VALLEY SPORTS HISTORY
2014
2014
• Sunday – no paper.
2004
• The Charleroi Magicians stayed alive in the American Legion Playoffs by defeating Colonial, 9-5, in Fayette County league action. It was a major turn-around after the Colonials shellacked Charleroi, 11-0, in the opening game. Charleroi coach Tom Hartman had this to say about the two very different games, “We couldn’t do anything right on Sunday. Today, we did almost everything right.” Charleroi pitcher Ricky Bartman held Colonial to just one hit after the second inning while the Magicians clogged the bases with 24 runners.
• It appeared that Rostraver had the decks stacked against them in their game against New Salem Art in Fayette County Baseball action. Rostraver was playing without their hottest hitter, Ryan Russell, who was hit by a pitch and whose status is day-to-day. Rostraver was playing its third game in as many days, so their players were a bit tired. Rostraver took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but lost momentum due to a 45-minute rain delay. Despite all of these disadvantages, Rostraver pulled out their sixth straight win with a final score of 7-2. Rostraver manager Dan Palm said, “We just did what we always do. We played small ball to score runs coupled with good pitching and solid defense.”
1994
• Dan “Scooter” Codeluppi shows no signs of slowing down. In his long career Codeluppi, who won’t reveal his age, has played for 62 different softball teams. He plays on one over-50 but many of the players on some of his other teams weren’t even born when Codeluppi first stepped to the plate. Pausing before taking batting practice before his Flasks team faced off against PNA, Codeluppi ruminated on his 31 years playing softball, “Right now the younger guys don’t have the experience. They have the talent but they just don’t know how to play the game like the older guys. There aren’t many older guys around anymore.”
