2025 Springfield 70s Claim 70+ Canton Chapter Championship in Ohio Men’s Senior Baseball League
Ohio MSBL, 70+ Canton Chapter
Springfield 70s 7, Kent Mud Hens 6
Submitted by Tommy Gaona
CANTON, Ohio — The Springfield baseball club traveled from first…to worst…and eventually settled back into first place
Competing in the Canton 70+ Chapter of the Ohio Men’s Senior Baseball League, Springfield rallied from a regular season-ending 3-game tailspin to win the 2025 postseason championship.
Springfield edged the Kent (Ohio) Mud Hens, 7-6, in the title tilt on Sept. 22 at Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium.
During the regular season, Springfield defeated the Mud Hens, 5-3. At that point, the teams were tied atop the 4-team age division with identical 7-2 won-lost records, though the Mud Hens owned the tiebreaker, having won 2 of 3 head-to-head matchups.
However, Springfield concluded the campaign with three consecutive setbacks and finished 7-5, and finished as the postseason tournament’s second seed.
But in the playoff semifinals, Springfield posted a 4-1 win over the Indians to earn a championship game berth against the Mud Hens, who defeated the Ohio Spikes in the bracket’s other semifinal.
The top-seeded Mud Hens scored four first-inning runs in the championship game, then added a pair of 2nd-inning insurance runs to assume a seemingly safe 6-0 lead entering the third inning.
But from that point, Springfield shut out the ‘Hens’, led by right-handed pitchers Howard Elson and Bernie Novotny. Elson, the starter, worked four innings (2 scoreless) while Novotny notched three innings of scoreless relief.
Over the next three innings, Springfield secured six consecutive runs to forge a 6-all stalemate. In the sixth stanza, Howard Merritt manufactured a leadoff double to left field, then scored the eventual game-winning run. 
The Mud Hens posted a 1-out rally in the home half of the seventh, placing a pair of runners on base. An infield popup resulted in the second out, then Springfield opted to issue an intentional base on balls to perennial standout Danny Gates. But with the bases loaded, including the potential tying and winning runs, Novotny induced a first-pitch popout to shortstop Nick Simko to end the game.
It earned Springfield the first postseason playoff championship in the Canton Chapter’s 4-year 70’s age division bracket.
In addition to Elson, Novotny, Merritt, and Simko, Springfield was led by the hitting and defense of Don Christian, Paul Bevilacqua, Jimmy Wilson, John Jewell, Bobby Johnson, Tommy Gaona, John Derrer, Bud Carbone, Rich Tabis, Sam Rauch, Jimmy Ciotti, Charlie Harris, Skip Feigert, and Ed Farrell.
Since joining the OMSBL Canton Chapter in 2014, the Springfield organization has won six different age group championships, including five led by player-coach Pat Pruent (one in the 60-year-old class, and four consecutive in the 65-year-old division). Pruent still serves as Springfield’s ’65s coach.
Nick Loukas is president of OMSBL’s Canton Chapter.