JOHN BUEHLER
Maumee Raptors'
Manager/Coach
John graduated from Clay High School, where he played baseball and ran track. He's been running ever since - winning Gold Medals at the Senior Olympics in the 100, 400 & 800 meters, plus the long- jump and the shot put. An avid softball player, has been competing in the sport all his life. He was introduced to Senor Softball in East Toledo. In 2012, he organized the Maumee Raptors "AA" team, winning four out of five tournaments. The squad peaked in August winning the 2012 "AA" Great Lakes Nationals at Pacesetter Park. John received the MVP award for his outstanding contribution.
John is assisted by Coach Al Seeger.
2013 TEAM ROSTER
Dave Ashman
Gary Beale
Hank Benavides
John Buehler, Coach
Dave Charlton
Jim Dandar
Joel Hansen
Terry Jessee
Neal Klopping
Dale Knepper
Scott Libbe
Fred Roberts
Al Seeger
Granville Smith
Rick Stager
Bill Trego
Mark Vonderembse
Tim Wilde
Bill Wiseman
Jane Wilde, Statistician
Huntsmen gold winners
GOLD MEDAL WINNERS! Maumee Bay Raptors co-managers Al Seeger and John Buehler struck gold at the 2013 Huntsman World Senior Games in Saint George, UT. Seeger played with Butch’s Salsa Bombers of Ferndale, MI. They won both 50 and 55 Major Plus brackets. Buehler played for the third year with the Anchorage Glacier Kings of Alaska. They won the 60 A division bracket. Al and John will be traveling with the Raptors to Tampa, FL for the ISSA World Tournament Of Champions in January.
Seeger wins Major-Plus
gold at Huntsmen games
The Salsa Bombers, an all-star team, with Al Seeger pitching, won the '50 and over Super-Major Open Division and the '55 and over Major-Open Division World titles at the Huntsmen Senior Games, St. George, Utah, Oct. 15-20.
The players: three from California, three from Oregon, three from Washington, six from Michigan, two from Florida, and Al from Ohio, were all hand-picked for their softball prowess. Several of these 'World-Class" athletes have been showcased on the TV show, "Softball 360". The Salsa Bombers are sponsored by Jack Aronsen, Garden Fresh Produce Co. and his partner, music legend Jimmy Buffet. "We plan to keep this team together", said Jack. "And showcase them in some of the premier tournaments held nation-wide".
Raptors travel to
Cincinnati for ISA
Cincinnati, OH - Back row (l-r): Dave Charlton, John Buehler, Granville Smith, Dave Ashman, Jim Hanna, Al Seeger. Front row: Gary Meyer, Neal Klopping, George Martinez, Bill Trego, Mark Vonderembse, John Radscheid.
Buehlers' travel team went down to Cincinnati for one last tournament this season. There were plenty of teams down there but we were the only 60 AA team. Since there were no other teams, we played against AAA teams and played competitively.
We had several of our roster players unable to attend the tournament. Three spots in the lineup were filled by players from the local 65’s roster. Mark Vonderembse, John Radscheid and Gary Meyer played very well for us. Those three plus Neal Klopping were awarded All Tournament honors for their efforts. Our newest roster player, Jim Hanna, won the MVP award for the ‘60s tournament champs.
- Neil Klopping
Raptors "chill out" at ISA Myrtle Beach, S.C. Tourney
The Raptors traveled to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to play in the ISA National Tournament, March 22 & 23, 2013. Temperatures fell as low as 32 degrees with heavy rain storms. Back row, from left; Joel Hansen, Gary Beale, Dave Ashman, Bill Wiseman, Dave Charlton, John Buehler, Rick Stager, Scott Libbe. Front row, from left: Jim Dandar, Terry Jessee, Hank Benavides, Neal Klopping, Bill Trego, Al Seeger. The team finished fourth with a record of 3 and 3.
Temperature dips to 30° for
Myrtle Beach Tournament
The Raptors couldn’t wait to fly south and get out of the cold and dreary Toledo winter weather and bask in the sunshine of Myrtle Beach and play softball. Some of the players went down and enjoyed playing golf earlier in the week in 65+ degree weather.
