1975 held at Cleveland, Ohio.
Champion – Pyramid Cafe, Lakewood, Ohio
Runner Up – Poindexter Lumber, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Pyramid Cafe became the first team from Cleveland to win the coveted ASA Slow Pitch National Championship. They have had a couple runner-up finishes from Sheffield Bronze in 1958 and 1960, then Swing In finished third twice in 1965 and 1966. But other than that, its been one heartbreak after another. This year was different, this year, Steve Loya’s name became legendary.
Winners Bracket Semi-Finals, Howard’s Furniture led 10-9 in bottom of 7th, Steve Loya comes up and hits a 3-run walk off home run to win the game 12-10. Dave Jakubs had 2 HR and 5 RBI in the Howard’s victory. Jakubs had 13 RBI in the tournament.
Winners bracket final – Pyramid losing to Poindexter Lumber 9-8 in bottom of 7th inning, once again, Steve Loya hits a walk off homer, this, time a 2-run shot to give Pyramid a 10-9 win.
Poindexter went on to eliminate Howards 13-2 to get another crack at Pyramid. Poindexter defeats Pyramid 14-8 to send the championship to the “if” game. The game started at 2:00 AM as mist was covering the field. Poindexter jumped out to a 7-6 lead, but Pyramid came back to take a 10-7 lead, added another run to make the final score 11-7.
Cleveland had its first Slow Pitch National Championship.
Fittingly, Steve Loya was the MVP. He played the whole weekend with 8 stitches in his wrist, due to a work accident that sliced his wrist down to the bone. He wasn’t sure he was going to be able to play!
- MVP – Steve Loya, Pyramid Café
- HR Leaders – Stan Harvey, Howard’s Furniture – 7
- HR Leaders – Don Arndt, Howard’s Furniture – 7
- Batting Leader – Dave Rumppe, Cambridge Square – .737
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
P – Carroll Bonneau, Coastal Rental (8-15, .533, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 Runs)
P – John Reilly, Preston Machine (12-26, .462, 10 RBI, 9 Runs)
C – Steve Loya, Pyramid Cafe (12-27, .444, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 11 Runs)
C – John Crotty, Preston Machine (16-26, .615, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 6 Runs)
1B – Don Arndt, Howard’s Furniture (15-27, .556, 7 HR, 16 RBI, 14 Runs)
2B – Dave Obholz, Buck Alley Lumber (9-16, .563, 4 RBI, 5 Runs)
3B – Dave Jakubs, Pyramid Cafe (12-27, .444, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 12 Runs)
SS – Dave Rumppe, Cambridge Square (14-19, .737, 3 RBI, 10 Runs)
OF – Stan Harvey, Howard’s Furniture (17-27, .629, 7 HR, 19 RBI, 14 Runs)
OF – Mickey Morrison, Poindexter Lumber (19-32, .594, 6 RBI, 15 Runs)
OF – Roger Snatchko, BYM Club (15-24, .625, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 8 Runs)
OF – Gene Parrish, Goofy’s (9-14, .643, 2 Runs)
UT – Mike Foley, Empire County Sports (11-15, .733, 5 RBI, 7 Runs)
UT – Roger Brown, Howard‘s Furniture (no information listed in rule book)
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
P – Tony Fein, Cambridge Square (9-16, .563, 8 RBI, 5 Runs)
P – Chuck Musgrave, Pyramid Cafe (6-14, .429, 2 RBI, 5 Runs)
C – Gene Fisher, Howard’s Furniture (12-25, .480, 5 HR, 11 RBI, 11 Runs)
C – Wayne Hauser, Poindexter Lumber (11-28, .393, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 7 Runs)
1B – Andy Loya, Pyyramid Cafe (13-24, .542, 5 RBI, 7 Runs)
2B – Ray Corky Kruel, BYM Club (10-21, .476, 4 RBI, 9 Runs)
3B – Mike Robertson, Poindexter Lumber (15-26, .577, 9 RBI, 10 Runs)
SS – Don Ragozzine, Preston Machine (22-32, .688, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 13 Runs)
OF – Duane Butch Singer, Plaza 76 (8-13, .615, 5 RBI, 4 Runs)
OF – Richard Lee, Tate Chrysler (8-14, .571, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 5 Runs)
