WEEK FOURTEEN - LEAGUE RESULTS

Harvey Browne Wins Series

With each game being decided by a single run, Christ Church dropped two out of three games at Harvey Browne on Monday night.

Harvey Browne scored four runs on three solo home runs (in the first, second and sixth innings) and a pair of doubles (in the seventh).  Christ Church was hitless through three innings.  Mike Peak led off the third with a single and scored when Dick Lutz tripled after two were out.  Bob Stone had a one out double in the fifth but died at second.  Christ Church tied the game at two in the sixth, but it was the lost opportunities in that inning which proved to be fatal.  Mike P. again led off with a single and Paul Hirsbrunner drove him in and became the potential go ahead run with a triple.  David Stierle followed with a walk but failed to advance Paul from third, and the hit necessary to score Paul never came.  Leah Bennett singled in the seventh but could not score.  Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, it was another case of a missed opportunity.  Paul singled and with one out was driven in by a triple by Dick.  But Christ Church again failed to capitalize on the runner on third as the final two batters in the eighth and all three in the ninth produced no hits in a 4-3 Harvey Browne victory.

Christ Church took their first lead in the first inning in Game Two.  Mike P. started with a single.  He moved to second on Paul's sacrifice and scored on David's triple.  But the next two batters were out and Christ Church was limited to just a 1-0 lead.  The lead lasted less than a half inning.  A two run home run gave Harvey Browne a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first and it became 3-1 on a second inning home run.  Mike Thompson had a two out triple in the fourth and Christ Church tied the game in the fifth.  Leah singled, Mike P. tripled (RBI) and Paul singled (RBI).  Paul also singled in the eighth but the score remained tied into the ninth.  After an out Tom Bennett singled and, with two outs, Leah provided the game winning RBI with a triple and a 4-3 win which evened the night's series.

In Game Three Christ Church managed only five hits.  David singled with one out in the second;  Paul singled with none out in the fourth;  Dick singled with one out in the seventh;  but, with seven chances to deliver an RBI hit, all three runners were left on base.  In the fifth inning, Harvey Browne went triple-single-triple for a 2-0 lead.  Christ Church could muster only a single run on a single by Tom and a triple by Mike P.

Christ Church closed out the first half of the season with a 22-20 record.

WEEK THIRTEEN - LEAGUE RESULTS

Christ Church Sweeps League Leader Watkins

Entering the night trailing first place Watkins UMC by five games, and having been swept by Watkins seven weeks earlier, and needing as many wins as possible to keep from falling out of contention, home-standing Christ Church responded by taking all three games Monday night.

Game One started with a lead-off home run and a 1-0 lead for Watkins.  Christ Church got on the board and tied the game in the third on a single by Charles Smith and an RBI triple by Jerry Hinton.  David Stierle gave Christ Church a 2-1 lead with a two out solo home run in the fourth and the lead was extended to 3-1 in the sixth when Jerry singled and was driven in on an RBI triple by Paul Hirsbrunner.  Watkins trimmed the lead with a solo home run in the seventh.  Christ Church added three insurance runs in the eighth-  Jerry doubled; Paul tripled (RBI); Mike Thompson singled (RBI); and Dick Lutz tripled (RBI) for a 6-2 lead.  It turned out the insurance was needed as a two run ninth inning rally by Watkins fell a couple runs short.  The final score was 6-4.  Christ Church had eleven hits (David added singles in the second and seventh innings) to Watkins three, all of which were home runs with an error supplying their fourth run.

Christ Church never trailed in Game Two.  After Watkins failed to score in the top of the first, Jerry led off with a triple.  After two were out, Mike Peak singled (RBI) and David tripled (RBI) for a 2-0 lead which was extended in the third.  Jerry tripled again and he was followed by Paul (RBI single), Mike P. (RBI triple) and David (RBI single) for a 5-0 advantage.  After the lead shrunk to 5-3 in the fourth, Christ Church wasted opportunities in stretch the lead in the fourth (a singe by Leah Bennett and an error by Frank Preston), in the fifth (a one out single by David) and the sixth (a two out error by Jerry).  Those wasted opportunities almost came back to haunt Christ Church when Watkins tied the game in the ninth on an error and a homer.  But in the ninth, with one out Jerry delivered his third triple of the game and Paul drove hom in with a "walk-off" single and a 6-5 Game Two victory.  Christ Church again had eleven hits (to Watkins eight).

In Game Three, Christ Church's hit production fell to five but there were no wasted runners.  In the second, David singled and Tom Bennett delivered the RBI triple to put Christ Church on top 1-0.  In the seventh Bob Stone doubled, David tripled (RBI) and Tom drove in the third and final run with an RBI single.  Watkins managed only one hit, a two out double in the fourth as Christ Church completed the sweep with a 3-0 win.

For the night, Christ Church out-hit Watkins 27 to 12.  All of Watkins hits were doubles (7) or home runs (5) with one error.  Christ Church had only two doubles and one home run but had eleven triples and thirteen singles.

WEEK TWELVE - LEAGUE RESULTS

Christ Church Drops Three

St. Matthews UMC ran their season record against visiting Christ Church to 5-1 with a sweep on Monday night.

In Game One, Christ Church took the lead in the top of the first on Bob Stone's solo home run.  Two runs in the bottom of fourth and three in the fifth gave St. Matthews a 5-1 lead.  Christ Church scored twice in the seventh- Paul Hirsbrunner singled, Dick Lutz tripled (RBI) and Charles Smith singled (RBI).  But that completed Christ Church's scoring and St. Matthews added an eighth inning run to make the Game One final 6-3.  David Stierle and Jerry Hinton added two out triples and Dick also had a single.

Game Two saw Christ Church out hit St. Matthews 13-12 but Christ Church had nineteen chances to drive in runs but was successful on only three attempts.  St. Matthews scored two in the first, one in the second and two in the third for a 5-0 lead.  In the fifth, Christ Church got on the score board.  Paul  and Mike Thompson led off the inning with a pair of single.  Then, after two were out Terry Waddle doubled (RBI) with Paul scoring and Mike T. advancing to third. Mike Peak singled (RBI) scoring Mike T. and moving Terry to third.  Jerry closed the scoring in the inning with an RBI single.  St. Matthews answered with three runs in the fifth and their ninth run in the sixth.  Christ Church managed to cut the lead to the final score on 9-5 with a pair of runs in the seventh.  With two outs, Mike P. singled, Jerry tripled (RBI) and Bob singled (RBI).  Other Christ Church hits all singles, came from: Paul who had a pair; Mike T. ; Mike P.; and Jerry.

In Game Three, twelve St. Matthews hits produced six runs, while Christ Church's ten hits produced only three.  After St. Matthews took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Christ Church answered with a run of their own in the second Dick Lutz singled, advanced to third on Mike T.'s double and scored on Bob's RBI single.  Singles by Mike P. and Terry were wasted in the third.  Charles's fourth inning solo home run cut tied the game only to see St. Matthews make it 4-2 in the bottom of the inning.  In the eighth Jerry singled and was driven in by Dick (RBI triple)  Dick also singled in the sixth as did Bob in the ninth..  St. Matthews added two runs in the eighth to make the final score 6-3 and complete the sweep.

WEEK ELEVEN - LEAGUE RESULTS

Christ Church Drops Series

Failures by home-standing Christ Church to get key hits in two clutch situations resulted in a two games to one series victory by St. Matthews Baptist Church Monday night.

