Lakes Division Champs: Front row (left to right): Jesse Washington, Wes Reynolds, Billy Kreisman, Terry Zeltinger and Dan Bradfield. Back row (left to right): Manager Tom Erpelding, Bob Zawidski, John Heimann, Bill Stanick, Hoot Gibson, Jeff Jay and Bill Gaston. (Photo by Core Photography, LLC)
Larry Wolfe
In the opening game of the Lakes Division Spring Tournament, the Farmers Insurance squad, managed by Tom Erpelding and sponsored by Frank Margiotta’s Agency, eked out a 14-12 win over A-1 Golf Carts. A-1, the number three seed, was managed by Randy Rothenbuehler. Dan Bradfield and Bill Stanick paced the number two-seeded Farmers with four hits each, while Doug Warwick and Dennis McCarthy banged out four hits each for the Golfers.
The second game featured the number-one-seeded Wolfe & Associates team, managed by TJ Tjernlund, playing fourth-seeded Core Photography, managed by John Seigla. The Photographers jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, but the Wolves came roaring back, scoring 15 runs in the final three innings, for an 18-14 victory. The winners were paced by Hal Kime and Reggie Reese, with four hits each, while Tom Erpelding had four safeties for the Photographers.
On the second day of the three-day tourney, the Farmers upset the Wolves 15-14 in a super-exciting contest. Trailing 15-11 going into the bottom of the 7th, the Wolves tallied three runs and had the winning runners on base before falling one run short. Big Bill Gaston led the Farmers with four hits, including two long doubles off the wall. Billy Kreisman and Terry Zeltinger added four hits as well; Frank Rouse and Dom Colonna led the Wolfe Pack with four safeties each.
And then the winds came howling: gusts of 40+ mph and blowing dust turned the next contest into a game for the ages. The swirling winds made it difficult for pitchers to find the plate and for fielders to catch the ball. The game featured 29 bases on balls, 88 hits and 61 runs! So who won this crazy contest? The answer, my friends, is blowin’ in the wind! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!) Actually A-1 Golf Carts prevailed 31-30. The Golfers had six players reach base five times each: Ronnie Pennington, Doug Warwick, Rick Ebel, Dennis Kennedy, Randy Rothenbuehler and Gordy Hannaford. Dan Bradfield reached base six times for the Photographers, while Ed Sowney went five for five.
On the final day of the tournament, the weather returned to normal and the scores reflected that. A-1 Golf Carts eliminated Wolfe & Associates in a low-scoring tie-breaker to reach the finals. The Golfers were led by Ronnie Pennington and Rick Ebel with four hits each, while Dennis Kennedy had four for the Wolves.
The championship game was a very close contest with Farmers Insurance edging A-1 Golf Carts 14-13. Jeff Jay and Hoot Gibson stroked two doubles among their three hits each to lead the Farmers to victory. Ronnie Pennington and Doug Warwick stroked four hits each for the Golfers. Pennington and Warwick both went 15 for 19 in the tournament for a robust .789 average to lead their team to within one run of the tournament title. But in the end, the well-balanced line-up of the Farmers prevailed.
Congratulations to Manager Tom Erpelding and the rest of the winning Farmers team!