OF – Jim Sibert, Pyramid Cafe (13-22, .591, 8 RBI, 5 Runs)
OF – Gary Markland, Poindexter Lumber (13-23, .565, 7 RBI, 13 Runs)
UT – Jim Galloway, Empire County Sports (11-18, .611, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 Runs)
UT – Russell Mundy, Poindexter Lumber (16-27, .592, 15 RBI, 10 Runs)
OTHERS
Oscar Steadman, Empire County Sports (3-3, 1.000)
Ron Soft, Buck Alley Lumber (11-16, .688, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 9 Runs)
Sam Molnar, Preston Machine (14-2, .636, 10 RBI, 7 Runs)
Jon Johntony, Beef Corral (10-16, .625, 7 RBI, 9 Runs)
Chic Downing, Buck Alley Lumber (12-20, .600, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 10 Runs)
Ron Ford, Copher Brothers (6-11, .545, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 Runs)
David Beaird, Tom’s Foods (7-13, .538, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 5 Runs)
Bert Smith, Howards (17-32, .531, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 14 Runs)
Denny Hogan, Howards (11-21, .524, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 12 Runs)
Dick Jones, Preston Machine (18-35, .514, 7 RBI, 14 Runs)
Tony Cloniger, Howards (13-26, .500, 3 HR, 15 RBI, 10 Runs)
Bruce Meade, Copher Brothers (5-10, .500, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 5 Runs)
Ken Nichols, Poindexter (15-31, .484, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 11 Runs)
Larry Chiapetta, Empire County Sports (8-17, .471, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 7 Runs)
Mike Parrott, Coastal Rental (7-15, .467, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 5 Runs)
John Davide, Empire County Sports (6-13, .462, 2 RBI, 3 Runs)
Bill Malloy, Empire County Sports (6-13, .462, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 Runs)
Joe Konicki, Empire County Sports (5-11, .455, 2 RBI, 1 Run)
Joe Czarnecki, Preston Machine (12-28, .429, 8 Runs)
Don Clatterbaugh, GL Howards (3-7, .429, 4 RBI)
Lou Russo, Empire County Sports (8-19, .421, 1 RBI, 7 Runs)
Gary Richter, Empire County Sports (7-17, .412, 1 RBI, 2 Runs)
Herman Rathman, Buck Alley Lumber (6-15, .400, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 5 Runs)
Dave Carroll, Howard’s (7-19, .368, 5 RBI, 3 Runs)
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Pyramid Cafe, Cleveland, OH (6-1)
2. Poindexter Lumber, Winston-Salem, NC (6-2)
3. Howard Furniture, Denver, NC (5-2)
4. Preston Machine, Hamden, CT (6-2)
5t. BYM Club, Pittsburgh, PA (4-2)
5t. Bell Pick Up, Wyoming, MI (3-2)
7t. Cambridge Square, Des Moines, IA (3-2)
7t. Tate Crysler, Pasadena, MD (3-2)
9t. Buck Alley Lumber, Wichita, KS (3-2)
9t. Goofy’s, Minneapolis, MN (3-2)
9t. Fiori’s Music, Santa Rosa, CA (3-2)
9t. Empire County Sports, Levittown, NY (3-2)
13t. Coastal Renting, Houston, TX (2-2)
13t. Plaza 76, Mansfield, OH (2-2)
13t. Beef Coral-Holy Name, Lakewood, OH (2-2)
13t. Teamsters #293, Cleveland, OH (2-2)
17t. Tom’s Foods, Phoenix City, AL (2-2)
17t. Stuart National Bank, Stuart, FL (1-2)
17t. Rockholt Furniture, Decatur, TN (1-2)
17t. Sorrento’s Pizza, Cincinnati, OH (1-2)
17t. Desjardins, Milton, VT (1-2)
17t. Flite-Line OBX, Fort Smith, AR (1-2)
17t. Copher Brothers, Bradenton, FL (1-2)
17t. Dugout Hal’s, Ithaca, NY (1-2)
25t. MCU Sports, Boise ID (1-2)
25t. Wilsman Trucking, Hamilton, OH (0-2)
25t. Atlantic Sales, Portsmouth, VA (0-2)
25t. Farnsworth Construction, Salt Lake City, UT (0-2)
25t. Sports West, Hopkins, MN (0-2)
25t. Sportsworld, Lexington, KY (0-2)
25t. Slitz of Fondy, Fond du Lac, WI (0-2)
25t. G.L. Howard Athletics, Richmond, VA (0-2)
33t. Kwajalein Islands, Marshall Islands (0-2)
33t. Tower Grove Bank, St. Louis, MO (0-2)
