ASHLAND, Ky. – For the last 51 years, John Radjunas has had the game ball from Ashland’s 1967 state championship victory tucked away at his home.

Radjunas, who was a senior quarterback, was handed the football by one of the game’s officials as he was running off the field following Ashland’s 19-14 triumph over Elizabethtown.

The official figured it would be something Ashland would want in its trophy case, Radjunas said.

Fifty-one years later, the ball has found its way there after Radjunas presented it to Tomcat athletic director Mark Swift who made a spot for the encased football beside the ’67 championship trophy in the two-year-old wall display.

Principal Jamie Campbell, football coach Tony Love and cheerleading coach Cathy Goble were also at the impromptu ceremony.

Radjunas had no intention of keeping it when it was handed to him but the game ball – and even the Tomcats’ state championship victory – took a backseat to circumstances of these damp and dreary day.

Ashland’s victory at the Fairgrounds in Louisville will be forever linked with the tragic death of Joe Franklin, who was killed that morning in an automobile accident. He was traveling to a basketball scrimmage with four others that morning when he crashed on U.S. 60 just past Morehead. The passengers in the accident survived.

The players didn’t learn about what happened until after the game when coach Jake Hallum told them. Cheers turned to tears as they mourned the death of the popular Franklin, an All-American boy who played football as a sophomore but chose to concentrate on his best sport, basketball, as a junior.

It was no time to show off the game ball, Radjunas reasoned, so he tucked it into his bag and mostly forgot about it. The next day the Tomcats bused home and he went into the locker room and saw the football in the bag but decided, well, he would just keep it.

After all, Radjunas and everybody else associated with the Tomcat team and fans, were numb over the horrendous news. The championship even had a hollow ring to it.

He took care of the football over the years, even painting STATE CHAMPS 1967 ASHLAND 19, ETOWN 14 on it. Radjunas also purchased a nice case for it.

But after learning that Ashland had rebuilt its trophy case in the lobby of James A. Anderson Gymnasium, he knew that’s where it needed to be for all Tomcat fans to see.

So he made connections with Cathy Goble, his classmate, and she contacted Swift to put it all in motion. Then, on Thursday morning, the ‘ol quarterback made one more handoff for the Tomcats.

ASHLAND, Ky. – Inductees for the fourth annual Ashland Baseball CP-1 Hall of Fame are in for an extra treat.

The Ashland Tomcats are inviting the 2018 class to be their guests when the Tomcats open the high school football season against Harlan County on Saturday night in Putnam Stadium.

The 2018 CP-1 HOF class will be introduced to the crowd at halftime of the game, according to Ashland Athletic Director Mark Swift.

The CP-1 Hall of Fame ceremony takes place at 1 p.m. in Central Park and the Ashland-Harlan County game kicks off at 7:30.

All 14 of the inductees either played baseball for the Tomcats or attended school there.

Six members of the class were part of Ashland’s three-peat state championship baseball reign from 1966 to 1968.

The 14-member class includes:

David Patton, Larry Castle and H.F. Dixon from the 1950s era.

Ernie Daniels, Don Lentz, David Staten, Fred Leibee, Mike Tackett, Larry Stevens and John Sieweke from the 1960s era.

Greg Swift, Donnie Allen, Rick Reeves and the late Frank Wagner from the 1970s era.

This year’s class brings the total inducted to 50 with 50 more still to be selected in the next five years.

ASHLAND, Ky. – Three Ashland Tomcat baseball greats from the 1950s will be enshrined in the Ashland Baseball CP-1 Hall of Fame on Saturday in Central Park.

Pitcher Larry Castle, catcher David Patton and center fielder H.F. Dixon were all teammates ifor the Tomcats who won the regional tournament in 1958.

Dixon was also on the 1960 regional champions that won its first game in the State Tournament before bowing out.

Castle played from 1957 to 1959 and was the No. 1 starting pitcher all three years, pitching the openers of district and regional tournaments and the region finals in 1957 and 1958.

