SJMSBL History of Champions 2000 - 2009
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Bill Curzie, (Pictured below), the founder of the SJMSBL, passed away Wednesday, September 21, 2022. Bill was 87 years old. In 2012 the SJMSBL recognized Bill Corzie @ River Sharks Park CLICK HERE for more INFO. Since 2012 a 21 Division has been named “The Bill Curzie Division.”
In 1991 Bill saw an article advertising the MSBL. In 1991 @ 56 years old, Bill decided to call the MSBL, and Steve Sigler answered. The two met in Cherry Hill, and the SJMSBL started to form. A story in the Burlington County Times (Jack Nar was the editor) featuring Men’s Senior Baseball was Curzie’s first recruiting tool. The article asked interested players and teams to show @ Delran High School. Among those showing @ the Delran HS were Gary Brown (1996- 2011 president of the SJMSBL) and Allan Scott (pictured below Curzie). The inaugural 1992 Season got off to a late start…… On June 15th, 1992, In front of 6 teams, the Mayor of Delran said a few words @ the AA Field in Riverside. After this short speech, the teams scattered, and the SJMSBL began.
Bill Curzie in June 15,1992 Kicking off the 1st SJMSBL season
Gary Brown (on the right) & Allan Scott
2001 DelVal Fall Classic 28+ Champions
DelVal 2001 is the first SJMSBL sponsored Team to Win a National Championship
Manager: Neil Hourahan MVP: Chuck Frobosilo. Picture taken @ Jack Russel Stadium
note: the flag held by Ed Moravec. 2 months earlier was 911.
2001 Fall Classic Ring awarded to each player on DelVal
2010 (45+) DelVal Bomber ring on LEFT 2001 (28+) DelVal ring on RIGHT
All Players winning MSBL National Tournaments receive Championship Rings
2004 35+ American Champions. Cherry Hill Tigers. Managed by Dave Kasen (Top row last guy on right) MVP: Steve Alemi (Top Row Center)
The SJMSBL is compiling a history of former Championship Teams. Please email Champion Team Name, Date, Team Pic, Division and any other info you’d like to record. Information submitted will be uploaded onto side tab, SJMSBL History of Champions.
Send info to eecnph@comcast.net
idea:Miles R. 2/28/15
For a link to the Regular Season 2009 Standings Click here:
//s3.amazonaws.com/my.llfiles.com/00169882/SJMSBL2009STGDS.pdf
2009 South Jersey MSBL Champions
2008 Farewell to Friends
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Two Friends of South Jersey MSBL Pass Away Unexpectedly By Terry Annese (with thanks to Joe Aupperle)
In this time to be thankful for the many friendships we make on and off the field, South Jersey MSBL extends our deepest sympathies to two members of our extended family who have passed away unexpectedly this offseason. Laura (Bellew) Hamby, 41, of Sicklerville, the owner and manager of The Sandlot Baseball and Softball Academy in Sicklerville, passed away suddenly on October 23, 2008. The Sandlot has served in recent years as the practice home to several South Jersey MSBL ballclubs, as well as being the baseball instructional home of our own Rumors B&G Phillies' infielder Joe Cruz. More often than not, whenever you walked in the door at The Sandlot, you were greeted by Laura's ever cheerful smile and her genuine Southern-style charming repore.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Henry "Hank" Schiavone, 69, longtime member of the South Jersey Umpires Association (SJUA) and close friend to many coaches and players of the South Jersey MSBL, waged his gallant battle against a malignant brain tumor this past year with a dedication that mirrored his prior military life. Hank's service in the U.S. Army included three tours in Vietnam as an Airborne Ranger and the receipt of numerous medals for his heroic actions, including three purple hearts and six bronze stars.
Following mid-summer brain surgery, Hank was welcomed home by many of his baseball colleagues who stopped by to lift his spirits, recalling old stories about past adventures on the diamond and off. Unfortunately, Hank has lost his cancer battle and left us on October 28, 2008, passing away at the Samaritan Hospice Inpatient Unit in Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly, N.J.
