Lakes Division Tourney Champs: Standing (left to right) are Steve Holliger, Chuck Swanson, Hoot Gibson, Tom Erpelding, Tom Vitolo and Dennis LePore. Kneeling (left to right) are Mgr. John Seigla, Bill Maxwell, Ron Pennington, Dave Boone and Team Owner Mike Core. (Photo by Core Photography)
Larry Wolfe
On day one of the three-day double elimination Lakes Division Spring Tournament, Manager John Seigla led his Core Photography squad to a 12-6 victory over A-1 Golf Carts, managed by TJ Tjernlund. Manager Seigla went 4 for 4 for the victors, while Stevie Kay and Gary Alexander laced out three hits each for the losing team. The second game featured the top-seeded Wolfe & Associates team, managed by Randy Rothenbuehler, facing the fourth-seeded State Farm Insurance team, managed by Dave Rinaldo. The Wolves cruised to a 15-9 victory with Ralph Vasquez leading the way with four hits. Mike Torreano had four hits in the losing cause.
On the second day of the tournament, the Photographers surprised the Wolves with a 14-8 win. Chuck Swanson paced the Lensmen with five hits; Manager Seigla had four. Bill Stanick went 4 for 4 for the Wolves. Game two was the most exciting contest of the tournament, with the State Farm Insurers topping the A-1 Golfers 24-23 in an extra-inning slugfest. Bob Hutchins and Mike Torreano led the Insurers with four hits each, while TJ Tjernlund and Dom Colonna each had four hits for A-1.
The semi-finals and championship games were played on day three, with State Farm upsetting Wolfe & Associates 10-2 to move into the championship contest versus Core Photography. Wes Reynolds and Bob Hutchins paced the Insurers with three hits each.
The fourth-seeded Insurers, who finished the regular season at 6-12, almost pulled another upset versus the two-seed Photographers. Trailing 11-5 going into the final inning, the Insurers plated four runs and had the tying runners on base before their last hurrah ended in an 11-9 loss. Seven Lensmen had two hits apiece in the champions’ well-balanced attack, with everyone reaching base at least once. Manager Seigla praised his squad for hanging in there under pressure and coming away with a “photo-finish” victory!