• Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
BIO:
With his imposing size and defensive tenacity, Gary Nelson became an iconic figure on the mound for many of Greater Cincinnati’s most renowned softball teams during his 34-year career. This was especially true during the 1990’s and early 2000’s, when Gary’s teams dominated the local softball landscape. He competed exclusively with Cincinnati-based teams like Fry Fastening, Perkins Roofing, Backstop, Western Hills Window and EAP, but was best known for his contributions to legendary Watanabe Optical. Gary led Watanabe to a plethora of invitational titles, including prestigious events like the Thoroughbred Classic in 1992 and ’99. But he also shined in championship play, capturing an ASA Class A Metro crown in 1989, back-to-back ASA Major Metro titles in 1998 and ’99, and an ASA A National Championship in Steven’s Point, Wi., in 1993. On his way to a first team Greater Cincinnati All-Decade selection as Greater Cincinnati’s best pitcher during the 90’s, Gary also finished 2nd in the USSSA Mixed Couples World in 2000, and won first team All-World honors while leading his club to an ISA 35-Over World Championship in 1997. His effectiveness as a pitcher was complemented by his prowess as a clutch hitter, compiling a lifetime batting average of .600. He also possessed great power, clubbing over 800 home runs. In 2000, Gary was also named to the Greater Cincinnati All-Century team.
• Wednesday, February 19th, 2020
BIO:
During his 20-plus year playing career, Brad Reckart has climbed the team classification ladder from participating initially with Greater Cincinnati men’s C teams, to eventually earning positions in the starting lineups of the finest teams in the nation. Brad first showed his star power locally in 1999, earning ASA C Metro Defensive MVP honors. Just 6 years later in 2006, he was named Major Metro MVP while competing for Watanabe/Kattus/TTP/B & A/TPS. He was also a two-time Greater Cincinnati Player of the Year, and closed out the 2000’s as a member of the Greater Cincinnati All-Decade team in 2010. More recently he was selected Major Metro MVP in 2015 and 2019. While competing with Alpine back in 2004, Brad got his first taste of playing in the USSSA Men’s Major World Series, and he’s been there every year since for a total of 17 consecutive appearances in the game’s premier event. Thirteen of those years his clubs have finished in the top 9, and eight in the top 4. He has captured two World Series crowns – one with Smash It Sports/ASP in 2016 and another with Resmondo/RDD in 2018 when Resmondo also won the Conference USSSA title. His teams have also finished 2nd in the World Series twice. In 2009 Brad was named Offensive MVP in the USSSA Men’s A World with Jean Shoppe/Chaney’s/Easton. He has also been an All-Conference USSSA selection three times, including with Jean Shoppe in 2009, then again in 2014 with Baugh Doerflinger/R & M/Easton, and then again in 2018 with Resmondo/RDD/H. Auto/All In/Sprizzi/Easton. Additional honors include being named MVP in the NSA Super A National World Series in 2012, and in the ASA National World Series in 2014. He has also been named to over 50 All-Tournament teams at various levels, including more than 2 dozen in USSSA Men’s Major Conference NIT, and he was selected to the All-Time, All-State team in 2017. Primarily an infielder, Brad’s versatility has allowed him to play every position on the field. He boasts a .700-plus lifetime batting average and has over 1,000 home runs to his credit. He has also participated with teams from 8 different states over the last two decades.