A former correction officer with the N.J. State Dept. of Corrections, Hank is survived by his wife, Hannelore; their four adult children, one grandson and various extended family. SJMSBL players likely have crossed paths with one of Hank's sons at least once or twice in between the white lines - Mt. Laurel native Tony Schiavone, who followed in his dad's footsteps and currently serves as a veteran SJUA umpire. A story involving Hank that will always stick in my memory dates back at least 6-7 years now, back to one of the first seasons we ever had the SJMSBL Fall League. We all had drudged all the way out past Rt. 206 to play out in Tabernacle and it just was an awful day to play ball. Cold and wet, we got the field ready and only one umpire, Hank, shows up to do the game by himself. In all honesty, my first thought was, "We'll have to make the best of it, but at least I can save a few bucks only having to pay the one man fee." Well, as both teams are sloshing through what was otherwise a forgettable fall game, I keep noticing that in between innings Hank was going over to the back of the cage towards the 3B side to talk to who I quickly realized was the only fan we had at the game for either side. I eventually noticed that our solo fan was a older woman sitting content in her lawn chair, otherwise enjoying what was pretty much a sloppy ballgame. After about the third or fourth inning, I happen to make my way over in the same direction as I crossed over from the 1B dugout to go to coach third. As I walk by, I decide to go extend a quick thanks to our ONE fan for coming and Hank turns and says, "Terry, I'd like you to meet my wife." She then pleasantly says 'Hello' and I am just amusingly astonished that we couldn't get anyone to come watch us play out here in the middle of nowhere, but the umpire's wife is here! I thank her again for her dedication and Hank, in a voice that can only come from one who loves their partner dearly, says to her, "Time for us to go back to work." The game ends unremarkably and we are walking back to the parking lot and there is Hank, umpire and dutiful husband, still in uniform and carrying his mask in one hand and his wife's lawn chair in the other. He walks his wife to the car and juggles everything to open the door for her as I am looking from off in the distance and just smile from ear to ear. I still had to pay Hank so I walked over to his car and suddenly didn't care one iota about the one-man fee. I gave him both full fees, telling him instead, "Please take that bride of yours out for some hot chocolate or coffee or something!" A few of us here at South Jersey MSBL, including myself and 35+ Moorestown Marlins' pitcher Gabe Mastrangelo had the opportunity a couple of years back to train as state-certified umpires under Hank's instruction. I for one am proud to have known such an honest, caring man who clearly loved his family, baseball and all of us who play the game with passion - with all his heart and soul.
Hank was a good guy who will be missed by many on this Earth.
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Winter Ball 2008 Coordinated by Terri Anniese
2008 38+ National Champions
SJMSBL & WORLD CHAMPS TEAM UP ONCE AGAIN IN 2009!
South Jersey MSBL is proud to team up once again with the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies, as we continue our long phundraising relationship throughout the upcoming baseball season.The first South Jersey MSBL Team Phundraiser Night of the year is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, 2009, as the Phightin' Phils take on the Florida Marlins in a 7:05p game at Citizens Bank Park.Tickets are currently available for $24 (Pavillion) and $30 (Outfield).The way the phundraiser works is that for every ticket our group sells at cost the Phillies returns back an $8 REBATE PER TICKET - which is then credited to your team!!South Jersey MSBL and the Phillies have successfully worked together since 2003 to help provide our member clubs with a viable option to help defray a portion of their operating costs.Interested in getting tickets? You can access our online ticket order form by clicking here or on the above photo.If you have any questions or need more information on how to get started, please contact 25+ League President Terry Annese at 856-297-3639 or by email at sjmsbl@gmail.com.Thank you and we hope to see you at the game!!
2009 Winterball A Success
70+ Holiday Toys and Care Packages Donated
12/21/08 - Various members of the South Jersey MSBL took to the frozen tundra of Cherry Hill Rotary Field this past Saturday to kick off the Inaugural South Jersey MSBL Winterball festivities. With temps that started out in the mid-to-upper 20s, league members and their families donated a total of 62 toys to benefit Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the South Jersey Toys for Tots program, as well as $250 in cash donations for the purchase of 10 USO Military Care Packages that are on their way to our servicemen abroad. (Click here for the Winterball 2008 Photo Album.)
Overall, several South Jersey MSBL players stopped by for a short while to drop off their donations, a couple of players made arrangements afterwards to get their donations in and about a dozen hearty souls stuck it out for the full two hours, as we played a little pick up ball that included some infield/outfield and a BP session. Most importantly, everyone who took part was having a great time for some wonderful charitable causes, despite running around in the cold for two hours while stinging our hands on every swing of the bat.
The best player on the diamond hands down was young Darren Aupperle, son of 25+ Rumors B&G Phillies' skipper Joe Aupperle, who managed to field everything hit at him flawlessly from his perch at second base. The Iron-Mike Award goes to Marlton Braves' lefthander Lloyd Harrison, who threw to batters for what seemed like about an hour before grabbing some ABs for himself.
