Save the date: CP-1 HOF ceremony scheduled Aug. 18

ASHLAND, Ky. – The fourth annual CP-1 Ashland Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony is less than two months away.

Twelve players and two coaches will bring the total to 50 inducted. Six more members of the Ashland Tomcat “Dynasty Era” from 1965-69 make up nearly half of the new class. Three players from the late 1950s Tomcats are also part of a class that includes some of the greatest names to have ever played in Central Park.

They will be enshrined Aug. 18 in Central Park starting at 1 p.m.

Greg Swift, a shortstop and pitcher during the late 1970s, brings some eye-popping numbers with him from his senior season in 1978. Swift was 7-0 with a 1.81 earned run average, hit a robust .492 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI and struck out only four times in 71 at-bats. He finished his Tomcat career with a pair of three-run homers in a 9-6 loss to Paintsville in the regional tournament.

Swift’s teammate Donnie Allen, who batted cleanup for the Tomcats, joins him in the class. Co-managers Rick Reeves and the late Frank Wagner of Ashland Post 76 also coached Swift and Allen for the Sixers. They won more than 600 games in nearly 20 seasons in the park.

The ”Dynasty” Tomcats included pitching stalwarts Larry Stevens and John Sieweke, infielders David Staten, Don Lentz and Fred Leibee and outfielder Mike Tackett, who is famous for driving in the only run with a long sacrifice fly in Ashland’s 1-0 victory over McKell in the 1969 regional semifinals in Morehead when Don Gullett and Tim Huff dueled.

Staten was a part of Ashland American’s back-to-back Little League state championship teams in 1963-64. Tackett was on the ’64 team.

Ernie Daniels, who played shortstop and pitched for the Tomcats in the mid-1960s, joins this year’s class.

The 1950s era Tomcats on the list include David Patton, who hit well over .400 in his three years as a starter from 1956-58, and ace pitcher Larry Castle, who used a dazzling curveball to sink opponent after opponent. Castle was also a .350 hitter in his career from 1957-59 while playing shortstop and third base, depending on who was pitching that day.

Fleet-footed center fielder H.F. Dixon rounds out the class. He played for the Tomcats from 1958-60 and was known for outstanding defense and clutch hitting.

Possible lineup from 2018 class

1.H.F. Dixon, CF

2.Ernie Daniels, 1B

3.Greg Swift, SS

4.David Patton, C

5.Donnie Allen, LF

6.Don Lentz or Fred Leibee, 3B

7.Mike Tackett, RF

8.David Staten, 2B

9.Larry Castle, John Sieweke or Larry Stevens, P

Coaches: Rick Reeves and Frank Wagner