He's still swinging the bat at age 66
Ron Wissinger's slow-pitch softball career spans 46 years and includes roughly 15 national championships.
He's coming back for a 47th season — and then some.
Wissinger, 66, of Butler will play for the Pittsburgh-based JG Drywall team in the 60-plus age division at the Tournament of Champions next month in Tampa, Fla. He is the oldest player on the team.
Senior softball, which begins at age 50, offers age divisions by five-year increments. Wissinger could be playing in the 65-plus division.
“We're happy he's staying with us,” said John Golembiewski, pitcher and sponsor of the JG Drywall team. “Ron is one of the best players we have.
“He's showing no signs of slowing down.”
That may be an understatement.
Wissinger has been a first and third baseman for JG Drywall for three years now. He helped lead the team to the LVSSA/SSUSA World Masters Championship in Las Vegas last September.
Named MVP of that tournament, Wissinger hit .928 (26 for 28) with 11 homers, two doubles, 26 RBI and 20 runs scored.
“I don't run the bases much anymore,” Wissinger admitted. “You can have a courtesy runner and that helps preserve me a little longer.”
He has dealt with health issues in recent years. Wissinger underwent rotator cuff surgery in 2014 and back surgery in 2015. He didn't play much softball either year before coming back strong in 2016.
“I appreciate the game and still having the ability to play it a lot more now,” he said. “I have enough mobility that I can hold my own defensively at third or first base.”
And he can still hit.
“As long as he can swing the bat, he's valuable — and Ron's a team player,” Golembiewski said. “When he's at the plate, he gives us the type of at-bat the team needs at the time.”
The World Masters Championship tournament featured 564 teams (ages 40 to 85), including 25 teams in the 60-plus division. JG Drywall lost the “king seat” game 28-23 to NCI Strong out of California. The team rallied back through the loser's bracket to win the double-elimination event, defeating NCI Strong 29-23 and 31-19 in the final round.
Teams were only permitted to score five runs an inning until the final frame, when run-scoring became unlimited.“We won a couple of games in that last inning,” Wissinger said.He is the only player on the JG Drywall team from the Butler area.“We all know each other from playing in area softball tournaments all these years,” Golembiewski said. “I decided to try to put together a team of some of the top players in the Pittsburgh area and Ron was one of the first guys I approached.”There are four players on the team from Maryland as well. JG Drywall won four of the seven tournaments it played in last year.Wissinger joined the team when most of the players on his former team decided to move up to the next age division.“I want to keep playing for a couple of reasons,” Wissinger said. “My grandson, Brody Buzanoski, is a year and a half and I'm hoping to play ball with him someday.“My father-in-law, Gerald Gibson, is 90 and he asked me to play catch with him. Then I pitched him some balls and he started lining them back at me. That sort of thing inspires me to keep going.”Following the Tournament of Champions, Wissinger's team will not play again until May.“Get back out there and try to be the best,” Wissinger said. “That's all the motivation we need.”
