CITY HALL STARS 12 KIDS AND KUBS 4, 50th Annual Game

An early five-run lead and strong defensive play by visiting Mayor Rick Kriesman’s City Hall Stars helped dominate the Kids and Kubs in the annual Mayor’s Game on Saturday, February 20. Kriseman pitched his team to a steady and methodical win at the end of a seven-inning match-up.

Pitcher Mayor Kriseman and his team held the home team Kids and Kubs to twelve hits and four runs. Kriesman’s teammates provided a four-run lead in the first inning and never looked back. Built on timely hitting throughout the succeeding innings, the visitors were on top of the final score of 12-4.

The visiting City Hall Stars produced the maximum limit of 5 runs per inning before getting three outs in their top of the first inning.

The home team answered the five-run salvo when Ed Broomes got the Kids and Kubs on the board, doubling home Gordy Norton for the score. The first inning ended City Hall 5, Kids and Kubs 1.

The next three innings found the Kids and Kubs garnering only two hits as the City Hall Stars played outstanding defense, shutting down scoring for the Kids and Kubs. Meanwhile, the City Hall Stars posted one more run in the third and three runs in the fourth inning to lead 9-1. Evan Mory’s three-run home run in the fourth inning did most of the damage for the visitors.

Rob Gerdeo pushed the visitor’s score up by 1 with a lead-off home run in the fifth inning. Good defense by the Kids and Kubs then shut down the City Hall Stars at-bat for the rest of the inning

Trailing 10-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Kids and Kubs started a rally with lead-off singles by Dave Hunt, Ed Broomes and a double by Frank Siros, placing the home team in line for a big inning. A double-play resulting in an out at the plate put a damper on the scoring, but Frank Sirois scored on a double by Larry McCurdy with two outs. The Kids and Kubs’ five hits that inning resulted in only two runs, giving the visitors a 10-3 lead at the end of five innings.

Leading off the top of the sixth with a walk and single resulted in two more runs for the City Hall Stars. Despite four hits in the inning, the Kids and Kubs defensive unit prevented what looked like a much bigger inning for the Hall Stars.

The bottom half of inning six found the home team offense collecting four hits with Mitch Kanaan, Jim Crook, Jerry Wollman, and Terry Thomas adding to a rally, resulting in only one run.

In the seventh and last inning, the City Hall Stars were shut down by the Kids and Kubs resilient defense. The Kids and Kubs’ last at-bat offered their final opportunity to even the score or win started with two walks after a first out, giving a reason for hope. However, Mayor Kriseman helped his team win by holding the next two Kids and Kubs batters hitless to end the inning City Hall Stars 12, Kids and Kubs 4 in the 50th annual Mayor’s Game.

In an earlier game, a different Kids and Kubs team defeated the St Petersburg TASCO Center Based Teen Programs club 9-8. The game was not without its drama as the ‘Teens’ were retired in their final time at-bat, one run down with the bases loaded.

Score by Inning 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E

City Hall Stars 5 0 1 3 1 2 0 =12 22 0

Kids & Kubs 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 = 4 12 0