Ron Turnbow, left, covers first base while Maria Stack, right, prepares to run to second base in the inaugural Columbus Indiana Slo-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame All-Star Game at Lincoln Park, Friday, Aug. 11, 2023.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
In the 1970s and 80s, slow-pitch softball was a big thing in Columbus.
Several local players and teams won state and national championships, and the adult league at Lincoln Park was as competitive as they come.
Friday night, about three dozen of the finest players, coaches and umpires from the city’s softball heyday came together for the Inaugural Columbus Indiana Slo-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame All-Star Game on the Lincoln Park diamond where they honed their craft.
“It was nostalgic,” said Wayne Noble, who showed some youthfulness by legging out a pair of triples. “Some of these guys, I haven’t seen for a long time, but just seeing their faces again, it’s thrilling. It’s always fun to compete against friends. Some of these guys I haven’t seen for probably 10 or 15 years, and just seeing everybody out here again, it was an absolute blast.”
All the players and coaches in Friday’s game are part of the Columbus Indiana Slo-Pitch Softball Hall of Fame (CISSHOF), which is in still its infancy. Jerry Cox and a few other individuals started the Hall of Fame in 2019, and it now has 69 inductees.
This year, Cox felt he had enough Hall of Famers to put together a pair of teams to put on a show.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Cox said. “When you put something together like this, you don’t really know how it’s going to turn out or the support that it’s going to get. But what a great night. You couldn’t ask for a better night weather-wise to play. Certainly, we had a lot of people here. It was a fun game, a little bit of competitiveness to it. It was a close game.”
In a back-and-forth battle, the Blue team scored the maximum-allotted five runs in the bottom of the fourth to pull out a 10-8 win against the Red team in the five-inning game. Bryan Rice, who won the pregame Home Run Derby, blasted a two-run shot, and Fred Lawson followed with an inside-the-park homer in the Blue team’s five-run fourth.
“I’m the young guy out here,” said the 53-year-old Lawson. “I was trying to hit a home run (out of the park), honestly. I hit it and knew I just needed to run. I needed some oxygen by the time I got in here (to the dugout).”
Toward the older end of the spectrum was 73-year-old Lynn Montgomery, who played for the Blue.
“It’s the first Hall of Fame game we’ve ever had, so it’s neat to play with all those younger guys that were so good, and some of us old guys got to do OK,” Montgomery said.
The Red team had its moments, as well. Marlon Cox clubbed a two-run homer, and shortstop Rich DeLay flashed some leather when he went to his right to make a backhand grab in the hole and threw out a runner at first.
“When you’re 64, and you’re playing with 80-year-olds and 50-year-olds, that makes you feel like a pup,” DeLay said. “Some of them are still out here playing the game like a bunch of kids. I come over here and play senior ball every Tuesday night with age 55 to 80-year-olds, so you’re playing with the same bunch.”
The game included a few women who are in the Hall of Fame, as well.
“It’s been a few years since I played with (the other men and women in the Hall),” Kathy Cox said. “I had played with quite a few of them about 10 years ago, so it was fun. At least I didn’t strike out.”
Rice hit eight home runs to win the Home Run Derby. Lawson finished second with seven.
“This is really cool for me because I’m the youngest of seven, and five of my brothers always played together,” Lawson said. “Seeing all these guys, this is who I really learned how to play the game with, obviously my older brothers and then these guys that I was able to compete against. It’s really nice to see them out here and having fun and still playing ball.”
Former Columbus North basketball star Josh Speidel, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a car accident late in his senior season with the Bull Dogs and gained national attention when he scored the first basket of the game on his senior night at Vermont, threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday, when close to 200 people showed up to see Columbus softball turn back the clock for one evening.
“This is amazing for this many people to come out and watch us play,” said Jerry Littrell, who coached the Blue team. “It all came together. It’s a good bunch of guys on both teams. For 65-, 70- and in some cases, almost 80(-year-olds), that’s quite a thing.”
