1976 held at Thompson Park in Hamilton, Ohio on September 1-7.
Champion – Millersville Merchants, Millersville, Pennsylvania
Runner Up – Neals Truck Parts, Wyoming, Michigan
A young Millersville, PA outfit made believers of everybody Monday night at Thompson Park. Even it may be added, a young Millersville, PA outfit.
Buoyed by the heavy hitting of Denny Leathers and the steady pitching of Glen Wilner, Millersville stopped defending champion Neals Truck Parts of Grand Rapids, MI, 5-1 to annex the 1976 Men’s National Class A Fast Pitch title before 3,000 fans on this cool Labor Day evening.
“When we came down here we figured to win just a couple games,” admitted Millersville Manager Chub Kauffman. “We never thought we’d win it, but everything fell into place.
“Since the Fourth of July we’ve only lost two ballgames,” Kauffman added, “Our hitting and pitching have come around and our big man carried us,” he said, motioning towards Leathers.
Leathers, who was named the tournament’s MVP, hammered his fourth home run of the tourney and drove in two more runs with a single in the championship game.
The single came in the opening frame of the game and scored Park Kauffman and Mike Mull. That time Leathers was batting right handed.
The home run came in the fifth inning and extended the Millersville to 5-1. He batted left handed on this occasion. Both hits came off Neals Truck Parts righthander, Charlie Mitchell.
“Usually if I make an out I change around,” Leathers explained, “But, it depends a lot on the pitcher. I like to left handed against a drop ball pitcher.”
The tournament championship had leathers on cloud nine.
“I think after we won our first two games we felt we could win,” Leathers aid amid the trophy presentations. He turned to his manager and shook his head. “I still can’t believe this.”
“Neither can I,” said a smiling Kauffman.
Millersville had jumped on Grand Rapids starter Bob Ebels immediately.
Park Kauffman tripled off the fence in right field and Ebels walked Mike Mull and Rex Giberson.
Ebels left the game at this point in favor of Mitchell who was greeted by Leathers’ single to center.
The score stayed 2-0 until the third when Neals Truck Parts catcher Ron Engels reached first on a third strike passed ball.
Mitchell sacrificed him to second and Al Koop plated him with a single to right.
Phil Barley got a fourth inning Millersville rally started with a single and went to second on Wilner’s sacrifice.
Kauffman got his second hit of the game, and infield chopper to shortstop, and Barley went to third.
A wild pitch brought Barley home and Mull singled to center to score Kauffman and extend the leave to 4-1.
Leathers wound up scoring in the fifth with his long home run to right center. Wilner took care of business the rest of the way.
The Millersville right hander limited Grand Rapids to three hits and fanned 11.
Even in defeat, it would be difficult to expect the Grand Rapids club to be disappointed. They have come from nowhere to reach these finals.
A loser in the first game of this five day tournament. The 1975 champions clawed and scratched their way through the losers’ bracket.
They had to win one time Saturday, four times Sunday, and four more times Monday to get a chance at the big trophy. They did just that.
In the finals of the losers’ bracket they defeated Canton Merchants of Canton, NC and Big David Anderson, 2-0, making the North Carolinians the tournament’s third place team for a second year in a row.
Besides Leathers, special tournament awards went to Millersville’s Jerry Grantz as most valuable pitcher and Ole Oleson of Sunnyvale, CA, as the leading hitter.
Bob Jenkins of the host Champion EAA Chargers was named to the All-American team. Jenkins had eight hits in 18 tries.
- MVP – Denny Leathers, Millersville Merchants
- Batting Champion – Ole Olson, Cal West Falcons (.500)
- Most Valuable Pitcher – Jerry Gantz, Millersville Merchants
FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
P – Jerry Gantz, Millersville Merchants
P – Ken Bosch, Neals Truck Parts
P – Dave Anderson, Canton Merchants
C – Steve Moore, Millersville Merchants
C – Bill Lutke, Neals Truck Parts
1B – Andy Ondeslia, Coffeen Roadrunners
2B – Al Koop, Neals Truck Parts
3B – Bob Jenkins, Champion EAA
SS – Dan Tiger, Flo-Bend
OF – Denny Leathers, Millersville Merchants
OF – Ole Olson, Cal West Falcons
OF – Jim Burnell, Days Sanitary
OF – Park Kauffman, Millersville Merchants
UT – Larry Peterson, Twin City Tavern
SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
P – Rick Planger, Fayette
P – Ray Toler, Southern Distributing Co.