In Game One, St. Matthews took a 1-0 lead into the third inning,  Christ Church's loan hit over that period was Mike Peak's single to lead-off the Christ Church first inning.  In the fourth, a solo home run (RBI) by Jerry Hinton and a two out triple by Dick Lutz and an RBI single by Mike Thompson gave Christ Church a 2-1 lead.  St. Matthews tied the score in the fifth and took the lead with a four run seventh.  Mike T's triple and Tom Bennett's RBI single trimmed the lead to 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh but a half inning later St. Matthews made it a 7-3 game.  In the eighth, Christ Church loaded the bases on singles by Jerry, Paul Hirsbrunner, and David Stierle but the hit or hits needed to tie the game were not forthcoming as St. Matthews took Game One.

Christ Church used a big fiurth inning to power to a Game Two win.  Trailing 1-0 at that time and with two outs. Paul singled; David tripled (RBI); Mike T. singled (RBI); Bob Stone tripled (RBI); and Tom closed out the scoring with an RBI single and a 4-1 lead.  Singles by Mike P. (fifth) and David (sixth) produced no runs and St. Matthews trimmed the lead to 4-3 after six and a half innings.  A single by Jerry and a two out triple (RBI) by Mike T. made the final score 5-3 and evened the night at a game a piece.

Game Three was tied after nine innings.  St. Matthews scored a run in the first which was matched by Christ Church in the fifth- a triple by David and a single by Dick (RBI).  Two runs by St, Matthews in the seventh were again matched by Christ Church in the eighth- a two run home run by Charles Smith after a single by Frank Preston.  With the score tied at three in the bottom of the ninth, Christ Church put a man on (a single by Paul) but failed twice to get the game winning triple sending the game to extra innings where St. Matthews won it with at wo run home run in the tenth.  Mike P. also had a single in the loss.

Week Ten - League Results

Christ Church Sweeps Immanuel

On a night when both teams struggled to hit (29 total) and score (11 total runs), Christ Church did just enough to win three Monday night at Immanuel.

In Game One, Immanuel took a 2-0 lead into the seventh inning with a two run fourth inning while Christ Church could manage only a fourth inning lead off single by Mike Peak.  Christ Church cut the lead in half in the seventh.  Paul Hirsbrunner singled and Bob Stone delivered a two out RBI triple.  An inning later, Christ Church tied the score when, after two were out, Terry Waddle singled and Mike Peak tripled (RBI).  With the score still tied at two in the ninth, David Stierle singled and scored on another RBI triple by Bob for a 3-2 lead which held up after Immanuel left a runner on second.

Immanuel failed to score in a 3-0 Game Two victory for Christ Church.  Christ Church was again scoreless through six innings.  In the seventh, Christ Church struck for a pair of runs on Bob's third triple of the night and a 2 RBI home run by Mike Thompson.  The last run came when Mike P. walked on four straight in the red below first base and Paul followed with an RBI triple to complete the 3-0 win.

Christ Church completed the sweep with a Game Three win.  For the third Game in a row, Christ Church failed to score in the first six innings, and managed only two hits, a single in the fourth and a triple in the sixth, both by Mike P.  Immanuel took the lead with a solo home run in the sixth.  Christ Church responded right away with a one out double by Dick Lutz and a home run by Charles Smith to score two for a 2-1 lead.  Although Christ Church failed to add to their four hit total, these two runs held up for the Game Three win and the series sweep.

For the night, Christ Church had 32 at bats with runners on base, getting hits 6 times and producing their eight runs. Christ Church improved to 17-13 for the year.

Week Nine - League Results

Christ Church Wins Series

Christ Church beat visiting Crescent Hill Baptist Church two games to one Monday night.

In Game One, Jerry Hinton led off the bottom of the first with a single.  David Stierle followed with a triple (RBI) and Paul Hisrbrunner followed him with an RBI triple for a 2-0 early lead.  Crescent Hill scored one in the third and two in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead.  Christ Church was unable to score Lean Bennett (lead-off single) in the second and Kay Peak (one out double) in the sixth.  But in the eighth with two outs and David on third after a triple Kay delivered the game winning home run (2 RBI) for a 4-3 lead which turned out to be the final score.  Tom Bennett reached on an error in the eighth but was left on base.

Christ Church also took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first.  Jerry again led off with a single, scored on a triple (RBI) by Mike Thompson, and he scored on Bob Stone's two out RBI single.Bob also doubled in the fourth and Paul singled in the sixth but neither effort produced a run.  Christ Church added a run in the eighth.  Jerry tripled and was driven in on Paul's RBI single.  Crescent Hill could manage only one hit and Christ Church won Game Two 3-0 and clinched the night's series.

Crescent Hill struck for three runs in the top of the first in Game Three.  That turned out to be not only their only runs of the game but ALL of the runs scored as Christ Church was shut out in the 3-0 loss.  Jerry had his third lead-off single of the night and David singled twice.  His single in the sixth, with two outs, was followed by a double by Mike T. but Christ Church left both on base and there were no other threats.

Week Eight - League Results

Christ Church Avoids Sweep

Christ Church lost its fourth straight series but used nine home runs in the third game at Portland Presbyterian to avoid a sweep.  The Game Three victory left Christ Church just two games out of first.

In Game One, Christ Church responded to a two run second inning by Portland with a two run third inning to tie the game at 2-2.  Jerry Hinton's two out home run scored Dick Lutz who had singled.  Portland added single runs in the third and seventh to open a 4-3 lead.  In the ninth Jerry led off with a single.  One out later David Stierle tripled to score him, but Christ Church was unable to add the single which would have tied the game and dropped Game One 4-3.  David added a single in the first and Paul Hirsbrunner added a single of his own in the sixth.

Christ Church failed to score in Game Two, the second time in two weeks they had been shut-out.  Portland scored two in the first, and one in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings for a 5-0 win.  Christ Church could manage only four singles- Dick in the second; David in the fifth; Tom Bennett in the eighth; and Paul in the ninth.

Game Three saw the lead change hands four times.  In the top of the first two out solo home runs by Jerry and Tom staked Christ Church to an early lead.  Portland cut the lead to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning.  In the second Mike Thompson homered and in the third Jerry also homered to make the score 4-2.  But Portland's four run third gave them the lead at 5-4.  But that lead lasted only until Christ Church's next at bat when Mike and Leah Bennett homered back-to-back to regain the lead at 6-5.  In the fifth, Portland took the lead back at 7-6.  Mike's third home run of the game tied the score in the sixth.  Christ Church took the lead back for good in the seventh.  David singled and scored on Jerry's third home run of the game (and fourth of the night).  Christ Church added their tenth and eleventh runs in the eighth and ninth innings.  In the eighth Charles Smith homered and in the ninth, David (single) and Paul (RBI triple) closed out the scoring in an 11-7 win.  The only hits not involved in the scoring were a single by Paul and a double by Jerry in the fifth.

The series loss dropped Christ Church's record to .500 (12-12) and left them in a tie for fifth place, trailing Watkins (14-10) and Harvey Browne, St. Matthews Baptist and St. Matthews United Methodist (all at 13-11)) and two games out of first.

Week Seven - League Results

CCUM Scoring Draught Gives Series to Harvey Browne

In twenty-six innings of play vs Harvey Browne Presbyterian at Christ Church Monday night, Christ Church managed to score in only three innings.