By the time the games started on Friday morning the temperature was in the 30’s! Boy was that cold! The team played well considering we hadn’t played since October and all the other teams have been playing winter ball in the warmer climates. The team showed batting strength scoring lots of runs in the two games but ended up with an even record at the end of the day. We couldn’t wait to play the next day, expecting warmer weather.
Early game on Saturday started with the temperature in the 30’s and rain! Even though the diamonds were all artificial turf, the pitchers’ mound and batters’ box were clay and had standing water. We played good ball for most of the games that day and we were 1 win away from winning an award. Overall the team did really well and we’re looking forward to playing ball in warmer weather!
- Neil Klopping
Raptors finish 2nd in Thee Buckeye Classic Tournament
The Maumee Bay Raptors, the 60 and over team from Sylvania Senior Softball, finished second in the 60 and over Silver Divison in Thee Buckeye Classic Tournament in Barberton, Ohio. The Raptors won their first 5 games of the tournament and then lost in the finals to Brantford Nissan of Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Players shown: Back Row from left Rick Stager, Al Seeger, Dave Ashman, Granville Smith, Fred Roberts, Coach John Buehler, Dave Charlton, Scott Libbe, Dale Knepper. Front Row from left Mark Vonderembse, Joel Hansen, Statistician Jane Wilde, Tim Wilde, Gary Beale, Jim Dandar, Neal Klopping.
Maumee Bay Raptors Coach John Buehler receives the runner-up plaque from Thee Buckeye Classic Softball Tournament Director Ho Hoffman. The Raptors won 5 games and lost 1 in the Barberton, Ohio tournament in the 60 and over division.
MARION, OHIO- Raptors Al Seeger is a picture of intensity, as he drives the ball to left for a hit in a tournament game at the Popcorn Festival, Sept. 7-8..
Raptors team victorious at
Marion's Fall tournament!
MARION, OHIO - The Raptors 60+ traveling team won the Popcorn Festival Tournament, Sept, 7-8 with a come-from-behind, 9th inning rally, scoring four runs with two outs! Back row, (l-r), Dave Ashman, Al Seeger, Jim Hanna, John Buehler, Ric Hendee and Dave Charleton. Front row, (l-r), Mark Vonderembse, Gary Meyer, Neal Klopping, Gary Beale, John Radscheid and Jim Dandar.
9th Inning rally seals win!
John Buehler took the 60+ travel team down to the Popcorn Festival in Marion, OH for a tournament. By the time the tournament started we were down to 11 players due to injuries and other complications. The lineup was changed and at the end of the 2 games on Saturday it didn't look good, we were 0-2.
John Buehler and Al Seeger decided on Sunday to go back to the batting lineup we would normally use and was glad that Rick Hendee came down. When the first game started on Sunday, we played played a lot better and won.
The next game was against a team with just one loss and with the excellent pitching of Al Seeger we secured another win.
Now we had to play the undefeated in the tournament. We sure gave our fans an exciting game. If the TV crews were there you would have seen a lot of coverage. There were exceptional catches in the outfield by Gary Beale, John Radscheid, Rick Hendee and Jim Hanna throughout the game. John Buehler played an exceptional 3rd base and Gary Meyer caught some screaming line drives at short. Dave Charlton caught a rally ending line drive up the middle and Jim Dandar made an over the shoulder catch from 2nd base on a Texas league fly ball heading to right field. BWT he also hit an ISPHR! In the final game the power hitters were not to be denied. Other home runs were hit by John Buehler, Dave Ashman, Gary Myer and Rick Hendee. Unfortunately Ricks' was not allowed because we exceeded our limit of three.
The excitement continued after 7 innings of play and the score tied. The other team would go ahead and we would catch up in the bottom of the innings. Finally after several of the OT innings we were down by 2 runs. Several batters reached 1st and 3rd and with 2 outs, the next batter hit a hard grounder to short, Mark Vonderembse on first base, raced to 2nd and with a head first slide was safe allowing the runner on third to score the winning run. Al Seeger pitched a remarkable game. What a tournament to win!
- Neil Klopping