P – George Munsey, Tucson Cactus Room
C – Gary Taylor, Canton Merchants
C – Dave Hendrix, Cal West Falcons
1B – John Figervon, Cal West Falcons
2B – George Stevens, Holly Farms
3B – Tom Pelon, Neals Truck Parts
SS – Mike Mull, Millersville Merchants
OF – Terry Boe, Club 95
OF – Jack Tiger, Flo-Bend
OF – Denny Blankenburg, Wigman Company
OF – John Long, Days Sanitary
UT – Rexford Giberson, Millersville Merchants
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Millersville Merchants, Millersville, PA (7-0)
2. Neals Truck Parts, Wyoming, MI (9-2)
3. Canton Merchants, Canton, NC (5-2)
4. Fayette, Niles, MI (5-2)
5t. Tucson Cactus Room, Tucson, AZ (5-2)
5t. Champion EAA, Hamilton, OH (4-2)
7t. Southern Distributing Co., Tuscaloosa (4-2)
7t. Coffeen Roadruners, Coffeen, IL (4-2)
9t. Club 95, Hixton, WI (4-2)
9t. Trophy & Sports World, Bradenton, FL (4-2)
9t. Holly Farms, Baltimore, MD (4-2)
9t. Days Sanitary, Waterford, MI (4-2)
13t. Flo-Bend, Sand Springs, OK (4-2)
13t. Cal West Falcons, Sunnyvale, CA (3-2)
13t. Reed Construction, Andover, CT (3-2)
13t. Wigman Company, Sioux City, IA (3-2)
17t. Hanson Silo, Lake Lillian, MN (3-2)
17t. Wichita Falls Sportswear, Wichita Falls, TX (3-2)
17t. Twin City Tavern, Longview, WA (3-2)
17t. Razorback Concrete, West Memphis, AR (2-2)
17t. Renners Express, Inc., Indianapolis, IN (2-2)
17t. M-K Fuel Co. Oilers, Baton Rouge, LA (2-2)
17t. Rocco’s, Plainfield, NJ (2-2)
17t. Warsaw Grill, Lackawanna, NY (2-2)
25t. Duncanville Merchants, Dallas, TX (2-2)
25t. Steve’s Compadres, San Antonio, TX (2-2)
25t. Charleston Merchants, Charleston, WV (2-2)
25t. S&H Market, Hanford, CA (1-2)
25t. Haywood, Haywood, CA (1-2)
25t. Livermore Merchants, Livermore, CA (1-2)
25t. Fort Carson Post, Colorado Springs, CO (1-2)
25t. Louie’s Tavern, Mishawaka, IN (1-2)
33t. Winchester Merchants, Winchester, KY (1-2)
33t. Westside Chapel, Omaha, NE (1-2)
33t. Mammoth Mountain, Mammoth Lakes, CA (1-2)
33t. Mr. M’s, Oswego, NY (1-2)
33t. Tri-State Auction, Cincinnati, OH (1-2)
33t. Broken Bow, Broken Bow, NE (1-2)
33t. ABC Roofing, Portland, OR (1-2)
33t. Memphis Food Brokers, Memphis, TN (1-2)
33t. Nelson Construction, Austin, TX (1-2)
33t. OPCO-Kuehn, Houston, TX (1-2)
33t. Professional Chevron, Stockton, CA (0-2)
33t. Rising Sun Inn, Rising Sun, MD (0-2)
33t. St. Petersburg Merchants, St. Petersburg, FL (0-2)
33t. Chicago, Chicago, IL (0-2)
33t. Reich’s Club, Kansas City, KS (0-2)
33t. Robertson Plumbing Co., Greenville, MS (0-2)
49t. Driftwood Lounge, Newark, NJ (0-2)
49t. Chamberlin’s Upholstery, Toledo, OH (0-2)
49t. Wooster Merchants, Wooster, OH (0-2)
49t. Mr. Mel’s, Nashville, TN (0-2)
49t. Kazco Manufacturing, Pleasant Grove, UT (0-2)
49t. The Competition, Salt Lake City, UT (0-2)
49t. Hampton Merchants, Hampton, VA (0-2)
49t. Richmond Capitals, Richmond, VA (0-2)
49t. West Covina, West Covina, CA (0-2)


