90-year-old toes the rubber

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Billy Heiny, 90, established a new TOTS' record today when he took the mound in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

With a 11-0 lead, Team White starter Pete Maldonado gave the ball to Heiny in the top of the fifth inning. Heiny finished his warm up pitches, toed the rubber and unleashed his first pitch, becoming the oldest player to pitch for the Tucson Old Timers, a 52-year-old amateur baseball organization, which has been in existence since 1968.

Heiny pitched to three batters without allowing a hit and then gave the ball back to Maldonado with two outs in the books. Maldonado finished up the inning and Team White headed into the sixth with a shutout still intact. Maldonado cruised through the sixth, and in the seventh inning gave the ball back to Heiny, who once again pitched to three batters without allowing a hit. With two outs, Maldonado returned to the mound with a runner on first base and got the final out of the game on a ground out.

Maldonado picked up the win, while Heiny pitched to a total of six batters. The 90-year-old retired four batters, hit a batter and walked one.

As for the game, the final score was 12-0 with Team White's third baseman Ray Garcia having "his day" at the ball park. Garcia went 3 for 3, with a walk and four RBI.

The TOTS will take the weekend off and return to Udall on Monday for a 10 a.m. game.

Photo: Heiny

Baker Jr., Mannion lead Wildcats to first win on the road

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Jemarl Baker Jr. hit 4 of 7 3-pointers -- including the go-ahead shot with 45 seconds remaining to lift the Arizona Wildcats to a 75-72 win over Washington in Seattle tonight. It was the first win on the road this season for the Wildcats as they improve to 14-6 and 4-3 in Pac-12 play.

Baker Jr. finished with 17 points, while Nico Mannion put in a solid performance with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Stone Gettings was also in double figures with 13.

Arizona was on fire early. The Wildcats jumped out to a 21-11 lead at the midway point of the first half, but went cold down the stretch and remained cold from the field to start the second half. Washington battled back and regained the lead at 42-39 when the Huskies' Hameir Wright sank a 3-point shot with 17 minutes remaining in the game.

The Wildcats continued to struggle with their shooting and the Huskies led by five, 65-60, at the eight minute mark, but Baker Jr. knocked down his third 3-pointer to give Arizona a 70-69 lead at the 4:18 mark.

With 1:45 left in the game, RaeQuan Battle rolled in a 3-pointer to give the Huskies their final lead of the game at 72-70. Baker Jr. followed with his fourth 3-pointer, Dylan Smith hit 1 of 2 free throws with 19 seconds left to complete the scoring and the Wildcats walked away with a road win.

The Wildcats take on Washington State on Saturday. The Cougars are 13-9 and 4-5 in the Pac-12 Conference.

Tucson Aces rally in late innings for 6-4 win at Mission Manor

Tucson Aces

60-and-over baseball




The Tucson Aces, down 4-1, strung together five hits, a walk, a passed ball and a sacrifice bunt to score three runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game and followed up with a two-run rally in the seventh for a  6-4 win today over the Arizona Rattlers at Mission Manor Park.

The Rattlers' starting pitcher George Gafner kept the Aces from scoring in the early innings -- only a passed ball with the bases loaded allowed the Aces to get on the scoreboard in the top of the third.

In the top of the seventh, the Aces hard-hitting lefty Reed Palmer reached base on an error and scored the go-ahead run later in the inning when Pete Peters slashed an RBI-single to left field for a 5-4 lead. The Aces added an insurance run on a passed ball and took the field in the bottom of the seventh, needing three outs for the come-from-behind win.

Mike Dawson went the distance on the mound for the Aces -- including the bottom of the seventh inning when he coaxed two batters to ground out to Randy Livingston at shortstop and then gloved the final out of the game on an infield pop up.

The Aces hope to continue their winning ways when they travel to Santa Rita Park on Tuesday to take on the 60-and-over Old Pueblo Club. Game time: 9:30 a.m.

Today's Aces: C- Pete Peters  P- Mike Dawson, 1B- Tim Tolson,  2B - Pigpen Price and Ron Ryan, 3B - Ray Garcia,  SS - Randy Livingston,  Outfielders - Ken Nebesny, Reed Palmer and Roger Beebe.

Tolson, Opocensky, Nebesny combine for 8 hits, 10 RBI in TOTS' win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Tim Tolson, Joe Opocensky and Ken Nebesny combined for eight hits and 10 RBI as Team White edged Team Blue 11-9 today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Opocensky went the distance for Team White and picked up the pitching victory, while Brad Vermeer hurled six innings for Team Blue and was saddled with the loss.

