The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 100

I I I I I EXTRA 12 THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRERTuesdav. July 5. 1988 mm A decade of winning, 10 years of applause for knothole ball team Boys who grew up on the field play final season BY KRIS KINKADE The Cincinnati Enquirer iince ttie iy8 iT-ball season, 'Ulmer's Sohio, years has averaged 9.8 runs a game, winning the district title six times. "I think playing together all the years helped," Serger said. "They know each other, they think of themselves as a team and they perform that way.

"We play well even when the other teams had a little more talent, because we've always played like a team." "They think of the team before they i think of themselves," he said of his players. "That's something we a Knothole baseball team in Anderson Township, has fielded a squad made up of the same coaches and players. But this is likely to be the last year together for the 15-year-olds who have won more than 75 games in 10 years and lost only four in regular season play against teams of the same age. "Most will leave at The Cincinnati EnquirerJohn Curley Among those playing his last knothole season is pitcher Chuck Snider. you find more often in older, more experienced teams." Serger said he doesn't think his team has the best local players, though they are all good.

So far this season, the team is 7-2 and leading its division, a feat enhanced only by the fact that Division 5 is one of the tougher divisions in the city. The players attend Anderson, McNicho-las, Turpin and St. Xavier, and participate in a variety of sports, which has forced some of the original players to leave the team. But, of the 12 players on this year's team, six have played all 10 years. "The kids that left did so only to pursue an equally demanding sport," Serger said, "not because what we did was too the end of the season and go into select leagues or play reserve ball for their high school teams," said Jim Serger, head coach.

"I'll miss it," the coach said. The team is playing in the oldest Knothole division, Class and after this season probably will disband to pursue separate interests. But not before they make one more try at post-season tournament play and a possible third appearance in Cincinnati's final-four tournament. Serger formed the team in 1978 with assistant coaches Gary McKey and Pat Williams. Against older teams in the same division, which they play on alternate years, Ulmers has maintained a .700 record and won the Eastern regional tournament twice.

Overall, the team's record is 106-31, including post-season play. In the first three seasons, it lost only one game, and over the The Cincinnati EnquirerJohn Curley Jim Serger has been applauding Ulmer's Sohio knothole team since he became coach in 1978. And for good reason the team wins. Over the decade, the club has posted a 106-31 record. It's Blue Chip Classic time 50 women's softball teams from 8 states gather in Milford for annual tournament land, that same weekend.

New top-notch Class A out-of-town entries this year are Hawks of Detroit and Heale Manufacturing of Milwaukee, Burwell said. The local field includes International House of Carpets, which finished second to Phoenix of Atlanta recently in the Coors Lite Queen City Classic at Cincinnati Softball Center in Harrison. AES, the former Northside of team, and Arrow Battery are also local Games in Classes and are scheduled into Saturday night. They continue until mid-afternoon Sunday. Daily admission is $2 and weekend passes are $3.

Overflow games will be played at Queen City Sports Complex in Sharonville. Other defending champions are Poor Michaels of Hamilton, Class Landmark of Washington, Class and Diamond Ladies of Bethel, Class D. Burwell, USSSA state women's director, said 10 to 12 teams will compete for the Class A title with the first- and second-place teams going to the national tournament on Labor Day weekend in Milwaukee. The first- and second-place Class teams qualify for any one of six division tourneys, the Class champ and runnerup goes to the Louisville, Ky. division tourney Labor Day weekend, and the Class titlist and second-place finisher will move on to the state tourney at Riverstar Park, near Coney Is USSSA women's state, regional and national classics.

Teams from eight states are expected to play here. Champions won't repeat Empress, the 1986 Blue Chip champ and USSSA world champ the past two years, finished second in its Class A division last year to Steeles of Detroit Steeles is not returning this year. Play at Expressway begins at 9 a.m. both Saturday and Sunday. THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Empress Chili of Cincinnati and Hub Chrysler of Milwaukee may be the early favorites to win the top women's trophy in this weekend's sixth annual Bud Lite Blue Chip Classic at Expressway Park, Milford.

Myra Burwell, tournament director, made that prediction in previewing the collection of four division tournaments, which involves more than 50 teams and is aimed at qualifying teams for upcoming 4...