Two of those innings were in a Christ Church victory in Game One.  Trailing 1-0 in the third, Leah Bennett and Paul Hirsbrunner started the scoring with a one out single and a triple to tie the score.  With two outs, Jerry Hinton singled (RBI), David Stierle tripled (RBI) and Mike Peak singled (RBI) to give Christ Church a 4-1 lead.  In the seventh, Harvey Browne cut the lead to two, but Christ Church answered with a run on a lead-off single by Tom Bennett and a two out triple by Paul.  Dick Lutz's first inning single was Christ Church's only other hit in a 5-2 win.

Christ Church's only other scoring inning came in the fifth inning of Game Two.  David singled with Christ Church's first hit of the game and Bob Stone drove him in with an RBI triple.  That run tied the game, but Harvey Browne scored five in the sixth and one in the eighth for a 7-1 win.    Christ Church had five other singles- two by Paul (in the sixth and eighth); two by David (seventh and ninth; and one by Jerry (ninth).

Harvey Browne had seven runs on seven home runs to win Game Three and the series.  Christ Church managed only four hits- two by Mike Peak (second and seventh); a single by Paul (sixth); and a triple by David (fourth).

Week Six - League Results

Watkins Doubles Down to Sweep Christ Church

Watkins Memorial UMC used a 33 hit attack, including 32 extra-base hits, including 26 doubles and 6 home runs, to sweep Christ Church on Monday night at Watkins.  Over the first five weeks of the season, Christ Church had hit 13 doubles and their opponents 12 for a total of 27, a number which Watkins fell just one short of.  For the night, Watkins had no triples and one single.

In Game One, three doubles Gave Watkins a 2-0 lead.  A double and a home run added two in the second; a home run added one in the third; three doubles in the fourth and a double and a home run in the fifth made it 8-0.  Christ Church had two hits though five- David Stierle singled in the second and Dick Lutz tripled in the third.  In the sixth, Teery Waddle's double and Dick's home run (2 RBI) was matched by Watkins in the bottom for a 10-2 score after six.  In the seventh Charles Smith homered and in the ninth, Mike Peak and David singled with Mike scoring on an RBI single by Charles.  Watkins had 13 doubles for the game.

In Game Two, Watkins opened up a 2-0 lead with a pair of doubles  in the first and a homer in the second.  David had a single in the second before Christ Church came back to take a 5-2 lead after five innings.  Paul Hirsbrunner led off with a single in the fourth and scored on Mike P.'s RBI triple.  David's RBI single and Bob Stone's RBI triple made in 3-2.  In the fourth Kay Peak opened the inning with double.  Paul tripled (RBI) and David singled (RBI) for the three run lead.  Christ Church had a double from Bob (in the sixth inning), and singles from Dick (seventh), Mike Thompson (eighth) and Paul (ninth) but could not push any additional runs across.  And in the eighth, after a Watkins lead-off home run made the score 5-3, the doubles barrage continued with four straight doubles to make the final score 6-5 in favor of Watkins.

Christ Church had only five hits in Game Three.  Dick started the game with a single; Kay doubled in the third; Mike P. singled in the ninth.  In the third, Christ Church took a 1-0 lead when Mike P. singled and scored on a triple by David.  That score held up into the ninth when Watkins, with one out, got their first single of the night, and with two outs, went double-double for a 2-1 win and the series sweep. 

Watkins took over first place with the three game victory,

WEK FIVE - LEAGUE RESULTS

St. Matthews UMC Wins Series

After winning their first four series and compiling a league best 9-3 record, Christ Church lost two games to one to visiting St. Matthews UMC Monday night.

In Game One, St. Matthews raced away to a victory scoring two runs in the first, a run in the second, two in the third and one in the seventh for a 7-0 lead.  Meanwhile Christ Church could manage only four hits and one run for the game.  Tom Bennett had a single in the second, Paul Hirsbrunner and Mike Thompson singled in the ninth and Christ Church's lone run came on a solo home run by Dick Lutz.  The final was 7-1.

In Game Two, a four run second inning and a two run fifth gave St. Matthews an six run lead going into the bottom of the sixth.  Through five, Dick Lutz and Paul Hursbrunner each had two out triples but each were stranded.  Christ Church cut the lead to 6-3 in the sixth.  Leah Bennett and Paul led off the sixth with singles and scored when Jerry Hinton followed with a triple.  One out later Mike Peak drove in Jerry with a single.  Jerry added an eighth inning single.  St. Matthews sealed a 9-3 win with three more runs in the ninth.

In Game Three, David Stierle led off the bottom of the first with a single but died on first.  In the second Mike P. singled and went to second on a sacrifice by Charles Smith.  Christ Church took their first lead of the night on a two run home run by Frank Preston.  After St. Matthews took a 3-2 lead in the top of the third, Christ Church answered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the third.  David singled, Jerry tripled (RBI), and Tom homered (2 RBI).  In the fifth, David singled and Jerry tripled (RBI).  With one out Tom singled (RBI) and, one out later, Charles tripled (RBI) to make the final score 8-3.

WEEK FOUR - LEAGUE RESULTS

WEEK FOUR - LEAGUE RESULTS

WEEK 3 - LEAGUE RESULTS

Christ Church Wins Third Series

Christ Church won their third series in as many tries this season over visiting Immanuel UCC Church.

Christ Church scored in the first inning for the fourth game in a row on a single by Jerry Hinton and an RBI triple by Mike Peak.  After Immanuel took a 2-1 lead with a run in the third and a run in the sixth, Christ Church responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning.  Jerry led off with a single (his third after a third inning single) and David Stierle tripled (RBI). Then after two were out, Dick Lutz singled (RBI); Mike Thompson tripled (RBI); Charles Smith singled (RBI); and Leah Bennett tripled (RBI) for a 6-2 lead.  With what looked like a secure lead, Immanuel opened the seventh inning with three home runs to cut the lead to 6-5.  Christ Church increased the lead to 8-5 on a lead-off single by Jerry, an RBI triple by Tom Bennett and an RBI triple by Dick.  Immanuel put a runner on in both the eighth and ninth innings but failed to score.  Kay Peak added an eighth inning double in the 8-5 final.

Game Two started slowly.  Through three and a half innings, Immanuel could muster only a double while Christ Church could manage only lead-off singles in the first by Jerry and the second by Tom and a two out single by Jerry in the third.  Mike T. led off the fourth with a home run for a 1-0 lead, only to have Immanuel tie it with a home run in the fifth.  Christ Church restored their lead at 2-1 when, with two outs, Jerry tripled and scored on a single by Mike P.That score held up until the ninth.  Immanuel led off with a triple and and a two out double.  Christ Church failed to get a hit the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh innings.  A lead-off double by Mike T. left the score tied after twelve.  In the thirteenth, neither team scored.  In the fourteenth, a two out home run gave Immanuel a 3-2 lead and, when Christ Church went three up and three down, the Game Two win.

Game Three saw the teams combine for only four hits and one run.  Immanuel led off the fourth with a triple but failed to advance the runner to home.   Mike P. led off thefourth with a single but he died there.  But, fortunately for Christ Church, all the damage necessary was done in the third when Frank Preston singled and scored the sole and game winning run on Jerry's two out triple for a 1-0 Game Three win and a 2-1 series win.

For the night, Christ Church had thirty-nine chances to drive in runners and was successful only ten times.  Three times in the Game Two loss, Christ Church put the lead-off batter on (two singles and a double) and another time put runner on with only one out.  Success in scoring the runner once out of eleven tries would have resulted in a sweep.

WEEK 2 - LEAGUE RESULTS

SWEEP

Christ Church won all three games Monday night at Crescent Hill Baptist Church.  Christ Church never trailed, scoring in the first inning of all three games.

