The Sulky Inn Favorites began as a true Cinderella story when a team sponsored by Ray’s Pizza and coached by Roy Logan, Ray Martino and John Szczecina and dressed in t-shirts, bib overalls, and tennis shoes played at Hart Park in Blue Island. The older teams began chanting E-I-E-I-O when they saw their “uniforms.” But this chant would later be turned against their detractors at the end of the tournament when the Hart Park crowd started chanting it with every hit and run scored, and when Ray’s Pizza went on to defeat the mighty Pets for the title. The next year (still without full uniforms) the upstart Ray’s Pizza defeated the Flames for the first ASA Women’s Windy City 16 inch Softball Tournament. With full uniforms and a sponsor – Papa John’s of Sulky Inn from Harvey – the next year opened as a match made in heaven. Maryann Forgue, Theresa DeLorenzo, Beth Schultz, Marie Liston, Pam Lutz, Colleen Logan, Lynn West, Chery Schmal, Michelle Eggerman and Nancy Logan, along with Valerie Smith, Katie Fahey, Jamie Eggerman, Bea and Trish Liston and Donna Logan made up the team that became one of the top three women’s teams during their era. Their success came from hard work, extraordinary talent, and a commitment to keeping its players. They didn’t go out and scout younger player but stayed loyal to the nucleus that started the team. Good friends who wanted to play softball took precedence over politics and ringers. Playing in three to four leagues and the major tournaments and winning Metros, Windy City, and many top titles in women’s softball, the Favorites were not the most powerful team in the leagues. In fact they were quite small compared to other teams. There were no superstars or long ball hitters on the team, but the Favorites won their games because of determination. Often they had to fight their way out of the loser’s bracket and had to play all day in order to reach the championship game With their small roster they often played with broken fingers, separated shoulders, and other injured body parts. They played through the pain because they loved playing together and molded themselves into a family on and off the field. Much of the credit for their success was due to the coaching of Roy “Henry” Logan, one of the founders of the Calumet Park Girls Rainbow Softball League. With four daughters and a passion for sports, “Henry” Logan had no choice but to help start the league. As his daughters grew out of the younger leagues, so did Logan. He treated each of his players like his daughter and loved every one of them. He was a wonderful person who dedicated much of his life to the team. While it’s difficult to remember all the wins and losses, perhaps the words of Neil Diamond put the magic of Sulky Inn in perspective: “ Where it began, I can’t begin to know it; but then I know it’s growing strong. It was in the spring, then spring became the summer. Who’d have believed we’d come along.” The Sulky Inn Favorites with its coach, its friendship, its loyalty and its family atmosphere were truly a league of their own. In memory of Roy Logan. Thanks, Henry.
