Pigpen hits game-winner in walk-off TOTS' win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Game of the Week

Pigpen Price, 74, hit an RBI-single down the third base line and Pete Peters, 70, scored from third as Team White prevailed 3-2 with a walk-off win over Team Blue today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Arguably, the best game of the week with two pitchers, Reed Palmer for Team White and Mike Dawson for Team Blue, locked in a pitching duel for seven innings.

Team Blue took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning thanks to a two-run single from lefty Dennis Crowley, but in the fourth inning RBI-singles from David Byars and Palmer tied the game and the battle was on.

Team Blue went quietly in the top of the seventh as Palmer breezed through the frame. In the bottom of the seventh inning with one out, Peters singled and moved to third on a ground out. That brought up the youngest player on the club, 61-year-old Ron Ryan, with a chance to win the game.

Dawson threw nothing but strikes to Ryan and struck him out for the second out. That brought up Price, who went into the game with a .200 batting average for the month. Dawson offered an inside fastball to Price. The ball was out of the strike zone, but Price found the pitch to his liking and drilled a shot by Team Blue's third baseman Mike Steele for the game-winner.

"I bet it's been 10 years since I've hit a game-winner with the TOTS," Price said. "It feels good to contribute."

It was Price's only hit of the game, after grounding out in his first two at bats.

The big hitter is Byars, who went into today's game with seven straight hits to his credit for the week. Byars, who lined out in his first at bat, ended up with two more hits during the game and is on fire with 9 hits in 10 trips to the plate.

The two teams played errorless ball, while Reed and Dawson threw nothing but strikes today and there were no walks in the game. Unfortunately, Dawson threw a high-inside fastball to Pigpen, instead of a strike.

The TOTS return to action on Monday at Udall. Game time: 10 a.m.