Saturday 03/14 - Jim's Baseball "interregnum" - 1977 looking back!

Saturday 03/14 - Jim's Baseball "interregnum" -

UNOFFICIAL - Un-Audited and subject to errors (typing, cut/paste, spelling, interpretation, etc.)

Posted at - http://baseballlmw.blogspot.com/

American Legion Baseball notes posted at - http://albdistrict2mi.blogspot.com/

Lots of problems domestically and internationally - but as Scarlett O'Hara said in "Gone with the Wind" - "Tomorrow is another day" (or something like that)

Live one day at a time, use common sense and leave panic for the talking heads.

Remember that "I don't know the answer" is often a good, realistic response.

Some things the United States has endured -

Cholera, Malaria, Typhoid Fever & Yellow Fever at various time

Polio

The "Dust Bowl"

The Depression of the 1920s/30s

The Cuban Missle Crisis

Two world wars

Two national "undeclared wars" - Korea & VietNam

The Summer of 1977 - a brief recap of one team's experience

*Extracted (without asking permission) from An Inning at a Time by Mel Machuca and Will Shepherd (Amazon link - https://www.amazon.com/Inning-Time-American-Baseball-Championship/dp/1592995535)

*Additional information "Four decades later, South Bend Post 50 still Indiana’s lone American Legion national champions" by Steve Krah - https://takeoutyourscorecards.wordpress.com/2017/08/04/four-decades-later-south-bend-post-50-still-indianas-lone-american-legion-national-champions/

*Additional information 1977 Indiana State Tournament (from https://www.indianalegion.org/uploads/7/6/0/7/76076421/alb_history_1926-2014.pdf)

Team - South Bend American Legion Post 50

Post 50 Baseball Chairman - Bob Kouts

Team manager - Mel Machuca (ALB 1977 Manager of the Year)

Assistant coach - Bill Barcome (ALB 1977 Coach of the Year)

Bench coach - Dan Toles

Media advisor - Forest Miller - South Bend Tribune

Players (to the best of my knowledge) -

1 - Matt Kowatch (5'8-1/2) - LaVille HS

2 - Greg Heyde (5'8) - Marian HS

3 - Bill Schell (5'9) - Texas Wesleyan (American legion Player of the Year and Louisville Slugger Award)

4 - Dan Szajko (5'8) - Adams HS (drafted out of Notre Dame by Montreal)

5 - Mike Clarke (6') - Adams HS

6 - John Ross (5'8) - Clay HS

7 - Jim Andert (6'3) - Adams HS

? - Jeff Rudasics (5'11) - Clay HS

9 - Mark Toles (6'2)

10 - Dave Yates (6'5) - Marian HS

11 - Will Shepherd (5'11) - LaVille HS

? - Scott Madey (6'1) - Clay HS

? - Dom Romeo (5'8) - Adams HS

? - Dave Hankins (6'1) - Clay HS

15 - Gary Vargyas (5'10) - Purdue Unviversity (football)

17 - Dennis Janiszewski (5'9) - Clay HS

19 - Jeff Coker (6') - Adams HS (free agent signed by Philadelphia)

1/2 - Todd Machuda (4'5 - 7 years - bat boy)

Awards - https://www.legion.org/baseball/awards

American Legion Player of the Year - https://www.legion.org/baseball/awards/player

American Legion Slugger - https://www.legion.org/baseball/awards/batting

American legion Leadership - https://www.legion.org/baseball/awards/leadership

The season - no guarantee that I've "exacted" all this correctly!

*The "Discovery" segment (playing local competition)-

+Game 1 - Win (1-0)

+Game 2 - Win (2-0)

+Game 3 - Win (3-0)

+Game 4 - Loss (3-1) - Valapariso-3, South Bend Post 50-1

+Game 5 - Win (4-1) - South Bend Post 50-12, Valaparaiso-11

+Game 6 - Win (5-1) - South Bend Post 50-5, Knox-0

+Game 7 - Win (6-1) - South Bend Post 50-W, Warsaw-L

+Game 8 - Win (7-1) - South Bend Post 50-W, Warsaw-L

+Game 9 - Win (8-1)

+Game 10 - Win (9-1) - South Bend Post 50-W, Adams HS summer team-L

*

*The "Step Up" segment (tuning up) -

+Game 11 (at Southport) - Loss (9-2)

+Game 12 (at Southport) - Win (10-2)

+Game 13 (at Beech Grove) - Loss (10-3) - Beech Grove-6, South Bend Post 50-3

+Game 14 (at Beech Grove) - Loss (10-4) - Beech Grove-W, South Bend Post 50-L

+Game 15 (Post 50 Tournament) - Loss (10-5) - Michigan City-4, South Bend Post 50-0

+Game 16 (Post 50 Tournament) - Win (11-5)

+Game 17 (Post 50 Tournament) - Win (12-5)

+Game 18 (Post 50 Tournament) - Win (13-5)

+Game 19 - Win (14-5)

