Tom Balek began playing softball in 1969 with his neighborhood friends in local leagues on Chicago’s Southwest side. From the early ’70s until the late-’90s, Tom was a softball junkie, playing more than 150 games every year. He played in the early ’70s with Touch at Tom Bonen’s Bridgeview complex. Tom then moved to Tahoe …
Ken Butzen began playing softball in 1978 after graduating from Forest View High School. He played baseball there four years and also played four years at Western Illinois University. After a couple of years playing with local teams, Frank Holan invited him to play with the Taggers, a team that featured a lot of guys …
Stan Bachusz began playing softball in the 8th grade at St. Angela School on Chicago’s West Side. In high school, friends from the local parish would play on Sundays against other parishes and neighborhoods in the area for bragging rights as to which group was better. Upon graduating from Chicago’s St. Patrick High School in …
Paul Brezinski began his softball career in 1976 with the Freeloaders, a young team playing out of Bensenville. This squad was unique because it featured seven left-handed hitter (including Brezinski). They weren’t a long ball hitting team but a team that could hit singles and doubles consistently, often stretching for the extra base with their …
Little did Matt Biondic know in 1981 when he started playing 16″ softball with the Jays that he would one day become a key member of Lettuce, a team that dominated major 16″ competition during much of the 90’s. Biondic graduated from Brother Rice High School in 1979, where he was a wrestler for for …
Dave started his career back in the early 70’s with the burnside bums. In 1978 dave joined the Amalgamonsters and that started his run with some of the top major teams. In 16 inch softball. Dave’s best years and maybe his most productive were with the Whips in the 80’s, where Dave helped them win …
Greg Burzynski grew up playing softball on the fields of Kosciusko Park. He attended St. Patrick High School and earned a degree in Physical Education from Lewis College. After being discharged from the Navy, he played right field for the Lyons 45s. They played league play at Portage, Clarendon, and James Parks and participated in …
Bill Bransfield started playing sixteen-inch softball in 1970 with the Corner, a neighborhood team. They won the league at Pottawatomie Park for two years before Bill moved on to the Vikings in 1972. They won both the Clarendon B-League and the league at Mather Park. In 1973 he played with the Dwarfs at James Park …
According to Bill Jauss in the Chicago Today, life-long Chicago resident, John Bereckis, was the Con artist of the game, a herk-and-jerk, ball-and windmill, hesitate-and-drag pitcher. This so-called con artist and his brother, Bill, led the Sobie’s / America Rivet teams to three A.S.A. National title from 1966 to 1968. Bereckis’ defensive skills were a …
Longtime Berwyn resident Bill Bereckis was the “Charlie Hustle”of 16”softball, The toughest out in the game according to all who played with or against since he started playing for Triner’s Hall Rocky Stars in 1960 and eventually evolved into the Sobies, who won every major title in the game. They won 3 ASA National Titles …
