2020 70+ National

2020 70+ National

LA Athletics 5, Volkers 4

‘Arnold Leads the Way on the Bump and at the Plate’

By Bob Sherwin, Athletics manager

This was the first year for the LA Athletics to enter the 70+ division and we were successful in capturing the National division title.  We were very short on pitching due to COVID cancellations but Charlie LaDuca gave us huge win out of box by throwing eight innings against the always tough Volkers.  John Arnold came in to get the save and that started us on a high note. 

We ended up 4-1 in pool play with some excellent pitching by Gary Witthuhn, John Pepin, Mark Bloomer and Art Benotti.  We saved our big gun, John Arnold for the championship game again against the Volkers and John did not disappoint, throwing a complete game and holding on to a 5-4 win.

Our offense carried us throughout the tournament as Arnold and Dan Little scorched opposing pitchers by both hitting over .600.  John Pepin, Bob Sherwin, Terry Teske, Craig Rickeman and Artie Collazo all hit over .500 for the week.  The defense was led by Paul McPherson and Ernie Barten who split duties at third, the ‘Ozzie Smith’ of Senior Baseball, Artie Collazo, who showed why he is the best at that position in this age group, Rick Wheeler at second and Teske at first.

Tom Flournoy, Gary Firestone, Gary Faulkes and Bob Levine anchored the outfield.  In the championship game, Gary Firestone’s bat finally came alive with a key double that knocked in the first two runs for our team. Ernie Barten had another key hit and John Arnold contributed to his own cause with a 4 for 4 day.

A nice win for our first year in the 70s!