In Game One, Jerry Hinton singled and was driven in when Bob Stone tripled (RBI) for a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth, Paul Hirsbrunner singled and Mike Peak scored him with a triple (RBI).  Christ Church made it 5-0 in the seventh on a single by Charles Smith, an RBI triple by Kay Peak, an RBI single by Jerry and an RBI triple by David Stierle.  Jerry added another single, Paul a double, and Mike P. a triple.  Crescent Hill could manage only one hit in the 5-0 Christ Church win.

In Game Three, Christ Church struck for three runs in the first, two in the second, three in the fourth and five in the seventh.  In the first it was another lead-off single by Jerry, an RBI triple by Paul, an RBI single by Dick Lutz and an RBI triple by Mike Thompson.  In the second,  Terry Waddle doubled and Frank Preston followed with a two run Home Run.  The fourth saw Jerry single.  He was driven in by David's triple and he scored on the front end on Bob Stone's Home Run.  The five run seventh featured singles by Paul, Mike P. (RBI) and David (RBI); RBI triples by Dick and Jerry; and a two run Home Run by Terry.  Mike T. and Mike P. added singles in an eighteen hit attack.  Crescent Hill had a homer in the eighth for a final Game Two score of 13-1.

Game Three saw much less offense.  Paul singled and Charles tripled (RBI) for the early 1-0 lead.  Christ Church was without a hit from then until the fifth inning when doubles by Frank and Kay (RBI) made the score 2-0.  An inning later Mike P. tripled (RBI) after a single by Paul to give Christ Church a 3-0 lead.  Christ Church's only other hit was a single by Paul.  In the ninth, Crescent Hill mounted a challenge with a lead-off single and a one out two run home run.  But the threat ended there in a 3-2 win and a series sweep.

Christ Church had eleven players.  All had at least two hits, led by Paul's eight.  All had at least one RBI, led by 3 by David, Bob, and Mike P.  Christ Church hit .310 for the night, had four doubles, twelve triples and three home runs.

Christ Church will carry a five game hitting streak into next weeks series against Immanuel at Christ Church.

WEEK 1 - LEAGUE RESULTS

CHRIST CHURCH WINS GAMES TWO AND THREE FOR SERIES WIN

Christ Church opened the 2013-2014 Crescent Hill Dartball League season with a 2-1 series win against Portland Presbyterian Church Monday night in games played at Christ Church.

In Game One, Christ Church took a 2-0 lead, scoring single runs in the first and third innings.  In the first Paul Hirsbrunner singled and was driven in by an RBI triple by Dick Lutz.  In the third, Dick singled, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Mike Thompson and reached third on a single by Terry Waddle.  With two outs Frank Preston delivered an RBI single to score Dick.  But that was all the scoring Christ Church could manage.  A lead-off double by Kay Peak in the fifth and a one out double by Terry in the sixth were wasted.  Portland went single, triple, single for two runs in the sixth to tie the score and scored the winning run in the ninth on a single and triple and a final score of 3-2.

In Game Two, Christ Church had a big third inning.  Leah Bennett started the inning by reaching on an error.  After two were out, David Stierle tripled (RBI), Charles Smith singled (RBI), and Bob Stone tripled (RBI) for a 3-0 lead.  After Portland cut the lead to 3-1 in the fourth, Christ Church rebuilt a three run lead in the fifth with a run on a single by Mike Peak and an RBI triple by David.  Portland tied the score at 4-4 with three runs in the sixth, but Christ Church scored one in the bottom of the inning (a single by Tom Bennett and an RBI triple by Leah), one in the seventh (a single by David and an RBI by Charles) and two in the eighth (a single by Tom and a two run home run by Jim Howard).  Christ Church also had a triple by David, a double by Tom, and a single by Mike P. as Christ Church evened the night at a game a piece with a 8-4 win.

In Game Three, over the last eight innings, Bob Stone had two doubles, Tom had a single, and Paul had a triple but Christ Church could not push any runs across.  However, Christ Church did enough damage in the first inning when a single by David, an RBI triple by Paul, and an RBI single by Dick produced two runs which resulted in a 2-0 Game Three win and a 2-1 series win.

COMPLETE LEAGUE SCHEDULE

2013-2014 CHRIST CHURCH SCHEDULE

2013-2014 CHRIST CHURCH SCHEDULE

SEPT 9 PORTLAND
SEPT 16 @ CRESCENT HILL
SEPT 23 IMMANUEL UCC 
SEPT 30 @ ST. MATT. BAPTIST
OCT 7 ST. MATT. UMC
 OCT 14 @ WATKINS
OCT 21 HARVEY BROWNE

OCT 28 @ PORTLAND
NOV 4 CRESCENT HILL 
NOV 11 @ IMMANUEL UCC 
NOV 18 ST. MATT. BAPTIST 
NOV 25 @ ST. MATT. UMC

DEC 2 WATKINS 
DEC 9 @ HARVEY BROWNE

BREAK

JAN 6 PORTLAND
JAN 13 @ CRESCENT HILL
JAN 20 OPEN

JAN 27 IMMANUEL UCC 
FEB 3 @ ST. MATT. BAPTIST
FEB 10 ST. MATT. UMC 
FEB 17 @ WATKINS
FEB 24 HARVEY BROWNE 
MAR 3 @ PORTLAND
MAR 10 CRESCENT HILL 
MAR 17 @ IMMANUEL UCC
MAR 24 ST. MATT. BAPTIST
 MAR 31 @ ST. MATT. UMC
APR 7 WATKINS 
APR 14 @ HARVEY BROWNE

Dartball Practice Opens 2013-2014 Season

The Christ Church Dartball Team opened the 2013-2014 season with a practice Monday night.  Eight team members were present including  new teammate, Tom Bennett.  We welcome Tom!

Another potential teammate, Jim Howard, was in the hospital with kidney stones.  It usually takes us two or three games before we start taking a toll on a teammate's health and it is usually a full year before anyone goes to the extreme of hospitalization to avoid practice.  Tim may turn out to be a prodigy!

We will practice again next Monday, August 26 at 6:30 in Room 005.

The league organizational meeting is next Monday, too.  I will leave practice at 6:45, go to the meeting and return with the season schedule.

If things remain as they have for the last few years, the league will begin September 9; games will start at 7:30 (except at St. Matt.); home practice begins at 7:00 (with the board usually available for early practice by 6:45); and away practice begins at 7:15.

I hope to see you next week.

David

Make-up Series Results

Christ Church Eliminated From Title Contention

Needing to win two games to maintain a mathematical chance of earning a share of the championship, Christ Church was swept by visiting Harvey Browne Monday night.

In Game One Christ Church had three one-out singles (by Mike Peak in the first, Paul Hirsbrunner in the second and Mike Thompson in the sixth) and three no-out singles (by Mike T in the fourth, Paul in the seventh and David Stierle in the ninth).  But with fifteen chances to get the triple that would produce a run, the triple did not come and Christ Church's only run and only other hit was a home run by Frank Preston in the fifth.  A pair of home runs in the second and another in the fourth gave Harvey Browne the 3-1 win.

