Must have been the Supermoon

Photo: Jerry Sroka and Mariette Hartley

By Bill Tarrant

The Softball Junkies and Trash Pandas held a joint batting practice instead of the usual Thursday game in the LA Senior Softball League. Or so it seemed. Balls were flying off bats like shooting stars under the final supermoon of the year. And when the final out was recorded – with Bob Bergeson furiously backpedaling in left field and reaching way back to snag a fly ball – the Junkies had outlasted the Pandas 22-21.

“We had 30 hits,” said Junkies manager Gregg Loria, who hit a home run in his last at-bat before undergoing knee surgery this week that will knock him out of action for the rest of the year. “We had multiple contributions from everybody for the first time this season.”

Pandas manager Phil Gurnee said neither team was getting cheap hits, and the game was relatively clean for a senior softball game. “We weren’t dropping balls. (The Junkies) were getting a lot of gappers.”

How to account for such a barrage? The temperature dropped 10 degrees from midafternoon to early evening in the Valley. According to Dr. Google, the ball shouldn’t travel as far in those conditions because the cold, dense air slows it down.

Junkies pitcher Bill Tarrant complained his hand was often too cold to grip his bread-and-butter high-arc knuckler. He donned Bruce Loria’s bulky sweatshirt after shivering on the mound, and then whined it was interfering with his pitching motion.

The game ball was awarded to comic actor Jerry Sroka, who was on base four times in the contest from the bottom of the order. “That’s what they pay me for,” he quipped.

Sroka, from Jersey City, said he began doing stand-up comedy at the age of 15 and was even offered a 15-year contract to work the “Borsht Belt” hotels in the Catskills until his father put the kibosh on that idea. He studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in a class with Danny Devito, which probably didn’t thrill his father either. So he enrolled at Seton Hall, a Jew at a Jesuit University, always a good combo.

At the age of 25, he got his first big movie credit in “Godspell”, followed by roles in various Broadway productions that all seemed to close after short runs. That’s when he started playing softball in a Broadway show league. “You’d have dancers doing flips running the base,” Jerry said.

After settling into a career doing voice-overs in New York, he moved out to LA in the late 1990s, where he found roles in a variety of TV series, including “Seinfeld”, “West Wing” and “Star Trek: Voyager”.

In 2005, he married the Emmy and Bafta nominated actress Mariette Hartley, who comes to all his games because they are funnier to watch than even some of Jerry’s best stand-up material.

The couple star in a movie about their romance produced by Jerry called “Our Almost Completely True Love Story”, which came out in 2022 and is available on (almost) all streaming platforms.

Earlier this month, Jerry was inducted into the Asbury Park High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. “That shocked me almost as much as getting the game ball,” he said.

Hip Replacements 18, Knicks 10

The Hip Replacements jumped out to an early road lead over The Knicks and never looked back. Led by a strong pitching performance by sub Monique Strong -- who also lived up to her name at the plate-- the Hipsters got excellent offense and defense throughout the game with Stan Harold and Armando Perez getting game-ball honors. John Morales did excellent work keeping the powerful left-handed hitting Michael Turndoff from hurting the Hip Replacements too badly. – Doug McIntyre

Archies 17, Red Sox 6

In a battle of the unbeaten, the Archies prevailed. The Archies jumped to an early lead and padded it by working at least 8 walks. “I suppose there will be a target on our back now,” said Archies manager Richard Steinmetz. The victory provided some salve after the Venice high school football team he helps coach was knocked out of the playoffs. "I have quite a few sharp-minded players who help a great deal in the managing department. A real luxury,” he said modestly.

Bad Knees Bears 17, Black and Silver 7

“We scored four runs in each of the first three innings and suddenly it was 12-2,” said Bears rookie manager Ken Milbrand, after getting his first senior softball victory.

Slow Horses 9, Killabrews 9

The Killabrews trailed the Slow Horses all the way until the bottom of the 7th. Down to their last out with 2 runners on base, Killabrews left fielder Jeff Johnson supplied the heroics by blasting a 3-run homer to tie the game at 9-9. The suspense continued, however, as the Killabrews refused to stop. After that blast, they loaded the bases and were on the verge of pulling off a great come-from-behind victory. It was nail-biting time. Unfortunately for the Killabrews, they left the bases loaded and everyone got to kiss their sister. – John Gillot

Mudhens 14, Spring Chickens 8

In the battle of the birds, the feathers were flying. Leading the way with 3 hits apiece were Art Cuadra, Mike Pivarnick and  super-sub Blayne Pacelli. After giving up 7 runs to the Chickens in the first three innings, with a 7-3 deficit, we scored 11 runs to only one for the Chickens the rest of the way. – Mike Abeles