In a big game for the fight for the top seed in the 45+ division, the Golden Marlins edged the Reds 4-3, Sunday afternoon at New Scotland.
The Golden Marlins got off to a quick start, when Tom Maney and Randy Craft led off the game with solid singles. With men on first and second and nobody out, Mike Girard then laced a single through the right side to score Maney. Ron Lochner followed with a long fly to right center field that advanced Craft to third with one out. That fly ball turned out to be key when Mike Ferraro followed with a sacrafice fly to center field, to make the score 2-0.
The Marlins pushed the advantage to 3-0, in the top of the second, when John Latorre led off with a walk and courtesy runner Jim McQuade was advanced around on a couple of Reds errors.
The Reds cut into their deficit in the bottom of the second with consecutive two-out singles by George Schillinger, Charlie Handford, and David Schillinger, to make the score 3-1.
The Fish were right back at it in the top of the third. Randy Craft led off with a single and advanced to third when the Reds catcher tried to pick him off of first, but the throw went into right field. Mike Girard followed with a line drive RBI double to pad the Marlins lead to 4-1.
Meanwhile, John Latorre was keeping the Reds' hitters off balance by effectively pitching to contact and relying on the Goldens' defense to make the plays behind him ... and make the play they did. Especially in a very tight situation in the bottom of the 4th inning. With runners on second and third and one out, Latorre got George Schillinger to ground the ball in the hole between short and third. Randy Craft charged the ball hard, gloved the grounder, tagged the runner enroute to third, and threw off balance to first, where Mike Girard dug the ball out of the dirt for a huge inning ending double play. In a tight game, where every play counts, this one stood out!
On in relief for the Reds since the third inning, Joey Burns kept the Marlins bats quiet for the rest of the game and allowed his team the opportunity to make a valiant comeback.
That comeback effort started in the bottom of the sixth. Ron Collins led off with a single. He was moved to second on an Alex Marin ground out. Paul Miles then delivered the Reds second run with a RBI double. John Latorre avoided further trouble, in the inning, by getting the Reds' 3-hitter on a ground out and their clean-up hitter on a pop up to short.
Dave VanWormer started the Reds' rally, in the bottom of the 7th, with a grounder to third that was misplayed for an error. Courtesy runner, Ron McCarthy, then stole second. The Marlins pitcher then induced a lazy fly ball to left and a strike out swinging. Down to their final out, the Reds got a RBI single from David Schillinger (his second of the day), the make the score 4-3 and put the tying run on first. Chris Leahey then singled the tying run into scoring position, to turn up the heat on Latorre and the Golden Marlins. The veteran right hander knew just what to do ... he induced a ground ball to short. That proved to be a great idea as Randy Craft fielded the grounder and threw on to first to end the threat and the game.
With the win, the Golden Marlins solidify their hold on the 45 division's top spot, moving their record to 10-1, giving them a two game lead with just 5 to play.

On a seperate note, the Golden Marlins wish their senior brothers, the Platinum Marlins, good luck in the upcoming finals of the 55+ playoffs! Go get'em Fish!