The Best Toy Donated Award is a tie, going to whoever donated the old school "Battleship" game and the Mattel handheld 'Football II' electronic game. Special consideration goes to a certain manager (who will remain nameless) who stopped by despite fighting a nasty cold to donate a pair of games, including one of the greatest board games of alltime, 'Shoots and Ladders'. In fact, we actually got two of them donated during the day (one each to Toys for Tots and CHOP), as well as one of the other alltime favs among the preschool crowd, 'Candyland'.
Finally, we want to thank 25+ Phillies' infielder Chris Jones for coming by to drop off a donation and hang with the guys for a while, despite battling through some recent serious health issues of his own this off season. We wish Chris all the best towards a speedy recovery.
UPDATE: South Jersey MSBL is happy to report that all Winterball 2008 donated toys have been delivered over the past couple of days. The final batch went out on Tuesday - just in time for Santa to include them in his rounds for Wednesday night. We have also completed the purchase of 10 USO Military Care Packages that are now on their way to our servicemen abroad.
South Jersey MSBL would also like to extend big thank yous to: the ladies of the Special Events Department (above photo) at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (and the Philly patrolman who thankfully decided NOT to issue a ticket while we were parked at the Visitors' entrance to unload our toys), Curtis Marshall (below photo) of the Camden County Toys for Tots, and finally our own Mike Melissas, representing Cherry Hill East Babe Ruth - for securing the Cherry Hill Rotary Complex for us to hold our first Winterball event.
One final most appreciated 'Thank You' and Happy Holidays goes out to all players and family members who came out to participate. A job well done.
Click Photo for the FULL STORY on the SJMSBL "Boys of Summer" in the July 2009 South Jersey Magazine!!
2009 Division Champions / Standings / Stats
For a link to the Regular Season 2009 Standings Click here:
//s3.amazonaws.com/my.llfiles.com/00169882/SJMSBL2009STGDS.pdf
2009 South Jersey MSBL Champions
2009 18+ Player Leaving Ballclub to Serve Country
2009 Senators Take 45+ Title, Make History
The Washington Township Senators defeated the Maple Shade Mariners Sunday by a 7-3 score to capture the 2009 SJMSBL 45+ championship. Chris Johannes went the distance to pick up the victory, and he also had a double, single and a walk. In addition to going 2-0 in the playoffs with a 1.00 ERA, Johannes also hit .571 with four RBI in helping the Senators sweep to the title. Nick Frese also had a big run, leading the team with an .875 average and eight RBI in three games. Other playoff .400 hitters included Bob Wood (.417), Jeff Goldstein (.444), Don Tash (.462), and Bill Trotman (.429). And Frank Rose added two playoff wins after his stellar 7-0 (with a miniscule 0.29 ERA!) regular season.
In capturing the title, the Senators did two things that NO SJMSBL team has ever done: first, they became the only team/franchise to win titles in THREE age groups. The Senators won the 28+ Division four straight years, from 2000-2003, and they then won the 35+ Division in two straight seasons, 2006-7. That gives the Senators a total of seven league championships in the past 10 years. The only guys who played on all three of those clubs are Nick Frese and Frank Rose, original Senators. Mike Dettra (the only Senator player to homer in his first-ever at-bat) played on the 25+ champs and 45+ champs, and was a bench coach when the 35s won it all.
Secondly, the Senators became the only team (we THINK), in league history to complete an undefeated season. The Senators swept through the regular seasons with a 16-0 mark, and then won six straight playoffs games to complete a perfect 22-0 season here in 2009.
It was quite a run!
