Part four of four

By the time I was 11, several members of my VFW team had played together for three years under manager Morris Beadles Sr., and in 1955 we were ready to take the league by storm. We won both halves of the season and finished 14-4 overall, while the Rotary was 9-8, the Lions 6-11 and the Legion 6-12.

Leading the way for the VFW was Johnny Bomar, one of the best kids and best baseball players I ever came across. He was a good pitcher and shortstop, and man, could he hit. An article in the McKenzie Banner featuring final statistics for 1955 stated that Bomar led the league in batting with a .480 average, in runs scored with 30, and in doubles with 12. I finished second in runs behind Bomar, with 25.

Our other front-line pitcher was Dwayne Montgomery, another good all around player. We had a great catcher named Ronnie Adams, and our second baseman was Mike Ferringo, an outstanding all-around athlete who had great quickness and could hit. He led the league in runs batted in with 21. Since Ferrigno lived in my part of town, we were buddies and would go to practices and games together. Mike’s mom later was married to Paul Carroll, a well-known insurance agent in McKenzie, and Mike eventually changed his last name to Carroll.

The manager’s son, Morris Beadles Jr., was solid at third base. I played first base most of the time, but also saw action at other positions. Jerry Poston was a fleet centerfielder in ‘55 who covered a lot of ground and always threw the ball “on the line” and accurately.

Bobby Winstead was a versatile player who swung from the left side of the plate and did a good job at first base or in the outfield. Winstead and Adams tied for second place in stolen bases behind Tommy Herron of the Lions. Gary DeMoss and Joe Gooch Jr. played some outfield for us, along with a young Buddy Wiggleton, who later would become one of the stars of the league.

Forced to name the league’s Most Valuable Player, it would be a tough choice between Johnny Bomar and Jimmy Melton of the Rotary. Melton was the premier pitcher in the league with a 7-1 record. He also pitched a no-hitter and led the league in strikeouts with 102, almost double that of the second-place hurler, Keith Coleman of the Lions. In addition, Melton was second in batting with a .453 average.

My season got off to a shaky start when I committed three errors at first base in the opening game, but fortunately we managed to win. I missed the next two games, either because of church camp or a family trip, and when I returned Mr. Beadles gave me the ball and told me to warm up because I was going to pitch. I was surprised, because he had never mentioned anything about me pitching. Since I was less than stellar on defense, maybe he figured the team was better off with me on the mound than in the field.

I forget whom we played, but we won the game. What’s more, I started three more contests and finished the season with a sparkling 4-0 record. It was decided that the champion VFW team would play the all-stars from the rest of the league. I was just as surprised as everyone else when Beadles chose me to pitch against the all-stars, because I still considered myself to be just a spot starter.

In the first of what I consider to be the three “big games” that I won as a Little League pitcher, we beat the all-stars 9-4 as I allowed just four hits, according to the Banner. For the VFW, Bomar alone had that many hits - two doubles and two singles. What a great year it was for the VFW and for me personally! We won the pennant, beat the all-stars, I was 5-0 on the mound and I batted .432. All was right with the world.

When the McKenzie all-stars traveled to Milan to play that town’s best, however, things didn’t go so well, particularly for me. Jimmy Melton was on the mound for us, and I was playing third base. We trailed 1-0 in the first inning with two outs when I fielded a ground ball that should have been the third out. Instead, my throw was wide and pulled first baseman Larry Crawford of the Rotary off the base, so the runner was safe. A couple of batters later, a Milan player cracked a bases loaded home run, so all of a sudden we were behind 5-0 instead of 1-0 like we should have been. I was devastated, and the team never recovered as we lost 9-2.

Seven home runs were hit in 1955, including two each by Bo Edwards of the Legion and Donald Reeder of the Lions. Six players, including myself, tied for the lead in triples. One of them was Wesley Beal of the Rotary, who couldn’t have been more than nine years old - and possibly even eight - but was already a good player.

In 1956, my last year of Little League, the VFW once again had a good team despite losing Bomar and other good players. Dwayne Montgomery and myself were the starting pitchers, and we still had Ronnie Adams behind the plate and Mike Ferrigno at shortstop. Beadles picked up a really fine ballplayer, Ira Stoker, to play third base.

