Irwin-North Huntingdon-Trafford-Murrysville team wins softball championship

A group of men from the Irwin-North Huntingdon-Trafford-Murrysville areas who qualify for senior citizen status still play softball well enough to capture a world championship in a winter tournament in Florida.

The HC Global Men’s 60 AA softball team took the International Senior Softball Association’s World Championship held in late January in Tampa, Fla., said Jeff Clem of Irwin, a first basemen, pitcher and all-around utility player for the team.

The team won the tournament 6-1, beating a Florida team twice in one day to win the crown. The champions brought home a plaque and they received rings. The team was led by player-coach Bill Hensler of North Huntingdon, whose HC Global of North Huntingdon sponsors the group, and coach Joe Ruzicka.

The local team got a boost from tournament MVP Jerry Lieb of Penn Township, who led the championship tournament with seven home runs. Other members of HC Global received all-tournament honors: Mark Dorazio of Washington, John DiRobbio of Pitcairn, Steve Calabrese of Philadelphia, Lou Pianetti of Murrysville, Mike Moravec of Belle Vernon and Darryl Butler of North Huntingdon. Dave Ball of Philadelphia, Tim Rohar of Whitehall and Brian Novak of Plum comprised the other key members of the 12-member team.

The team plays in a summer league against teams from Trafford, Penn Hills, Murrysville, McKeesport and West Newton. Surprisingly, the team did not win the championship of the local league, but qualified as a “wild card,” Clem said.

Most of the players competed in church softball leagues in their younger days, then gave it up as family and jobs got in the way, Clem said. The oldest player on the team is 65.

While they kept in shape playing in the spring and summer, Clem said they prepared for the winter tournament by training twice a week at the Baseball Academy of Norwin, an indoor facility in North Huntingdon. They worked with Baseball Academy owner Max McDowell, who last year signed a free-agent deal with the New York Yankees.

The indoor batting practice must have helped because the team averaged more than 20 runs a game and hit more than .620 as a team in the Florida tournament, Clem said.