• Wednesday, February 13th, 2019
BIO:
Jimmy Carter was an aggressive, feared, left-handed hitter with stadium power who hit for both power and average as a 1st baseman, catcher and right fielder. Jimmy held a career .673 batting average in the Conference USSSA, and overall batted .700 and clubbed over 1,000 homeruns during a 14-year career. After cutting his teeth with Tuker’s in 2001 and winning a B State title, he spent the next three years with Freeze Concrete. Freeze amassed no fewer than 17 Invitational, State, Regional and National titles during that period, including a U-Trip Great Lakes B National championship and a pair of A-AA NIT crowns. The 2004 season was a breakout year for Jimmy, as he was named to six all-tournament teams, was All-State and All-Great Lakes Nationals, and ultimately selected the Greater Cincinnati B Player of the Year. He spent the next two seasons with Watanabe Optical, winning his first Metro crown in 2005, and earning All-City Rookie of the Year in 2004 and back-to-back 1stTeam All-City honors. Jimmy took a hiatus from Greater Cincinnati softball in 2007, finishing runner-up in the USSSA A World with KME/Chaney’s of California. Then for the next five years, he returned to the Queen City to lead Blitz/Watanabe to three Metro titles, approximately 20 top ten finishes in USSSA Men’s B, Major and Open NIT’s, and ultimately to a USSSA B World Tournament crown in 2011. During that time, Jimmy was named to two Open Metro All-Tournament teams, was 1stTeam All-City three times and Greater Cincinnati Player of the Year in 2008, was picked to several NIT All-Tournament teams, a USSSA All-World team, and was a two-time Conference USSSA selection. He finished out his career with Pure Romance (2013-2014), Headlines (2015), and TG/Red’s Astros/Headlines/K & G/Worth (2016).
• Wednesday, February 13th, 2019
BIO:
Bill Jackson played with the premier teams in Greater Cincinnati during the 1970’s and 80’s, including Greater Cincinnati Sports, Bushelman Construction, M. W. Tribble and VIP. Jackson helped lead Greater Cincinnati Sports to a 3rdplace finish in the USSSA Major World Series in 1979, but it was with VIP that Jackson would achieve his greatest accomplishments. In 1985, he pitched VIP to the winners’ bracket finals and an eventual 3rdplace finish in the USSSA A World. Three years later in 1988, after spending the 1987 season with M. W. Tribble, Jackson would rejoin defending ASA Metro Champion VIP and help lead the team to the second of five consecutive Major Metro titles – the final one coming under the Greg Back Transport banner (1991). That feat that has never been equaled. Also that year, VIP was crowned USSSA A State and ASA Midwest Regional champions, and captured three invitational titles. Then in 1989, after winning the prestigious Springfield Stroh’s National Invitational, VIP became the only Greater Cincinnati Men’s team to ever capture a USSSA Men’s A World Tournament, winning in Cocoa Beach, Fl., where Jackson was named the Most Valuable Player. The team won six tournaments in all that season, and finished in the top three in ten events. Jackson and VIP set more precedents in 1990, becoming the first Greater Cincinnati team to ever compete in the ASA Super Major Nationals and USSSA Men’s Major World Series in the same season. A lifetime .525 hitter with hundreds of home runs to his credit, Jackson was named Greater Cincinnati Player of the Year in 1989, to the Greater Cincinnati All-Decade Team in 1990, and to the Greater Cincinnati All-Century Team in 2000. He retired in 1993 after an 18-year career.
• Saturday, March 17th, 2018
BIO:
During his 20-year playing career, Johnny Miller was best known for spending the bulk of those two decades batting leadoff and playing left field for EMR. He helped lead his teams to a pair of Major Metro championships (2000 and 2004) and eight top three Major Metro finishes. His teams have also captured a pair of USSSA B National titles and an NSA B and WSL C Midwest World Championship, and many other invitational and Metro tournament crowns. Johnny’s individual accomplishments include being named to the 1st Team All-City Major division ten times and 1st Team All-Decade in 2000. He was an eight-time 1st Team All-Metro selection and a 2000 Major Metro MVP. Overall he has been picked to 19 All-Tournament teams, with five MVP awards. And in addition to many other awards, he has been named USSSA B All-State three times, and to an NSA B, USSSA B and WSL C All-World 1st team. Known as a hitter who could “throw it around the yard” and hit for occasional power, Johnny owns a .660 lifetime batting average and has hit over 450 career home runs.
