In his outstanding outfield career, Anthony has been named to the Major Nationals 1st All-American team 11 times, Batting Champ in 2006 and Home Run Champ in 1999. He has won 6 Major National Titles, 5 No-Glove National titles. After college baseball, he was recruited by his local Brands Park team Pokers and he eventually […]
Tom grew up on softball fields in the 1970’s watching his dad, Bob, play. He started playing on his dad’s teams at 18. Tom was then recruited by John Pellegrino, who was putting together the Rebels with the intention of shifting from a neighborhood team to an A/Major contender. As a key member of the
As a young boy, Dennis traveled from park to park watching his Dad (Ron) play everynight. He and his brother Bob would run the bases after each game and slide into home plate just like their Dad. Although their Mom wasn’t thrilled with the dirty clothes, she knew they both loved this game! Fresh out
What became a lifetime passion, began as a fun pastime playing with family and friends. After wrapping up successful Varsity Baseball and Football careers at Leyden Township High School, Joe developed a serious interest in 16” Softball in the mid-1980s. To this day, he treas- ures his early Schiller Park “Shot” and Brooks Park “Shooters”
John Westermayer was raised in Des Plaines next to Tomahawk Park, a park that influenced his desire to play softball and baseball because he would listen to the sounds of baseball being played during the summer months. Additionally, the local 16-inch softball “Metros” were played over countless summers in his youth at Tomahawk. There was
Bobby Russ Jr. started his sixteen-inch softball career in the late 1980s with two Northwest Side neighborhood teams – the Levee and the Jackmen. Both teams had a number of HOF players on their roster. He played baseball and basketball at Weber High School from 1981 to 1985. He received a scholarship to play baseball
Larry Downes’s softball journey began at Grant Park about 1968 where his Dad’s Continental Bank team played hundreds of games during his childhood. His Mom would take him downtown on the CTA bus to watch. He would watch them play in the ‘Pit’ at Grant Park. While the games were going on, he would pitch
Rick Gancarz’s journey into sixteen-inch softball began when he learned the game from his father, Richard Gancarz, while playing for the Troppists at Portage, Indian Road, and Riis Parks on the Northwest Side of Chicago. He was in high school and was competing against players significantly older and more experienced than he was. This mismatch
Randy Russ started his sixteen-inch softball career in the late 1980s playing neighborhood ball with the Levee and the Jackmen. Besides sixteen-inch softball, Randy also excelled at baseball. He played at Lewis University from 1987 – 1990. The team competed in the Division II College World Series from 1988 to 1990. They finished third in
Keith Filkins started playing sixteen-inch softball in 1986 with the Cougars. For the next thirty years, he played for some of the greatest softball teams of all time – Sports Station, the Whips, Lettuce, Team 714, Splinters, Puglise / Bucks, Flashback, Windy City, and the Millers 45s. He has played every infield position and has
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