• Thursday, January 27th, 2011
BIO:
After capturing runner-up finishes in the ASA “A” Metro with Taliano’s Pizza in 1993, then in the “Major” Metro with Copas/Lauer in 1995, Brian May’s career skyrocketed when he joined Watanabe/TPS in 1997 at the age of 26. During the next seven years, he helped lead Watanabe to four “Major” Metro titles. Brian was named first-team All-City six times for Watanabe, and in 2003 and 2005 he was selected “Player of the Year,” becoming one of six players to achieve that honor twice during his career. Brian also spent four years competing at the USSSA “Major” level, including 2002 when his Reece/Roosters/Easton team captured the Major World Series. A solid outfielder who has won several home run titles and been named to many All-Tournament teams, Brian was a lifetime .700 hitter. He was named to the Greater Cincinnati All-Decade first team in 2010.
• Thursday, January 27th, 2011
Bio:
Bob Owens has been the manager of Expressway Park in Milford since the park opened in 1982. Under his direction, Expressway has been a showcase facility, distinguishing itself for is superior cleanliness, field conditions, field lighting, concessions, staff and umpiring. It is recognized and respected nationwide for its singularly professional operation and tournament management. Expressway has hosted approximately 400 league teams a year since 1982. And as the flagship facility for Ohio USSSA, it has hosted over 1,300 state and national qualifiers, 180 State Championships, 280 National Invitationals, 30 National Tournaments and five World Series. Expressway was honored with the USSSA National Award of Merit in 1987, and the Ohio State Award of Merit in 1993, and was named Complex of the Year by the Softball Operators and Directors of America in both 1987, 1991 and 1995. Bob received the Ohio USSSA State Director’s Award in 1995, and is a past President and Vice-President of the Premier Softball Association.
• Thursday, January 27th, 2011
BIO:
When Pat Shanks led a USSSA “B” team, J. R. Express, to a stunning ASA Major Metro Crown in 1992 at the age of 32 and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, no one could have predicted that that bulk of his career accomplishments were yet to come. Two years later he joined Watanabe Optical, and, for the next seven years, helped power them to a pair of Major Metro titles, and earn a top ten finish in the ASA Major Nationals three consecutive seasons. During the 1999 season, Pat was the inaugural recipient of the John Earls Memorial Award as a tribute to his exemplary sportsmanship and character. In 2001 at the age of 41, he joined Perkins Roofing, and led them to two Metro titles and a coveted trip to the USSSA World Series in 2002. Yet a sixth Metro title came with EMR in 2004. Pat was known as the complete package, possessing great speed, a great arm and extraordinary defensive skills in the outfield to compliment his lifetime batting average of .625 and 1500 career home runs. He was named to the Men’s Major All-City team fifteen consecutive seasons and was named to the All-Decade team in both 2000 and 2010.
• Thursday, January 27th, 2011
BIO:
Jim Wessel was the legendary centerfielder for Wilsman Trucking of Hamilton for 14 years. He played in his first ASA Open Major National Tournament at the age of 18 in 1955. Over the next 14 seasons, Wilsman won 10 Ohio State championships, and was State runner-up 3 times. Jim was named to 9 All-State teams and was State Tournament Most Valuable Player 3 times. He possessed blazing speed and was a pioneer in the use of the three-man outfield. Jim’s success in the Open Major program earned him inductions into four local and state Halls of Fame. After a 16-year hiatus from the game, he came out of retirement in 1992 to spend 13 years leading 7 different teams to a dozen Senior Softball National titles, including several Greater Cincinnati teams. Along the way, Jim was named to 14 All-American teams, won two national home run titles, and a national tournament Most Valuable Player award. Sandwiched between first place national titles with Joseph Chevrolet in 1992 and 2004, he captured championships with Miami Valley Merchants, Nothdurft, Wopac, Papa John’s and Florida Investment Properties. For these accomplishments, Jim became a charter member of the Senior Softball National Hall of Fame in 1996.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Marvin Doyle was the pre-eminent 3rd baseman in Greater Cincinnati during the ‘90’s and early 2000’s with teams like Backstop, Watanabe/TPS, EMR and Cooper Sports. On the field he presented the complete package with a lofty .673 lifetime batting average, home run power and solid defensive skills. He led his teams to two Major Metro titles, a USSSA A-AA state championship, and an NSA B State and Regional crown. During his career he was named to seven Major Metro All-Tournament teams, and won fourteen All-Tournament selections in USSSA NIT’s. He was a seven-time “Open” All-City selection, and hit over 100 home runs five out of six seasons from 1997 through 2002. He was runner-up “Player of the Year” in 1997 and 2002, and was selected Greater Cincinnati “Player of the Year” in 2001. In 2000, he was named first team All-Decade for the nineties, and to the Greater Cincinnati All-Century team.