1963 ASA Men’s Major Fast Pitch Nationals

1963 held at Clearwater, Florida.


Champion – Clearwater Bombers, Clearwater, Florida
Runner Up – Aurora Sealmasters, Aurora, Illinois


Eddie King, Bombers (1-0, 31 IP, 32 K – 25 innings of scoreless relief pitching as Bombers defeated Portland 4-3 in 31 innings). Weldon Haney started the game and King relieved him in the 5th and struck out 25 batters in the next 25 innings and for good measure, he drove in the winning run in the 31st inning.  King finished up the tournament 1-0, with 32 Ks, in 31 IP. Jack Hutchinson of Portland lasted 29 innings before tiring. He struck out 23 batters. Don Ellison came in to pitch the final 2 innings and took the loss for Portland. This was the longest game in ASA National Championship History.

Ricky Tomlinson of the Bombers led off the bottom of the 9th with a single to left. Jerry Curtis, up next, also singled and on the same play, an outfield throwing error enabled Tomlinson to score with winning run in the 1-0 final.  Haney defeated Aurora’s Sterkal in another one in a long line of Bombers vs Sealmasters classics. Sterkal was the losing pitcher. He came into this event with a 29-6 career ASA National Tournament record, but a couple of bad breaks, and he was 3-2. In the first 35 games played in this tournament, there were 24 shutouts, including 12 (1-0) scores. And 14 of 17 losers bracket games were shutouts.


  • MVP – Weldon Haney, Clearwater Bombers
  • Batting Leader – Joe Higgins, Mesa Mitchan Construction – .455
  • Home Run Leader – Bill McDonald, Vancouver (2-6, .333, 2 RBI, 1 Run) – 1
  • Home Run Leader – Ned Wickersham, Aurora – 1
  • Home Run Leader – Bill Parker, Clearwater Standard Oil (1-5, .200, 1 RBI, 1 Run) – 1
  • Home Run Leader – Al DeWall, St. Paul (1-5, .200, 1 RBI, 1 Run) – 1
  • Home Run Leader – George Fowler, Long Island (1-10, .100, 2 RBI, 1 Run) – 1

FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

P – Weldon Haney, Clearwater Bombers (5-0, 5 Shutouts, 57 K, 40 IP, including a 1-0 9 inning 3-hit shutout with 11 Ks in the final)
P – Eddie King, Clearwater Bombers
P – Johnny Spring, Aurora Sealmasters (2-0, 28 IP, 42 K, 0 ER)
C – Bobby Kuykendall, Clearwater Bombers
C – George Kinder, Oxnard Merchants
1B – Bill Dickson, Aurora Sealmasters
2B – Bob Barron, Aurora Sealmasters
3B – Doug Mason, Clearwater Bombers
SS – Ricky Tomlinson, Clearwater Bombers
OF – Ned Wickersham, Aurora Sealmasters (7-31, .226, 4 RBI, 5 Runs)
OF – Bob Farney, Aurora Sealmasters
OF – Al Summerford, Clearwater Bombers
OF – Ben Breskovich, Oxnard Merchants
UTIL – Don Ropp, Aurora Sealmasters

SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

P – Harvey Sterkel, Oxnard Merchants (2-2, 29 IP, 41 K)
P – Jack Newman, Oxnard Merchants (3-1, 29 IP, 30 K)
C – Leroy Jarvis, Motif Homes
C – Cliff Smith, Aurora Sealmasters
1B – George Price, Champion YMCA
2B – Gus Colagerakis, Champion YMCA
3B – Ben Osuna, Oxnard Merchants
SS – John Davis, Aurora Sealmasters
OF – Bub Butler, McKee Ramblers
OF – Clyde Miller, Champion YMCA
OF – Chalie Dobson, Motif Homes
OF – Dave Harbin, Oak Grove Food Center
UTIL – Joe Higgins, Michen Construction (5-11, .455, 2 Runs)


OTHERS

Charlie Richard, Aurora Sealmasters (3-0, 17 IP, 32 K)
Ed Johnson, Local #57 Engineers (1-2, 20 IP, 26 K, threw a 1-0 no hitter with 10 K)
Joe Tucker, Oak Grove Food Center (3-1, 22 IP, 21 K)


FINAL STANDINGS

1. Clearwater Bombers, Clearwater, FL (6-0) (Defending Champ)
2. Aurora Sealmasters, Aurora, IL (7-2) (West Central)
3. Oxnard Merchants, Oxnard, CA (3-2) (South-Pacific-Coast)
4. Motif Homes, Oklahoma City, OK (5-2) (Southwestern)
5t. Champion YMCA, Canton, NC (2-2) (South Atlantic)
5t. Whitaker Buick, St. Paul, MN (2-2) (Northern)
7t. Maddox Ice, Denver, CO (3-2) (Rocky-Mountain)
7t. Oak Grove Food Center, Birmingham, AL (3-2) (Southern)
9t. Michen Construction, Mesa, AZ (2-2) (Cactus)
9t. Billy Betz Flatiron AC, Philadelphia, PA (1-2) (Central Atlantic)
9t. McKee Ramblers, Portland, OR (1-2) (Northwestern)
9t. Local #55 Climate Control, Huntington, NY (1-2) (Mid Atlantic)
13t. Local 57 Engineers, Providence, RI (1-2) (New England)
13t. Burch Gage & Tool, Detroit, MI (1-2) (East Central)
13t. Adams Milk, Springfield, MO (0-2) (Western)
13t. Jim Pattison Softball, Vancouver, BC (0-2) (West-Canada)
17t. Standard Oil, Clearwater, FL (0-2) (Host)
17t. Merced Monarchs, Merced, CA (0-2) (North-Pacific-Coast)
17t. J.H. Rose Truckline, Houston, TX (0-2) (Texas)
17t. Bacardi Club, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico (0-2) (Puerto Rico)


NOTES

East Canada Champ – no representative was listed.

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