SSS team wins in Dayton!
DAYTON, OHIO - The '65's traveling team took 2nd place, in the Dick Ernst Senior Softball Classic Tournament, April 26. Back row, from left: Coach Mark Vonderembse, Gary Haas, Coach Gary Meyer, John Radscheid, Fred Roberts, Charlie Oberlin & Joel Hansen. Front row, from left: George Stuller, Ron Callison, Mike Riethmiller, Terry Jessee & Dann Schlenbaker
Sylvania 65 Finishes Second in Its Inaugural Tournament
On April 26th, the team traveled to Dayton, Ohio to kick-off the 2014 season, and finished second in the sixth annual Dick Ernst Senior Softball Classic with a 2-1 record.
Sylvania lost its first game 13 – 10 to a team from Middletown that went undefeated in the tournament. Sylvania jumped out to a lead of 6 – 1 after three innings and led 7 – 4 after five. The defense was a bit rusty as all four runs were unearned. Middletown rallied with 5 in the top of the sixth and Sylvania could not answer back. Middletown scored 3 more in the top of the seventh to go up 6. Sylvania answered with 3 in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run at the plate when Middleton’s right fielder made an excellent running catch to end the game. Birthday boy John Radscheid was 4 for 4, Gary Meyer and Charlie Oberlin were 3 for 4, and Mike Riethmiller and Terry Jesse were 2 for 3.
The team needed to tighten its defense and add a few clutch hit to be successful. After a game to rest, relax, eat lunch, and have some magic brownies, Sylvania did just that. In its second game, Sylvania was able to pull out an extra innings victory against Dayton Orthopedics by a score of 16 – 13. Sylvania was blanked in the top of the first inning but scored 5 in the second, 5 in third, and 3 in the fourth to take a 13 – 8 lead. Sylvania had only one hit in the next 3 innings, and Dayton responded with one run in the fifth and 4 more in the sixth to tie the score. Going into the bottom of the seventh Dayton needed only 1 run to win. They loaded the bases with one out, and the next hitter smashed a bullet to the left side, but Gary Haas made a nice catch for the second out. The next batter hit the ball well but John Radscheid ran it down in left field to end the threat. In the top of the eights, Fred Roberts led off with a single. Dann Schlembacker, Ron Callison, Mike Riethmiller, and George Stuller singled as well to knock in three runs. Dayton Orthopedics went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eights. The team was led by Joel Hansen, John Radscheid, Mike Riethmiller, and George Stuller with 3 for 4 hitting.
In the final game, Sylvania jumped out to an 11 – 1 lead after five. Gary Haas started the game with a double, and the next six batters reached base via five singles and a walk. Ron Callison knocked in the fifth run with the sixth single of the inning. Great defense and excellent pitching by Fred Roberts held the Dayton Legends to one run through five inning. Sylvania beat the Legend by a final score of 15 – 9. George Stuller was 4 for 4, Charlie Oberlin was 3 for 3, Joel Hansen was 4 for 5, Gary Meyer, Dann Schlembaker, and Mike Riethmiller were 2 for 3, and John Radscheid was 3 for 5.
Fred Roberts pitched well in all three game, yielding only two walks total. John Radscheid led the team at 769. Charlie Oberlin, Mike Riethmiller, George Stuller, Joel Hansen, Gary Meyer, and Dann Schlembaker hit 727, 700, 636, 615, 545, and 545, respectively.
Sylvania 65's make AAA
debut in Great Lakes NIT
For the Great Lakes Tournament, the Sylvania 65 team was moved up to the AAA group, although players from another team insisted that there were at least two major teams playing in AAA group. The fireworks began on Friday when bracket play began. In the first game, Sylvania jumped out to an 8 to 1 lead over Brantford after two innings and led 12 to 6 after 4. Brantford started to hit better in the fifth and six innings, but Sylvania responded, keeping pace with Brantford, so Sylvania led 20 to 14 after six innings. In the top of the seventh, Sylvania scored 4 runs to give them a “comfortable” 10 run lead. In the bottom of the seventh, Brantford hit the ball hard and scored five runs with only one out. In the rest of the inning, Brantford added some luck to their good hitting as several balls where just out of the reach of Sylvania’s infielders and outfielders. Brantford came all the way back to beat Sylvania 25 to 24. The game was both exciting and unfortunate.
After this heartbreaking loss, which sent Dick Block to the emergency room at Flower Hospital, Sylvania was a man down and facing Rush Trucking, who was the second seed in bracket play. It is important to note that the game against Brantford was at 9:00 am and the game against Rush was scheduled for 4:30, and it did not start until after 5:30. Sylvania could easily have lost its competitive edge. Sylvania started slowing and was behind Rush Trucking 11 to 5 after three innings. For the next three innings, Sylvania kept pace with Rush as each team was shut out in the fourth inning and each team added 5 and 3 runs in the fifth and sixth inning, respectively. In the top of the seventh, Rush scored 4 more runs to given them a “comfortable” ten run lead. Only a few people were thinking this would be déjà vu all over again (redundancy added for emphasis). Mike Riethmiller led off the bottom of the seventh for Sylvania with a single that was the beginning of 11 straight hits. George Stuller, Joel Hansen, Gary Meyer, John Radscheid, Charlie Oberlin, Dann Schlembaker, Fred Roberts, Gary Seeger, and Ron Callison got hits, and Mike Riethmiller added his second hit of the inning. That explosion led to nine runs. After two outs, Gary Meyer got his second hit of the inning to score the tying run. Rush pitched around John Radscheid who walked to load the bases. Charlie Oberlin crushed the ball directly at the right center fielder for Rush who was playing a few steps in front of the warning track. The deep drive was over his head and hit the base of the fence before he could take more than a few steps towards it. The winning run trotted in from third base. It was an exciting ending against a very good team.
