseball and boast a 8-2 record. They got great pitching from Tletski. Meanwhile, the Indians continue to struggle at the plate this season. The Solon game featured Boodjeh starting his first game in two years and he settled in after the first inning.

At Brecksville, the A's faced a debut from a 15-year layoff from Legends pitcher Jeff Klominek. Klominek pitcher a solid game and went the distance, but the A's played solid defense and had good production from the middle of the lineup. A's Lee Koch - who now pronounces his name like the former mayor of New York - had four hits including two triples, four runs, and three stolen bases. Joe Suvak hurled eight strong innings for the win. Dave Fiebig and John Robinson each had two hits. Fiebig also scored twice. The A's were coasting but the scrappy Legends came back in the bottom of the ninth to within one run until Dave Hugo shut the door on the mound for the final out. A's 11, Legends 10.

Lumber and Lightning took the sails out of the Pirates ship with a 16 to 6 run rule seven-inning contest in Independence.

After the monsoon month of July, the Brew Crew opened the 2009-1/2 season with a 7-2 win over the Winking Lizard at Avon Schwartz Park. Mike Valenti pitched six innings of 2-hit, one-run ball for the Brewers and Jeff Allison did the same over the final three innings.

Alas, the Brewers didn't have much pitching - or hitting - left after the trek to Stafford Field to meet Steve's Sports. The Brewers lost the second game of their West to East doubleheader 15-0 to Steve's Sport's team. Frank Popiel, manager of the Brewers, felt like it's a whole new season for the Brewers. He also commented on the new field GCAB will be using, "Personally, I liked the Avon Field (at Schwartz Park). Some don't like a dirt infield but it was well-groomed and solid. I didn't see a single errant bounce the entire day. I think it'll be fine for more games."

The Reds returned to action Saturday and very much looked like a team that had not played baseball in 5 weeks, commented Bruce Goldstein, manager. The layoff and rust when combined with the excellent play by the Ballparkers resulted in the Reds dropping two games to the Ballparkers.

Also at Stafford was Steve's Sports besting the Bisons 9-2. According to Don Kleinhenz, the Bisons are the Mighty Bisons when they win, and when they lose are called Bison Burgers.

WEEK 11 (7/25)

In this week's soggy action, it was Steve's Sports 11, Indians 0. Schubert pitched a great game that was moved from Solon back to Stafford due to the weather. In another late field move because of weather, it was the Ballparkers 7 over Lumber & Lightning's 5 in Ashtabula. Player of the week goes to Bill Bodnar for being at the field in Ashtabula at 7:30am and working on it until noon so we were able to play today. Thanks Bill, for your diligent efforts to allow us to play ball.

Brecksville managed to host two games, the second was actually a makeup from the season's first week. In the first game, it was the Bay Bisons 13 over the Legends 2. The makeup was also dominated by the Bisons with a 17-4 win, which boosted them into a 3-way tie for third place with the Indians and Reds, who were idled by rain as were the Winking Lizard, A's, Pirates, Brewers and Arcs.

The league is continuing to work with managers and field representatives to play all the games on the schedule. The amount of rainouts is unprecedented.

Week 10 (7/18)

The only game played this week due to rain was a classic pitcher's duel between Winking Lizard's right hander Roy Carr and Arcs lefty Paul Tletski. The game was 1-0 Arcs going into the eighth when the bottom of the Arcs order began a five hit, two run inning to give Tletski a 3 run cushion. The Arcs pushed across another run in the ninth to make the final 4-0 . Planisek (2-4, 1R) and Speidel (2-3) of the Arcs were the only players with multiple hits for either team. Tletski gave up 4 hits, no walks and threw 90 pitches in the shutout. Carr gave up 3 earned runs, 9 hits and 2 walks in a strong 9 inning performance.

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Many rainouts have been re-scheduled. Please look at our schedule and make sure that the dates/times and all are correct. We still need to schedule the 7/11 week and are planning on looking into weeknight or Saturday doubleheaders for those dates. We will try to get a full 9 inning game in on a weeknight. With a 6pm start and on-off the field hustle we can get it in.