The play of the day occurred in the bottom of the fifth inning when Team Blue's right fielder Denny Leonard, 82, backhanded a line drive off the bat of Opocensky to snuff out a Team White rally. Reed Palmer led Team Blue at the plate with three hits and knocked in three runs.

The TOTS will finish up the month of January with a game at Udall on Friday. Game time: 10 a.m.

Photo: Right fielder Denny Leonard, 82, made the play of the day today at Udall when he backhanded a hard hit ball off the bat of Joe Opocensky to snuff out a Team White rally.

Escala, Maldonado lead Team Blue to 4-2 TOTS' win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Ernie Escala pitched five shutout innings and Pete Maldonado picked up the save as Team Blue edged Team White 4-2 today at Udall Park in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Escala and Team White's Reed Palmer were locked in a pitching duel for the first five innings. Team Blue picked up a run in the second inning on an RBI-single from Escala, added a run in the fourth and two more in the sixth. Maldonado, who was making his first appearance on the mound this year, tossed a shutout inning in the bottom of the sixth and returned to the mound in the seventh in hopes of preserving the shutout.

Maldonado walked John Mathews and Mike Dawson followed with a double to center to put runners at second and third with no outs. Ray Garcia hit a shot to left, both runs scored and Team White now had a chance to win the game, but Team Blue turned its second double play of the game and a ground out to first followed to end the game.

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

Arizona blows 22-point lead, loses to ASU 66-65

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Alonzo Verge Jr. scored on a layup with nine seconds remaining in the game to give Arizona State a 66-65 win over Arizona tonight in Tempe.

Arizona, up 22 points in the first half, let Arizona State close the gap to 43-30 at the half and then allowed the Sun Devils to score the first 10 points in the second half. It was game on from there for Arizona State.

With Nico Mannion on the bench with four fouls, Arizona went to Zeke Nnaji for help down the stretch. Nnaji  finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, but without Mannion it turned into a real struggle for points for the Wildcats. In fact, Arizona's final two points of the game came with 1:41 left when Mannion returned and sank two free throws to give the Wildcats their final points of the game and a 65-63 lead.

ASU's Jalen Graham sank 1 of 2 free throws with 1:23 left in the game and Verge Jr. followed moments later with the game winner.

Arizona falls to 13-6 and 3-3 in Pac-12 play.

Arizona back in the Top-25

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The Arizona Wildcats (13-5) are back in the top 25 of the AP College Basketball Poll.

Arizona is ranked No. 22 this week.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Arizona takes down No. 20 Buffs

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona (13-5, 3-2) played well on both ends of the court at McKale Center today en route to a 75-54 Pac-12 win over 20th-ranked Colorado. The Wildcats sank nine 3-pointers during the game with Max Hazzard drilling 3 of 6 and Dylan Smith canning 3 of 7 from long range. Arizona shot 47.5 percent from the field (28 of 59).

On defense, Arizona shined as well, allowing the Buffaloes just 23 points in the first half. McKinley Wright IV led the Buffaloes with 15 points -- including a long range bucket to end the first half.

Four starters scored in double figures for the Wildcats. Josh Green and Smith chipped in 13  points apiece, while Nico Mannion scored 12 points and Zeke Nnaji picked up another double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Utes run into a Hazzard

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Max Hazzard hit 6 of 10 from long range and scored 24 points to lead Arizona (12-5, 2-2) to a 93-77 win over the Utah Utes at McKale Center tonight, while Zeke Nnaji was up to his old tricks, hitting 9 of 12 from the field to match Hazzard with 24 points as the Wildcats get back on track, after back-to-back losses at the Oregon schools last week.

Arizona rolled to a 52-28 lead at the half and coasted the rest of way, clearing the bench in the final minutes and allowing freshman Jordon Mains, a 6-6 freshman from Scottsdale, Arizona to see his first minute of action.

The Wildcats shot 47.8 percent (33 of 69) from the field -- including 15 of 29 from three-point range, while the Utes hit 10 of 28 from beyond the arc with most of those coming late in the game, after coach Sean Miller had cleared the bench.

Next up for the Wildcats is an early game at McKale on Saturday against 20th-ranked Colorado (14-3, 3-1). Game time: 12:30 p.m.

Escala dominates in TOTS' win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Ernie Escala dominated the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game at Udall Park this morning.

Escala, the starting pitcher for Team Blue, held Team White to just three runs in a 11-3 win and he took care of matters at the plate with a 3 for 3 performance and knocked in three runs.

Way to go, Ernie!

