2-run rally in 7th inning gives Team Blue 9-8 win

TOTS Senior Baseball Network

60-and-over baseball

Another nail biter at Udall Park this morning.

Down 8-7 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Ron Petersen drilled a two-strike pitch to right-center field and Pigpen Price scored all the way from first base and Pete Peters followed with the game-winner, knocking in Petersen, with a single up the middle as Team Blue came from behind to beat Team White 9-8 in a 60-and-over TOTS Senior Baseball game.

Right hander Chico Bigham (top photo), who took over for Price in the fifth inning, earned the win, while lefty Dennis Crowley was saddled with the loss.

Crowley, with his family in the stands -- his mother and his brother, Jim, along with Jim's wife, Nancy, all visiting from Boston -- pitched a complete game and was just one pitch away from victory before the game-ending heroics from Petersen and Peters.

Crowley's mother, Lu, received the game ball anyway.

"The game ball normally goes to the winning pitcher," said Crowley, "but it was a nice gesture by my TOTS' teammates." The Crowley family have been enjoying the Arizona weather, extending their stay in Tucson for an extra few weeks while the weather on the East Coast improved.

"They haven't been in any hurry to return home," Crowley said. "But they head home tomorrow."

It's not unusual for the stands behind home plate at a TOTS game to be full of winter visitors as they take in a ball game while they enjoy the mild weather in Tucson and bask in the Arizona sun during the months of January, February, March and April.

Chances are they still return home to snow and freezing temperatures.

"We really have it good," said TOTS' seasonal player and winter visitor himself, Joe Dinich, who spends his summers at his home in Pennsylvania and the winter months playing ball in Tucson with the TOTS.

As for Dennis Crowley, he certainly put on a "good show" for his family during the month of March. Dennis played in eight games and batted .560, collecting 14 hits in 25 at bats, while scoring 12 runs. Dennis also had a better fate on the mound during the month of March with 1 win, 0 losses and a tie.

Good job, Dennis...and Mom, enjoy your trip back to Boston. And, if you come up with some tickets to  Fenway Park this summer, give the TOTS a call!

It's going to be a hot summer in Tucson. Some of us may want to fly to Boston to get out of the ARIZONA HEAT!

Photo insert: L/R The Crowley Family. Dennis, Nancy, Jim and mom, Lu Crowley.