Nautical softball dominance continues on the men?s side

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

Make it five tournament championships in a row for Mio Body Shop/Bon?s Boys. They finished their undefeated tournament run with a 25-15 win against Plumber?s Fitters of Lansing late Sunday afternoon. Of the five, one of the team?s sponsors, Bonnie Derry of Rogers City, has four of the championship trophies in her basement.

In the first couple of innings, it looked as if Plumber?s was going to carry some of the momentum they used to eliminate Sports Factory, 25-11, over to the finals against the perennial champs. A solo homer by Mio?s Walt Roy was answered by a solo shot by Josh Onstott and a two-run homer off the bat of Dave Andrus. Plumber?s took a 3-1 lead into the top of the second. A two-run lead against Mio was like plugging a leaking dam with a finger.

MIO SENT 13 batters to the plate in the second, highlighted by four homers by Pat Van Sloten, Ryan Fournier, Scott Weaver, and Roy?s second of the contest. In all, nine runs would cross the plate. Plumber?s Fitters went down in order in the bottom of the second, while Mio busted the game open with six additional runs in the top of the third for a 16-3 lead. Plumber?s would bring in four in the third and five in the fourth to narrow the lead to four, 16-12, before MBS ended any pending drama with a five-run fifth and a two-run sixth. ?It just seems that every year we find a different way to win,? said Weaver, MBS? cleanup hitter. ?Every year we have new pieces, but there is the same core of seven or eight players.? This is the only tournament MBS/Bon?s Boys plays during the year. ?Everyone plays on their own teams and we all get together for this one,? he added.

MBS HAS won 28 games in a row in Rogers City, and it is all done with no practices. ?We just come here to have fun,? said Weaver. ?We?ll be back to defend next year.? Winning most valuable player plaques for MBS were Pat (Wile E.) Van Sloten and Buzz Menard. The local team that made it the furthest in the tournament was Northeast Excavation of Rogers City. They made it to Sunday, but were bumped off by Sports Factory of Detroit.

The 1980 Kelly?s Venture Inn squad, which featured four members of the Presque Isle County Softball Hall of Fame, was the last local men?s team to win the tournament. The hall of famers included Mike Grulke, Harold Hopp, Fred Schwiesow, and Harley Schaedig. Schaedig was inducted Sunday at ?The Hole.? A story of five hall of fame inductees will appear in an upcoming edition of The Advance.

WOMEN?S TOURNAMENT Repeat winners were a theme during this year?s Nautical City Festival softball tournaments, as a core group of players calling themselves the 24 Second Bar and Grille repeated as champs, joining five time champ Mio Body Shop/Bon?s Boys. The downstate club defeated Glaza Farms 7-4 in the finals, ending a perfect tournament run.

Glaza earned a bid for the title the hard way, by playing extra games in the loser?s bracket. They lost their very first game of the tournament Saturday, but found the winning formula and rode that into the finals. Glaza got off to a good start at the plate in taking an early lead in the first inning, but struggled in the outfield when 24 Second came to the plate, leading to some easy runs. The eventual champs tied the game at three and pulled ahead to take a 7-3 lead after three complete innings, and the game went scoreless the rest of the way.

Christine Dowling won the most valuable player plaque. FOR ORGANIZER Frank Wozniak, who has

watched the ladies tournament grow tremendously under his 15 years of leadership, he?ll step down and allow Karl Grambau to run the tournament in the future. Grambau plans on using it as a fundraiser for the Huron softball program. Wozniak has received a lot of positive feedback about the women?s tournament over the years and he said that?s why people keep coming back. ?It has been a huge success.? He also added that he has ?made a lot of friends.? While he wanted to quietly bow out and turn the reigns over, he will stay active in umpiring and assist Grambau with getting next year?s entry forms out to the teams.

The only local teams to advance to Sunday?s action were Bruder?s team and Lighthouse.

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