Photo: Escala

Tolson, Palmer, Barzell, Dawson light up the TOTS' scoreboard in 2019

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The top four hitters in 2019 for the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers included Tim Tolson, Reed Palmer, Lloyd  Barzell and Mike Dawson.

Tolson, 67, played in 101 games during the year and collected the most hits (192) at Udall Park. He finished second in at-bats with 336, third in runs-scored with 104, second in home runs with 7 and was the top RBI-man with 134. Tolson batted .571 (192 for 336).

Palmer, 63, played in 100 games and finished second in hits (184), scored the most runs (133), hit the most home runs (17) and was second in runs-batted-in with 112. Palmer batted .659 (184 for 279).

Barzell, 69, played in 105 games and finished second in runs-scored (132) and third in hits with 179. He ended the season with a .503 batting average (179 for 356). Barzell had the most plate appearances, and with his 19 walks, he stepped up to plate 375 times in 2019.

Dawson, 64, played in 96 games and finished fourth in hits (170). He ended up with a .572 batting average (170 for 297).

The most games played during the 2019 season went to Joe Aparicio, 86, the third oldest active player on the TOTS. Aparicio played in 108 games and batted 272 times -- the most appearances at the plate by a member of the organization over the age of 80. Billy Heiny, 90, played in 60 games and batted 141 times, Floyd Lance, 94, played in 49 games and batted 168 times, while Denny Leonard, 82, held the best batting average for the 80-somethings. Leonard played in 73 games and collected 31 hits in 202 at-bats, a .153 average.

The organization, which has been around since 1968, completed another great season with 45 players stepping to the plate in 2019. Other top players during the 2019 season included: John Mathews (134 hits in 232 at-bats, a .578 batting average and 94 RBI); Pete Peters (117 hits in 227 at-bats, a .515 average); Ron Ryan (131 hits in 237 at-bats, a .553 average and 91 RBI); Joe Opocensky (103 hits in 194 at-bats, a .531 average and 80 RBI); Bob Daliege (94 hits in 161 at bats, a .584 average) and Doc Thompson (95 hits in 171 at-bats, a .556 average).

The TOTS are already rolling in 2020 with five games already in the books for January.

Way to go, TOTS!

The TOTS' record holders in 2019:

Most hits in 2019 -- Tim Tolson (192)

  Most RBI -- Tim Tolson (134)

Most Games Played -- Joe Aparicio (108)

Most Home Runs  -- Reed Palmer (17)

Most Runs Scored -- Reed Palmer (133)

Most At-Bats -- Lloyd Barzell (356)

Best Batting Average -- Reed Palmer (.659)

Arizona falls to Oregon State, 82-65

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Arizona battled Oregon State to a 31-31 tie at halftime in Corvallis tonight, but completely fell apart in the second half and lost 82-65 to the Beavers. Zeke Nnaji led the Wildcats with 21 points and nine rebounds as Arizona loses to both Oregon schools on the road and fall to 11-5 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12 Conference.

The Wildcats return home to face Utah on Thursday and Colorado on Saturday at McKale.

Arizona will undoubtedly fall from the top-25. The Wildcats have more to worry about than the rankings.

Arizona loses to Ducks in overtime 74-73

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


Nico Mannion scored 20 points, Josh Green scored 17 and Zeke Nnaji picked up another double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, but Oregon finds a way to beat the Wildcats in Eugene tonight with a 74-73 overtime win.

Arizona led 7-0 early and at one point in the first half maintained an 11-point lead, but in the second half Oregon stormed back and Payton Pritchard sank a jumper with 29 second left to tie the game at 66-66 and send the game into overtime.

Mannion sank a 3-pointer with 1:38 left in overtime to tie the game at 71-71 and Green stole the ball and made a layup with 24 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats a 73-72 lead. The Ducks put the ball in the hands of Will Richardson and with 17 seconds left the Oregon guard drilled a jumper for what turned out to be the game-winning bucket.

Arizona inbounded the ball with two second left, but Pritchard came up with a steal as the buzzer sounded.

A tough loss for the Wildcats.

Arizona falls to 11-4 overall and 1-1 in Pac-12 Conference play.

A sunny day at the ball park

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

It was a good day for baseball at Udall Park today.

The 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers decided to take full advantage of the weather as Team White  held on for a 4-3 win over Team Blue. Today's game turned into another pitching duel, this time between two right-handers -- Team Blue's Joe Opocensky and Team White's Bob Daliege.

At the plate it was the hard-hitting tandem of Tim Tolson and Ron Ryan for Team White. Tolson doubled in a run in the bottom of the first inning and Ryan followed with an RBI-single to tie up matters at 2-2. Team Blue had jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, thanks to a two-run single from Dave Byars.

