KJP Slowpitch Boasts 66-1 W/L Record Over Past Two Years
Tri City Team Takes 2ND Straight 50-And-Over National Title
October 7, 2007
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By: O. J. Cunningham
KJP 2007 ASA CLASS "AAA" NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP 50+ SLOWPITCH - Team Members: (Front, L/R) Mike Kozuch, Jim Parker, Tracey Bridges, Bill Hintz, Player/Manager Dave Coffey, Pat McDonald & Greg Weckesser. (Back) Bill Newsham, Terry Jimenez, Tony Johnson, Rob Grocholski, Whitey Hintz, Randy Henika, Carl Miller, Vern Hartman and Lynn LaBrecque..
Some guys just don't know when to quit.
That's the way it is with the KJP 50+ Men's tri-city slowpitch powerhouse.
The names are familiar to anyone who has followed the rec slowpitch athletic scene in Bay County since the mid-1970's. Bridges, Hintz, Kozuch, McDonald, Henika, Coffey Parker, Newsham and Johnson just to name a few.
You can tease them a little bit about "being a bit long in the tooth" but the reality is still the same -- These guys can still play the game . . . and . . .
THESE GUYS STILL KNOW HOW TO WIN.
Over the past two seasons, the KJP slowpitch softball team has compiled a 66-1 record in top-level state-wide slowpitch softball competition.
"I guess we just don't know when to quit," laughed Tracey Bridges when he brought a picture and some stats into the MyBayCity offices recently.
Tracey Bridges, who was just inducted into the Bay County Sports Hall of Fame as a player on the Straits Aggregate Slowpitch team of the 1970's, is still banging the ball at a 600+ batting average some 30 years later.
"We just love playing the game," Bridges said. "We all do."
Bridges, along with Jim Parker, Mike Kozuch, Tony Johnson, Rob Grocholski and Carl Miller all made the National ASA Tournament All-Star team while winning the National Championship. Bridges batted .833 for the tournament while Parker hit .647 and pitched all tourney games.
In a Midland Daily News (MDN)article, Catcher/Sponsor was quoted as saying that he's built up some wonderful friendships over the years with many of his current teammates. "We have played together for a long time," Kozuch said in the MDN article.
O. J. Cunningham
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O. J. Cunningham is the Publisher of MyBayCity.com. Cunningham previously published Sports Page & Bay City Enterprise. He is the President/CEO of OJ Advertising, Inc.
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