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Swift, other CP-1 inductees have stories to tell Saturday

Greg Swift rounds third base after hitting his second 3-run homer in his last game with the Tomcats.

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 17th 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.

 

55 years ago, Ashland American All-Stars were almost Little League World Series darlings

Ashland American batter John Mullins hugs the ground to get a better view of Mike Griffith sliding into home plate against Texas in the 1963 Southern Regional championship game in Norfolk, Virginia. Griffith was tagged out.

ASHLAND, Ky. – Every year at this time, there is a television force that draws me right into it. What is it about the Little League World Series that makes it must-see TV?

Part of it is how the games are covered by ESPN with the backstories of the players and the shots of their mothers and fathers in the stands who are like cats in a room full of rocking chairs.

I’m not sure if any of the mothers really ever watch their sons play. They are usually sitting with their hands covering their faces when their son (or daughter) comes to the plate.

I can understand that. There’s so much pressure on these young boys to perform. You feel it as a parent in a regular season Little League game. Multiply that times about a million.

When the Little League World Series rolls around, it always reminds me of 1963 when Ashland American nearly made it to Williamsport. That’s right, 55  years ago they were knocking on the door of  Williamsport. They fell one game short, losing to Houston, Texas, 6-3 in the Southern Regional championship game in Norfolk, Virginia. I’m sure those players who were on that team have special memories of that time. Mine have come from writing stories and doing research about the ’63 Boys of Summer, including a chapter in my book Tomcat Dynasty ).

Two of those boys will have a mini-reunion next week during the CP-1 Hall of Fame ceremony as part of the class of 2018. David Staten and Mike Tackett were part of those all-stars and will be enshrined Saturday. Several other Hall of Famers are already in – John Mullins, Tim Huff and Bo Carter, who was an alternate all-star in 1963.

Here is the 1963 Ashland American roster with their regular-season team in parenthesis: John Mullins (Indians), David Staten (Twins), Tim Huff (Yankees), John Brislin and Jocko Greening (Angels), David McPeek and Mike Griffith (White Sox), Robert Ison and Mike Johnson (Orioles), Ricky Dixon, Mike Tackett, Charles Jackson, Joe Mantle and Jackie Daniels (Tigers). There was some diversity – Johnson and Jackson are black – during a time when race riots were raging, but not in Ashland.

Jim Stewart was the manager and George Riffe his assistant. Stewart was hard-nosed, a taskmaster who demanded perfection but who loved his players like his own sons. They talk in respectful terms of the late Mr. Stewart to this day.

Back then the tournament was one-and-done. You win or you go home. So you had to be perfect. Early in tournament play, Ashland faced a young left-hander pitcher from Greenup named Don Gullett and escaped with a 2-1 victory.

Mullins and Huff were starters and stars, pitchers and home run hitters. But the best player was Ricky Dixon. They rode their stud in a 3-1 win over Louisville Buechel in the state championship game in Lexington with 15 strikeouts and then in the Southern Division championship game he was the winning pitcher against St. Albans, West Virginia, 4-2 in a game that was played in Central Park.

That victory advanced Ashland to Norfolk where Florida, Mississippi and Texas awaited.

Ashland blanked Sarasota, Florida, 2-0 as Dixon and McPeek crushed back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie. Mullins almost made it three in a row as his long blast curved foul in the same spot in right field where the other homers had gone. Mike Griffith pitched a three-hit shutout.

Houston belted Biloxi, Miss., 11-1 and looked invincible. It would be Texas vs. Kentucky in the championship game.

Ashland gave them a battle, leading 3-2 before a three-run rally put it away for Texas in the fifth inning. Ashland had only one hit, a single by Dixon that scored two runs in the third inning.

Houston was on the way to Williamsport the next day and Ashland was on its way home.

Can you imagine if Ashland had been the team going to Williamsport instead? How much would we have celebrated them over the years? Legendary wouldn’t begin to describe it. Yet they lost, just once, and they’re just another team.

Kind of sad isn’t it?

Houston, by the way, fell to Granada Hills, California, 3-2 in nine innings in the first game of the 1963 Little League World Series. The California team went on to win it all.

2018 CP-1 HOF class has little bit of everything

ASHLAND  Ky. – Six more members of the Ashland “Dynasty Era” Tomcats of 1965 to 1969 and eight other players and coaches who spanned four decades of baseball in Central Park will be part of the fourth annual Ashland CP-1 Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony on Aug. 18.

The 14-member class, the biggest in the CP-1 HOF’s short history, will be inducted at 1 p.m. in Central Park. It brings the total to 50 enshrined with a goal of reaching 100 by 2023.

Don Lentz, Fred Leibee, John Sieweke, Dave Staten, Larry Stevens and Mike Tackett 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 (1963-64), are among the inductees.

“It’s very humbling to even be considered, that was satisfaction enough, but to be chosen is more than I ever hoped for,” Dixon said.

Dixon represents part of a trio of 1950s players to be selected this time 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.

Dixon played on Ashland’s first Babe Ruth All-Star team in 1958 and led the league in hitting that year with a .491 average. But defense was his forte.

“I got my greatest joy when somebody tested my arm by trying to go from first to third on a single to center,” he said.

Castle was the ace of a good pitching staff and played at shortstop and third base depending on who was pitching. Patton’s career batting averaged hovered over .450 in three years as a starter.

Daniels was a shortstop, clutch hitter and tremendous leader for the Tomcats during his playing days.

Players from the late 1970s era are Greg Swift and Donnie Allen while Ashland Post 76 American Legion co-managers Rick Reeves and the late Frank Wagner, who coached together for nearly 20 years, are also among the 2018 class.

“Just like our previous classes, there are some heavyweight players in this one,” said CP-1 Baseball HOF Chairman Mark Maynard. “We’ve got several players who were members of state championship high school teams with the Tomcats and played on state championship Little League teams in Ashland. It’s a massive amount of talent. I’d take these guys in their primes and take on anybody. We have a little bit of everything, including great coaching and some of the best defensive players and clutch hitters in CP-1 history.”

Previous CP-1 Hall of Fame classes:

2017 (13): J.D. Browne, Bo Carter, Joe Conley, Tim Huff, Mike Smith, Steve Hemlepp, John Mullins, Kevin Gothard, Mike Gothard, Dale Griffith, Nard Pergrem, Jim Speaks, John Thomas.

2016 (11): Bob Lynch, Steve Rolen, “Big” Ed Hughes, Wayne Workman, Bill Workman, Chuck Dickison, Juan Thomas, Ellis Childers, Clyde Chinn, Marvin Hall, Dan Smith.

2015 (12): Brandon Webb, Don Gullett, Bill Lynch, Drew Hall, Charlie Reliford, Jody Hamilton, Dykes Potter, Squire Potter, Bob Simpson, Reecie Banks, Jim Host, Gene Bennett.

 

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

Greg Swift rounds third base and receives congratulations from coach Frank Sloan after hitting his second 3-run homer in his last game with the Tomcats.

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