• Wednesday, February 01st, 2017
BIO
Robert “Rosie” Kroell dedicated 45 years to the game of slow pitch softball as a player, manager, coach and umpire before retiring in 2010. As a player, Kroell competed as a pitcher and infielder with teams like Jones Café, Bud’s Café, Sweeney Auto, Eddie’s Café, Reading Motors, and Northside K of C, then later in a 50-over league at Randy Buck, and more recently in a 75-over league in Blue Ash. As a manager he guided his Rosie’s Boys/Webers Café team – consisting of his six sons – to a 1986 Metro title, winning 12 games in a row out of the losers’ bracket. Later that year the team finished 3rd in the ASA Nationals in Fairborn. He also coached Watanabe Optical from 1994-1997 as the team amassed numerous top three finishes in ASA Major and Super Major and USSSA A-AA Metros, National Invitationals, Nationals and World Tournaments. But Rosie is best known as one of Greater Cincinnati’s most recognized and respected umpires. For 25 years beginning in 1975, he distinguished himself calling Greater Cincinnati’s best leagues and tournaments for the only umpire association he would ever worked for, Ohio Valley Umpires. Rosie’s league resume included weeknight play at Avoca Park, Koenig Park in Reading, and Hartwell Recreation Center, as well as Greater Cincinnati’s elite Men’s Major play – the Tuesday-Thursday night Majors at Haubner Field in White Oak, and the Friday night Majors at Ross Park in St. Bernard. He also worked countless invitationals at Avoca Park and Sports Farm in Harrison, and in two of the nation’s premier National Invitationals – the Hudepohl Classic at Ross Park and Northside K of C, and the Ohio Valley Classic at Ross Park and Sports Farm. He was also honored with being selected to work in the Professional Softball League at Trechter Stadium in 1977 and ‘78. In 2002 he worked in “The Farewell to Riverfront Cinergy Field,” a softball game between Cincinnati Reds legends and retired major league players that played before a sellout crowd.
• Wednesday, February 01st, 2017
BIO
Bob Noeth’s 35-year legacy of longevity, individual and team accomplishments may be unmatched by any Greater Cincinnati softball player over the last three decades. Whether it was playing for Greater Cincinnati’s top men’s C, B and A teams, in the Masters or Senior programs, or with the top men’s teams in the nation, the common thread that all of Bob’s teams enjoyed was success. Pitching for teams like Angilo’s Pizza, UDF/Clifton Medical, Freeze Concrete, EMR, Blitz/Watanabe, D & S Engineering, Good Guys, 3rd Street Financial and Hague Water Conditioning, Bob became an iconic figure on the mound, and was featured on the covers of four Cincinnati Softball News during his career. He led his teams to six state championships, thirty-four National Invitational Tournament wins, three Metro championships, and six National and five World titles in four different organizations. Bob got his first taste of championship softball pitching Angilo’s to a first place finish in the USSSA “C” National Tournament in 1985, where he earned MVP honors. Over the next 22 years with Angilo’s, UDF/Clifton, and Freeze Concrete, Bob’s teams captured multiple state, National and National Invitational Tournaments, plus an NSA 35-Over World with EMR in 2004 and an NSA B World with Freeze in 2005. Then from 2008-‘10, Bob transitioned to the A level with Columbus Pipe and Blitz/Watanabe, competing in several Major NIT’s and the USSSA A World and Men’s Major World Series. He also won his first Major Metro title with Blitz/Watanabe in 2010. Over the next two years, Bob bagged two more World titles with Good Guys, winning an NSA Super C World in 2011, and a WSL C World the following year. He wrapped up his career playing in Conference USSSA for 3rd Street Financial, competing in the most prestigious tournaments in the nation, including the Smoky Mountain Classic. He led 3rd Street to a Level 1 Metro title in 2013, and also collected his 5th World title in the NSA Coed World with Flohmikyin. More recently in the Senior program, Bob won a 2014 Winter Nationals with AMR, and a 2014 ISF/ISSA World Series with Southside. Overall Bob has competed in 13 B Worlds, 4 A Worlds and 2 USSSA Men’s Major World Series. He has won countless All-Tournament awards in State, National, and National Invitational Tournaments, several MVP and ODP awards, was named Greater Cincinnati Men’s B Player of the Year in 2002 and to numerous Men’s B and Major/A All-City teams, was picked to the Greater Cincinnati All-Decade team in 2010, and was an All-Conference USSSA selection in 2008 and 2014. With his induction into the Greater Cincinnati Softball Hall of Fame in January of 2017, Bob joins his grandfather, Frank Harvey, a 1986 inductee. Another rewarding aspect of Bob’s career has been playing with and against his son, Bobby Noeth IV. The two shared All-Tournament team honors on their Good Guys team that won the WSL C World.
