As published in Daily Press Sports on September 23, 2015. Here's the link:
With the passing of another September, a landmark event in Hampton Roads sports reached its silver anniversary milestone. During that late summer weekend in 1965, the Fox Hill fast-pitch softball team won its first regional tournament and earned a berth in the World Championships, where they placed fifth of 22 teams.
For the Hampton-based team, who played their home games at Francis Asbury Field, the win culminated 15 years worth of effort. At the time, the Central Atlantic Regional, which consisted of state champions from Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware, as well as metropolitan qualifiers from Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the host team, was 25 years old and Fox Hill had participated seven times as the Virginia state champion. But, through 1964, a regional tournament victory had proven to be elusive for the Fox Hillers.
However, at Guy Mason Field in Washington, D.C., the team got off to an auspicious start, first beating Baltimore 3-0, and then following with a 1-0 win over D.C. in Game 2. The D.C. game was highlighted by a perfect game from ace pitcher Ron Peterson.
Although the Fox Hill team was formed in 1950 as part of a church league, theirs was not the beer league many recreational softball players are accustomed to joining.
“This was not like some Sunday school league,” said Peterson, who later won first-team All-American honors for his performance in the 1969 National tournament. Indeed, pitches reached speeds upwards of 100 miles per hour, and as Petersen added, “runs were at a premium. We had a lot of 1-0 games.”
In fact, the third game was another 1-0 affair, this time in a victory over Philadelphia. A 2-0 loss to Baltimore followed, pinning the Fox Hill team into a must-win situation in the double-elimination event. Based on their 3-1 record, they earned a berth in the championship, but faced Baltimore for a third time. Fox Hill won the rubber match and region with a 3-1 victory. In that game, Don Brandt’s two-run homer in the championship against Baltimore turned out to provide the margin of victory.
Peterson was named the most valuable pitcher of the tournament, while Brandt won overall MVP honors.
Looking back 50 years, first baseman Ronnie Weber looked back on Brandt’s performance as the key to victory. “Homeruns were a rarity. He (Brandt) had an exceptional tournament.
Manager and team catcher Jack Hull credited Brandt’s defensive skills.
“He caught the last out at the wall. If that ball had gotten by him, it would have been a whole other story.”
Looking ahead to their first World Championship, which was held in Clearwater, FL, the Fox Hill squad took advantage of another asset – their fan backing.
Hull looked back on the celebration that took place immediately after the regional final. “After the regional, the old-timers got together at the firehouse. There were so many people there, that they had to push the fire trucks out (of the building).”
Recalls Peterson, “Fans would follow us everywhere we went to tournaments,” noting that as many as 4,000-5,000 Fox Hill fans made the trip to Clearwater. Spectators were not the only people tracking the team. As Weber remembers, “writers from the Daily Press followed us back then, at home and on the road. In the 60’s, there was a morning and afternoon edition and we’d have Ron Colbert at our games. We outdrew the local Carolina League (minor league baseball) team.”
The team got off to a quick start in the World Tournament, beating both St. Thomas, Ontario (3-0) and Lakewood (CA) 2-0. However, the team hit the wall when it played against seven-time World/National champion Clearwater, losing 1-0. Finally, the team was eliminated by Chattanooga (TN) 3-0 in Game 4.
Despite the two losses, Fox Hill’s 2-2 mark was good enough to tie for fifth place (of 22 teams). After 1965, the final tournament was reinvented as the National Championships. And though Fox Hill went on to win three more regional titles, the ’65 effort remained their greatest collective accomplishment on the diamond.
For the three former players, different memories stand out. Hull, who previously had worked as a minor league catcher in the Cincinnati and Boston organizations, recalled the difficult time he had learning to catch softballs whizzing toward him with the speed of a Sandy Koufax fastball.
“I thought I was a pretty good catcher. But that ball would jump 12-18 inches up, down or sideways, and you never knew where it was going sometimes.”
Asked if he had ever been injured, Hull quickly emitted an “Oh yeah!” and interjected that on one occasion, a pitch caused him to require 16 stitches in his hand.
“It (fast-pitch) is a hard game to play, especially for catchers,” added Hull, who managed for 12 of his 13 years with Fox Hill.
Weber, who was inducted into the Softball Hall of Fame in 1985, looked back on how the team recruited new prospects.
“We picked up a pitcher from Langley (A.F.B.), and another one from Oceana. Not all of our players were military guys, but a lot of our pitchers over the years were in the service.”
Peterson summed the experience up in one word – “camaraderie.” The term makes sense since the ballclub was together for 65-80 games throughout a season that started in early May and ended with either the Regional championships on Labor Day weekend, or the World/Nationals two weeks later.
“We’d play double-headers on Friday night, Saturday night, and usually on Wednesday night.”
In fact, the friendships last until this day. Every Wednesday morning, a group of players, “about 15, but a lot are non-ballplayers,” says Weber, gather at Vancostas’ in Hampton to swap stories about softball, the military, or simply any other topic that an octogenarian might find interesting.
Hull added one more recollection from his playing days – having the opportunity to play against the famed pitcher Eddie Feigner, whose four-man King and His Court softball team toured the country, taking on all challengers with only a pitcher, catcher, shortstop and first baseman..
According to Hull, the reality of the King and Court’s greatness may have become more legendary that it should have been.
“We’d go along with his shenanigans for a few innings. They were like the Globetrotters.” Asked if the King and Court were as good as they were cracked up to be, Hall was silent for a moment before answering.
“You know…,” replied Hull, in a manner suggesting that indeed, the answer might have been no.
Fox Hill - 1965 Central Atlantic Regional Champions
P – Ron Peterson, Bob Atterholt
C – Randy Dale, Bud Porter, Jack Hull (also manager)
1B – Ronnie Weber
2B – Jess Kersey (later an NBA official)
3B – Don Winegrad
SS – Jim Dugan, Joey Lawrence
OF – Don Brandt, Keith Goodson, Charlie Mayer, Herb Weaver, George Weikel
Ass’t coach – Rudy Forrest
