Baseball is real family affair for the Oehlers By TOM MOORE Roy Hobbs Baseball John Oehlers, 45, and dad Larry, 71, are playing in the over 28s this week together and have been on the same team for 17 years. Like father, like son, both are pitchers and one day they hope John s son, Joey, 10, will join Dad and Granddad on the same team. The duo is playing on the Harry Young Builders. And Larry is hoping to play all the way up to 70s this year. Neither he nor John have decided if they ll move up to the 38s next year. As for grandson Joey, Larry says he s a heck of a pitcher and hitter in the Little Leagues. Over the years the parent and son have given each other baseball tips. John says he s still trying to teach Dad how to pitch all these years. Photo by Tom Moore Dad started teaching John baseball when the son was 5 years old. John got a baseball scholarship to the University of Toledo and says he s never stopped playing baseball since. The whole family looks forward to Florida and the Roy Hobbs Series each year. They stay at Larry s home and grandmother provides the eats. She is a great booster of her baseball family, attending all the games and keeping score... And she s has nothing but praise for Harry Young, the patriarch of Harry Young Builders: He s fantastic. I can t thank him enough for all the things he s done over the years. And the Hobbs tournament came in for praise from the whole family, because here you can play ball for the rest of your life. Baseball is a big deal to the Oehlers Left to right: Kneeling, Joey Oehlers; Harry Young; Larry Oehlers, John Oehlers and Sandyl Oehlers. What incident stands out with them during their years together on the ball field? John, one day threw a double-header and wound up with 19 innings on the mound. Dad threw 7 innings and when asked could he go on, he replied: I ve got 12 more innings to catch my son! The two are hoping they can go another 20 years. 28s playoff pairings to be announced Wednesday evening The Open Division playoff pairings will be announced Wednesday evening at the Players Dinner at MacDaddy s On Daniels Parkway. The top 8 teams in the standings will advance to the AAAA playoffs, with the 7 remaining teams filling out the AAA double-elimination bracket. With 7 teams, there will be one first round bye, which will be determined by a draw. Teams eligible for the draw would be any team with at least 2 victories in pool play. Once the bye is determined, the rest of the bracket would be seeded by record and runs allowed, using the standard Roy Hobbs tiebreaker system. All playoff teams would be scheduled for 2 games Thursday, with the exception of teams getting the byes (1 first-round and a second in the first round of the losers bracket). see NOTEBOOK page 2
2 Notebook Monday s rain The PGS White Sox-UTEK Baseball game Monday night at City of Palms Stadium was postponed to Wednesday at 10 a.m., also of City of Palms, after isolated rainstorms rolled through Lee County, rendering City of Palms unplayable. Two games at Lee County were stopped after 8 innings by the rain, but fields 1-2-3 were not hit as hard at either the Stadium or Field 5, and both of those games were moved to field 3, where they were played to completion. Pittsburgh rallied for 2 runs in the 9 th to tie and 1 in the 10 th to defeat the Dominican Red Sox, while the Baltimore Bohsox held off the Okaloosa Slammers 5-2. The night game in Lee County Stadium started late but was completed with Cincinnati edging Okaloosa 4-3. Players Dinner The 2009 Players Dinner for the Open Division will be held Wednesday at MacDaddy s Grill & Pub. Roy Hobbs has reserved a number of spots for the dinner and can take 10-15 more reservations on Tuesday. The buffet begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at 8951 Daniels Parkway, which is halfway between Six Mile Cypress and I-75, on the north side of Daniels Parkway. The buffet will include a complimentary dinner bar including barbeque, chicken wings, potato salad, coleslaw and non-alcoholic drinks. A cash bar will be available. Reservations are available at World Series Headquarters (Lee County Sports Complex ticket office). Reserve your seat for a refundable $5 upon arrival Wednesday and presentation of your tournament ID, $5 will be refunded. Family members and friends may purchase tickets for this buffet; cost is $10 for an adults and $5 for children 6-12. see NOTEBOOK page 3