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Tim Barker’s career can probably best be summed up in three words: longevity, consistency and successful. Still an active player at the USSSA “C’ level and in the senior program after 40 years, he has built a reputation as the consummate leadoff hitter, utilizing his lifetime batting average of .600-plus, ability to hit to all fields and outstanding speed. His teams have captured two Metro Tournaments, six State Championships, eight National Invitationals, and one National Tournament, plus four World Tournaments in the Senior Division. Some of his individual honors include 29 All-Tournament team selections in State, National Invitational and World Tournaments, and seven Most Valuable Player awards. And he’s been selected to the All-Northern Kentucky first team ten times, including 1979, when he was named “Player of the Year.” He has been a fixture in the lineup of the top ranked teams in Northern Kentucky since he was a teenager, including Log Cabin, Taylor Brothers and Rockcastle Olds at the “A” level.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
It was obvious that Theresa Shepherd was destined for softball greatness at an early age, as her Sweeney Chevrolet teams captured a USSSA Girls Youth World title and four ASA Mid-West Regional crowns. Her talent earned her a full ride at Miami University, where she still holds four records and was named to two All-Conference teams. After earning Greater Cincinnati “B” Player of the Year honors while still at Miami, she made the transition to “A” ball in 1990, and was selected to three All-World teams with Empress Chili in the early nineties. Later she played for Cannon’s Illusions/TPS, winning a USSSA Women’s “A” World Championship in 1998 and earning All-World honors for the fifth time. She spent the 2000-2005 seasons with ABP/Kinder Sharks, claiming All-World honors three more times while leading the Sharks to three more World titles. She rejoined Kinder Sharks in 2008, earning her 9th All-World selection. Primarily a 2nd baseman throughout her 28-year career, she is a life-time .563 hitter.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Ron “Pee Wee” Garnett is arguably Greater Cincinnati’s most successful senior player of all time with approximately 50 World Championships under his belt. Following a successful ten-year career in the masters program during which his Newport Steel team captured five 35-over Kentucky State titles, his success skyrocketed in 1990 when he became a participant in the senior program. After participating initially with local teams like Cane Run, Joseph Chevrolet and Miami Valley Merchants, then barnstorming the country with powerhouses like Nothdorf, WOPAC, Florida Investment and Stafford Sales, he captured an unrivaled number of national titles in a variety of senior organizations. Over the last 18 years, he has earned All-American honors 18 times and been named Most Valuable Player four times. A 1996 inductee into the National Senior Players Hall of Fame, he is a versatile infielder equally comfortable playing short, 2nd, 3rd or middle infield, and boasts a .650 lifetime batting average.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Danney Saylor has been manager of Greater Cincinnati’s largest private softball complex, Rumpke Park, for the last 32 years. And for the last 24 years he has served as the Commissioner for the Metro Cincinnati Amateur Softball Association. He is perhaps best known as the tournament director for the Cincinnati Metro Tournament, the ASA’s largest slow pitch softball tournament for 24 consecutive years. The event hosted approximately 400 men’s and women’s teams during its peak, and capturing a “City Tournament” is the dream and goal of every player and team in Greater Cincinnati. Respected for his tough but fair-minded decisions as director of the Metro, especially relating to eligibility and classifications, he has also been a pioneer and trendsetter, and a champion of sensible equipment standards. And he has helped raise over $100,000 for such organizations as the Shriner’s Burn Institute and the American Cancer Society.
• Friday, January 29th, 2010
BIO:
Pat Wright was the 2nd baseman for Greater Cincinnati’s pre-eminent team of the early seventies, Century Tire. Considered to be the best fielding 2nd baseman of his era, he was also a great line drive hitter who batted at the top of the line-up for several of the tri-state’s top ranked teams of the sixties and seventies, including the Buckeye Merchants, Dick Luken Volkswagen, Eddie’s Cafe, Century Tire and Stan’s Roofing. Before retiring in 1976 after a fifteen year career, he earned Most Valuable Player honors in five tournaments, captured over 20 league and 25 tournament titles, won three ASA Metro championships and five Metro runner-up finishes, and finished in the top five in four ASA National Championships. In 2000, he was named to the Greater Cincinnati All-Century team.
