Hello,





My name is Frank Moffett and I am the scorekeeper for the Chelten softball team. After each and every Chelten game, I prepare a recap of the events of the game from the prayer requests before the game begins through the events of every game. I was asked to be the scorekeeper for this game; and to prepare a recap along the lines of what every player on the Chelten team receives, as long as they have e-mail. What follows is the recap for the game.





There were no prayer requests for this game. However, as you know if you read the website, Dave Johnson from Riverside Blue was unable to attend the game as a family emergency arose as he was on his way to the game. We hope that the emergency situation has been resolved. If not, pray for Dave and his family during this time that the situation will be resolved.





Now we move to the recap itself. Unlike the regular season games, which are only 7 innings, this was a 9 inning affair. All fourteen batters were in the lineup, although only 10 players played the field at any one time.





The Chelten side, as losers of the championship series, was the visiting team. Jon Culver led off the game by singling to left field on the first pitch of the game. Chas Kullman was a little more patient, hitting a double to right center. An error on the play by the short fielder allowed Jon to score and Chas to advance to third. Bud Broadhag then hit a sacrifice fly to short field to give the Chelten led squad a 2 – 0 lead. Drew Watson must have thought he was on the golf course as he hit a 56 degree wedge shot to the shortstop for the second out. It was the first of many such hits by all of the all stars in this game. Tim Stonehouse lined out to center to end the top of the first. The score was 2 – 0 at this time.



Hans Mueller led off the bottom of the first inning by lining a single to left field on the second pitch that he saw. Rob Lyons popped out to short field for the first out of the inning. Dave Watson was walked on four pitches. Stefan Mueller lined out to left field for the second out. On the play, both runners advanced one base putting them on at second and third respectively. But Josh Tyson popped out to the pitcher Scott McMullan for the last out of the inning. The score after one complete was Blue 2 Red 0.



Blue looked to extend their lead in the second inning. Todd Little did his part by leading off the inning with a single to left center. John Burkholder grounded out to Stefan Mueller for the first out. Todd advanced to second on the play. Pat Hargan knocked in his teammate by singling to left center, making the lead 3 – 0 Blue. Bill Steiger lined out on a very nice play to Jim Vogel for the second out of the inning. Scott McMullan reached base on an error by Stefan Mueller to put runners at first and second. Brian Young of Riverside squeezed Scott at second on a fielder’s choice Stefan to Jim Vogel to end the inning.



It was noted throughout that there are a lot of pull hitters in the league as Stefan Mueller was going after many balls in the shortstop position.



Dave Gullotti led off the bottom of the second with a walk. Steve Staedtler worked a 3 – 0 count before Scott McMullan came back with three straight strikes for his first strikeout of the game. Bart Richards hit an infield single to short, which put runners on first and second. Dan Tyson knocked in Red’s first run of the game with a single to right center. Jim Vogel popped out to right field and Drew Watson hollered that the ball was his and he made the catch for the second out. Finally, Dave Eckert popped out to second base to end the threat and the inning. The score after two complete was Blue 3 Red 1.



Frank Malfi started the top of the third by grounding out to Stefan Mueller at short. Kevin Chandler lined a clean single to right but was squeezed on a fielder’s choice by Thomas MacFarland. Jon Culver was the recipient of a single due to a bad hop towards short but the inning ended as he too was forced at second on Chas Kullman’s fielder’s choice.



Red evened the score in the bottom of the third. Rob Meyhoefer led off the inning by striking out. Matt Weidner walked. Frank Konzelman struck out as well for the second out. Good teams though respond with two outs and that is what happened here. Hans Mueller worked a walk out of Scott McMullan before Rob Lyons hit a single to left field. Rob advanced on the play as a throw was made to another base. Dave Watson had an infield single to the third baseman which knocked in the second run. Stefan Mueller hit into a fielder’s choice Culver to Steiger (short to second) for the last out. But the damage was done and the score was tied at 3. Three in fact was wild as the inning just completed was also three.



In our recaps it is frequently said that a good team is able to score after being scored upon during the opponents previous at bat. That is what Blue was up against here. Bud Broadhag started the top of the fourth by reaching base on an error by the shortstop. Drew Watson was up next and hit a ball to left center field. Rob Lyons made a diving attempt to catch the ball but came up short. The ball bounded away in the outfield; which allowed Drew Watson to score on a two run home run to regain the lead. Tim Stonehouse followed this up by getting a four pitch walk. Todd Little recorded the first out of the inning by popping out to short. John Burkholder came up and had an infield single. Pat Hargan singled to left to load the bases. Bill Steiger hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Steve Staedtler which extended Blue’s lead to 6 – 3. Scott McMullan ended the top of the fourth by popping out to center field.



