Softball
Covington Turners Host
National Softball - July 1 - 2, 2006
National Softball Tournament Report
An amazing weekend softball, fun, and great memories took place over the weekend of June 30 – July 2 as Covington Turners hosted its first ever National Softball Tournament at the City of Covington Sports Complex. The weather was hot, but dry, as a total of 20 teams competed in Men's, Women's, 45 and Over Men's, and 16 and Under Boys Divisions representing Aurora, Illinois, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, and Covington, Kentucky.
The festivities began on Friday as our out of town guests began arriving in the early afternoon and descended upon Turners Garden for an evening of live music. The tournaments started promptly at 9 AM with Men's Tournament Action. Covington Come Gets ‘Em defeated Aurora Turners While Ft. Wayne Shady Nook took care of Trame’s Shirts. At 10 AM, Ft. Wayne James Medical knocked off Covington O’Donnell as Covington Get Off Me bested Aurora Cold Beer. In the quarter-finals, Aurora Slugs held off Come Gets’ Em while Covington Legends disposed of Get Off Me. The Women took to the fields at Noon when Ft. Wayne Turner Damen bested Covington Turners as the Covington Tribe sent Covington Squaws to the Losers Bracket. In Men's Semi-final action, the Slugs got by Shady Nook as Covington Legends knocked off James Medical. In the Women's winners bracket final, Covington Tribe defeated Turner Damen while in the Men's Winners Bracket Final, Covington Legends nipped Aurora Slugs in an extra inning thriller. In the Losers bracket, Aurora Turners knocked out Trame’s Shirts while Covington O’Donnell eliminated Cold Beer.
That set the stage for the most memorable part of the weekend as the original Ft. Wayne North Anthony Liquors 45 and Over Masters Squad took on Covington Dixie Novelty in a match up that hasn’t occurred in many a year. Dave Wagner of NAL worked the first inning of a game that the Ft. Wayne Team won decisively. But it didn’t matter too much as members of both squads shook hands and showed their mutual respect after playing 5 innings. As a kid, I had witnessed this match up many times in the 70’s and 80’s. To see it again in 2006 induced many a goose bump as a large and appreciative crowd from these 3 societies plus some guests from Cincinnati and Louisville Turners enjoyed the action. All these players deserve mention. Ft. Wayne NAL brought Bob and Steve Kleinschmidt, Dave Wagner, DJ Wagner, Dan Koch, Dick Scmidt came up from St. Louis, Ted Davis, Bob Brady, Mike Roberts, Jay Lahrman, Kevin Pappert, and Larry Miller. Dixie Novelty players included Jeff and Al Trame, Doug Schlarman, Lenny Bailey, Mark Ernst, Bob Schilling, PeeWee Garnett, Wayne Garnett, Tom Mando, and guest appearances from Steve Morano of Cincinnati and Leroy Goetz.
To wrap up Saturday, several legends from the Dixie Novelty Dynasty of the 70’s came out for pictures and to get a few swings in. Represented were Deacon Trame, Fred Terry, Babe Neff, Lee Goetz, Dan Tieman, Roger Tieman, Bob Sturgill, and Bill Bieger. As a side note, on the Thursday before the tournament, my two sons, Blair and Brandon, and I went to the complex to take batting practice. My Dad, Deacon, and brother, Terry, show up as Dad wanted to get a few swings in so as to not embarrass himself on Saturday. Dad had never hit with aluminum bats, much less the live bats used today. After shaking off some rust, Dad starts busting line drives and hard ground balls past my kneecaps. Dad is 69 years old and had not hit softball since he retired from the game at age 40. 29 years later, he could still hit! I get teary-eyed just thinking about it and it’s a memory I’ll always treasure as well as seeing all the legends who I idolize back together again.
After Saturday’s action, players and families headed to Turners Garden for a Steak Dinner prepared by my wife, Gay, and her Father Pat Taney with some help from Pat’s Friends, Joe Crowe and Denny Sizemore. DJ Chad Jasper provided the musical entertainment in the Garden Saturday Evening.
The Ball Tournaments commenced early on Sunday with 8 AM Losers Bracket Games. O’Donnell eliminated Come Gets ‘Em as Get Off Me disposed of Aurora Turners. Shady Nook then sent Get Off Me packing while James Medical started its Losers Bracket Run by knocking off Covington O’Donnell. In the battle of Ft. Wayne, James Medical outlasted Shady Nook, then sent the Slugs packing in the Losers Bracket Final. Meanwhile, in the Women's Division, Covington Squaws defeated Turner Damen, but then lost in the finals to the Champions, the Covington Tribe. In the Men's Final, Covington Legends captured the National Title by defeating Ft. Wayne James Medical bringing an end to two great days of competition. Chris Young of Covington Legends was selected the tournament MVP as both teams were awarded tournament shirts.
For the first time in 30 years, there was a 16 and Under Boys Division with 4 teams, hopefully grooming National Tournament Participants of the future. Covington Dixie Novelty and Covington Get Off Me were named co-champions of the two and out tournament.
There are so many people to thank for the success of this weekend, but just to name a few, Bob and Billy Bieger did a tremendous job of announcing the contests, thanks to Turner Member Pam Hardy for umpiring and organizing all the umpires for the weekend. Also, a big thanks to my wife, Gay, for allowing me to take on this great event. Lastly, I’d like to thank all the players who participated, but specifically my good friends from out of town who brought teams to Covington, namely Joleen Burns of Ft. Wayne Turner Damen, Jimmy Markland of Ft. Wayne James Medical, Scooter Schmidt of Ft. Wayne Shady nook, Mike Seppelfrick of Aurora Turners, Mark Pawloski of Aurora Slugs, and Brett Wing of Aurora Cold Beer.
We’ll be ready to travel next year and hopefully we can grow and build the Men's, Women's, and Kids Divisions and keep producing great memories of what American Turners is all about, good spirited competition followed by the enjoyment of each others’ company!
Best Wishes!!
Dan Trame
Covington, KY Turners