There was better production in Game Two.  After Dick Lutz's one out single in the second and Jerry Hinton's two out double in the third failed to produce a run, the fourth saw Christ Church take their first lead of the night.  Mike T led off with a double and scored on David's triple.  One out later Paul singled for the second run and a 2-0 lead.  After a Harvey Browne Home run in the seventh, Christ Church stretched the lead in the seventh.  With one out Terry Waddle led off with an error and scored on Bob Stone's triple.  One out later Jerry drove in Bob and Christ Church led by four.  But in the eighth, Harvey Browne erupted.  A single, triple and home run scored three and a single and triple plated a fourth run to give Harvey Browne a 5-4 lead.  In the bottom of the eighth, with one out David tripled but was left stranded.  With one more chance in the ninth, Terry led off with a triple but three more shots at driving in the tying run all failed and Christ Church dropped Game Two.

Game Three saw only two Christ Church batters reach base.  In the sixth Mike T led off with a double and in the eighth Charles Smith reached on an error.  Harvey Browne managed just six hits but two of those were home runs and Harvey Browne completed the sweep with a 2-0 victory.

Week 27 - League Results

Christ Church Drops Series

Christ Church could manage only two runs on home runs by Bob Stone in the sixth and Charles Smith in the seventh on only five hits in Game One at Watkins Monday night.  In a game which started a half hour early to permit the viewing of U of L's third national championship, Bob's lead off home run in the sixth was the first hit for Christ Church and cut Watkins' lead to 5-1.  He was followed by a single by Jenny Peak and a double by Terry Waddle to put runners on second and third with no outs.  But needing only  singles to trim the deficit even more, Christ Church failed to produce.  After Charles homer the only other hit for Christ Church was a two out single in the ninth by David Stierle.  Watkins took Game One 5-2 and out hit Christ Church 8-5.

In Game Two, a single by Jerry Hinton, an RBI triple by Dick Lutz, an RBI single by David and an RBI triple by Charles Smith staked Christ Church to a 3-0 lead in the first and a single by Mike Peak. an RBI triple by Dick, and an RBI single by David extended the lead to 5-0 after three.  But three doubles, a triple and a two out home run in the bottom of the fourth tied the game with Watkins taking a 8-5 lead after seven with two more doubles and another two out home run.  Christ Church mounted a challenge in the eighth.  Singles by Dick and  David and a two RBI triple by Bob sliced the lead to one, but, as in Game One, the single which would tie the score was not forthcoming and Christ Church lost Game Two and the series 8-7.  Three other hits for Christ Church, all singles, came, one from  Mike P and two from Jerry.

Christ Church salvaged Game Three 7-2.  After Watkins took a 1-0 lead in the first, Christ Church answered in the second with two runs (Mike Thompson double, Charles Smith home run), in the fourth with two more (homers by Mike T and Jenny Peak) and, in the sixth with three (David single, Mike T home run and doubles by Jenny and Frank Preston).  Christ Church's only non-scoring hit was a single by Jerry. 

Christ Church raps up the season next Monday at home against Harvey Browne.

Week 26 - League Results

Race Tightens

After Portland won all three Monday night against St. Matthews Baptist and St. Matthews UMC took two of three from Christ Church, one through four in the standings are separated by just one game, with St. Matthews UMC leading with only 33 loses, Portland one back in the loss column with 34 losses, and St. Matthews Baptist and Christ Church being two games back with 35 loses each.  St. Matthews UMC and Portland have make-up games against Harvey Browne.  The results from last week:

St. Matthews Continues Mastery

For the fourth time this year, St. Matthews UMC won its weekly series with Christ Church.

In game One, a two run bottom of the first and a one run second staked St. Matthews to a 3-0 lead.  Singles by Mike Peak in the first and David Stierle in the fourth failed to produce any runs.  Christ Church tied the game in the sixth.  Terry Waddle led off with a home run.  Charles Smith followed with a single and was driven in by a Mike P. triple.  After two outs Paul Hirsbrunner singled to score Mike.  Bob Stone doubled in the eighth but was stranded on second.  Christ Church took their first lead of the night in the eighth.  David singled with one out and Paul delivered again with two outs with an RBI triple and a 4-3 lead.  But St. Matthews answered with the tying run in the eighth and, in the ninth, won 5-4 on a one out home run.

Christ Church jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of Game Two.  Mike P. singled, Paul tripled and Charles singled.  But in the bottom of the first, St. Matthews took the lead for good with four runs.  In the sixth, Paul singled and Dick Lutz tripled to cut the lead to one.  But St. Matthews had a homer in the bottom half on the inning to make the final score 5-3.  Kay Peak added a double in the fifth,  Bob Stone doubled in the seventh and singled in the ninth and David singled in the eighth.

Christ Church was able to salvage Game Three, scoring two in the first (Paul singled, Dick tripled and Charles singled) and three in the fifth (Paul singled, David tripled, Dick singled and Mike Thompson tripled).  St. Matthews cut the lead to 2-1 in the fourth,  5-3 in the fifth and 5-4 in the eighth.  But a home run by David in the ninth made the final score 6-4.   Other Christ Church hits came from Paul (single), Charles (single), Mike T. (double), David (single) and Terry (double).

St. Matthews won the first. third, and last night's fourth series, all by 2-1 margins.  They won the second series 3-0 to make the record for the season 9-3.

Christ Church raps up the 2012-2013 season at Watkins on April 8th and at home to Harvey Browne on April 15.

Week 25 - League Results

SWEEP !!

A clutch, two out, two strike, three run, seventh inning, Game Two home run by Terry Waddle and an equally clutch,  two out, two strike, two run, ninth inning, Game Three home run by Bob Stone powered Christ Church to a series sweep at league leader St. Matthews Baptist Church Monday night.

Christ Church entered the night with a 39 - 33 record and trailed St. Matthews Baptist (43 - 29) by four games.  A series loss to St. Matthews would have virtually eliminated Christ Church from championship contention.

 Rosemary Smith was penciled in at the top of the line-up.

Christ Church led all the way in Game One, taking a 3-0 lead with a run in the first (Jerry Hinton singled and Dick Lutz tripled with two outs) and two runs in the second (Mike Thompson tripled, and with two outs Jenny Peak singled and Mike Peak tripled).  After Dick and Jerry singled in the third and fifth respectively, Christ Church made in 4-0 on a single by David Stierle and another triple by Mike T.  David also singled in the eighth but Christ Church could not push an insurance run across.  But the four runs held up as St. Matthews could manage only an eighth inning two run home run for a final Game One score of 4-2.

Christ Church jumped off to a three run first inning lead as Jerry, Dick, David and Mike T. went single, triple, single, triple, with all runs coming after two were out.  Christ Church had chances to score with a lead off single in the fourth (David), and one out singles in the fifth (Mike P) and sixth (David) but could not add the second hit of the inning to produce a run.  That failure permitted St. Matthews to take a 4-3 lead on a pair of homers in the third, a homer in the fifth and another pair in the seventh for a 5-3 lead.  In the eighth, with one out Dick singled.  Then with two outs, Mike T reached on an error to set up Terry’s game winning three run home run.  Jerry added a two out triple in the ninth.

Christ Church never trailed in Game Three.  Dick singled and scored on David’s triple in the second; Jerry hit a home run in the third; and Dick singled, David tripled and Mike T singled for a 4-0 lead.  St. Matthews tied the game with a two run homer in the fifth and two home runs in the eighth.  After scoring in the fourth, Christ Church went twelve batters without a hit until Mike P singled in the eighth.  But five more outs in a row left the score tied at 4-4 with two outs in the ninth.  But Terry reached on an error and Bob delivered his game winning home run for a 6-4 win and the series sweep.

For the night St. Matthews had 5 doubles and 9 home runs to Christ Church’s 1 and 3.  But in every other statistic Christ Church led- At Bats: 113 - 98; Hits: 30 - 16; Runs: 16 -11; Triples 9 - 0; and Errors: 2 - 1.

