1978 held at Petersburg, Virginia.
Champion – Howard’s Furniture, Denver, North Carolina
Runner Up – Howard & Carroll, Sherrills Ford, North Carolina
It was a North Carolina final as Howard’s dumped Howard & Carroll into the losers bracket early with a 25-5 pasting behind Don Arndt and Stan Harvey (2 HR each), Dave Jocobs had 5 hits and 5 RBI to aid in the cause. H&C went through the losers bracket eliminating a tough Corpus Christi Brick & Lumber team 14-13. H&C then revenged the defeat by Howards by beating them 23-15 to set up the final game. James Boyette and Dave Carroll both had 4 hits in the win. Joey Raby had 2 HR and 6 RBI. Howard’s Furniture, who had won two ASA titles already, won it’s first USSSA Championship by defeating H&C 20-15 in the final game. Denny Hogan had a pair of 3-run homers to lead the way. Joey Raby, Don Arndt and Stan Harvey all collected 2 HRs in the game. James Boyette (3 HR) and Tom Beall (2 HR) were the big hitters for H&C. Dave Jacobs was 16-24 (.667) for Howard’s, while Don Arndt and Bill Howes all were 12-19 (.631), both hammering out 5 HR. Stan Harvey hit 9 HR to lead Howard’s. In the Battle of the stats, it was Howard & Carroll with 54 HR to Howard’s Furniture’s 35 HR. But Howards team out hit H&C .550 to .470.
- MVP – Denny Hogan, Howard’s (12-19, .632, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 11 Runs)
- HR Leader – James Boyett, H&C (18-29, .621, 20 RBI, 15 Runs) – 13
- Batting Leader – Bill Ferguson, C.C. Brick & Lumber (12-15, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 7 Runs) – .800
USSSA MAJOR ALL WORLD TEAM
- Pitcher – Don Arndt – Howard’s Furniture (12-19, .632, 5 HR, 10 RBI, 10 Runs)
- Catcher – Gene Fisher – Howard’s Furniture (10-19, .526, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 7 Runs)
- First Base – Stan Harvey – Howard’s Furniture (11-21, .550, 9 HR, 15 RBI, 11 Runs)
- Second Base – James Boyett – Howard & Carroll (18-29, .621, 13 HR, 20 RBI, 15 Runs)
- Third Base – Tony Cloninger – Howard & Carroll (11-19, .579, 5 HR, 14 RBI, 9 Runs)
- Shortstop – Steve Howard – Howard’s Furniture (8-17, .471, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 7 Runs)
- Outfield – Dick Bartel – C.C. Brick & Lumber (11-15, .733, 5 HR, 9 RBI, 9 Runs)
- Outfield – Denny Hogan – Howard’s Furniture (12-19, .632, 4 HR, 12 RBI, 11 Runs)
- Outfield – Mike Jacobs – Howard’s Furniture (16-24, .667, 1 HR, 10 RBI, 12 Runs)
- Outfield – Mickey Morrison – Howard & Carroll (13-28, .464, 5 HR, 7 RBI, 10 Runs)
- Utility – Ron Woody – Howard & Carroll (12-20, .600, 2 RBI, 8 Runs)
- Utility – Elby Bushong – Capitol Insulation (11-15, .733, 7 HR, 15 RBI, 9 Runs)
- Utility – Mickey McCarty – C.C. Brick & Lumber (9-15, .600, 5 HR, 12 RBI, 8 Runs)
- Utility – Bill Ferguson – C.C. Brick & Lumber (12-15, .800, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 7 Runs)
- Utility – Gene Jones – Howard & Carroll (11-25, .440, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 12 Runs)
- Utility – Joey Raby – Howard & Carroll (12-25, .480, 6 HR, 13 RBI, 10 Runs)
- Manager – Bobby Lutz – Howard’s Furniture
OTHERS
- John Davide, County Sports (4-5, .800, 1 RBI, 2 Runs)
- Rick Linz, LaRosa’s (7-10, .700, 4 RBI, 5 Runs)
- Braxton Speller, Snyders (7-10, .700, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs)
- Hank Cluess, County Sports (4-6, .667, 2 RBI, 3 Runs)
- George Chernenko, Snyders (7-11, .636, 4 RBI, 4 Runs)
- Bill Howes, Howard’s (12-19, .632, 5 HR, 7 RBI, 8 Runs)
- Ron Shoquist, Snyders (7-12, .583, 3 RBI, 4 Runs)
- Rick Scherr, Howard’s (10-18, .556, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 7 Runs)
- Richard Wilborn, CC Brick (8-16, .500, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 9 Runs)
- Hal Ward, LaRosa’s (5-10, .500, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 Runs)
- Marty Rolnick, County Sports (3-6, .500, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 Runs)
- Tom Beall, H&C (12-30, .400, 7 HRs, 16 RBI, 10 Runs)
- Dave Hardt, H&C (10-24, .416, 3 HRs, 5 RBI, 10 Runs)
- Don Clatterbaugh, H&C (10-26, .384, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 11 Runs)
- Rick Pinto, Snyders (3-8, .375, 1 Run)
- Dennis Myers, Capitol (5-14, .357, 3 HR, 5 RBI, 4 Runs)
- Curtis Williams, Howard’s (5-16, .312, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 6 Runs)
- Hank Kosmala, Capitol (4-14, .286, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 3 Runs)
- Buddy Slater, CC Brick (4-14, .286, 4 Runs)
- Lou Russo, County Sports (2-8, .250)
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Howard’s Furniture, Denver, NC (4-1)
2. Howard & Carroll, Sherills Ford, NC (5-2)
3. C.C. Brick & Lumber, Corpus Christi, TX (2-2)
4. Capitol Insulation, N. Hollywood, CA (2-2)
5t. LaRosa’s Greater Cincinnati Sports, Cincinnati, OH (1-2)
5t. Snyder’s Softball Club, Detroit, MI (1-2)
7t. May Tool, Paramount, CA (0-2)
7t. County Sports, Levittown, NY (0-2)
*By winning the 1978 World Series, Howard’s (QUALIFIED for 1979 WORLD SERIES)