+Game 20 - Win (15-5)

+Game 21 - Win (16-5)

+Game 22 - Loss (16-6) - Elkhart Post 74-W, South Bend Post 50-L

*

*The "final preparation" segment (putting it together) -

+Game 23 - Win (17-6) - South Bend Post 50-4, St Joseph/MI-3

+Game 24 - Win (18-6) - South Bend Post 50-5, Buchanan/MI-4

+Game 25 - Win (19-6) - South Bend Post 50-4, South Bend Post 357-0

+Game 26 - Win (20-6) - South Bend Post 50-5, Dowagiac/MI-1

+Game 27 - Win (21-6) - South Bend Post 50-6, Elkhart Post 74-5

+Game 28 - Win (22-6) - South Bend Post 50-4, Whiting-0

+Game 29 - Win (23-6) - South Bend Post 50-6, Whiting-2

*

*Indiana American Legion Sectional Tournament at South Bend Belleville Park (August) -

Teams (South Bend Post 50; South Bend Post 357; Elkhart Post 74; Michigan City; others?)

+Game 30 - Win (1-0 / 24-6) - South Bend Post 50-6, Elkhart Post 74-4

+Game 31 - Win (2-0 / 25-6) - South Bend Post 50-5?, South Bend Post 357-2

+Game 32 - Win (3-0 / 26-6) - South Bend Post 50-15, Michigan City-0

+Game 33 - Win (4-0 / 27-6) - South Bend Post 50-14, Michigan City-2

*

*Indiana American Legion Regional Tournament at South Bend Kennedy Park (August) -

Teams (South Bend Post 50; Crown Point; Hammond; Whiting)

+Game 34 - Win (5-0 / 28-6) - South Bend Post 50-8, Crown Point-2

+Game 35 - Win (6-0 / 29-6) - South Bend Post 50-5, Whiting-1

+Game 36 - Win (7-0 / 30-6) - South Bend Post 50-W, Whiting-L

*

*Indiana American Legion State Tournament at Richmond, IN (more notes below) -

Teams? (South Bend Post 50; Lafayette Post 11; Terre Haute Post 346; Beech Grove; others?)

+Game 37 - Win (8-0 / 31-6) - South Bend Post 50-5, Terre Haute Post 346-1

+Game 38 - Win (9-0 / 32-6) - South Bend Post 50-4, Lafayette Post 11-3

+Game 39 - Win (10-0 / 33-6) - South Bend Post 50-8, Lafayette Post 11-5

*

*American Legion National Regional Tournament (Great Lakes Regional) at Chicago, IL (more notes below) -

Teams (South Bend/IN Post 50; Mansfield/OH; Blissfield/MI Post 325; Morehead/KY; Arlington Heights/IL; Wisconsin, Illinois host)

+Game 40 - Win (11-0 / 34-6) - South Bend Post 50-3, Blissfield/MI Post 325-2 - 11 innings

+Game 41 - Win (12-0 / 35-6) - South Bend Post 50-1, Morehead/KY-0

+Game 42 - Win (13-0 / 36-6) - South Bend Post 50-6, Arlington Heights/IL-5

+Game 43 - Win (14-0 / 37-6) - South Bend Post 50-3, Blissfield/MI Post 325-0 - 11 innings

*

*American Legion World Series at Gill Stadium, Manchester, NH (more notes below)

Teams (Trumbull/CT Post 141 (32-7); Charles B. Yeager - Boyertown/PA Post 471 (45-2); Palm Beach/FL Post 12 (29-2); Francis L. Miller - Hattiesburg/MS Post 78 (); South Bend/IN Post 50 (37-6); Rapid City/SD Post 22 (); Lewis-Clark - Lewiston/ID Post 13 (63-16); Santa Monica Bay Cities/CA Post 123 (41-3));

+Game 44 - Win (15-0 / 38-6) - South Bend/IN Post 50-5, Boyertown/PA Post 471-1

(Santa Monica/CA Post 123-9, Trumbull/CT Post 141-2)

+Game 45 - Win (16-0 / 39-6) - South Bend/IN Post 50-7, Santa Monica/CA Post 132-1

+Game 46 - Win (17-0 / 40-6) - South Bend/IN Post 50-8, Hattiesburg/MS Post 78-1

+Game 47 - Win (18-0 / 41-6) - South Bend/IN Post 50-3, Hattiesburg/MS Post 78-1 - Championship game

