The Huff n Puffs 55s made their way to St. George to compete in the World Senior Games. The weather was a little cooler than the previous two years, but quite comfortable for playing some great slow pitch. Before our game action on Wednesday, some of the team enjoyed the Tuacahn Theatre on Monday night. Tuesday night saw the entire team eating supper together before rocking out at a free concert to the music of the Eagles by the band American Eagle USA.
Day 1 Wednesday, Oct 15:
Our games were delayed two hours due to the early morning rains so we started our first game around 3:50 pm.
Our first opponent was the Moose Lodge 2073 from Florida. The game was tied at 5 after three innings, and we were able to take a lead after a four run fourth inning. The Lodge used a 5 run fifth inning to tie the game at 12. The Lodge scored 4 runs in their last at bat while we were unable to score in the bottom of the sixth. Final score 16-12 for the Moose Lodge. Not the start we wanted, but a good first game for a great group of guys playing their first game together.
Kevin Lane was 3-3 (HR), Tim Johnson was 3-3, and Kerry Buss with a two run HR.
Our second game followed right away against R-Tech Alaska.
A quick start saw the Huff n Puffs up 12-2 after three innings. Playing some good defense, we held R-Tech to only 6 runs as the mercy rule was used after 5 innings with a final score of 18-6.
Don Hallberg, Kevin Lane, Andy Stroh, Al Smith and Rod Norman were all 3-3 and Tim Johnson, Kerry Buss, Lyle Kennedy, Chad Rings, Mike Stroh and Royce Hopkins chipped in with two hits. A solid offensive performance over five innings, great defensive plays and no injuries had our team feeling good headed into day 2.
Day 2 Thursday, Oct 16
We started with an early morning game against the Party Time Knights out of Fresno, California. Another solid offensive game with four hits each from Tim Johnson, Lyle Kennedy, Chad Rings, Royce Hopkins and Don Hallberg. Kerry Buss, Curtis Scherger, Miles Mayer, Andy Stroh, Al Smith and Mike Stroh with three hits each. With all the hitting, we scored 13 runs in our open inning en route to a 30-12 triumph.
This completed our round robin with a 2 win 1 loss record. We soon found out that we had been placed in ‘AA’ and our competition would be very difficult.
Playoff Begins
The playoffs began at 7:10 pm for us with the sun setting and the lights of the diamond coming on. Our first opponent would be the Detroit Pride. We came out of the gates swinging keeping our offensive momentum scoring 5 runs each in the first two innings to jump out to a 10-2 lead. The offense continued allowing us to enjoy a 21-12 lead after 5. Good thing we built that lead because Detroit did not give in and battled to score 6 runs before the final out was recorded for our 21-18 win.
Don Hallberg, Chad Rings, Miles Mayer, Al Smith and Royce Hopkins with three hits each. Kevin Lane smacked a homerun while Mike Stroh hit an inside the park homerun.
She Said I Could Play from Toronto was our next opponent. This team hit the ball hard every time including two hard hits right back at our pitcher Tim Johnson in the first inning. Tim was a real warrior continuing to pitch even after being knocked down with a hit to his stomach. Our offense continued to hit and score runs, but SSICP matched and even exceeded our efforts. We scored 5 runs in innings two, three and four while SSICP scored 5 runs every inning for the first four innings. We battled with three runs in the fifth and finally held them to 1 run in the bottom of the fifth. The score was now 21-20. However, we failed to keep the offense rolling as we didn’t score in the sixth to lose the game. Batting a thousand for the game were Don, Tim, Chad, Miles, Andy and Mike (another inside the park HR).
This brought an end to our day with one life left in the playoff bracket. Our bodies were starting to hurt with all the running we were doing especially our usual courtesy runners of Andy, Mike and Rod. Kerry, Kevin and Curtis who played with the 60s in Mesquite and St. George and with us were still giving it their all.
Day 3 Friday, Oct 17
Our first game of the day would also be our last game. We were up against the Drifters from Salt Lake City. The game was tied at 3 after one inning and tied at 8 after two innings. We battled hard to keep pace with the Drifters by scoring 5 in the fifth inning to be down by a score of 15-13. However, the Drifters would drift away from us by scoring 13 runs in their open inning while we would put up a zero. Final score 28-13. Kevin Lane hit two homeruns in the loss.
Our tournament was over, but we will remember the games we played and the great comradery enjoyed by all. I am thankful to have the opportunity to play ball with such an awesome group of guys. A huge shout out to our fans who cheered us on; win or lose! We came to play ball, but the memories we made will last forever!
Tournament Report By Andy Stroh
