Here’s our All-Burlington 20th Century Rec Softball Team
The previous two days we published the all-20th Century Mercer and Lower Bucks County slow-pitch softball teams. Now it’s time to do the same for Burlington County.
Burlington County had a rich tradition in slow-pitch softball and featured many highly competitive leagues throughout the years. Two that particularly come to mind were in Bordentown and Florence.
In addition to quality league play, Bordentown was a mecca for tournaments. It has also has one of the longest-running women’s leagues in the area.
As for Florence, who can ever forget the year when people in the neighborhood complained about home run balls flying across the street and smashing through their front windows. First the Florence League tried using a “deader” ball. When that didn’t work, it was forced to erect a huge net behind the fence in order to continue play.
Although it is technically not in Burlington County, New Egypt also had a thriving program that attracted many of the top players in the area. It, too, seemed to host a tournament just about every weekend.
When leagues in the northern part of the county began dying out, the power in Burlington shifted to the southern part of the county where Dave Cliver ran a very successful program in Medford. At one point the Medford League was arguably the best in the entire area.
Other leagues in Burlington could be found in locales such as Mt. Holly, Willingboro and Cinnaminson. Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force base had successful leagues that were very popular as well.
As was the case from players in Lower Bucks, many of Burlington’s top players also ended up competing in the Mercer County Park Commission’s program.
Leading the charge in this area was Bordentown’s John Imlay, who put together a host of strong teams in a variety of leagues as well as tournaments. He was named the sponsor of our All-Burlington team, which was previously published in these pages back in 2000.
Burlington County teams also enjoyed a tremendous amount of success in The Trentonian Tournament. It seemed every summer there were at least two champions from Burlington and some years there were even more.
With the third installment of the all-century teams, it really makes you think of how much fun it would have been if the Mercer, Lower Bucks and Burlington squads could have faced each other.
You could argue for hours about which of the three is best, but there’s no question all of them were absolutely loaded. While the Burlington team might not have as much power as the other two, what it does have is outstanding high-average hitters and tremendous defense.
Showing the way in the defensive department are shortstops Willie Allen and Dave “Spoon” Stanton.
Allen routinely made spectacular defensive plays that had to be seen to be believed. Fans at The Trentonian Tournament would often go his games just to see him play. Allen was also recruited to play on some of the top Class A teams around the country.
Stanton, meanwhile, was a mainstay on the Imlay teams and a fine hitter. He got the “Spoon” nickname because he gobbled up everything at shortstop. Like so many of these players, Stanton is in the Trenton Softball Hall of Fame.
Three of the Burlington all-century players were members of the Trenton Caps. These were Roland G. Wilkens, John Pinkett and Kurt Brock.
Wilkens batted lefty and combined power with speed. Pinkett and Brock could both go deep with an impressive regularity.
When it comes to the most hits in the history of the area, Bruce “The Moose” Davis is right up there with the best. A key member of teams such as Villecco Menu and Flex Gym, Davis was also the only player to win a Trentonian Tournament title on every level.
Another very successful team in The Trentonian as well as as other tournaments (it won a Class D National) were the Gamecocks out of Cookstown. They were led by Tim “The Paper Boy” Malloy. An accomplished hitter, he makes the team here as the player/manager.
“I had over 40,000 hits,” Malloy once claimed.
Also from the Gamecocks connection are Allen and John Brown, who later excelled for Villecco Menu and Clark’s/Lotierzo’s. An excellent outfielder, Brown was selected this year to join the Trenton Softball Hall of Fame.
The pitcher is Choo Henry. A very popular player with his peers, Henry’s pitching abilities were so respected he often played for teams where everyone else was 20 or more years younger.
Additional outfielders are John “Uncle Martin” Martini and Ronnie “R.C.” Carroll.
Martini actually played a variety of positions and was known for his hitting ability. Martini’s clubs included the Alfonse Brothers, Strike & Spare Lounge and the Hibernians.
Carroll, meanwhile, was one of the best players to ever come out of Bordentown. He played many years for Imlay, hit the ball hard and had a tremendous arm.