This was Christ Church's sixth straight series win and fourth sweep of the season.  Christ Church has been swept three times, including their last meeting with St. Matthews Baptist.

ROSEMARY SMITH PASSES AWAY

Our friend, teammate, and wife of our teammate, Charlie Smith, Rosemary Smith, passed away last Thursday after a long and hard fought battle.  The following is her obituary as it appeared in the Courier Journal.

SMITH, ROSEMARY, 81, died Thursday, March 21, 2013.

She was a graduate of Russellville High School and Kentucky Wesleyan College. She was a devoted member of Christ Church United Methodist and also a member of Big Spring Country Club, Woman's Club of Louisville, Greater Louisville Medical Society Alliance, and American Association of University Women.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. Clay and Henrietta Sledge; and her brother, Clay Sledge.

She is survived by her husband, Charles C. Smith Jr. MD; sons, Charles C. Smith III MD (Lynn), New Orleans, LA, and Mark G. Smith MD (Terry); daughters, Stephanie Altobellis MD, and Cindy Franzen (David), Franklin, TN; and grandchildren, Clay, Drew, and Kathryn Smith, Abby and Nolan Smith, Vincent and Salvatore Altobellis.

Funeral service will be 11 a.m. Monday Christ Church United Methodist, 4614 Brownsboro Road, with burial to follow in Resthaven Memorial Park. Visitation 2-5 p.m. Sunday at Pearson's 149 Breckenridge Lane.

Memorials to Christ Church United Methodist Building Fund, 4614 Brownsboro Road, Louisville, KY, 40207.

Week 24 - League Results

Christ Church Wins Fourth Straight Series

Host Christ Church beat Immanuel two games to one Monday evening.

In Game One Mike Thompson homered with two outs in the first inning for an early lead.  Paul Hirsbrunner led off with a single in the second but died on base.  After Immanuel tied the game with a home run in the third, in the fourth Christ Church scored two for a 3-1 lead.  With one out, Dick Lutz doubled, Paul tripled (RBI) and, with two outs, David Stierle singled (RBI).  Kay Peak followed with an error, but the third out left two on base.  Immanuel cut the final score to 3-2 with a ninth inning home run.  Paul's sixth inning, one out single and Jerry Hinton's eighth inning lead off single produced no additional runs but the extra runs were not needed.

In Game Two Christ Church had lead off hits in the first (Mike Peak- single), in the fifth (David -triple), in the eighth (Frank Preston - single) and ninth (Dick - single), but with twelve chances to drive in a run, Christ Church could not get that second hit of the inning.  The exception came in the fourth when Jerry led off with a single and scored two outs later on an RBI triple by Paul.  Jenny Peak had a solo homer in the seventh, but that was all the scoring for Christ Church and Immanuel scored three in the top of the fourth and won Game Two 3-2 to even the series.

In the rubber game, Christ Church took a 2-0 lead with a run in the first and one in the second.  In the first, Mike P. singled and David tripled.  In the second, Jenny reached on an error, advanced to third on Kay's double and scored on a single by Paul.  Immanuel cut the lead in half with a fourth inning home run and tied it an inning later with another home run.  Christ Church could not cash in on a one out single by David  in the sixth, but in the eighth, Paul led off with a single.  After two outs, David tripled and Dick singled for two more runs and a series winning final score in Game Three of 4-2.

Week 23 - League Results

Christ Church Wins Third Straight Series

After dropping Game One, Christ Church bounced back to take the series against Crescent Hill Monday night.

In Game One, Christ Church had a third inning home run from Frank Preston and added a run on a single by Mike Peak and a triple by Mike Thompson to take a 2-0 lead and made it 3-1 later that inning on a Dick Lutz single and a triple by Paul Hirsbrunner.  Christ Church had ten at bats with a runner on either first or second and managed only two hits and, with runners on third, failed to score the runner either time.  David Stierle added a single and Bob Stone and Kay Peak doubles as Christ Church was out hit 10-8.  After evening the score with a two run seventh, a pair of eighth inning home runs gave Crescent Hill their first lead and a 5-3 win.

Christ Church never trailed in Game Two.  In the third inning, Kay led off with a home run (1-0).  Mike P. followed with a single and scored on Mike T's home run (3-1).  Crescent Hill cut the lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning,  Mike T. added an insurance run with an eighth inning home run (4-1).  Other base runners for Christ Church came from Mike P. (single), Bob Stone (error), Paul (double, single) Mike T. (double) and Kay (double).  The final score was Christ Church 4 - Crescent Hill 1.

A pair of two run home runs by Bob (after a single by Paul) and Jenny Peak (double by Kay) in the second inning gave Christ Church an early and insurmountable Game Three lead (4-0). Bob also homered in the fourth for a 5-0 lead.  In the sixth, Paul singled and scored on David's triple (6-0) and Mike T. closed the scoring for Christ Church when his triple drove in Jenny after her double.  Crescent Hill scored two in the sixth to make the final score 7-2.  Mike P.'s first inning single was the only Christ Church hit not involved in a score.

Week 22 - League Results

Christ Church Wins Series

With neither both team producing much offense, Christ Church did just enough to win two out three from Portland Monday night.

In Game One, Christ Church could manage only five hits and two runs.  Portland scored two in the top of the first while Christ Church only had a single by David Stierle through three innings.  In the fourth, a single by David and a triple by Dick Lutz cut the lead to 2-1.  Portland stretched their lead back to two with a fourth inning run.  David singled in the fourth but was stranded.  Bob Stone's solo home run in the seventh made the final score 3-2 in a Portland victory.

In Game Two, Portland again took the lead with a second inning home run.  Mike Peak led off the Christ Church first with a single but three straight outs left him at first.  In the third, however, Mike P. started a two out rally with a single and scored when Jerry Hinton tripled.  David drove Jerry in with Christ Church's second run with a single.  Jenny Peak had a fourth inning home run for a 3-1 lead and that lead held up to even the series at a game a piece.  Mike P. and Jenny also added singles.

In the deciding game of the series, Christ Church led all the way after Terry Waddle homered in the third inning.  In the sixth after an out, Mike P. singled.  Then with two outs David tripled, Mike Thompson singled, and Dick tripled to make the score 4-1.  Mike P. singled and Mike T. doubled in the eighth but Christ Church could not add a third hit for an insurance run, but it was not needed and Christ Church won Game Three and the series.

Week 21 - League Results

Christ Church Takes Series From Harvey Browne

Christ Church took two out of three Monday night at Harvey Browne.

In Game One, neither team scored until Christ Church struck for two runs in the fifth inning.  Christ Church wasted a lead-off single by Mike Peak in the first; a two out double by Kay Peak in the second; and a two out double by Jerry Hinton in the third.  In the fifth, Kay  reached on an error and advanced to third on Terry Waddle's double.  Frank Preston drove Kay in with a single and Frank scored on a single by Jerry.  Harvey Browne tied the game with a run in the fourth and one in the seventh.  Paul Hirsbrunner homered in the eighth and Kay homered in the ninth for a 4-2 lead.  But that lead was erased by Harvey Browne in the bottom of the ninth.  Christ Church failed to score in the tenth after a double by Jerry.  Things got worse in the eleventh when Bob Stone doubled and Jenny Peak singled both with no outs.  But Christ Church could not get the single needed for the run.  In both the twelfth and thirteenth one out doubles by Jerry and Jenny but both were stranded.  Finally in the fourteenth Jerry homered to give Christ Church the lead and the victory 5-4.

