Texan leads Team Blue to 6-4 win

TOTS Senior Baseball Network (TSBN)

60-and-over baseball


John "The Texan" Petrick highlighted a four-run fourth inning with a two-run single to left field, one of five hits in the inning, to lead Team Blue to a come-from-behind 6-4 win over Team White at Udall Park today in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) baseball game.

Petrick's big blow helped turn a 4-2 deficit into a two-run lead and Team Blue's starting pitcher Arnie White, another 71-year-old, worked out of jams in the fifth, sixth and seventh inning to earn the win. Lloyd Barzell, 62, pitched a complete game for Team White, but Team White stranded too many runners and were unable to come up with a key hit when they needed it.

Petrick (above photo) spends his winters in Tucson and his summers at his home in Bluffton, Texas. A catcher, John is old school behind the plate and is the only TOTS' catcher who will run down the first baseline, after a hit to an infielder, as he backs up the first baseman in case of an overthrow.

John didn't get a lot of playing time this winter and is struggling at the plate. But not today as he found a Barzell fastball to his liking and smacked the ball to the warning track.

"I've been hitting right at people, but today I got a hold of one," Petrick said, after the game. "It felt good."

Petrick is in pretty good shape for his age. It must be all those sprints to first base.

The TOTS completed a three-game set this week and will back at Udall Park on Monday morning.