We have had to extend the season for one week to fit the 6/20 makeup into the 8/29 slot.

Week 9

After a week off with the Greater Cleveland weather as the arch-nemesis of hardball fans, week 9 saw a sluggish game in Euclid that was called due to the 3 hour time limit rule. Lumber & Lightning ran up 8 runs to shock the first place Arc's 3 runs in 8 innings.

Also in Euclid, final score in 7 innings: Reds 14, A's 3. Roy Krall throws a 4 hitter and Ed Lewis pitches a perfect 7th to seal the deal for the Reds. Reds played very good defensive baseball against a tenacious A's team that stayed in the game making the game tighter than the score appeared. A's Lee Koch shows off his best tumbling skills with an outstanding defensive grab to keep it close through 5 innings, but the A's bats were given an F in the 6th and 7th. Costly errors to led the A's flop.

Indians saw one of the best pitchers they've seen all year at Solon, but he paid the price for the Indians first half funk, as the bats finally came alive in a 21 hit Indians rout of the Pirates 16-0. Cooper, the Pirates pitcher, had 11 strikeouts. Russo almost matched Cooper with 10 strikeouts and threw a complete game shutout. Suydam with 4 hits and Kozak and Kitson with three hits each led the attack. Cosentino, Christian, Flickinger, Holub, and Boodjeh contributed with 2 hits each.

Steve's Sports - 12 Winking Lizard - 0 at Maple's Stafford Field to tighten up the race at the top. Legends knocked off the Ballparkers 10 - 9 for the Legends first victory of the year. The game was played at Orchard School in Solon - a late change to keep the schedule intact since the Lutheran West field was underwater from Thursday's downpour. Legend's Mike Radey was the starting pitcher and earned the victory, going 7 1/3 innings. Darrell Roehl finished to pick up the save.

After the rainout week, it appeared the pitchers are ahead of the hitters. Good pitching and defense were the story of the day at Bay High today: Bisons 4, Brewers 2.

Have a Happy Independence Day and weekend off. We celebrate Baseball, Mom and Apple Pie! Who said "Good Ballplayers make Good Citizens" while hosting the Cleveland Forest Cities at the White House Answer some trivia

Week 7

Arcs 6, Brewers 5. After a rough first inning, Jeff Allison pitched a complete game gem. The score was tied 5-5 from the 4th through the bottom of the 9th until the Arcs scratched out the winning run with two outs.

Reds 20, Indians 4. Reds score 5 in the first and 6 in the second to put things away early. Red's Rich Barberic hits a grand slam, triple and 2 doubles to help power the Reds to victory. Roy Krall pitches 5 1/3 innings of 4 run baseball. John Toth comes in to close the door.

The Pirates ended their 20 straight game losing streak by winning their first game in their expansion history with a hard fought 16-6 win after 7innings over the Legends. Joe Cooper pitched a gem for the Pirates, as did Tom Guggenbiller for the Legends. The final score is not indicative of just how close and hard fought this game truly was.

Both teams were matching pitch for pitch, hit for hit, run for run, and defensive play for defensive play with the Pirates clinging to a 5-3 lead going into the 6th.   But, then Pirate's pitcher Joe Cooper's massive blast to the wall in left with the bases loaded blew the game wide open.  "This victory was a total team effort, with all 12 Pirates contributing," reported Pirates catcher Jim Tellep.. Along with Joe Cooper was Bryan Freeman, Scott Roder, George Cappotto, and Dennis Polke all contributing with clutch hitting.   Also, 3b Rick Vance and 2b Dan Lanese making defensive gems that helped seal the deal.

John Erne, Mike Radey, Tom Guggenbiller, and the veteran's veteran, Russ Pollina, as well as his son, all contributed to the Legends attack. Pollina's with a shot over 3d that scored a run in the Legends last at bat with 2 out and 2 on in their never-say-die attempt at a comeback.    The Legends were also the victims of a very high, very blue sky that made trying to catch the small white ball hit in the air impossible.

This marks the end of a very long, hard struggle for the expansion Pirates into the victory circle. Dennis Polke was speechless following the game. "I love these guys", was all that he could muster, fighting back the tears.   It also marks the team's first venture out of the cellar in the standings. They will take confidence into Classic Park next Saturday against an always very tough opponent, the Bisons. However, for the next six days, the Pirates and their fans, will be all smiles.

