Base Paths: Count on Kelsey
By Doug Smith
Wednesday, June 02, 2026



Award a Maroon Star for Valor to Kelsey Schroeder, the eighth-grade southpaw we’ll all be talking about when Tonawanda softball rebounds.

She took it hard after the Warriors closed out the regular season with a 19-0 loss to Depew, but through the sixth inning, only five Wildcat batters had hit the ball hard. In the 11-run seventh — none earned — every dink and dunk seemed to find a spot where nobody was standing.

One roller weaved so erratically up the third-base line that plate ump “Tsg” should have pulled it over for a breathalizer. Third-sacker Tonya Poehzel, who had played it perfectly, watched in agony as the ball stopped dead on the chalk for a single. Somebody in the stands yelled “You stupid base paths!”

At first, we took it personally.

Even the Depew folks, who know courage when they see it, were roting for Kelsey to close it out. Better things will come, Kelsey; the last Tonawandan we said this about was Niagara’s Jill Koch.



Gannon Tries to Hang On

There was considerable hoopla here and elsewhere when South Buffalonian and former Muny AA knuckleballer Joe Gannon signed a contract with the Orioles, then pitched respectable for Ottawa in Buffalo on opening weekend.

Then, he became a loose Gannon, with walks and an ERA deep into double-digits. Joe has been re-assigned to what the major leaguers call “Extended Spring Training”. In Joe’s and the Orioles’ case, that would be Sarasota, Fl.

“Extended Spring” has games and keeps score but not standings. Joe’s real test will arrive later this week, when recently-signed prospects start arriving. Joe’s gotta’ find it, and fast.

But even if he doesn’t, how many among us can testify to having started a Class AAa game on opening weekend.

Wet Grounds? What Wet Grounds?

What does it say about the toughness of softball players that last week the Bisons cancelled a game with 9,000 spectators because of a few soft spots in the outfield, while Cardinal O’Hara and Villa Maria played seven spirited innings on a field so wet they could have called for a lifeguard.

A Done Woody

On May 19, Bison Todd Dunwoody lashed a home run past the party deck into the parking lot behind Dunn Tire Park. After the game, fans found a new ballmark on the tarmac; there are several others there but of all of them, Dunwoody’s is furthest from home plate.

Two days later Cleveland gave him his release. Press box jokers say he was asked to touch up the parking lot as he left.

Falls Foiled Again

If Niagara Falls had been quick on the trigger, it could have gotten into the New York State Collegiate League which opens play this week.

Planning to expand to 14 teams, the league suddenly lost its new franchise in Penn Yan. For commissioner Dave Chamberlain, having a signature city for the western division would have been heaven-sent. But Niagara Falls was asleep at the switch three years ago and the alarm has not yet gone off.

We’re Not Making This Up

An assistant general manager at Batavia last week flung open the door to the Dwyer Stadium pressbox during a Junior College World Series game and ordered the public-address guy not to announce that there was a rain delay, even though there was.

These are the same folks who put mike legend Wayne Fuller on the griddle three years ago for playing “White Christmas” during a May snowstorm.

Rest of the Story...

North Tonawanda’s Alex Domaradzki, in peril of losing his win when Medaille’s game with Hilbert was suspended, got it anyway when the visiting Hawks elected to concede the final three outs that would have made the 7-1 game official.

Contact Doug Smith at Box 1186, Grand Island, NY 14072.
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