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| Huff n Puffs 60's with the bonze medal and their Outstanding Cheerleaders |
They say if you don’t play a sport for a while you get rusty. And apparently the older you get the thicker the rust. The Huff n Puff 60’s headed south of the boarder last week and wrapped up their first warm up tournament in Mesquite Nevada Sunday afternoon. The first game pitted them against fellow Canadians in the boys from the Okanagan Valley in BC. “Rust” is an understatement in this contest. The boys from Alberta committed no less than 9 errors enroute to a 23-17 loss. The good news is no one got hurt, the 17 runs were a positive sign and believe it or not the beer was ice cold. God bless America for cheap beverages 😊. After a quick regroup the Huffers were back on the field against a squad from Northern Utah. Rust? No it was totally gone and when the final tally went up on the board it was Medicine Hat 25 Northern Utah Blossoms 9. The boys went into game 3 of the day feeling like polished chrome but like they say “rust” seems to surface when you don’t do a good prep job and guess what…………….it reared its ugly head against the 60’s from Washington, Wenatchee to be more precise. Although the defense cleaned up their act the offense was nearly no where to be seen. Huff n Puffs lose this one 12-7.
Sunday……………new day, new team apparently. The guys from the Hat needed to win 2 straight to secure the bronze and win 2 they did. In convincing fashion, I might add. Before church even started at 8am the Alberta boys crushed the AK Northern Lights from Alaska 21-9 then in another must win situation did the same to the fellas up the road from Calgary 21-6. Final record on the weekend 3-2 and a medal to hang on the mantel. A successful warm up tourney when you consider not much ball has been played in the last few weeks.
Next action is 3 games Monday and Tuesday for preliminary action in the world-renowned Huntsman World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. From there it will be on to the playoffs where hopefully the rust is totally gone and the bats stay hotter than a midsummers day in Nevada.
This year’s team has only played together a minimal number of times but the team work, comradery, and the number of laughs and shenanigans is off the top of the scale. And to mention the cheerleaders are the best in the west is an understatement. If you run into one, ask them what went down at the Virgin River Hotel and casino Saturday afternoon😊
The roster this year is filled with solid guys who not only can play ball but can have a good time. The 13 guys gunning for gold at the games are: Grant Mackay, Al Martens, Barry Koch, Jim Stewart, Kevin Lane, Kerry Buss, Todd Kopec, Kelly Martin, Leon Moch, Curtis Scherger, Delvin Moch, Chad Stahl and Gerard Hittel.
Stay tuned as the week progresses and the score indicate that the “Rust has left the building”.
Tournament Report By Gerard Hittel