Ballparkers beat out A's 4-3 in a great game. Reminiscent of "Casey at the Bat", Fiebig had the final chance - a top of the ninth bases loaded, full count...and swung and.... Somewhere in this favored land, today Euclid, next week somewhere else... there must be joy, and laughing ....but mighty Fiebig had struck out.

NEWS FLASH: BISONS WIN 7-4 over first place Winking lizard to bump them from the top seed. Bisons BROKE open the SCORE OF 4--4 WITH ONE IN THE 7TH AND ADDED INSURANCE RUNS[2] IN THE 9TH. JOHN JACOB GAVE UP NO RUNS IN 4AND A THIRD OF RELIEF. Arcs take over FIRST PLACE!

Week 6

Classic Park in Eastlake was the site for Lumber & Lightning's stop of the Indians five game win streak with a 6 to 5 upset. Lightning manager Bill Bodnar scored the winning run on a base hit by Kelly McConnell with two outs in the bottom of the 9th. The Indians struggled to score runs as they left 16 men on base and left the bases loaded in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings. Indians are now 5-1 and L&L jump to 4-2 on the season.

Also at Classic, in the 2nd game, the A's got hot early with a four run first against the Brewers. The A's never looked back with a commanding nine run 7th that was too much for the Brewers, who have recently added a few new players and fresh faces. Surely this will bring about helping solidify this first year franchise. A's Dave Fiebig 3 RBI's, Curt Witchey scored 3 runs, Joe Suvak had two hits and pitched great, Jerry Lomurno' s pinch hit double warning track and one bounce off the wall knocked in 2 runs. Final in nine innings was 15-4.

Special thanks to Lucy Matz, sports intern from WEWS TV5, announcer of both games and to performances of the national anthem by vocalists Bridget Chebo and Tracy Phillips - an outstanding job all. Also, the staff of the Classic Park was tremendous with their helpfulness throughout the day.

Bisons 10, Reds 9. Bisons win in the bottom of the 9th after clawing their way back from a 7 to 1 deficit in the 4th inning.

In other action, it was Steve's Sports offense posting 21 against the Ballparkers 5. Arcs popped for 19 runs over the Pirates 6 in seven inning run rule. A balanced hitting attack by the Arcs broke open a competitive game in the fifth.

Week 5

The rains drowned out two games this week, but four games were able to play at Euclid and Bay. Final score in 9 innings, L&L 7, Reds 5. Thunderbolt Bill Bodnar throws out Rob Stahler on a magnificent throw and tag by the second baseman marking the first time Stahler has been thrown out stealing in 5 years. L&L pitchers held the Reds to 5 scattered runs in a great ballgame on a great ball field.

Indians put 3 on the board in the second inning and never looked back. Stewart with 3 hits and 4 SB, Kitson 2 hits and Cosentino' s 2 RBI's led the offense. Indians still struggling to score as they left 13 men on base.

Arcs beat Legends 13-6. The Arcs broke open a close 4-3 game in the 6th with 5 runs. The Arcs first 3 hitters (Crann, Planisek and Elliott) all had 3 hit games to pace the ARCS.

Week 4

Brewers v. Reds. Final score in 9 innings, Reds 12, Brewers 6. Krall, Lewis and Skrocki combine to hold Brewers to 6 runs.

Bisons beat A's 7-4. The A's went up early with 2 runs in the first. With a pulled hamstring by Art Hansen and a last minute no-show by one of their players, the A's played with only 8 men on this Memorial Weekend that had 4 regulars out of town. The fact that the game was close through 7 innings was testament to the determination of the A's Baseball Club, but the Bay Bisons took advantage of the lack of a right fielder to score two in the 7th to break a tie and never look back. Joe Suvak went the complete game on the mound and pitched effectively considering the diminished defense. A's welcomed back John Robinson off the DL who drove in the first two runs. Rick Eder added an RBI and Suvak, Fiebig, and Hugo had 2 hits each.