3 Notebook Drink water It appears that this week s hot spell is going to last into the weekend. This is just a reminder that with the heat and the humidity that everyone needs to stay hydrated. In fact, a Hobbs umpire gave us a scare Monday evening when he went down with heat exhaustion just 2 innings into Monday night s game at Lee County Stadium. He had not been drinking properly. All is well today; however, the heat is sneaky. Don t let it sneak up on you. Everyone needs to keep drinking water before games and throughout games. Once you get into a heat problem, you cannot make up the lost fluid in a hurry, and it take time to replace a body s fluids once they are depleted. As one of our military friends noted at the managers meeting Saturday evening: In our business, the saying is simple: Hydrate or die. Definitely an idea to remember. Player ID cards Just a reminder that all players must have their player I.D. cards with them at games. No card, no play, and Roy Hobbs reserves the right to do card checks at games. Players without their ID cards will not be allowed to continue to play and will be required to bring his ID card to the Tournament Director or Site Manager before being allowed to return to the playing field. Replacement cards are available at the Roy Hobbs Headquarters. Bring a photo ID to verify identity, and the fee is $10. So, please don t lose the card and please keep it with you. 10-, 15- & 20-year recognition Have you been at the Roy Hobbs World Series 10 or more years? If so, Roy Hobbs has a recognition pin for players with 10 or 15 or 20 years at the Tournament. See Todd, Tony, or Tom at RHWS headquarters to get your pin. Please help with dugouts Roy Hobbs Baseball needs your help in the dugouts. First, if there is a problem with water or cups, please let us know and we will attend to your concerns. Second, when your games are over and you are leaving the dugout, please police it for trash and cups, etc. Your assistance in cleaning up the dugouts each day will be greatly appreciated. Picking up T-shirts The tournament T-shirt is available for all registered players outside the main concession stand near the Roy Hobbs Store on the Concourse at Lee County Stadium. Hours to pick up the Tournament T-shirt are from Noon to 6 p.m. With the shirt, each player gets their tournament patch. Exception is Wednesday when concessions are closed. see NOTEBOOK page 4
4 Notebook Standings Players will need their RHWS ID card to get their shirts No drivers licenses needed. Ice for the injured Just a reminder that we are willing to furnish ice for injuries. However, we advise managers from the start that they need to provide ice for pitchers arms, if needed. That s something to plan for injuries are another story. For injuries, please contact Hobbs personal at the field site for assistance. Results corrections Please check the posted results and standings each day. Team Win Loss Pct RA Pittsburgh 28s 3 0 1.000 9 Cincinnati Sting 3 0 1.000 11 Dominicana Liga del Oeste 2 0 1.000 2 PGS White Sox 2 0 1.000 8 UTEK Baseball 1 0 1.000 7 Harry Young Builders 2 1 0.667 8 Akron A s 2 1 0.667 10 Destin Dawgs 1 1 0.500 21 KBD Wombats 1 2 0.333 11 Jet Box 1 2 0.333 23 Baltimore Bohsox 1 2 0.333 27 Okaloosa Slammers 0 3 0.000 14 Dayton Braves 0 2 0.000 19 German Red Barons 0 2 0.000 21 Dominican Red Sox 0 3 0.000 24 Managers should contact Tony, Todd, or Rob at Tournament Headquarters (239-768-4278) with corrections to scores. That s the best way to make sure that seedings and pairings are accurate. Glove repair Roy Hobbs Baseball has a new Glove Repairman on the scene for 2009: David McLaughlin. He will be stationed at the lee County Complex, and his hours are: Sunday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday: on call 941.979.2030 Wednesday: on call Thursday: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday: 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. David is also willing to set up pickup and delivery through the Roy Hobbs office on a daily basis as well.