The lead would be short lived. Josh Tyson led off the inning by hitting a line drive double to left field. Dave Gulloti followed with an infield single. Steve Staedtler slapped a single to right field to close the gap to 6 – 4. Bart Richards would fly out to center field for out number 1. Dan Tyson fouled out to the first baseman. The runner on first, Steve Staedtler, couldn’t seem to get out of the way of the first baseman and it seemed like the umpire would have called interference had the catch not been made. Jim Vogel hit a two run double to left center to tie the score. Jim advanced to third on the throw to the plate. Dave Eckert grounded out to short stop to end the inning. But the score remained tied at 6 through four complete innings.



The fifth inning started off with a very nice defensive play. This is something else that is touted in the recaps. Bryan Young grounded out to second baseman Jim Vogel. The infield was very hard as not much rain has fallen of late. Jim had a bad hop come at him but he was in good defensive position to have the ball hit off his chest and not go anywhere; which allowed him to throw to first for the out. Frank Malfi followed with a single to left field. Kevin Chandler forced Frank at second; short to second. Thomas MacFarland hit an infield single to Stefan Mueller who was getting the lion’s share of the action in the field. With two on and two out, Jon Culver hit a bad hop single to left. Again the ball hit the ground and came up very high for the third baseman to handle. But Kevin Chandler rounded third in an attempt to score. The subsequent throw to the plate short hopped catcher Frank Konzelman which allowed the run to score. Chas Kullman had a two run single; advancing to second on a throw to another base. Bud Broadhag had a single to left to add another run before Drew Watson forced Drew out at second on an unassisted play by Stefan Mueller. The score was now Blue 10 Red 6.



Red went down quickly in their half of the fifth. Rob Meyhoefer grounded out to third for the first out. Matt Weidner flew out to center field for the second out. However, Matt fouled off one pitch that was heading towards the fans who had camped out underneath the tree at Mondauk # 2. Frank Konzelman showed that chivalry is not dead by protecting the fans and making the play. Unfortunately that good deed turned into the second strikeout of the day as that is how Frank ended the fifth inning.



Tim Stonehouse started off the sixth inning by using a 56 degree lob wedge in popping out to second base. Todd Little hit a home run to center field to add to Blue’s lead. John Burkholder singled to left and was forced out at second when Pat Hargan hit into a fielders choice third to second. A little discussion occurred as Blue’s players thought the ball was being bobbled by the second baseman but the umpire would not hear the plea. Finally Bill Steiger followed his teammates lead by using the 56 degree wedge for his foul out to the pitcher. The score was now Blue 11 Red 6.



Bryan Young started his second inning in relief of Scott McMullan. Again the Red team went down in order. Hans Mueller lined out to Tim Stonehouse. Rob Lyons then hit a ball to the outfield. Frank Malfi, Tim Stonehouse and Jon Culver converged in the outfield. Although Frank Malfi called off his teammates, Tim Stonehouse made the catch for the second out of the inning. Dave Watson was retired on a ground out to the third baseman.



Scott McMullan led off the top of the seventh inning by lining out to Dave Watson in left field. Bryan Young popped out to the third baseman for the second out. Frank Malfi singled to left field before the inning ended when Kevin Chandler struck out.



Red was able to draw closer in the bottom of the seventh. Stefan Mueller doubled to left center. Josh Tyson hit the ball to Jon Culver who tried to look the runner back to second before making the throw to first. The throw was late so there were runners on first and second with no outs as a result of the fielder’s choice single. Dave Gullotti was up next and he hit the ball right back to Bryan Young. Bryan stopped the ball from going any further but didn’t pick up the ball when it went into the air. The result was that the bases were loaded with no outs. Steve Staedtler knocked in two runs with a single to left field. Bart Richards popped out to center field for the first out. Dan Tyson hit a sacrifice fly to right field; allowing the third run to score. An error on the throw allowed the other runners to advance. Jim Vogel ended the inning by flying out to center field. But the score was closer – Blue 13 Red 9.



