WINFIELD TWP - The family that plays together pitches together.

At least, that's the Gizienski family theory.

Five members of the Gizienski family - Henry, his brother John (known as Butch), nephews Steve, John (known as Ivan) and Duane (known as Noogie) - pitch horseshoes for Alexander's of the Butler County Horseshoe League.

Two other family members - Henry's son, Sean, and nephew Larry - used to be on the squad. Larry moved to South Carolina a few years ago and Sean is taking a year's hiatus.

"He has three young daughters," Henry Gizienski said. "That takes up a lot of his time right there."

But when it comes to pitching horseshoes, the Gizienski family finds the time.

Buddy Truckley, co-captain of Alexander's team with Ivan Gizienski, is a brother-in-law of the family.

"I played horseshoes from time to time before, but I've played a lot more since joining this family," Truckley said. "At every family function, it seems like that's all we do."

"The women get upset because the men run off and pitch horseshoes," Gizienski said.

No other team in the Butler County Horseshoe League has as many as five family members on its squad. It takes 12 players to compete in a league match.

Alexander's has become somewhat of a league power. This is the team's seventh year in the league - it began as Peter B's - and the squad has captured four league titles already.

Peter B's lost the league championship match to Zelienople during its first season. County Line knocked Peter B's out of the playoffs in the first round two years ago.

"That was the year we had our most wins ever," Gizienski said. "Everything just went wrong for us that night."What's the secret behind the team's consistent success?"Dedication," Gizienski said. "Our guys just love to play."Five members of the Gizienski family have horseshoe pits at their homes. Ivan Gizienski was the first to join the Butler County League 10 years ago when he joined Randy and Bob's in Hooker."The next year, he got Noogie in," Truckley said. "Then three of us were playing the following year. That's when we decided to form our own team."But there was work to be done. Peter B's agreed to host this new team but had no horseshoe pit. League pits must be regulation size - 40 feet from post to post - with clay in the pits and the entire court lighted.It cost $3,800 to create such a facility at Peter B's - and the squad footed the bill."We sold 50-50 tickets and raised the money to build the pits," Gizienski said. "Then we built the pits ourselves."When the team switched to Alexander's two years ago, it had to construct pits again. This time, the cost was $2,500.No problem for a group as dedicated to the game as this one."We're one of only three teams in the league that practice every week and we get at least 12 people to show up for practice," Truckley said. "Other teams try to schedule practices and get two or three guys showing up."Alexander's had the best regular season league record again this year, posting a 250-74 mark. It practices from 6 to 10 p.m. each Monday.The team takes just two months off - November and December - before pitching horseshoes again. The squad used to play in team member Tom Kloes' garage during the winter."The garage floor was cement, but he had a pit cut out of it," Truckley said.Hooker has an indoor horseshoes facility and Alexander's practices there now in the winter."I've been pitching horseshoes since I was a kid," Gizienski said. "We didn't have an actual pit back then. My dad drove pegs into the yard and we played."I practice a little bit every day. I'll take the dog out back, walk by our horseshoe pit, stop and toss for about 15 minutes. I probably spend about 12 hours a week practicing."Gizienski said his family used to play all-night tournaments at the house on weekends during the 1970s."We had lights and we'd be playing until the sun came up," he said. "I guess that's why we're all solid players - the more you play, the better you're going to play."While the Gizienskis are a horseshoe-pitching family, Alexander's team might as well be the same thing."We act like one big family," Gizienski said of the team. "We always get on each other, help each other get better. I think that's why we do so well."