Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)
60-and-over baseball
Second baseman Pigpen Price, 73, had a roller coaster ride during the final two innings of the Tucson Old Timers 60-and-over baseball game at Udall Park this morning.
Playing for Team Blue, Price became the third pitcher of the day when he made his way to the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning with his team trailing Team White 6-2. Price walked a couple of batters but a double-play got him out of the inning unscathed and Team Blue came to bat in the top of the sixth needing four runs to extend the game.
Suddenly, Team Blue's bats came alive. For five innings, Team White's righthander Tim Boyd had kept the Team Blue batters at bay. He enjoyed a four-run cushion and needed just three quick outs to seal the win.
But Team Blue put together a six-run rally on six hits -- including the final hit of the inning coming on a RBI-single from 92-year-old Floyd Lance, who completed the rally to give his team a 8-6 lead.
That sent Price back to the mound. Once again he walked two and gave up a hit to load the bases with no outs. The tying run had reached second and the winning run was now on first base. Price returned to second base and hard-throwing Reed Palmer, the fourth pitcher of the day for Team Blue, headed for the mound in hopes of saving the game.
All three runners were the responsibility of Price. The runner at third quickly scored on a base hit to left and Team Blue's lead shrunk to 8-7 with still no outs.
"I thought I had cost us the game," said Price, who was nervously awaiting the next pitch by Palmer.
Palmer coaxed the next batter into popping up and suddenly the fly ball was heading Price's way. Price made the catch and at the same moment shortstop Tim Tolson had snuck in behind the Team White runner, Rob Morse. Tolson received the ball from Price and tagged second base to double up Morse.
With two outs, the tying run was still at third base and the winning run at first base. That brought up the hard-hitting Mike Dawson. The right man in the batter's box at the right time as far as his Team White teammates were concerned. Dawson had been a thorn in the side of the Team Blue pitching staff all game long -- first ripping the ball hard off Team Blue's starter Ron Ryan, then reliever Bob Daliege in the fourth, followed by Price in the fifth and Palmer in the sixth.
Dawson quickly found a pitch to his liking from Palmer and hit a shot up the middle. The ball was hit hard, but Price moved to his right, backhanded the ball and stepped on second base for the final out of the game.
"What a roller coaster ride," Price said, after the game. "We came up with a late-game rally to take the lead and then I go back to the mound and almost blow it. Then comes the final play of the game and I get a chance to redeem myself."
Close games are not uncommon as far as the TOTS are concerned. But today's finish was a wild one. An entertaining one to say the least. The game had its ups and downs. Price can attest to that.
The six-run rally in the top of the sixth was full of action with base hits from Palmer, Price, Tolson, Daliege, Ryan and the amazing Floyd Lance. Top defensive plays were made through out the game -- including a nice catch by Team Blue right fielder Denny Leonard. The 80-year-old Leonard camped under a high, towering fly ball off the bat of Team White's hard-hitting lefty Joe Opocensky.
The oldest players on the field today included 89-year-old Billy Heiny, 84-year-old Joe Aparicio and Lance, who turns 93 in September.
All the TOTS return to action on Wednesday at Udall. Game time: 9 a.m.
And the TOTS will be looking for more roller coaster rides.