Blue could not add to their lead in the top of the eighth. Thomas MacFarland hit a foul ball towards the fans behind the tree. While the ball was caught up in the tree, the standard heads up plea was given to all in the area. Thomas’ manager Ross Brightwell was enjoying the game even as the ball landed about 3 inches from him. Calls were made to Ross to see if he was alive. Comments were made to check Ross’ pulse or to shock him to see if he was alive. Ross, in turn, mentioned something about talking to lawyers had he been hit. It was all in good fun of course. Thomas popped out to second for the first out. Jon Culver flew out to center for the second out. Chas Kullman hit a single to left center. Bud Broadhag, who would have been the next batter, had to leave earlier in the game. Under normal circumstances, when his spot in the lineup arose, an out would be recorded. By agreement of both managers, the scorekeeper was allowed to play. Enough warning was given so that the batter would be prepared. A clean single to left was recorded. Chas was caught off of second base though and was the third out of the inning. In a true show of sportsmanship, three players from the scorekeeper’s home church – Rob Lyons, Rob Meyhoefer and Bart Richards shook the scorekeeper’s hand. Other players followed suit. It was appreciated.



In the bottom of the eighth, not much happened. Dave Eckert popped out to the pitcher. Rob Meyhoefer grounded out to Jon Culver at short. Matt Weidner walked before Frank Konzelman popped out to first for the last out. The score was now Blue 11 Red 9 with the climactic ninth inning still to go.



Drew Watson led off the top of the ninth inning by hitting a line drive to the first baseman. At first glance, Drew took the Jimmy Rollins approach by not running the ball out. But, once the ball was dropped, and it was well hit, Drew picked up the pace. The second baseman went to cover the bag and ball, second baseman and Drew all arrived at the same time. Drew won the battle and was awarded a single. Tim Stonehouse hit an RBI double. Todd Little lined out to the center fielder for the first out of the ninth. John Burkholder popped out to shortstop Stefan Mueller on a very nice over the shoulder catch for the second out. Pat Hargan hit a pop up that looked like it would be the final out of the inning. But, a COD convention occurred as Rob Meyhoefer, Frank Konzelman and Bart Richards came close to colliding trying to catch the ball but the ball fell to the ground. Pat had new life and used that to hit an RBI single to left center. Bill Steiger ended the top of the ninth when he lined out to the center fielder. Blue had padded their lead to 13 – 9. The only question is would it be enough of a lead?



Scott McMullan re-entered the game to close out what he had started. Hans Mueller flew out to center field for the first out. Rob Lyons checked his swing on a pitch that would have been strike three. Rob had the presence of mind to foul off the pitch which was not caught by Pat Hargan to get a second chance. Rob used this to his advantage by singling and center and advancing to second. Dave Watson flew out to left field for the second out. Things were looking good for the Blue team. Stefan Mueller put an end to the premature celebrating by tripling to left field. Josh Tyson liked what he saw and did likewise. Suddenly the score was 13 – 11 with a man on third and two outs. Red was not done though. Dave Gullotti singled to left center to make the score 13 – 12. Up to the plate strode Steve Staedtler. With Drew Watson playing off the line in right, Steve tried to take advantage of the defense and inside-outed a swing where the ball went towards right field. Dave Gullotti was running on the play and it appeared that the game would be tied. But Drew Watson had other ideas making a spectacular game ending catch. Blue had won the game 13 – 12.



The result of this game continued an interesting trend. Steve Staedtler stated that the winner of the championship has not been on the winning side of the All Star Game. This stat is now 3 – 3.



This concludes a very successful season. After the post season meeting takes place, one and all can relax until next April when this all starts up again.



Blue (Chelten) 210 341 002 – 13 22 0 11(LOB)

Red (Riverside) 012 300 033 – 12 17 3 9(LOB)





Respectfully submitted,



Frank Moffett

Cheten Scorekeeper





PS – No I do not have a life or a wife. It doesn’t show does it?



Questions or comments may be made to fmoffett@kahnandco.com



Chelten players get this every game. The league has gotten this just once.

Frank -

Thank you for the summary. I think that's the most detail I've ever seen written-up for a game. Your attention to the finer points and things going on around the game is very much appreciated. Can you teach Ross how to do this

This was my first all-star game and it was a pleasure and a privilege to play with all of you and to meet some new friends.

Looking forward to April 2009!

Your Brother in Christ,
Frank Malfi (JTown)

Thanks Frank, and nice single too bad that bad baserunning cost you...

Frank, You did an A job on the recap!! You have a gift and Chelten is lucky to have you. Thanks for sharing your talents with the whole league in this. Well done!! Steve D