Tag Archive for softball

Farmer’s Insurance wins tournament title

Tournament winners, front: Steve Hilby, Jeff Jay, Mgr. Gary Hatch, Gary Stewart and Gregg Peterson; back: Tom Vitolo, Dom Colonna, John Whitman, Bill Kreisman, “Hoot” Gibson, Tom Erpelding and Evan Hansen. (Photo by Core Photography, LLC).

Larry Wolfe At the conclusion of our winter league, a seeded seven-team three-day double-elimination tournament was held; 12 games were played over the three-day span before the Farmers Insurance team, sponsored by the Frank Margiotta Agency and managed by Gary Hatch, won their well-earned title. Brief game summaries follow: In game one, Farmers scored four…

Softball player profile

Larry Wolfe No, this is not a profile of that Randy Newman, the singer-songwriter most famous for the song Short People. This story features Randy Neumann, native of Minnesota and current Sun Lakes snowbird and softball player. A graduate of Burnsville High School, Randy played JV hockey for the Braves and also played youth baseball…

State Farm captures winter softball title

Winter league champs, left to right are Billy Kreisman, Mike Levine, Ralph Vasquez, “Big Al” Grefsheim, Tim Baldwin, Mgr. Larry Kaufmann, Stan Weiss, Bill Stanick, Dave Rinaldo and Jerry Smith. (Photo courtesy of Core Photography, LLC.).

Larry Wolfe The State Farm Insurance team, managed by Larry Kaufmann and sponsored by the Ralph Vasquez Agency, captured the winter league pennant with a sparkling 16-4 record, easily besting the second place finishers, Brenden Financial Planning, who completed a 13-9 campaign. Larry Kaufmann led all hitters at the break with a .821 average, followed…

Softball Player Profile: Stephen “Doc” Dockter

Larry Wolfe A native and long-time resident of North Dakota, Stephen “Doc” Dockter claims Streeter as his hometown. Streeter’s current population is less than 200, but when Doc was attending Streeter High in the late ‘60s, it was a thriving metropolis of around 500! Doc played baseball, softball and basketball for the Bobcats. Doc then…

State Farm leads winter softball league

Forever Young: Our 80 plus members include pitcher Billy Kreisman, second sacker Bobby Reeves, pitcher Owen Bae, recreational program director Red Waterfield and field superintendent Larry Delaney. (Photo by Core Photography, LLC).

Larry Wolfe At press time, the State Farm Insurance team, managed by Larry Kaufmann, held a four-game lead in our winter league standings with two weeks to play. They had posted a sparkling 12-2 record at that point. Our top five batters, based upon a minimum of 90 at bats during the fall and winter…

Softball Player Profile

Larry Wolfe When you first meet Tom Kasunic, you’d guess “stand out athlete.” And you’d be right. Tom was captain of his high school football team, earning All-Catholic, All-Metro and Honorable Mention All-State honor, while playing for Austin Catholic Prep in Detroit. He was also an All-League baseball player for the Friars. Later, he played…

A-1 Fall Softball Champs

Larry Wolfe The A-1 Golf Carts team won the fall League Championship with a 14-6 record, barely edging out the Farmers Insurance and Young’s West USA Realty teams. A-1 clinched the title during the final game of the season when “General” Ed Sowney ripped a clutch two-out hit off the left field wall to drive…

Lady Sluggers begin season

Lady Slugger Terry Finley (courtesy of Core Photography, LLC).

Larry Wolfe The Lady Sluggers, Sun Lakes’ ladies senior softball team, begin their season on January 4. The first home game at the Field of Dreams is on Wednesday, January 6. The full home schedule is shown below. All games start at noon. The Sluggers are members of the Valley of the Sun League and…

Softball Player Profile: Dan Bradfield

Larry Wolfe The word “inspirit” means to instill courage or strength of purpose, to hearten, to inspire and to encourage. Dan Bradfield recently opened a company in Casa Grande called Inspirit Gymnastics to provide gymnastics training for children and teens, but he teaches much more than tumbling, vaulting and the use of parallel bars; he…

Play Ball! Again!

Tim Baldwin sprints toward first base in a recent contest. Umpire Ken Brenden follows the play while on deck hitter, TJ Tjernlund, looks on. (Courtesy of Core Photography, LLC).

Larry Wolfe The Sun Lakes Senior Softball Association’s winter season opens on Tuesday, January 5. For the first time, our league will have seven teams vying for the title. Each team plays a 24-game schedule. Team sponsors are: A-1 Golf Carts, Brenden Financial Planning, Farmers Insurance (Frank Margiotta Agency), Mutual of Omaha Bank, State Farm…