The next game, which was on Saturday morning, was delayed by rain, and Sylvania had only ten players counting Dick Block who came back to play after his trip to the emergency room. Sylvania lost by a score of 22-11 to take fourth place in the tournament.
The team hit the ball well with a 603 batting average, and there was strength up and down the line up. The leaders were Gary Meyer at 739, Dick Block at 667, Mark Vonderembse at 750, John Radscheid at 636, Charlie Oberlin at 650, Dann Schlembaker at 632, and Mike Riethmiller at 600.
A special thanks to Mary Ann Radscheid for keeping score and our loyal fan Susan Meyer.
BARBERTON, OHIO - The Sylvania '65's tournament team competed in Thee Buckeye Classic event and won with a 4-2 record. Back row, from left, Dick Block, Fred Roberts, Terry Jessee, Mark Vonderembse, Mike Riethmiller and Charlie Oberlin. Front row, left, George Stuller, Gary Meyer, Joel Hansen, Dann Schlembaker, Ron Callison & John Radscheid.
Sylvania 65's win Thee Buckey Classic Tourney
The Sylvania 65 team traveled to Barberton on June 5 and 6 and finished with a 4 and 2 record winning the AA division. On Thursday, Sylvania was behind early in its first game, but came back with 10 runs in the last four innings to beat the Rochester Royals by a score of 12-6. Game two was against Magic City Sports, a AAA team, and Sylvania bats went cold. Sylvania was down 12 to 3 going into the sixth inning, and rallied for five runs. The third game, against the Dayton Legends, was hard fought, and Sylvania won 14 to 13. Sylvania jumped out to a 11 to 7 lead at the end of 3 innings, but the Legends came back to tie the score at 13 after 6 innings. At that point, the game exceeded the time limit, so the tie breaker was implemented for the seventh inning. Dayton put a runner on second to start the inning, but excellent pitching and good defense held the Legends to only one run. In the bottom of the seventh, Sylvania scored two runs without the benefit of a hit. Terry Jesses was assigned to second base, and Dick Block and Joel Hansen walked. Gary Meyer hit a deep drive that was caught at the warning track, and both Terry and Dick scored on the sacrifice fly for a 1 run victory.
On Friday, Sylvania started with a 12-4 loss to Stahl Post #30, who was also AAA. Stahl Post jumped out to a 7-0 lead after 3 innings, and held a 12-2 lead after 5. Sylvania bats never really got started as the team managed only 14 hits. The final game in round robin play was against the Mississauga Legends. Sylvania banged out 27 hits and scored 20 runs to win by 9. It was truly a team effort as everyone had at least 1 hit and scored at least 1 run. That victory places Sylvania in the finals of the AA group against Mississauga. In Championship game, Sylvania had 33 hits and scored 21 runs. It needed another good game as Mississauga scored 16 runs. Once again it was a team effort as everyone had 2 or more hits and scored at least 1 run.
A special thanks to Mary Ann Radscheid for keeping score, Susan Meyer for rooting us to victory, and Gayle Vonderembse for baking cookies.
Tournament Factoids:
• John Radscheid was a perfect 9 for 10 on the first day. How is 9 for 10 perfect? The answer is: When the only out is a second over the fence homerun in the game against the Dayton Legends. John led the team in hitting at 727 and was second in slugging percent at 909.
• Charlie Oberlin was second in hitting at 706 and first in slugging percent at 1412 with an over the fence and an inside the park homerun. He also led the team in RBI with 13.
• Gary Meyer hit 650, was tied for second in RBI, and played shortstop very well. He did so for the last game and a half with a sore back. Gary was 6 for 8 and had 4 RBI in the two games against Mississauga.
• George Stuller hit 632 for the tournament. He was 6 for 7 plus a walk, scored 5 runs, and had 4 RBI in the two games against Mississauga.
• Sylvania found it leadoff hitter, as Dick Block was put in that position to start game 3. He can take the walk, hit and hit for power, and runs well. He led the team in runs with 11 including 5 against Mississauga. He also had 3 RBI against Mississauga.
• Ron Callison hit 667 the first day and played very good defense. After dinner and a banana split, he drove himself to the emergency room with heart attack symptoms. After several test, he was released and is doing fine. He is ready to play in the next tournament.
• Joel Hansen hit 600 and was 8 for 10 in the two games against Mississauga including 5 for 5 in the Championship game.
• Fred Roberts pitched very well, played great defense, was tied for fourth in RBI with 7, and went 13 for 22. Fred was 4 for 5 in the Championship game.
• Mike Riethmiller played very well at first base, and he hit well against Mississauga going 4 for 7 with a walk and 4 runs scored.
• Dann Schlenbaker played excellent defense and played well against Mississauga going 5 for 7 plus a walk, scoring 4 runs, and driving in 3 more.
• After 2 games, Mark Vonderembse was only 1 for 7. He made amends with 11-13 in the last four games including 6 for 7 hitting, 3 runs scored, and 3 RBI against Mississauga.
• In the first game against Mississauga, Terri Jessee cleared the bases with an inside the park homerun that allowed Sylvania to tie the score.