Legends scored first against the Indians and led after 2 innings 2-1. They held the lead at 3-1 going into the bottom of the 8th as the Indians could only scratch out 3 hits through the first seven innings. As it has been the last three weeks, the 8th inning was key as Indians scored 2 in the 8th inning to tie it. With one out in the bottom of the 9th, Dave Boodjeh won it with a single to center to score Holub.

Russ Pollina decided to retire as the Manager of the Legends. He posted thirty-seven collective years as a manager of a softball team and the Legends in the GCAB league.

He made it official with Legends team this weekend. He appointed John Erne as the Legends' Manager for the remainder of 2009.

Ballparkers 13-1 over Pirates in 8 innings was the final.

Arcs beat Steve's 4-3. Tletski pitched a complete game, giving up only 2 earned runs, The Arc defense made only 1 error and the Arcs scored what proved to be the winning runs in the bottom of the eighth on hits by Lindberg (61), Speidel (58) and Planisek (59). Those numbers are their ages, not IQs.

Week 3

Arcs took advantage of a couple of errors early to lead 2-1 after the 1st inning, but the Indians awoke from their funk by scoring 2 in the 3rd, 4th and 6th innings and 1 in the 8th to win 8-4. Cosentino and Kozak led the Indians with three hits each. Christian and Stevens had two hits. Cosentino and Stevens had triples in the 6th to pace the Indians.
In the Lumber & Lightning / Pirates matchup, Eric Wilburn banged out 3 hits scored twice and drove in 2 runs for L&L while Brian O'Dell had 3 hits and scored 3 times and drove in 2 runs. Mark Niemi also had two hits including a bases loaded triple.
Paul Kobayashi, Marty Cole and Paul Filzer also added 2 hits each as the lightning downed the Pirates.

The A's won 22-2 with over the Legends as the players for the victors came together and played like the experienced team that they are after two weeks of "extended spring training:" a said interim coach Bob Bleck filling in for out-of-towner Fiebig. Art Hansen went 6 for 6 in a slug fest. Jerry Lomurno, last year's winningist pitcher for the A's pitched well and everyone contributed to the sweet first victory of the year.

It rained hard for 5 minutes and LW. did its impersonation of a lake. The game was rained out in the third inning with the Reds at bat. Game will be replayed from the beginning when the league reschedules it.

Week 2

Steve's Sports won 19-0 over the Legends. Jim Schubert pitched a no-hitter.

Final Score in 8 innings was Reds 12, Pirates 2 (run rule). Roy Krall, Ed Lewis and John Toth combine for no earned runs allowed..

A's jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Indians battled back to tie it 3-3 in the second and finally went ahead in the top of the 8th by scoring 4 runs to take a 7-4 lead. A's came back to score 2 in the bottom of the 8th with what proved to be the final score 7-6. Kozak (triple) and Kitson (double) came through with big hits to spark the two Indian rallies. Dave Fiebig led his team by hitting 4 for 4 with 4 RBIs. Art Hansen scored three of the A's runs, and contributed 2 hits. Bob Bleck also hit a couple safely. Joe Suvak pitched well in the middle four innings and retired the side each time.

The field at Ashtabula was in nice shape. The Brewers could only get 8 players there Saturday and played 7 innings, lost to the Lumber & Lightning 12-1.

Winking Lizard 14 Ballparkers 13.

The Arcs, behind a 4 for -5 ( 3 RBIs 2 Runs) day from center fielder John Elliott, outscored the Bisons for a 12-8 win. The ARCs registered their first win in their 13-year franchise history against the perennial league powerhouse Bay Bisons.

Ashtabula Star Beacon article Young at Heart.

Week 1

Steve's Sports and the Indians opened the GCAB season with a well played game. Steve's Sports hit the ball hard but right at people as the Indians defense held their own by playing errorless baseball. Suydam, Cosentino, Christian and Kitson had two hits each as the Indians scored a run in the 1st, 3rd and 7th innings to win 3-0. Indians feel fortunate to have played well and won but know that Steve's Sports will be ready for them in the rematch later this season.

