Larry Wolfe Rick Oien grew up in the small town of Grenora in northwest North Dakota, just 30 miles from the Canadian border. Grenora was named after the GReat NOrthern RAilway due to its position at the end of a branch line of that railway. Rick’s last name is pronounced Oy-en and is of Norwegian…
Larry Wolfe Gordon “Gordy” Hannaford is the son of a military man, so his family moved around a lot when he was a kid; however, he considers Bellevue, Nebraska, his hometown since that’s where he went to junior and senior high school. He was on the Chieftains’ wrestling team and later was on the…
Larry Wolfe Other than attending and graduating from nearby Mankato (MN) Commercial College, Tom Erpelding is a pure-bred Hawkeye. Growing up on a farm, he spent his entire youth and business career in Iowa, where he attended a small school in LuVerne and played baseball, graduating with a class of only 23. After earning…
Larry Wolfe A native of Warsaw, Illinois, Roger Wisslead could stand on the banks of the Mississippi and see Illinois, Iowa and Missouri just by turning his head. He was a four-year letterman as a defensive back in football and a pole vaulter and sprinter on the Warsaw Wildcats track team. After graduating from high…
Larry Wolfe The “perfect man”? Well, Debra McCarthy thinks so and, in fact, Dennis McCarthy can legitimately stake a claim to that title. He’s the only person I’ve ever known who has pitched a perfect game in baseball and bowled four perfect games! Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and raised in Stoneham, northeast of Boston, Dennis…
Larry Wolfe “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) This passage is the perfect description of Doug Warwick. Born in Chicago but raised in West Des Moines and later Raleigh, North Carolina, Doug played high school baseball…
Larry Wolfe A true “Upstate New Yorker,” Jim Entwistle grew up in Utica and spent most of his work career in Rochester. Jim played high school basketball and baseball for the Utica Free Academy Titans, lettering four times in baseball. Jim and his twin brother John were the star pitcher/catcher combination throughout their youth baseball…
Larry Wolfe To list all the accomplishments and accolades earned by Coach John Whitman would fill an entire book, not just this column, so here’s a very abridged version: Member of the Antioch (CA) High Legends Hall of Fame as Baseball/basketball coach; Three-time Eastbay Baseball Coach of the Year; Lesher Publications Baseball and Basketball Coach…
Larry Wolfe Normally, describing someone as “selfish” would be negative, but with Reyes Gonzales, “S-E-L-F-ish” is all positive. “S” stands for Softball player extraordinaire, “E” is for Educator, “L” is for Likeable and, “F” is for Family man. Those are his main focuses and attributes. Reyes, an “almost native” Arizonan, moved from Watsonville, California, to…
Larry Wolfe It’s a good thing we don’t put names on our uniform backs ‘cause Randy Rothenbuehler’s wouldn’t fit! He has the “honor” of having the longest unhyphenated surname of anyone to ever play Sun Lakes softball! A native of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Randy graduated from Lincoln High, then went directly into the workforce.…