| American Division Championship | National Division Championship | ||||||||
| Top 5 teams make the playoffs | Top 6 teams make the playoffs | ||||||||
| One Wildcard game (5 vs. 4) | Two Wildcard games (6 vs. 3 and 5 vs. 4) | ||||||||
| 25+ AMERICAN PLAYOFF SCHEDULE | 25+ NATIONAL PLAYOFF SCHEDULE | ||||||||
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | ||||||||
| Wild Card Round - Single Elimination | Wild Card Round - Single Elimination | ||||||||
| (Winner advances to Semi Final Round) | (Winners advances to Semi Final Round) | ||||||||
| Sat. August 8th (9am) | Sat. August 8th (9am) | ||||||||
| #5 Seed @ #4 Seed | #6 Seed @ #3 Seed | ||||||||
| #5 Seed @ #4 Seed | |||||||||
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | ||||||||
| BEST of 3 SEMIFINALS | BEST of 3 SEMIFINALS | ||||||||
| Sun. August 9th (9am) | Sun. August 9th (9am) | ||||||||
| GAME #1: Wild Card Winner @ #1 Seed | GAME #1: Wild Card Winner @ #1 Seed | ||||||||
| GAME #1: #3 Seed @ #2 Seed | GAME #1: Wild Card Winner @ #2 Seed | ||||||||
| Sun. August 16th (9am) | Sun. August 16th (9am) | ||||||||
| GAME #2: #1 Seed @ Wild Card Winner | GAME #2: #1 Seed @ Wild Card Winner | ||||||||
| GAME #2: #2 Seed @ #3 Seed | GAME #2: #2 Seed @ Wild Card Winner | ||||||||
| Sun. August 16th (1pm) | Sun. August 16th (1pm) | ||||||||
| *GAME #3: Wild Card Winner @ #1 Seed | *GAME #3: Wild Card Winner @ #1 Seed | ||||||||
| *GAME #3: #3 Seed @ #2 Seed | *GAME #3: Wild Card Winner @ #2 Seed | ||||||||
| * If Necessary | * If Necessary | ||||||||
| ------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | ||||||||
| AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP (BEST of 3 ) | NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP (BEST of 3 ) | ||||||||
| Sun. August 23rd (9am) | Sun. August 23rd (9am) | ||||||||
| GAME #1: Semifinal Winners at Higher Seed | GAME #1: Semifinal Winners at Higher Seed | ||||||||
| Sun. August 23rd (1pm) | Sun. August 23rd (1pm) | ||||||||
| GAME #2: Semifinal Winners at Lower Seed | GAME #2: Semifinal Winners at Lower Seed | ||||||||
| Sun. August 30th (9am) | Sun. August 30th (9am) | ||||||||
| *GAME #3: Semifinal Winners at Higher Seed | *GAME #3: Semifinal Winners at Higher Seed | ||||||||
| * If Necessary | * If Necessary | ||||||||
| Tiebreakers for divisional positioning: | |||||||||
| 1) Head to Head | |||||||||
| 2) Division record (Non-Shore Games Record) | |||||||||
| 3) Run Differential Head to Head | |||||||||
| 4) Run Differential Division | |||||||||
| 5) Run Differential Overall | |||||||||
| 6) Coin Flip | |||||||||
Oct 4 -Waterlogged and well rested, the Marlton Athletics and South Jersey Rays finally got the weather, the field gods and enough players together long enough to play a Championship Game in the 25+ American Division this past Sunday at Cherry Hill Rotary Field.
After a month of frustrating starts and stops, the Rays shook off a little rust and finally did what they do best, make big plays and get big hits at the right time in big games. Their reward was an 8-3 Finals victory and along with it came their fifth consecutive South Jersey MSBL Championship.
Although the final score was 8-3, this one was alot closer most of the way, as the Rays held a slim 2-1 lead over the gritty, undermanned A's team through seven innings. Playing without six starters, Marlton mounted a trio of scoring opportunities over the middle innings, loading the bases twice with less than two outs and putting runners at second and third with no outs on another occasion. However, the Champs were equal to the task, collecting an inning-ending double play each time to preserve the lead. The Rays would finally break the game open with a three run 8th, keyed by a 1-out bases loaded single from Outfielder/Manager Dan Shannon that drove in a pair of runs. In the ninth inning, a three-run blast from Catcher John Shannon capped the victory and another champagne (disguised as beer at the bar) celebration. Rays starter Kevin Fahy went the first six innings to get the win, while reliever Sean Joyce hurled the final three innings to get the save. For the Athletics, starter Jason Davis went the distance in defeat while driving in a pair of runs at the plate.
Among those new clubs ready to take a swing at the Rays are the upstart Florence Bears, who in just their second season bullied their way through a 19-2 campaign en route to the 2009 National Division title. Mike Tolle's Bears ballclub features impressive fireballer George Moore as well as sluggers Tommy Ditmars and Nick Puccio, who should pose a formidable test for the Rays and the rest of the American Division foes next season.
Congratulations go out to all the 25+ Division clubs for another great year of South Jersey MSBL baseball as we look forward to the 2010 season right around the corner.