*

1977 Indiana State Tournament (from https://www.indianalegion.org/uploads/7/6/0/7/76076421/alb_history_1926-2014.pdf)

1977 - RICHMOND/IN Indiana State -

South Bend Post 50 became the third South Bend Post to win a state championship. Post 50 had been close to the title before, finishing as state runner-up three straight years from 1961-1963. The wait had to have been worth it because Post 50 would use its first state crown as the impetus to do something no Indiana team had done before nor has done since. In the state finals South Bend turned back Terre Haute Post 346, 5-1, in the opening round and then beat Lafayette Post 11, 4-3, in the winner's bracket final. The Terre Haute roster included 16 year-old Brian Dorsett who would play eight seasons in the major leagues. Dan Szajko went 3-3 in the win over Terre Haute. Dave Hankins turned in a complete game performance for the win over Lafayette. South Bend had trailed 3-0 in the fifth inning of the Lafayette game but Jim Andert singled in two runs and Will Shepherd'sground rule double scored the game winner. In the championship game Lafayette scored five times in the top of the first but South Bend, which had trailed or was tied in the middle innings in nine of its ten tournament games, rallied again to claim a 7-5 state-title clinching win. South Bend got two runs back in the second on Bill Schell's triple. After Jeff Coker's 400-foot two-run bomb made it 5-4 in the fifth, Greg Heyde's solo blast tied it in the same inning. Post 50 got the game-winner in the seventh when Coker singled, stole second, and scored on Shepherd's single off the second base bag. A single run in the eighth closed scoring. Coker went 7-9 and had three walks in the finals. Hankins, who came on with two out in the first, worked his final three innings of eligibility and Heyde, who took the mound with one out in the fourth, worked 5 1/3 to pick up the win. After the five-run outburst in the first Lafayette didn't get a hit over the final eight innings.

1977 - Bellwood/IL - National Regional -

In the national regional in Bellwood IL, South Bend got a 3-2 opening round win over Blissfield MI Post 325 when Coker's11th inning walk scored Szajko. Post 50 did not have a hit in the inning. Coker's home run in the seventh had given South Bend a 2-1 lead after Blissfield had taken a 1-0 lead in the third. Szajko's single in the fifth, after Shepherd had doubled, tied it. Heyde struck out 13 and went the distance for the win. South Bend left the bases loaded in the eighth, ninth and tenth innings and stranded 14 for the game.In second round play Jeff Kowatch's suicide squeeze scored Shepherd with the only run of the game as Post 50 downed Morehead KY Post 126, 1-0. Hankins, who missed the opening game of the tournament due to college orientation and arrived only a few hours prior to game time, retired the first 15 hitters he faced, and 20 of the first 21, before finishing with an eight strikeout,no-walk, three-hitter.In a scene all too familiar for South Bend, it took a rally, this time from a 5-1 deficit, to down Arlington Heights IL Post 208, 6-5. Kowatch's single in the bottom of the ninth was the game-winner when Heyde knocked the ball loose on a play at the plate. South Bend coach Mel Machuca's gamble (there were no outs when he sent Heyde) worked as Post 50 remained the only undefeated team in the tournament. Besides scoring the winning run Heyde picked up the win on the mound with five innings of four-hit shutout relief. Hankins, who pitched all 11 innings over two days, ran his scoreless inning streak to 29 as South Bend beat Blissfield, 3-0 in 11 innings, to claim the regional championship. Hankins bases-loaded walk in the 11th scored South Bend's first run. The game was played over two days as rain halted play in the bottom of the fifth on the first attempt to determine a champion.

1977 - Manchester/NH - American legion World Series -

In the American Legion World Series at Manchester NH, South Bend took a 5-1 opening round win over Boyertown PA Post 471 as Schell had four hits, scored twice and drove in two. Heyde tossed a six-hitter to gain the win. In second round play Hankins held defending national champion Santa Monica CA Post 123 to four hits and Schell collected four hits in four trips to the plate in a 7-1 win. The California roster included Tim Leary who was drafted by the New York Mets in 1979 and pitched for the 1988 Los Angeles Dodgers World Series Champions. Leary pitched Santa Monica's opening round win over Trumbull CT. South Bend scored six unearned runs in an 8-2 win over Hattiesburg MS Post 78, to become the only undefeated team left in the World Series.With over 3,900 fans in attendance Post 50 claimed Indiana's first, and only, national championship with a 3-1 win over Hattiesburg. Heyde ran his season record to 15-1 as he allowed only eight hits.South Bend scored the first run of the game in the top of the second when Mike Clarke scored on a wild pitch. After Hattiesburg tied it in the bottom of the inning, South Bend took the lead for good in the third when Schell tripled to lead off the inning and Coker walked with one out. When Shepard's ground ball to third was mishandled, Schell scored. Coker crossed the plate when Shepherd's steal of second resulted in the catcher throwing the ball into center field. Schell was named the American Legion Player of the Year and won the Louisville Slugger Award as the top hitter in national play with a .441 batting average. South Bend had entered tournament play with a good season record of 23-6 but Post 50 was immaculate in the tournament as they ran the table with a perfect 18-0 log to finish the season 41-6. In no less than 14 of those 18 wins the South Benders were either tied or trailed in the middle innings of the game. There were some other oddities as well.Post 50 did not have a left-handed pitcher nor a left-handed hitter and after the state regional they played without starting second baseman GaryVargyas, who was ill during the state tournament and did not play during the national tournament because he was involved in football practices at Purdue.

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