SOFTBALL: Pinckneyville Celtics enter Illinois ASA Hall of Fame
What began as a group of guys just looking to have some fun playing a game ended up becoming a part of local and state sports history, and on Saturday that same group of guys were inducted as a team into the Illinois Amateur Softball Association's Hall of Fame.
The Pinckneyville Celtics, Illinois Class A Mens Fast-pitch Softball State Champions in 1981 and 1993, were honored on Saturday night at the annual ASA Commissioners Council Meeting and Banquet along with four other teams and nine individual players. Twenty-eight former Celtics were in attendance for the ceremony, held at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel.
Founded in 1974, it took only four seasons for the Celtics to become a perennial contender in the Class A ranks with a second-place finish at the 1977 state tournament. That same season they also placed runner-up at the Midwest Regional.
In 1981 the team cemented itself in the record books of Illinois' best mens softball squads with their first of two state titles. Over the years they would rack up over 700 wins and finish top-three at state five times in Class A and AA, adding another Midwest Regional runner-up in 1986 and a second state championship in 1993, when they also advanced to the National tournament in Los Cruces, New Mexico.
The Celtics' legendary hurler Bob Keith spoke on the team's behalf at the induction, and with the other team members lined up in front of the podium, he said "Each one of these guys have a special place in my heart."
Keith, the MVP of the '81 state tournament, spoke of the generations of athletes that competed with Pinckneyville and about the dedication, in terms of both time and money, that it took to make the Celtics so successful.
"It costs money to play," Keith said to the audience. "These guys had vacations that were planned around playing ball games. It meant missing work sometimes."
Original Celtic Bob Hepp later elaborated; "We were all committed. I worked at the coal mine, took off a lot of days, used my sick days, so we could travel on weekends. We went to Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, St. Louis area, anywhere to play good softball teams. We had twelve, thirteen people, but when we decided to leave town for a weekend to play ball, they were going to show up at the Pinckneyville square, load up, and off we went."
Bruce Rheinecker, the manager of the '93 state championship team, said the honor of being put into the Hall of Fame is made more special by the longevity of the team's run and the multiple generations involved with the 20-plus-year history of the franchise.
"I think it's a great honor for everybody that's been associated with the team over the years," said Rheinecker. "There was a generation that started the team, and it's really tough to understand the sacrifice it takes the first year. After the team was started, we had a great group of guys that played from about 1979-1990, we had a state championship, and a bunch of trophies that we won in Class AA. Then we went to a third generation, they got themselves a state championship in 1993. It's a generational thing, it lasted a long time. I had a lot of fun and I'm sure most of the other guys did too."
Keith, Hepp, and a third original Celtic, Kevin Hicks, all pointed to the 1977 season as the turning point for the squad.
"We won two state tournaments, so those were definitely highlights in our lives," Keith said, "but I think in 1977 when we got second to Zeigler, that was probably the sweetest from the standpoint that it was the first time. We had just started the team in '74, and we felt like we could win the (Midwest) Regional."
"Those are some things that, as you look back at it, remind me where we came from. I had great times as manager, I got to pitch, got to do a lot of things. The people of Pinckneyville supported us, we had fans that could come that didn't have any kids or any ties other than maybe having a friend on the team, it was really a great time."
Hepp, a member of the '81 championship team whose son later played for the '93 state-winners, said the '77 season was when the Celtics knew they had arrived.
"When we started this program years ago, (making it to the Hall of Fame) was unfathomable," said Hepp. "When we got second in the state tournament in '77, we knew we could compete then. It took on a whole new life - to become the best you've got to play the best, so after that we scheduled everybody."
"Luckily, we had Bob (Keith). If you know fast-pitch softball, you have to have a pitcher. When he started out he was a bit wild because he was young, but he had that hard fastball and that hard drop ball. We knew we had something special. He just made us rise to the occasion as the years went on."
Hicks echoed those thoughts, giving additional credit to the long-time Celtic left-handed fireballer.
"We had success so young, and a lot of it was because Bobby (Keith) got so good so quick," said Hicks. "We never thought we'd be able to win a state tournament or anything like that, but (Keith's) ability just kept getting better. As his ability got better, we were able to acquire a better quality of players to go along with his arm."
Hicks was a part of both state championship teams and was named MVP in the 1993 tournament where he was 8-for-20 at the plate including 2-for-3 in the title game against the Tremont Merchants. The Celtics took a stellar record of 55 wins, 9 losses to New Mexico for the National Tournament in '93.
"The first one, obviously, is the most exciting," Hicks said. "Then to win it again when you're 40 years old and in the twilight of your career, and then to go to the first national tournament ever that same year, those are great memories."
Keith is quick to give the credit back to the other players, noting that he never had to worry about having enough guys show up to fill out the lineup card.
"Regardless of how good of players you've got, it doesn't matter if you don't play as a team," Keith said. "We had a lot of guys that contributed no matter where we were at. As a manager, I gave them our schedule and they'd come and play. They're very professional. We tried to compete, we had a good time, we had people that got along with one another."
All four gentlemen expressed sincere honor in their selection to the ASA Hall. Hicks even took it a step further, saying it was a honor to even play the game itself. A four-year baseball player in college, Hicks fondly remembered his introduction to fast-pitch softball over thirty years ago.
"I didn't know what it was, I played baseball my whole life," said Hicks. "They told me to come out and try it, and I got out there and the bases looked like they were twenty feet long after playing on ninety-foot bases. The ball looked like a watermelon. I thought 'this is going to be an easy game.' Well, I found out it wasn't."
"It took me a little over two years before I learned to hit it. They just throw it by you with a big baseball swing, I had to adjust my swing down and after that it kind of came to me. It's just been fun, now my kids are playing it and that just makes it even better."
Former Celtic Barry Dalmasso was also inducted into the Hall as an individual player. Dalmasso, who also played for Woodlawn, Mt. Vernon, Effinghan, Pete's Blues, Central Illinois Knights, Elkville and Nohren Farms, is a multi-year All-Stater that has MVP awards in both the Class A and AA state tournaments.
Among the other Pinckneyville Celtics in attendance were Don Brewer, Kent Brookman, Denny Winter, Shane Winter, Terry Rheinecker, Barry Kellerman, Mark Norris, Larry Shacklee, Ed Lodge, Greg Hale, Gary Endres, Adam Emling, Matt Mason, Gene Dickerson, Ron Kreid, Mike Phillips, Roy Kulenkamp, Mike O'Rear, Aaron Konkel, Clay McDonnough and others.
Two other Pinckneyville graduates were also a part of a Hall of Fame team inducted on Saturday. Christine Engelhardt and Jennifer Thompson Hagel, who both played at PCHS under coach Greg Hale, were once members of the West Frankfort Cardinals. The Cardinals competed for 21 years with a record of 560 wins, 268 losses. They won two Class A state titles, several runner-ups, and were the champions of the 1996 Class A Midwest Regional.
Other inductees this past Saturday night were teams Decatur Perfect Window Cleaners, Milan Aces and Sadorus Woodworth Trucking along with individuals Rick Minton, Rocco Ramsey, John "Jake" Marker, Chris Long, Brad Friese, Craig Behne, John Radloff and Roberta Secrest.
The Illinois ASA Hall of Fame is located in Casey, Ill. Visit caseysoftballmuseum.com for more information.
-Sports Editor Doug Daniels can be reached at ddaniels@duquoin.com - Follow him on twitter at: @DQCallSports