• Saturday, February 13th, 2016
BIO:
Tim Cocco launched his playing career almost 25 years ago after playing baseball at Northern Kentucky University, and quickly developed into one of the game’s most potent left-handed power hitters. First he competed locally with the Northern Kentucky Knights, then at the state level after catching the attention of fellow Northern Kentuckian Red Moore, sponsor of Red’s Boys. He quickly vaulted up the ladder to regional competition with Planet Softball, earning Kentucky co-Major Player of the Year honors. Then for the next 20 years, Tim exploded onto the Major level, starring with national powerhouses like R & D, Bell Corp, Budweiser, Chase, Sunbelt, Dan Smith, Long Haul, Jean Shoppe, Red’s Astros and Team Combat. In 2002 Chase captured the USSSA Men’s Major World Series, and Tim was the home run leader and tournament Most Valuable Player. In 2005 he won his second Series home run title with Bell Corp and was named Outstanding Offensive Player. He collected his third home run crown with Jean Shoppe despite a 7th place finish. Tim won an unprecedented three consecutive USSSA national home run derbies from 2009- ’11. In World Series play since 2000, he is ranked 2nd in home runs and rbi’s, and in the top ten in hits and batting average. Tim is a member of the “All-Disney Team,” and in 2012 set a Conference USSSA record for home runs and rbi’s, and was named Offensive Player of the Year. In 2013 in Ft. Myers, FL, he was inducted into the USSSA National Hall of Fame.
• Saturday, February 13th, 2016
BIO:
Jon Jamison is considered to be the preeminent player in the history of Greater Cincinnati class “B” men’s softball. From starting his playing career with the Wilmington Rebels in 1995, Jon would ultimately reach the pinnacle of the game fourteen years later when he competed in the USSSA Men’s Major World Series in 2009. In between – and since then, Jon has powered local and regional men’s “B” powers like DeClaire Insurance, Lucke Homes, James Arnold, Freeze Concrete, Columbus Pipe, Blitz/Watanabe, and Pure Romance to untold invitational, National Invitational, State, National and World Championships. His teams have won four Metro crowns, seven State Championships, a National Championship, and two World Tournaments titles – including the NSA B World in 2007 and USSSA B World Series in 2011. And he has participated in three USSSA Men’s Major World Series. Jon’s individual awards include being selected to over thirty All-Tournament teams, most notably in four Metro, State and World Tournaments, and a USSSA National Tournament. He has also won a multitude of home run leader awards and six tournament MVP awards, including the 2007 USSSA B National and in both the 2007 NSA B and 2011 USSSA B Worlds. Jon was also named to seven Cincinnati Softball News All-City teams, was runner-up Greater Cincinnati Player of the Year in 2003 and 2010, and Player of the Year in 2007 and 2009. In 2010, he was named to the Greater Cincinnati All-Decade 1st team. He has also been a three-time Conference USSSA All-Conference pick. A lifetime .735 hitter, Jon has clubbed almost 2,000 home runs during his career.
• Friday, February 06th, 2015
BIO:
Jason Roesch’s fifteen-year career was relatively short among today’s softball players, but he made the most of it. Equally comfortable at 1st or 3rd base or in the outfield, Roesch shined as a situational hitter who could hit behind the runner or go deep as needed, as evidenced by his .670 batting average and 700 career home runs. If you wanted to win the Major Metro, putting Jason Roesch in your lineup was mandatory. From 2005-2011, Roesch’s teams reach the finals seven times, and won five. Roesch was named to four Major Metro All-Tournament teams, and was Metro MVP with Blitz Watanabe in 2007 and in 2012. Roesch also made his mark at the state and national level, winning a pair of USSSA State and World titles, including a USSSA “B” World title with Blitz Watanabe in 2011. He was a member of the Blitz Watanabe “B” World runner-up team in 2009, when he was selected the tournament’s Offensive MVP. A ten-time Men’s Major All-City selection, Roesch has picked to fifteen All-Tournament teams – including a Conference USSSA event in Cincinnati – and won three MVP awards during his careeer. He also made a USSSA World Series appearance, finishing 4th with Alpine Mortgage in 2004. In 2010, Roesch was named to the All-Decade team and “Player of the Decade.” He was also a two-time runner-up “Player of the Year.”
