World champions
RENFREW — Ralph Jockel enjoys his fun weekends away.
The latest resulted in a world championship.
Jockel, 56, of Renfrew is the bowling and girls golf coach at Mars High School. He also plays outfield for Pittsburgh North, a traveling 55-over senior softball team.
The team plays in at least one tournament a month from June through September. It had already played tourneys in Clearwater (Fla.), Roanoke (Va.) and Syracuse (N.Y.) this summer before venturing to Richmond (Va.) for the International Senior Softball Association World Championships last weekend.
“We try to get a sponsor or two to defray some of the costs, but we all pitch in and pay our own entry fee and travel expenses otherwise,” Jockel said.
“Our wives come with us. These tournaments are fun, long weekends away from home.”
Pittsburgh North is basically an all-star team comprised of players from a 10-team league that plays its regular season at North Park.
Butler County is well represented on the squad. Jockel and outfielder Frank Hawryliak live in Renfrew, outfielder Tom Sellers lives in Butler, pitcher-catcher Jim Biernesser is a Mars resident, pitcher-third baseman Mark Golden and outfielder Eric Lawver hail from Cranberry.
Pittsburgh North wound up winning the ISSA 55-over AA-AAA championship in Richmond. There were more than 100 teams in the tournament overall.
Pittsburgh North went 1-1 in pool play, defeating DHF Contracting out of Norfolk, Va., 26-16, and losing a 12-11 decision to Lynch Construction from Swoyersville, Pa.
But after entering the double-elimination championship round, the team didn't lose again.
“Staying in the king's seat was the key,” Jockel said. “Had we lost a game early, we could have played as many as five games on Saturday and four more on Sunday. Instead, we only played a couple of games each day.
“The way two of our wins went, we were almost destined to win the thing.”
Against the Maryland Cougars early in the tournament, Pittsburgh North found itself in a tie game late — and Maryland had the bases loaded with no outs.
“In softball, that should spell disaster,” Jockel admitted.
But the next batter grounded to third for a home-to-first double play. A fly-out followed and Pittsburgh North escaped damage. The team then rallied for an 18-15 win.
In the semifinals against a team from Plymouth, Mich., Pittsburgh North was batting with the bases loaded and two outs in a tight game. Each team was allotted three home runs per game in the tourney and Pittsburgh North had already used its allotment.
“Our next batter hit a ball that looked like it was headed over the fence,” Jockel said. “If it did, it would have been the third out. Instead, their outfielder tried to catch the ball and deflected it wth his glove, over the fence.
“It was ruled a four-base error and we wound up winning that game by four runs (23-19).”
Pittsburgh North defeated the Plymouth team again, 22-15, to win the championship.
“We're just a bunch of guys who enioy playing softball together,” Jockel said. “Stu Johnson, our shortstop, is from Montour and he's our player-coach. He holds everything together for us.”
Pittsburgh North is headed to Ocean City (Md.) and Virginia Beach for tournaments in September. The team will play in another national tournament in Phoenix (Ariz.) in November.
