OCTOBER 15 UPDATE
Kelly Kretschman
Outstanding collegian and national teams player Kelly
Kretschman has been named assistant coach at the
University
of
Kentucky
. A student of the game, Kelly
brings a lot of assets to the position. We
wish her every success.
Commitments
Olivieri, Gina. SS,
Rochester Lady Red Wings, to UMBC
Galloway, Lindsay. 3rd,C,
TX Rapid Fire, to
Tulsa
Univ
Elizabeth Walters, to UC
Santa Barbara
Red River
Shootout
You would think I personally rustled the last steer in
Texas
, given the jibes I’ve taken over my references to the Oklahoma-Texas football
game. Not having resided in
Oklahoma
for more than 46 years, my abiding Sooner passion is the football team.
Truth be known, my sister and brother-in-law are big Cowboy fans, and all
three of us hope to see the very talented Chris Simms under center for the
Cowboys next year. In fact, we root
for the Longhorns against other opponents. A
friendly rivalry. As a graduate
student at
Georgetown
, also many years ago, I developed what has been a continuing
booster role for Hoya basketball – but not their football team.
I wouldn’t go to a
Georgetown
football game if they were playing the Twelve Apostles.
Not every Oklahoman roots for the Sooners every game; despite the
association my brother-in-law and I had with the football team, my father rooted
for Notre Dame when we played the Irish. Somehow
felt the Pope would know.
Baylor Beats Some
Real Competition
The bigger D-1 schools use fall ball to give in-state and
nearby schools a shot at them while measuring how far they have to improve to be
ready for conference play. When they
play other D-1 schools with a real chance of
beating them, it’s worth noting. The
Big 12 has been dominated by
Oklahoma
and
Texas
(and we know Kami Keiter and Cat Osterman will be formidable).
So the pitching at Baylor and
Nebraska
, among others, could make this conference race next spring one of the best in
the nation.
The Lady Bears opened the weekend with a 2-0 victory over
Galveston
College
. Freshman Amanda
Johnson out-dueled Ashley Kirchberg for the victory. Baylor then
topped
Southwest
Texas
State
3-1; Cristin Vitek got the win for the Lady Bears, while Nicole Neurberg took
the loss for the Bearcats. Baylor wrapped up Saturday's action with a 1-0
victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. Katie Decker tossed 11 strikeouts for the Lady
Bears in the winning effort; Brooke Mitchell took the loss for ULL. Decker
turned in another solid outing Sunday morning as the Lady Bears defeated Houston
and pitcher Jenny Johnson 2-1. Baylor completed the undefeated weekend with a
4-2 victory over
Sam
Houston
State
. Vitek picked up her second victory of the tournament, topping SHSU's Rachael
Atzenhoffer.
So Does
Nebraska
We had planned to attend
Nebraska
’s fall classic, in which the Huskers won all five games, but scheduling
conflicts prevented us from getting the planned look at their pitching.
During NU's first game against
Oklahoma City
University
, freshman Summer Tobias threw a two-hit shutout to lead the Huskers to their
sixth win of the fall season. In the fourth inning, Peaches James slammed a
three-run home run. One inning later, the game concluded with 8-0 Husker win,
cut short by the mercy rule. Against
Colorado
State
on Saturday, James took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before surrendering
a single hit in the 7-0 win. James also helped the team by contributing two hits
and two RBIs. In the final game of
the day Saturday, against
Kansas
, the Huskers had 16 hits, while six Huskers had at least two in the 11-6
victory. During the first game against
Colorado
State
on Sunday, Tobias gave up only one run on five hits to get the 4-1 win and
advance NU to the championship game. In the title game against
Kansas
, James tossed a one-hit shutout while striking out eight Jayhawks in seven
innings.
Nebraska
also racked up 10 hits with Buchholz, Nicole Trimboli, Trisha Tannahill and
Jessica Yoachim each having two hits.
More Deaths, Good
and Bad
On this day in history, Luftwaffe chief Hermann Goering
killed himself to avoid hanging.
Goering defined gluttony; once swore Allied bombers would
never reach
Berlin
or the German people could call him “Meyer,” which they did to the end of
his life. French premiere Pierre
Laval was executed for treason. Decades
earlier, famed spy Mata Hari was shot. Reminds
me of a photograph I saw of Madeleine; recruited by the OSS to spy for the
Allies inside Occupied France; she was beaten and tortured and the photograph
was taken of her sitting naked on a concrete floor of her cell, minutes before
being shot; a remarkably brave, very pretty young woman.
Cole Porter died on this day; great songs; a movie about his life
starring
Cary
Grant had almost nothing factual about Porter’s life.
We lost Pat O’Brien, the Irishman’s Irishman, with great scenes like
the deathbed vigil by Rockne for George Gipp, played by Ronald Reagan, and, the
dramatic scene with Jimmy Cagney on death row in Angels
with Dirty Faces.
Virginia Dale
Thanks to reader R. Weinstein who correctly identified
Virginia Dale as the lady to whom Der Bingle first sang White Christmas, the best-selling Irving Berlin song, in the 1942
movie Holiday Inn.
Some people guessed Marjorie Reynolds, but Fred Astaire had won her
hand. Bing Crosby also sang the song
in a later movie White Christmas which
also featured the irrepressible Danny Kaye.
Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen were in the later version.
End
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