BUTLER TWP - They came together from various backgrounds.

Whether they played in the NFL or the Arena Football League, competed in professional baseball or softball, or are just from the neighborhood, Kelly's men's slow-pitch softball players share common bonds.

They can hit a softball - far. And they win softball games - often.

The team carries about 15 players on the roster, mostly from Butler, and it plays in three leagues and numerous tournaments each season.

The season runs from May to mid-September, and the team plays in nearly 135 games per year and wins nearly 100 of them.

"We've been together for a long time," left fielder Frank Hawryliak said. "The core of this team has been playing together for 10 years or more. But statistics and wins? We don't keep track of that stuff.

"We average 25 to 30 runs per league game. The home runs vary. Some games we may hit 10 or 12, in another game, maybe three or four. It depends on the score and the situation."

Player-coach Mark Milich used to play in the New York Mets farm system and played pro softball for Steele's Sports in Cleveland, Ohio - the No. 1 ranked slow-pitch team in the country - from 1986-88.

Rick Snodgrass is the oldest player on the team at age 49 and formerly played in the NFL with the Steelers and Colts. Mark Franks, the team's youngest player at age 36, played tight end and defensive end with Milwaukee of the Arena Football League for a year.

Franks lives in Fox Chapel and was working at a club in Harmarville "when some friends asked me to join the team.

"I never played softball until 1996, when I began playing for Kelly's. I've been driving 80 miles round-trip to play ball with them every day for eight years now," Franks added.

Third baseman Bill Jerich played in the Pittsburgh Pirates' system. Pitcher Bob Foley had a football scholarship to the University of Kentucky and outfielder Paul Stanley set the basketball scoring record at Waynesburg College.

"Good players want to play on good teams," Milich said. "Over time, these guys all just sort of found each other. This is a conglomeration."

Just about everybody in the lineup can hit the ball over the fence, except shortstop Mark Voelker.

"That's not my game. That's not why I'm here," Voelker said. "I hit line drives and I play defense. That's my role."

All of these roles work as a unit. Kelly's recently finished second in the 58-team Oil City Heritage Tournament, an event that brought together top-flight teams from Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.

Kelly's played nine games in two days during that tournament, using the same 11 players.

Besides playing in the Franklin Field League, the squad competes in the Fox Chapel and Mount Washington men's slow-pitch leagues as well.

"We'll play a 6 p.m. game at Franklin Field, then jump in our cars and hustle down to Mount Washington to play a 9 p.m. game down there," Hawryliak said. "But a lot of times, the schedule works out."

Besides the Oil City tournament, Kelly's has won every tournament it's played in this season. That includes two in Eastern Ohio and one in Pittsburgh.

Upcoming tournaments include one in State College and a Labor Day event in Detroit.

"We don't travel as much as we used to," Milich said. "We're getting a bit on in years."

But they can still hit. During a recent charity game against the Restaurant League All-Stars, Kelly's was leading 44-12 in the fifth inning.

The game was stopped after 16 consecutive runners reached base and six consecutive batters - Hawryliak, Jerich, Stanley, Foley, Franks and Kevin Lutz - hit the ball over the fence.

Kelly's collected 51 hits - 25 of which sailed over the fence. Hawryliak had two homers, two singles, four runs scored and six RBI by the third inning.

"We like to swing for the fences," he admitted. "But we know how to win close games, too."