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Street Kids Win Mishawaka League Title!

Kids sweep Hanley and Sons to go 14-0 for second straight fall season

Mishawaka –

After losing last Wednesday in the South Bend Fall Championship game to Joe’s Tavern, the Zolman Tire/Street Kids/Tanel softball team vowed to get revenge as they knew they were not beat, but rather they beat themselves. They had their chance Monday night at Rose Park in the finale of the 2006 season, a double header against Hanley and Sons, who feature many players from the Joe’s Tavern team.

Hanley came in at 12-0 in the Mishawaka Fall League, same record as the Street Kids, so the showdown could not have been better written if a Hollywood director was the man behind the schedule. The Kids were coming off a tough loss last Wednesday, giving them a disappointing second place finish in the South Bend Fall League and they were out to prove they were the better team Monday night.

The Kids put the hurt on early and often, easily winning the first game, 20-5. The nightcap was a little slower, as both teams left runners on base in the first three innings before the Kids blew up in the fourth inning and eventually won the contest in the fifth inning, 14-4. The defense looked great and the offense was amazing, as the Street Kids went undefeated for the second straight fall season (14-0). Dating back to 2004, they have now won 33 straight fall league games in Mishawaka. The win was bittersweet for Shane Varga.

“I had a horrible night last week in South Bend,” said Varga. “I didn’t want to end the season on that note, especially knowing that I am better than that, and we are better than that.”

Varga hit three home runs and went 5-for-6, driving in five runs as well. Joe Horvath, who had a fantastic season with the Street Kids in limited action, also went 5-for-6 with his 38^th home run and drove in four runs. Horvath drove in 130 runs in just 37 games this season.

Lanny Fisher, who finished the season with an amazing .871 batting average, went 6-for-8 with his 19^th home run. Tommy Keifer hit two homers, giving him 15 this season, and went 5-for-6. Dan Garey, Hank Minix, TJ Jorgensen, Joe Richard and Dave Perry all added home runs on the night as well. See the Monday night box score for a complete look at every players game stats.

Along with Minix finishing the season with a record high 68 home runs and 229 rbi’s, he edged out Jason Fowler for the batting title and the Triple Crown award. After the first game Monday night, both players were exactly tied in average at 0.666667, but Minix ended up with the title as he finished at .66563, where Fowler finished at .665455. Minix was happy with the award, although having a good season for the team meant more.

“I know both Jason and I were battling injuries late in the year,” said the home run champion. “I had a hard time getting any strength behind my swing, but it turned out it was just enough. I am just glad we had a great season and I’m looking forward to another great year in 2007.”

The Street Kids finished the season with an amazing 89 wins against only 24 loses. This fall, including the fall city championship tournament, the Kids went 30-2. They set many team records including most runs scored in a game (37), most runs scored in an inning (26), most runs scored in a double header (59), most tournament wins (3), longest winning streak (20 games), and most runs scored (1775), home runs (384) and hits (2212) in a season. They ended up with an overall batting average of .600, very respectable given the middle of the season (.523).

“This was a fun year, but I’m glad its over,” said manager Jorgensen. “We start our planning, scheduling, workouts, etc in February, March and with spring tournaments and getting ready for the season all the way to the end of fall, you are looking at eight long months. I’m tired!”

The team will hold its annual awards banquet within the next month where lots of post-season hardware will be handed out. The Gold Glove Award will be announced by this weekend and the voting for the Most Valuable Player award will start later this week as well.

See you next year!