In Game Two, Christ Church opened the scoring in the first when Jerry singled and David Stierle tripled.  Harvey Browne tied the game in the fourth but Christ Church regained the lead in the fifth.  Terry singled, Frank doubled and Mike P. singled for a 2-1 lead. David was stranded on first after a single in the sixth.  Harvey Browne made the score 2-2 with a sixth inning home run. Terry doubled in the seventh but was left on.  Jerry's lead-off triple was wasted.  And in the bottom of the ninth, a one out home run won the game for Harvey Browne.  In the game, Christ Church out hit Harvey Browne 8-4 but had fourteen chances to drive men in but failed twelve of those times.

In the rubber game, Christ Church scored two in the first, four in the third and one in the fifth for a 7-1 lead.  In the first, Mike P., Jerry, and David went single, double, single.  In the third, Mike P., Jerry, and David repeated for a 4-0 lead but this time they were followed by a sacrifice by Mike Thompson, a double by Dick Lutz and a triple by Paul.  The run in the fifth was the result oh Mike T's home run.  Jenny added a triple in the sixth and a single in the ninth.  Trailing 7-3, Harvey Browne began the ninth with a double, and a pair of singles but three straight outs ended Game Three with a 7-4 Christ Church win and a 2-1 series victory.

Week 20 - League Results

Christ Church Takes Series

After dropping Game One, Christ Church fought back to win Games Two and Three and the series from visiting Watkins.

In Game One, Christ Church took a first inning lead when David Stierle singled and Kay Peak followed with a two run home run.  With single runs in the third and fourth innings and two in the sixth, Watkins took a 4-2 lead.  A single by Mike Peak and a triple by Jerry Hinton cut the margin to one in the sixth and doubles by Kay and Bob Stone tied the game in the eighth.  But Christ Church could not match a ninth inning home run by Watkins and dropped Game One 5-4.

Game Two was equally close.  Watkins scored one on a home run in the second which was matched by Christ Church in the bottom of the inning--  Jerry tripled and scored on a single by Paul Hirsbrunner.  Watkins' second and third home runs in the fourth and fifth gave them a 3-1 lead,  but in the sixth, Christ Church scored on a triple by Mike Thompson, a single by Mike P., a triple by Dick Lutz and a single by Paul for a 4-3 Christ Church lead.  Watkins' fourth home run tied the game in he eighth and the score remained tied after nine.  Three singles by Jenny Peak (in the third, fifth and seventh) were wasted and the game went into extra innings.  In the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth Watkins could manage only an error while Christ Church was hitless through the twelfth.  But in the the thirteenth David led off with a home run for a 5-4 win to tie the series at one apiece.

Christ Church never trailed in Game Three.  Mike T. homered in the first; David singled and Mike P. tripled in the third; Jerry singled and Dick tripled in the fourth; and Mike T. tripled and Bob singled in thr fifth for a 4-2 Christ Church lead.  Watkins' two runs had come on a two run home run in the fifth and they added homers in the sixth and seventh to tie the game.  But Christ Church added four runs in the seventh for an 8-4 lead.  David tripled and scored on Mike T's single, who then scored as the first run of a two run homer by Bob.  Jerry closed out the scoring with a solo home run.  Watkins cut the final margin to 8-5 with a ninth inning home run.

Week 19 - League Results

Christ Church Drops Series

Christ Church broke their six game losing streak with a 4-2 Game One home victory over St. Matthews UMC Monday night.  But St. Matthews came back to win Games Two and Three and extend Christ Church's series losing streak to three.

In Game One Bob Stone's second inning home run drove in Dick Lutz after a double to give Christ Church a 2-0 lead.  That lead was increased to 4-0 with a run in the third on doubles by Mike Thompson and Bob and a solo home run in the fourth by Terry Waddle.  St. Matthews scored two in the eighth but that was all they could show for a twelve hit attack.  Christ Church also had a single from Mike Peak and a triple by David Stierle.

In Game Two, St. Matthews' hit total dropped to nine (as in Game One, Christ Church had seven hits) but were able to push five runs across- two in the second; two in the sixth; and one in the eighth.  For Christ Church, Mike P. led off the game with a single and singled in the eighth;   Jenny Peak doubled in the fifth, was sacrificed to third by Terry;   David and Paul Hirsbrunner singled in the sixth;  and  Jenny singled in the seventh; but all were stranded on base.  Christ Church's only run in the loss came on a  solo home run by Mike T. in the fifth.

In Game Three, St. Matthews scored two in the top of the first.  Christ Church answered with one in the bottom of the inning on David's homer, and took the lead in the third.  In that inning, Mike P. singled, Bob tripled, and David singled for a 3-2 lead.  That lead held up until the fifth when the first four batters for St. Matthews went single, homer, single, triple for a 5-3 lead.  St. Matthews added two in the seventh and Christ Church could ad no more in a 6-3 loss.  Paul, Mike P. and Dick added singles as Christ Church for the third time had seven hits (to fourteen for St.  Matthews).

 Christ Church's record fell to 29 - 28 going into next week's home games against Watkins.

Week 18 - League Results

Christ Church Drops Three

Two weeks after moving into first place and a week after being swept by Immanuel UCC, Christ Church dropped all three last night to league leader St. Matthews Baptist.

In Game One through eight innings, Christ Church could manage only four singles (by David Stierle in the second inning, by Mike Peak in the fourth, by Jerry Hinton in the sixth and by David in the seventh) while St. Matthews Baptist was scoring on a two run home run in the first and solo homers in the fourth and seventh for a 4-0 lead.  In the bottom of the ninth, Mike P. led off with a single.  After an out, he was joined on base by David and Dick Lutz.  With two outs and two strikes Paul Hirsbrunner hit a grand slam home run to tie the game.  But in the tenth a St. Matthews Baptist home run gave St. Matthews a 5-4 lead and in the bottom of the inning, Jerry's one out single was wasted as St. Matthews won Game One.

In Game Two, Christ Church took their first lead in our last 37 innings in the first inning.  Jerry singled and scored on David's triple. St. Matthews tied it up immediately with a lead-off home run (no. 1 for the game).  Christ Church regained the lead 4-1 in the bottom of the second.  Bob Stone homered.  Paul singled and scored on a triple by Kay Peak and she scored on Jerry's single.  Lead off home runs by St.  Matthews in the third (no. 2) and the fifth (no. 3) made the score 4-3.  Mike Thompson got one run back with a home run in the fifth.  But a home run in the seventh (no. 4) and three homers in the eight (Nos. 5, 6 and 7) and a home run in the ninth (no. 8) put Christ Church down 8-5.  In the ninth with one out, Jerry singled.  With two outs, Mike T. singled, David tripled to cut the lead to 8-7, and Dick tied the game with a single.  But in the tenth St. Matthews NINTH HOME RUN OF THE GAME clinched the series for St. Matthews.   Christ Church also added hits from David (third inning single), Terry Waddle (sixth inning double), Mike P. (seventh inning single) and Paul (eighth inning single).

As in Game One, in game Three, Christ Church was again scoreless through eight innings.  Jerry singled in the first, Dick singled in the second, and David tripled in the fourth and singled in the seventh.  St. Matthews scored one in the third and one in the sixth for a 2-0 lead.  In the bottom of the ninth Mike P. singled, mike T. had an RBI triple and David singled to tie the score.  Neither team scored in the tenth (a two out double by Jerry was wasted).  In the eleventh, St. Matthews scored twice and completed the sweep with a 4-2 win.

