Ann Arbor Little League Summary, 1961-1964, 9-12 Year Old Baseball

On March 8, 2016, I embarked on a history project for the Ann Arbor Class of 1970 to record the beginning of competitive sports for most classmates; this began when we were 8 or 9 years old in late June of 1961 following 2nd grade.

The Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Giants, Mets, Orioles, Phillies, Pirates, Reds formed a 10 team Tuesday "Niners" division with games held at Ann Arbor High School at 5:45 p.m in late June and July, 1961. These events were sponsored by the Noon Optimist Club, and their was no pitching as everyone hit off a "T (tee)." The Optimists must have produced for the "cool" colored shirts we wore. The Athletics, Colts, Dodgers, Indians, Red Sox, Senators, Tigers, Twins, White Sox, and Yankees also formered a "Niners" Division that played games on Fridays at Ann Arbor High School and North Tappan fields. The White Sox won their divison after 7 games behind Octy Owens. The Phillies won all 7 games The Senators scored 59 runs in one game defeating the winless Indians, 59-11.

The groups continued the next year in the Summer of 1962 for the 10 year old League, the games continued to be played at Ann Arbor High School, but also at Buhr, Burns East, Community, East and West Slauson, Lakewood, South Tappan, and West Park with some new teams including the Lions and Rams with 22 teams competing in two divisions, American and National. Most teams played 15 games. The Pirates won the National Divison with a 12-3 record, but were updended by the winless Rams on the final day of the seaon, 5-3, in the biggest upset of the season. The Dodgers bested the Colts on the final day of the season, 5-1, to end their divison with identical 13-2 records. Don Johnson of the Tigers threw a "no-hitter" against the Reds, and Andy Campbell of the Braves threw a "no-no" against the Lions in a 3 inning rain shortened game. The White Sox Alan Cafruny and Ken Hoeft combined for a no-hitter, but the team allowed 4 runs in defeating the Reds, 5-4. Randy Davis and Craig Rigan combined on a no-hitter against the Athletics. Rigan also combined with Mark Osborne to throw a no-hiter against the Indians. Ken Calcut of the Colts pitched a no-hitter, and recoreded 14 strikeouts against the Indians, 5-1. The Indians finally ended their winless streak with a 41-2 thumping of the Lions who finished 0-14.

Out of the earlier leagues, the 11 year old teams had sponsors and there were 23 teams competing in three divisions; these included Ann Arbor Bank, Ann Arbor Federal, Arborland, Barnes Ace Hardware, Bolgos Farms, Don Butcher Builders, Dale Realtors, Fox Gulf Service, Frontier Beef Buffet, I & N Decorators, KMM Architects, Loy's Restaurants, McDonald's Ice Cream, Michigan Glass, Mundus & Mundus Insurance, Neilsen's Flowers, Schneider's Service, Southeastern Kiwanis, Wanty's Shoes, Washtenaw Dairy, and WOIA Radio who played at Buhr, Burns Park (East), Lakewood, West Riverside, Slauson (East and West), West Park (Little West), and Wines. Some teams completed as many as 14 games, but because of rain-outs, there were many who completed just 11. Packard Barber Shop won their division with a 10-2 record. Neilsen's Flowers completed a 9-5 record to win their division. Schneider's Service and Ann Arbor Federal tied with 12-2 records as their playoff game was called off. Geoffrey Hensen pitched Ann Arbor Federal to a no-hit win over Arborland, 7-0. Mark Bower of Loy's Restaurants no-hit Ann Arbor Bank, 7-0. Gino Trigg threw two no-hitters including a 5-0 gem with 10 strikouts against Fox Gulf. Don Fouty and Jerry Cummings combined on a no-hitter for Bolgos Farms win over Loy's Restaurants, 14-4. Nielsen's executed a triple play in the second inning, but it wasn't enough to defeat Michigan Glass who won 1-0. Chris Lemble pitched a no-hitter, and struck out 15 of 18 hitters for Dale Realtors as they defeated Arborland, 9-0; he later pitched a second no-hitter in a win over Fox Gulf, 6-0. Rick Bell pitched a no-hitter for Barnes Ace Harware in a 1-0 win over I & N Decorators. Ken Hoeft struck out 15 in a no-hitter for Michigan Glass in a 6-0 win over KMM Architects.

In the 12 Year Old League, the games were played at Allmendinger (East), Burns Park, Frisinger, Lakewood. Riverside (East and West), West Park (Little West) and Vet's Park. Gary Balzhiser and Mark Osborne combined for a no-hitter for Mundus & Mundus in a 14-0 win over I & N Decorators. Michigan Glass executed a triple play inn a 6-2 win over Nielsen's Flowers.