He also started the state tournament opener in ’58, losing a narrow game with Owensboro.

Castle played either shortstop (if Dick Fillmore was pitching) or third base (if Herb Conley was pitching) when he wasn’t on the mound and batting around .350 while being one of the top run producers.

Castle’s nifty pitching was mostly off speed with an assortment of curveballs and sliders. He threw the fastball only 15 percent of the time, he said.

“I was best known for my curveball and drop curve, so I relied on them heavily,” he said. Castle struck out about 10 players per game.

Castle started his youth league career playing for Charles Russell Elementary that won back to back city championships. He also played for Ballard’s in the Pony League and his coach was T.R. Wright, whose name is on the Central Park press box. Gary Wright is T.R. Wright’s son. He also played in the Midget League where Robert Wright, Gary’s brother, was his coach.

Patton was a three-year starter from 1957 to 1959 and is best known as a catcher and powerful hitter. He hit .375 as a sophomore, .458 as a junior and .500 his senior year in 1958.

Dixon was a center fielder from 1958 to 1960, starting all three years and tracking down fly balls with the best of them. He was also a steady hitter who batted at the top of the order.

Dixon played in the first year of Babe Ruth in Ashland in 1957 and won the batting title with a .491 average.

His sandlot teammates – Gary Wright, David McGuire, Dicky Fillmore and Herb Conley – ended up being some of his high school teammates as well.

“I never took a play off I could ever remember,” he said.

Ernie Daniels, one of the best fielding shortstops in Tomcat history from 1961-63, is another inductee.

Others in the 2018 class are Don Lentz, Fred Leibee, John Sieweke, Dave Staten, Larry Stevens and Mike Tackett, all who were members of state championship teams during the stretch when the Tomcats won three titles in a row from 1966-68; 1970s players Greg Swift and Don Allen and Rick Reeves and the late Frank Wagner, who shared coaching duties from Post 76 American Legion for almost 20 years.

The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. in Central Park. It will move to the Family Life Center at Unity Baptist Church in case of rain.

ASHLAND, Ky. – You might say Greg Swift had the ultimate baseball experience in Ashland.

Swift, one of 14 inductees into the Ashland Baseball CP-1 Hall of Fame on Saturday, started his  Little League career on 17^th Street and pitched back-to-back no-hitters for the Phillies with 28 strikeouts in his first two starts.

In his last high school game with the Ashland Tomcats he blasted a pair of three-run homers against Paintsville in the 1978 regional tournament.

And there were more highlights in between.

Pete Wonn, one of several coaches who were instrumental in his development as a baseball player, taught Swift how to pitch by throwing with him every morning in his side yard.

As a 12-year-old, Swift threw a perfect game against Somerset in the Little League State Tournament and then lost a 2-1 heartbreaker to Lexington in the state finals when Steve Burbage belted a two-run homer off him in the bottom of the sixth inning. He called it “a character-builder.”

As a senior for the Tomcats, he was 7-0 with a 1.81 earned run average and batted .492 with 10 home runs and 26 RBI. He struck out only four times in 71 at-bats.

Swift will be making the trip from Jacksonville, Fla., to Ashland this week to celebrate with the other inductees in Central Park.

Donnie Allen, one of Swift’s high school teammates, and two of his American Legion coaches – the late Frank Wagner and Rick Reeves – join him as inductees.

Others in the 2018 class are Don Lentz, Fred Leibee, John Sieweke, Dave Staten, Larry Stevens and Mike Tackett, all who were members of state championship teams during the stretch when the Tomcats won three titles in a row from 1966-68.

Two of the best defensive players in Tomcat history, center fielder H.F. Dixon (1958- 1960) and shortstop Ernie Daniels (1961-63), are among the inductees.

Dixon represents part of a trio of 1950s players including pitcher Larry Castle and catcher David Patton. All three played on Ashland’s 1958 regional championship team and were products of the Pony League and Midget League in the park growing up.

Everybody has a story to tell and they will get the chance with a ceremony that begins at 1 p.m.