Buddy Wiggleton had matured into a good player. It seems to me that he played a lot of first base and some outfield that year, and also pitched some. Joe Gooch Jr. did a good job for us in centerfield.

The VFW breezed through the first half of the season, but the Legion came on strong to win the second half. We had to beat the Legion in a playoff game to win the championship.

Montgomery and I both hit home runs in our opening-game victory over the Lions, then I hit a homer against the Legion as we won the second game. After that, I began swinging for the fences, but never did hit another round tripper, while Montgomery did connect for another homer later in the season. Beadles tried to get me not to swing so hard, but I didn’t listen very well, so I struggled for several games, eventually recovering enough to bat .417.

We lost three or four games in the second half of the season, including a rare loss to the Lions. They had a big kid named Billy Pierce whom we had not previously considered to be much of a threat. Montgomery was pitching, and Pierce crunched a long home run that put the Lions in front. Beadles brought me in to relieve, and Montgomery, who was totally disgusted with himself, stalked off the mound.

Beadles told me to keep the ball low to Pierce, just as he had told Montgomery. But the next time Pierce came to bat, I’ll be darned if he didn’t belt a high fly ball that hit the top of the fence and bounced on over for a homer. This was embarrassing for Montgomery and myself, who perceived ourselves as being league’s elite pitchers. Obviously, Pierce hadn’t read our press clippings. I told Montgomery, “At least mine didn’t go as far as yours.” Terry Brown was an excellent young pitcher for the Lions, and he may have been on the mound that night.

In contrast to James Milraney, the outstanding manager of the Legion, Beadles had a laid-back demeanor, and he normally could be found relaxing in the corner of the dugout, smoking a cigarette. A manager smoking in the dugout wouldn’t be allowed today, but in those days we didn’t think anything about it. His demeanor changed significantly on the night of the championship playoff game against the Legion, however. He had a different look in his eye, and I’d never seen him so excited.

He chose me to pitch, probably because it was my turn, and I came into the game with a 7-2 record, about the same as Montgomery’s. The Legion had a lot of good players, including Johnny Padgett, Paul Holland, Curtis Johnson, Bill Sullivan, Ed Wallace and a Trezevant boy, Larry Watkins, to name a few. My 11-year-old next-door neighbor, Jim Williams, had developed into a fine pitcher, and he was the starting hurler for the Legion in the playoff game.

About the only thing I can remember about the game is that the VFW was fortunate enough to win my second “big game.” It seems like the score was 6-3 or something like that. Thus, the VFW won its second straight pennant, and Beadles won his third pennant in six years as a manager.

All that remained was the four-team all-star tournament in Huntingdon, which also featured Paris and Camden. Montgomery pitched against Huntingdon, which had a great team and won convincingly by a score of something like 9-4.

We went back the second night to play for third place against Camden, and Beadles, who managed the all-stars, put the ball in my hands one last time. I went the distance in a 7-3 victory, my third “big game.” A couple of Camden men standing behind the back stop were saying that I was throwing a slider, and pretty soon the message spread to the Camden bench. I didn’t know what the heck a slider was, much less how to throw one, but the perception probably gave me a psychological advantage.

This victory climaxed five wonderful years in the McKenzie Little League (does this qualify me for the Little League pension plan)? What’s more, I spent the entire time playing for the same manager, which was highly unusual.

My association with the Little League wasn’t over, however. The following year I was the official scorer, and the next two years I was a substitute manager of the Lions for two weeks while the regular skipper, Bobby Jack Cantrell, attended National Guard camp.

Other players for the Rotary during one or both of my last two years included pitcher and infielder Don Jackson, pitcher Bobby Roberts, Cliff Bateman Jr., Phil Brannon, Jimmy Putman, Bobby Jackson and James Nutting. Bill Bradley, Scotty McCullar and Don Simmons of the Legion and Kesley Colbert, Bobby Brewer and John Ingram of the Lions were youngsters who would later become outstanding players.

(It should be noted that the photos and roster list in the first two articles were provided by Tom Campbell. Paul David Campbell is the editor and general manager of the Buffalo Reflex in Buffalo, Missouri, and can be contacted at paulc@buffaloreflex.com).

Part 1 Little League Baseball Fever Claims McKenzie in 1950
Part 2 VFW Goes Undefeated in Second Season
Part 3 Author finally gets to play Little League in 1952; brothers are manager, scorekeeper
Part 4