For the night, Christ Church out hit St. Matthews 32  to 28, but St. Matthews' 14  home runs to Christ Church's 3 was the difference.  That and a lack of "timely" hits.  In Game One Christ Church had 16 at bats with men on and failed to drive in a run 15 times- the sole exception being Paul's grand slam.  In Game Two Christ Church had 21 at bats with men on and failed to score 15 times.  In Game Three Christ Church had 17 at bats with men on and failed to plate a run another 15 time. 

Next week Christ Church plays St. Matthews UMC AT CHRIST CHURCH .

Week 17 - league Results

Christ Church Swept

A week after sweeping Crescent Hill and moving into first place for the first time in over two years, Christ Church never led in dropping all three games to last place and home-standing Immanuel UCC.

In Game One, after wasting Jerry Hinton's first inning two out triple and David Stierle's second inning lead-off single, Christ Church fell behind 3-0 as Immanuel homered twice, the second one also scoring a runner who reached on an error.  Frank Preston made it 3-1 with a homer in the fifth but that was matched by Immanuel in the seventh.  Mike Thompson singled in the seventh but was stranded on base.  Christ Church mounted a comeback with two outs in the ninth.  Mike T. and David both singled and scored when Bob Stone tripled but the rally fell short in a 4-3 lose.

In Game Two, Mike Peak led off with a single but could not score.  Immanuel made it 2-0 on a home run in the bottom of the first.  Christ Church tied it at 2-2 with a run in the second and a run in the third.  In the second David singled with two outs and was driven in by a triple by Jenny Peak.  An inning later Dick Lutz homered.  A lead off double by Bob in the seventh and a lead-ff single by Dick in the ninth failed to produce runs while Immanuel scored once in the fourth and  twice in the sixth for a final score of 5-2.

Immanuel completed the sweep in Game Three.  Christ Church could manage only one hit over the first four innings (Dick singled in the first) while a pair of doubles in the second and third gave Immanuel a 2-0 lead.  In the fifth David  singled and Jenny tripled to cut the lead to 2-1.  But Christ Church singles in the sixth (Mike P.), seventh (David) and the ninth (Mike T.) did not produce the run needed and Immanuel won 2-1.

For the night Christ Church had 19 hits on 100 at bats to Immanuel's 20 on 93;  6 runs to 11;  1 double to 9; and 2 home runs to 6.  The only positive category for Christ Church was in triples where Christ Church had 4 and Immanuel 0.

Week 16 - League Results

Christ Church Sweeps Crescent Hill

Although still not back to the form established before the Christmas break, Christ Church won its fourth straight series last night and earned its second sweep in the last three series.

In Game One, a first dart home run put the visitors from Crescent Hill up 1-0.  Christ Church  answered in the bottom of the first when David Stierle singled, Mike Thompson tripled and Dick Lutz singled for a 2-1 lead with both runs scoring after two outs.  In the third inning, Crescent Hill tied the game only to see Chrust Church retake the lead in the fourth when Frank Preston's two out home run also scored Dick after his single. Over the next eight innings Christ Church managed only a double by Mike T. and a single by Terry Waddle.  Crescent Hill tied the game in the eighth.  In the bottom of the thirteenth inning, with two out, Mike Peak tripled and scored the winning run on David's single for a 5-4 final.

In Game Two, Crescent Hill took a 2-0 lead in the first.  Christ Church took the lead in the third on a one out double by Alan Reinhardt, a single by Terry, a two RBI triple by Mike P. and a single by David.  After a Crescent Hill homer knotted the score in the fourth, in the sixth, Christ Church scored two for a 5-3 score which held up as the final.  David singled and scored on Bob Stone's triple and Bob scored on Kay Peak's double.  Christ Church could not add a run on Mike P's two out triple in the seventh but the extra run wasn't needed.

In Game Three, David singled twice and Mike T. and Kay doubled but all were stranded on base.  But in the third, Jenny Peak homered for a 1-0 lead which held up for a 1-0 victory and the series sweep.

Christ Church started the night in a second place tie with St. Matthews UMC  (who were playing Watkins) and Harvey Browne (who were playing St. Matthews Bapt,) and one game behind league leading Portland (who were playing last place Immanuel).  Christ Church moved eight games above .500, their season's best record.

Christ Church is off next week for the Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. holiday.  They resume play at Immanuel UCC on January 28th.

WEEK 15 League Results

Christ Church Takes Two From Portland

On a night when Christ Church hit just .157 as a team, timely hits earned visiting Christ Church a 2-1 series win over league leader Portland.

In Game One, Portland took a 1-0 lead in the third, but Christ Church bounced back and took the lead in fourth.  Mike Peak led off with a single and with two outs Bob Stone homered.  In the sixth David Stierle singled.  Again after there were two outs, Dick Lutz tripled and Bob singled for a 4-1 lead.  Portland fought back to tie it at 4-4 with two runs in the sixth and one in the ninth.  After Christ Church failed to score in the tenth, Portland scored to win 5-4.  Christ Church also had hits from David (single) and Kay Peak (double).

Christ Church was out-hit seven to four in Game Two, but a one out home run by Mike Thompson in the sixth and a two out home run in the ninth by Bob was enough for a 2-1 victory.  Mike P. and Dick added singles and Kay and Dick both reached on errors.

Game Three was also a 2-1 Christ Church win.  The first run of the game was a two out home run by Dick in the seventh inning.  Portland tied the game in the eighth.  In the ninth Mike P. led off with a single and two outs later, Mike T. drove him in with a triple for the game and series win.  Mike P. and David also singled in the game.

For the night, Christ Church scored only 8 runs with 6 runs coming with TWO OUTS.

Bob Grant passed away Monday, January 7.  Bob began playing for Christ Church in 2004 and continued until eye surgery "benched" him.  He then continued to keep the board until this past year.

A Celebration of Life will be at 2 p.m. Thursday in the chapel of Christ Church United Methodist, 4614 Brownsboro Road, with cremation to follow. Visitation will be 1-2 p.m. in the church parlor.

Robert Bryant "Bob" Grant Jr.

GRANT, ROBERT BRYANT "BOB" JR., 89, born January 2, 1924 in Montgomery, AL, passed away Monday, January 7, 2013.

Bob graduated from Louisville Male High School in 1942. After which he and his beloved Audrey married in 1943. In 1944 Bob enlisted in the US Army Air Corps (now known as the US Air Force) where he served as a P47 pilot in the 9th Air Force serving in occupied Germany until 1946. After his Air Force service Bob attended University of Louisville Speed School and worked as an architectural draftsman until establishing Universal Sales Corp. One of his proudest achievements was introducing the Tower Crane from Europe to the United States including Louisville.

Bob was a member of Boaz Masonic Lodge #850, an avid bridge player and also a member of the 20/20 stock club.

He is survived by his wife of almost 70 years, Audrey Dodge Grant; his daughter, Robin Andari (Imad); son, Curt Grant (Holli); sister, Betty Gregory of Flower Branch, GA; and four beautiful granddaughters, Carrie and Ginger Grant, Elissa Hashemi and Emily Andari; and a host of friends.

Bob and Audrey have actively served Christ Church United Methodist Church since 1963, after transferring from 4th Avenue United Methodist. Celebration of Life will be at 2p.m. Thursday in the chapel of Christ Church United Methodist, 4614 Brownsboro Road, with cremation to follow. Visitation will be 1-2 p.m. in the church parlor. Nunnelley Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Expressions of sympathy may go to the memorial fund of his church.