                           R   H   E
Indians                 3   10 0
Steve's Sports       0    4 1

Suydam 2-3, 2b, BB, SB, R; Cosentino 2-4 2 SB, R; Christian 2-3, BB, RBI; Kitson 2-4, RBI

Russo CG, 6 K's, BB

Arc's Give A's an L It was a sloppy game, both managers agreed, as the Arcs and A's combined for about 10 errors between the two teams. The bright midday sun did not help either team trying to navigate high flys. It seemed like spring training did not exist for the two clubs as the Arcs jolted the A's for a 15-9 win in a time limited 8 inning game. A's jumped out 4-0 in the first hen gave away 8 runs by the 4th. The Arcs exploded for 6 runs in the long 6th inning and the A's clawed back with 3 runs.

League Meeting: Classic Park to Host GCAB

Jeff Gates from the Lake County Captains attended the April 18th board meeting to present an opportunity to have the Greater Cleveland Adult Baseball league play up to six regular and post season games at the minor league facility named Classic Park in Eastlake. "It would be awesome to play there", said Bryan Freeman new board member and GM for the Pirates who assumed duties from Dennis Polke.

The league strives to play at quality fields, cited Commissioner and A's manager Dave Fiebig. " The Classic Park is a first rate field in the area, bar none. It was a pleasure to work with Jeff to make this a reality for our players."

Playing on a minor league is nice but not that special according to Bill Russo, manager of the Indians. "For those of us that play in Florida and elsewhere in tournaments, we use this kind of park all the time." He commented however that he is looking forward to a great experience at the Captains facility. GCAB has several players with professional experience and many who have played at the college level. Nice parks are almost expected among the league.

Still, with high school games being played in May, fields become difficult to get. Bill Bodnar, league secretary in charge of scheduling, told the board of the difficulties. "May 9th came down to two fields we would normally not use." Fiebig asked the managers to tell their players to bear with the league that week and remember Classic Park.

Also new this year is the Berea High School field. This renovated park should be one of the nicest fields in the area and the league is looking forward to playing there. Lutheran West' s diamond has undergone an upgrade and the reports have been positive.

The 2009 schedule was approved and is posted here.

Saturday, March 14th held at Willoughby Hills Community Center. Season opener May 2nd.

The March meeting of the hardball league was mainly focused on fields that could be available for play, especially during the month of May. GCAB is looking for new fields that are good quality and available at an affordable rate. 12 teams are set for this season with league fees having been provided to guarantee a spot for 2009. A minor rule change was voted on to limit the bat size to -3, and a vote to keep the wood or wood composite only rule and not allow aluminum handled wood bats was passed. Final preseason meeting is April 18th at 9am at 33977 Chardon's Law Office conference room.

Spring training suggestions from Radey:

Ballplayers: If you guys are looking for a winter place to take a few swings, consider spending your batting cage time with a facility that supports our league through advertising:

The winter meetings were held Saturday, February 7th at 9am. The board of directors elected the three league officers for the year. Returned to office for another year are President and Commissioner David Fiebig, and Mike Radey as Treasurer. Assuming the duties of Secretary is Bill Bodnar. Other business discussed included the introduction of a new team managed by Frank Popiel of last year's Pirates and formerly with the A's. His team will be named the Brewers. The Pirates will continue under Dennis Polke aided by Jim Tellep.

Arbitration Mediation Board created; Courtesy runner thrown out.

The league has created a board that can hear appeals about team situations directly from the players. This body is created to maintain stability throughout the league and to keep players from simply splitting into new teams which creates less competitive situation while teams regroup. Their goal will be to offer assistance with genuine problems with team leadership and direction, and offer support to players to continue to play in the league in the sprit in which it was developed. This will also mean that teams cannot come into the league without prior approval.

Some rules were changed this season, with the runner in mind. Courtesy runners had always been in place offering managers a competitive advantage by inserting speedsters. Now, with only one exception or line sharing can a player be taken out without the usual baseball rules applying. Letter to the Players

Joining the League

The League is always accepting applications for players. The league will make every attempt to move players to team rosters as is possible, or develop a waiting list. You must turn 38 years old by the end of each year to be eligible. There is no maximum age. Please reply to 440-585-4433 or email.