Larry Wolfe
The Camp Hilby team, managed by Ron Carmichael, surprised Manager Marty Hobby’s top-seeded Wolfe and Associate squad to win the Sun Division tournament. Here’s the road they traveled to the championship:
In the opening game of the tourney, the Wolves lived up to their reputation by blasting Manager Mike Gloyd’s Spooner Therapists 25-13. Manager Hobby and Dennis Henderson had five hits each to lead the Wolves’ 37-hit attack.
In game two, the Campers upset Manager Barron Liebert’s number 2 seeded Redeemed Team 15-11. John Doran blasted three home runs to lead the Campers to victory.
On the second day of the tournament, the Wolves held on to edge the Campers by a 16-15 score. The Wolves had an early 11-2 lead, but the Campers battled back, falling just one run short. Jack Morris and Brad Wendt each had four hits to pace the winners.
In game four the Spooner Therapists eliminated the Redeemers in another close contest. The Redeemers loaded the bases with no outs in the final inning, but scored only once, losing 20-19. Mickey Gregg led the Therapists’ attack with four hits; Brian Denham and Gino Fiasche homered. Dave Platt, Bobby Reed and Frank Scarpelli each had four hits for the Redeemers, with Gordon Leatherbarrow and Manager Liebert going yard.
In the penultimate game on day three, the Hilby Campers outlasted the Spooner Therapists by an 18-16 score. George Siegele sealed the deal with a walk–off three-run homer. George went five for five with two long balls in the game with Billy Kee and Mark Kuechler adding four hits each. Mickey Gregg had four hits for the losing squad.
In the championship contest the top-seeded Wolves couldn’t get their attack going until it was way too late. They trailed the Campers 12-3 early and by 20-3 entering the final inning. They scored seven times in the seventh to make the score a little more respectable but still lost 20-10. George Siegele again led the Campers with four hits including two more homers; Bob Hubbard and Joe Scheppert also tallied four hits with Hubbard homering. Dennis Henderson led the Wolves with two homers.
Tournament leaders in the major hitting categories were:
Tom Casady, most singles (12)
Chris Reese, most doubles (4)
Four players tripled
George Siegele, most home runs (7)
Jack Martin, highest batting average (.923)
George Siegele, highest slugging percentage (1.909)
Kudos to all these players and to Manager Carmichael and the entire tournament champion Campers team.