5 Results Sunday, October 25 PGS White Sox 12, German Red Barons 2 Jet Box 5, Okaloosa Slammers 2 Pittsburgh 30s 3, KBD Wombats 2 (10 innings) Dominicana Liga del Oeste 9, Baltimore Bohsox 1 PGS White Sox 9, Akron A s 6 Destin Dawgs 9, Dominican Red Sox 8 Harry Young Builders 4, KBD Wombats 0 Cincinnati Sting 10, Jet Box 7 UTEK Baseball 10, Dayton Braves 7 Pittsburgh 28s 5, Harry Young Builders 3 Monday, October 26 Harry Young Builders 13, Destin Dawgs 9 Akron A s 9, German Red Barons 0 Cincinnati Sting 15, Baltimore Bohsox 1 KBD Wombats 10, Dominican Red Sox 4 Akron A s 9, Dayton Braves 1 (8)r Dominicana Liga del Oeste 11, Jet Box 1 (7) Pittsburgh 28s 5, Dominican Red Sox 4 (10) Baltimore Bohsox 5, Okaloosa Slammers 3 Cincinnati Sting 4, Okaloosa Slammers 3 UTEK Baseball at PGS White Sox, CPS Rain (Wed, 10 AM @ CPS) Schedule Tuesday, October 27 10 AM Dominicana Liga del Oeste at Cincinnati Sting, CPP Destin Dawgs at Pittsburgh 28s, CPS UTEK Baseball at Akron A s, LC5 Dayton Braves at German Red Barons, LCS 1:45 PM Okaloosa Slammers at Dominicana Liga del Oeste, CPP KBD Wombats at Destin Dawgs, CPS Baltimore Bohsox at Jet Box, LC5 German Red Barons at UTEK Baseball, LCS 6 PM Dominican Red Sox at Harry Young Builders, CPS PGS White Sox at Dayton Braves, LCS Wednesday, October 28 Rainout makeup day see SCHEDULE page 6
6 Schedule 10:00 AM UTEK Baseball at PGS White Sox, CPS (from Tuesday) 6:30 PM Players dinner at MacDaddy s on Daniels Parkway AAAA playoff pairings will be announced at dinner AAA game 5 matchup and schedule announced at dinner All pairings & schedules will be posted on website and on phone lines by 8 p.m. Thursday, October 29 AAAA double-elimination playoffs begin AAA game 5 scheduled AAA Playoff pairings announced by 7 p.m. Friday, October 30 AAAA playoffs AAA playoffs Saturday, October 31 1:30 PM AAA Championship, Lee County Stadium AAAA Losers Bracket Final, City of Palms Stadium 7 PM AAAA Championship game, Lee County Stadium Highlights Highlights from Sunday Games Pittsburgh 30s 3, KBD Wombats 2: Pittsburgh: Nate Statzer 2x5, 1 run; Brendon Malone 2x4, 1 run, RBI, 3B; Brad Yeschenko 2B; Shawn King 2B; Winning Pitcher Chris Kelly. Pittsburgh 30s 5, Harry Young Builders 3: Pittsburgh: Nate Statzer 3x5, 1 run, 2 SB; Brendan Malone 2B, 1 run, 2 RBI; Brad Yeschenko 2x4, 1 run, 2-2B; Keith Kuzma 2x4, 2 RBI; Shawn King WP. HY Builders: Kevin McIlhargy 2x3, 3B, 2 RBI; Justin Siberson 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R. Highlights from Monday Games Akron A s 9, Dayton Braves 1: A s: Matt Pignato WP, 7 IP, 4 hits, 7 Ks; Tom Crank 2x4, Ross Vukovich 2x2, 1 run, 2 RBI; Ty Moorhead 2x4, 1 run, RBI; Sean Frank 2x3, 1 run, 3 RBI; Ryan Armstrong 2x3, 2 runs, 2 SB. Akron A s 9, German Red Barons 0: A s: Todd Hoffman WP, see HIGHLIGHTS page 7 White Sox Wilson Lorenzo gets down a successful sacrifice bunt vs. the Red Barons on Sunday. Photo by Greg Wagner
Ace & King of the Diamonds Monday s Ace and King of Diamonds come from the Akron A s and Harry Young Builders. Ace: Matt Pignato of the Akron A s: In a 9-1 victory over the Dayton Braves, Matt went 7 innings to get the win, allowing 4 hits and striking out 7. King: Richard Berich of Harry Young Builders: In a 13-3 victory over the Destin Dawgs, Richard was 5 for 6 with a stolen base and scored 5 times. Each of the daily winners will receive a gift of playing cards from Roy Hobbs Baseball, and at the end of the week, the names 5 Aces (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday) and 5 Kings will be entered in a Saturday morning drawing for a $25 Roy Hobbs Pro Shop gift certificate. The Ace and King will be announced each day in the daily Inside Pitch, and their names will be posted on an announcement board at Lee County Sports Complex. The gifts this week will be available on Friday. Players considered for the Ace and King designation come from the daily reports supplied by managers, either on the game reports turned in after games or game reports turned in via email the same day as the game was played. Reports turned in a day late will not be considered for the recognition. 7 Highlights 6 IP, 2 hits, 7 Ks; Tom Crank 2x4, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Ross Vukovich 2-4, 1 run, RBI; Ty Moorhead 2x4, 2 runs, 2 RBI; Rob Porter 2x4, 1 run, RBI; Matt Garra 2x3, 2 RBI. Red Barons: Alper Bozkurt 1B; Mitch Franke 1B; Sven Huhnholtz 1B; Marc Soerheide 1B; Georg Bull 1B; Jenn Hawlitzky 4 IP, 4 ER, 6H, 3 Ks. Cincinnati Sting 15, Baltimore Bohsox 1: Sting: Greyson Huber Grand Slam HR, 4 RBI; Steve Mason 4x5, 3 RBI; Jon Love 3x4, 2 RBI; Dave Prosser WP, 5 IP, 1 ER, 6 H. Harry Young Builders 13, Destin Dawgs 3: HY Builders: Todd Sedlar 3x6; Richard Berich 5x6, 1 SB, 5 runs scored. Pittsburgh 30s 5, Dominican Red Sox 4 (10 innings): Pittsburgh: Matt Nowaczynski 2B, 2 runs; Brendan Malone 2x5, 2 RBI; Mike Glinatsis WP.
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