DAYTON TO CINCINNATI SOFTBALL TALK! Best Of Luck to all teams and players, tournament directors. This board is for Coed, E teams to the most competitive of teams and for the enjoyment of all that visit. Best of Luck to the Dayton area softball community, hope that softball one day can come back to the great game that it once was. MVM.................In memory of the great ones to play the game, Also Doug Riley and Todd Cole we will always miss you. Great guys....Both played alot of softball with me, Miami Valley Merchants, Two of the finest people you will ever have a pleasure to know.
2016 Legends Remarks (Kraft, Szoke, Goffe/P&G) IP: 76.243.37.193 Posted on June 19, 2016 at 10:18:01 AM by Scott
Ladies & gentlemen, our next Legend of the Greater Dayton Softball has done it all just a little bit south of here. As a player back in the 1970’s with such well-known and accomplished teams as Middletown’s K of C which won two state championships and Armco Triangles which was a national industrial powerhouse, he was an award winning homerun hitter long before these bats and balls we use today. His power led to multiple MVP awards in major tournaments of the day, like the great Baron’s and K of C Tournaments in Middletown. For all of his accomplishments on the field, he’s likely more proud of being the driving force behind the changes which he first envisioned, then briefed to the Armco Association Board of Directors, and then oversaw the conversion into reality at Lebanon’s Armco Park, where he was the park manager from 1996 until 2009 not for just softball but the entire sprawling 325-acre park complex, which included a golf course and a fishing & boating lake. Being a softball man at heart, the diamonds were of special interest and what was previously an old-world softball complex with grass infields, run-down stubby little sideline fences, and outfield fences set at about 280 feet, became one of the most popular softball destinations in Southwest Ohio. Working alone at first, but then hiring old competitor and friend, and another of our Softball Legends, Don Keys, Armco Park saw leagues balloon from 12 teams when they first arrived to almost 190 when he stepped away. This Legend will tell you that he fought hard against lots of naysayers but helped make a softball park which was not only player- and fan-friendly, but also profitable. Profitable enough to help make improvements elsewhere in the park like a new dock for the lake and stock enough to keep all the fishermen happy. And, he’s delighted that the new owners of Armco Park, Warren County, came to appreciate the softball program that he first envisioned and are continuing those park improvements even today. By this time next year, a brand new state of the art concession and meeting room complex will sit at the heart of Armco Park. This Legend of the Game was inducted into the Butler County Softball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming and recognizing our next Greater Dayton Legend of the Game, Middletown’s Mr. John Kraft.
Our next Legends of the Game, is the first selection of many that we have asked be made by the Dayton Legends Softball Club…part of the inspiration for this event. While among the ranks of the previous Dayton Softball Legends we already have several of their members, each and every year, we’d like the Dayton Legends Softball Club to bring forward a nominee specifically from their ranks and in recognition for the contributions not just to softball, but specifically to their group. Thus, we expect this honoree to be the first of many. He has a long history in the game, dating back to age 18 in 1965 in his hometown in New Jersey, a sting in the U.S. Army where he played, and then while at college at UD where he played in the intramural leagues. He went to not only lay and manage in the Piqua area, but also host tournaments and umpire with the Miami County Umpire Association. During that time he also takes pride in teaching his two daughters to play the game starting with T-ball and then working up to the Troy Trojans high school teams. He has a long history as well with the Dayton Legends Softball Club, dating back to 2004. During that time he has participated on National and World Title teams in multiple senior associations and in multiple states. He’s won individual and team honors repeatedly, including Senior Olympic Gold and Silver medals. Here at home, his teams have multiple City Senior Championships in the central, American, and Nationals Seniors Leagues. However, as all of you now know, it’s not about playing the game, but serving the game which gets our most serious attention for the Legends of the Game honor. This Legend was likely chosen for a skill, dedication, and prowess you could take to the bank. Literally, take to the bank, as-in, Dayton Legends Softball Club Treasurer, a pretty much thankless but necessary job which requires honesty, integrity, and the ability to pinch pennies when called upon to do so. For almost the last decade now, this Legend of the Game has managed the Club’s precious resources and the Club members all appreciate that this Legend is there to do so.
Ladies & Gentlemen, please help me welcome the newest member of the Greater Dayton Softball Legends, and the first person selected specifically to represent the Dayton Legends Softball Club, Mr. Joe Szoke.
Several years ago now, we started a new tradition for the Dayton Legends of the Game honors. It’s the naming of a Legendary Sponsor.
Our first-ever Legendary Sponsor in the Greater Dayton area was Rick Westendorf.
In 2014, we recognized longtime sponsor of the famous Stroh’s Tournament, Springfield’s Bobby Fisher Distributing.
Our 2015 Legendary Sponsor was C & L Carpet, Mr. Carl Sharpe.
The 2016 Legendary Sponsor is from here in Dayton, Ohio and has been one of the best known sponsors in this area for more than a decade.
Beginning his sponsorship first with a local men’s team, but then offering support to a local youth baseball team and then 50 & over softball team, this sponsor has sought to improve the game on multiple levels. Although not a dominating team by any means, they consistently played in the City’s Division I program and held their own. Their highlight on the men’s side was winning an ASA Ohio State Championship in 2009 in Elyria and they also won an NSA State Championship in Bucyrus. But I believe this sponsor will tell you that the most satisfying things they’ve done is to create and execute the Stephane Spielman Cancer Benefit tournament and homerun derby, which since 2012 has likely raised $10,000 for cancer research. An idea borne of their own family’s battles with breast cancer, this sponsor (and Rob Mayes who approached Chris Spielman about helping the cause) today their team proudly wears the very recognizable breast cancer awareness pink ribbon and pink color with the Stephanie Spielman logo and the event has become one of the marquee events on the local Dayton Tournament scene.
Ladies & gentlemen, the sponsor behind that event is our Legendary Sponsor for the 2016 Greater Dayton Legends: Mr. Quintin Goffe and P & G Custom Enterprises.
Thank you to all our Legends for all they have contributed to the game. We want them to know how much we appreciate all their years of sacrifice and commitment to this game we all love.
Please give them one last round of applause.
We’d like all our previous Legends to join our newest Legends for a group photo, please.
Finally, I’d like everyone here to help us nominate the next class of Greater Dayton Softball Legends. We have brought nomination forms for anyone who cares to nominate someone who fits the bill.
Couple of points to make here: It’s not about how many games someone played, or how many base hits or homeruns they may have hit. If there’s a theme to our Legends, it’s that they tried to give back to the game as much as they got out of it. It’s their contributions which set them apart.
We appreciate your support and hope to continue recognizing people who have contributed to the game in the Greater Miami Valley.