After one inning of play, it looked like a high-scoring game was on tap, but Daliege settled in and pitched shutout ball for Team White until the sixth inning, while Opocensky did the same for Team Blue. By the sixth inning the temperature had gone from a crisp 40 degrees to a pleasant 65 degrees.

Byars stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth and hit a shot between second and third. Ryan, Team White's third-sacker,  moved to his left and gloved the ball, but his throw to first baseman John Mathews was too late to nip Byars. After a couple of force plays, Byars was camped at third base and that brought up Brad Vermeer, who then drilled a shot between third and short to score Byars, allowing Team White to regain the lead at 3-2.

In the bottom of the sixth, it turned out to be the Tolson-Ryan show once again. Tolson singled in a run to tie the game and Ryan followed with an opposite-field, RBI-single to give Team White the lead for good.

Team Blue went quietly in the top of the seventh and Daliege had his pitching victory. "I pitched pretty well today," Daliege said. "I didn't walk anyone. I was proud of that. I did hit a batter (Joe Aparicio), but other than that the control was good."

As for Opocensky, he pitched well for Team Blue, but he just couldn't keep Tolson and Ryan from getting the run-scoring hits in the first and sixth inning. Opocensky already owns one win this month. On New Year's Day, Opocensky went the distance and picked up a 3-2 win as the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers opened up the club's 52nd season.

The TOTS return to action on Wednesday with a 10 a.m. game at Udall.

Photo: Daliege had complete control today in 4-3 TOTS' win. Daliege struck out two and didn't walk a batter in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game at Udall Park.

Wildcats run away from Sun Devils in Pac-12 opener

Arizona Wildcats Basketball

Arizona (11-3, 1-0) opened Pac-12 Conference play with a 75-47 win over Arizona State tonight at McKale Center. The Wildcats were clicking on all cylinders with their three talented freshmen -- Zeke Nnaji, Nico Mannion and Josh Green -- dismantling the Sun Devils from the tip-off to the final buzzer.

Nnaji scored 17 points and notched a double-double with 11 rebounds, Mannion scored 10 points and dished out seven assists, while Green was 5 of 9 from the field for 12 points and seven rebounds.

Ten players scored for the Wildcats, including 10 points from Dylan Smith, five points from Stone Gettings and eight points and six rebounds from Christian Koloko. Jemarl Baker Jr. scored three points, Chase Jeter collected six points and hauled in nine rebounds, while Ira Lee and Max Hazzard completed the scoring with two points apiece.

Arizona allowed the Sun Devils just 17 points in the first half and out scored ASU 50-18 in the paint. The Wildcats had their way with the Sun Devils under the bucket with a 49-35 edge in rebounds. ASU recorded just two assists in the game, while Arizona finished with 17 assists and hit 30 of 63 shots for a 47.6 shooting percentage from the field.

ASU falls to 9-5 on the season.

Way to go, Wildcats!

Tolson, Ochoa combine for 8 hits, 5 RBI in TOTS' win

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Tim Tolson and Jesse Ochoa combined for eight hits and five RBI at Udall Park today as Team Blue rolled to a 8-3 win over Team White in a 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers game.

Right-hander Brad Vermeer picked up the pitching victory, while Reed Palmer was saddled with the loss. Palmer collected two hits and knocked in two runs for Team White.

The TOTS will take the weekend off and return to action at Udall on Monday. Game time: 10 a.m.

TOTS open 53rd season

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

The 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers opened their 53rd season (1968-2020) at Udall Park this morning.

Ron Ryan broke open a scoreless game with a 2-run double to the gap in left-center field in the top of the fifth inning and Team Blue held on the rest of the way for a 3-2 win over Team White.

It was a pitching duel for seven innings between Team Blue's Joe Opocensky and Team White's Mike Dawson. I real gem as both teams played well defensively with nothing but goose eggs on the board until the fifth inning.

Team White closed the gap to 2-1 with a lone run in the bottom of the fifth and Team Blue added a run in the sixth.

In the bottom of the seventh, Team White had the heart of their order coming up, but with one out, the hard-hitting lefty Reed Palmer sent a high fly ball to the gap in right-center field and Team Blue's Tim Tolson camped under the ball and made the catch at the warning track for the second out.

Dawson followed and singled in a run to make it 3-2. That brought up the right-handed hitting Steve Foster, who hit a shot to the warning track in left-center field, but Tolson was at the right place at the right time and made the play to end the game.

The TOTS battled the rain and the cold during the month of December and played just three games, but today the temperature reached 62 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

The TOTS are off and running in 2020.