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 …
Jeff Berger’s sixteen-inch softball career began in 1986 with the Otters. The next year he moved to the Rizza Rockers. Teammates and competitors soon noticed his incredible softball skills, but more importantly, he started showing his leadership skills on and off the field. After years of honing his skills with the Peppers, Irvings, Bud Runners, …
Tony Prochenski has been playing softball for nearly half of his life. He started out in neighborhood leagues with the Magicians at Hinkley Field in Park Ridge and with the Travelers at James Park in Evanston. He played with and against some of his lifelong friends, including Frank Mustari (HOF) and Billie Nichols to his …
