? What: Boys of Summer Softball Player Reunion.
? Who: Anyone who played adult softball in Clark County prior to 1980.
? When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
? Where: Chronis’ Bar and Grill, 819 Main St., Vancouver.
? Cost: Free; just show up.
? Details: Send email to Gerry Murray at gmurray2000@comcast.net.
In 1963, Jack Hutchison pitched 29 innings in one game at the fastpitch softball national tournament in Clearwater, Fla.
His Beaverton Ramblers team lost the 7½-hour, 31-inning marathon against the national champion Clearwater Bombers in a game that newspapers reported started in front of 4,000 fans and ended at 3:39 a.m. with about 1,000 still in the stands.
Hutchison was one of the area’s dominant players at a time when fastpitch softball was a big deal in the Pacific Northwest. That 31-inning game, which included several players from Vancouver, is one example of the history that Chuck Chronis is hoping to recognize and preserve.
Chronis did not play softball — track was his sport — but he grew up watching men play fastpitch at the Vancouver High School field and was a peer to many of the area’s softball greats. He doesn’t want that time or those players forgotten.
? What: Boys of Summer Softball Player Reunion.
? Who: Anyone who played adult softball in Clark County prior to 1980.
? When: 3 p.m. Saturday.
? Where: Chronis' Bar and Grill, 819 Main St., Vancouver.
? Cost: Free; just show up.
? Details: Send email to Gerry Murray at gmurray2000@comcast.net.
He hopes a reunion at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Chronis’ Bar and Grill in downtown Vancouver will be the first step toward establishing a softball hall of fame in Clark County. Chronis and an organizing committee are trying to get the word out to all former players, hoping many of them will attend Saturday’s Boys of Summer Softball Reunion.
The event is free, and anyone who played adult fastpitch or slowpitch softball in Clark County prior to 1980 is encouraged to attend.
Fastpitch softball became popular in the Pacific Northwest at the conclusion of World War II and remained strong through the 1960s, according to Jim Raines. Primarily a catcher, Raines played on some of the better teams in Vancouver and Portland in the 1950s and 1960s. He is one of the former players helping Chronis stage Saturday’s reunion.
“From Seattle to Portland was a real hotbed for fastpitch softball,” Raines said.
There is a significant list of Clark County players who are candidates for a softball hall of fame, Chronis said, noting that Longview already has such a hall of fame.
Among those is Jake Farland, who was hired by the Vancouver fire department after returning from World War II. He got the job, he told former Columbian sports editor Al Crombie, after hitting two home runs in a game against a team of firemen.
Farland would go on to be recognized as one of the best fastpitch players in the world and played for many of the most successful teams to come out of the Vancouver-Portland area. He caught all 31 innings for the Ramblers in that famous game at the 1963 nationals.
Watching players such as Farland inspired young players to play fastpitch, Raines said.
Raines started playing the game in junior high school and remembers playing in preliminary games for school-age players prior to adult city league games at the Vancouver High diamond.
“You really worked hard to be able to play in those preliminary games,” he said.
Raines added that junior high school coaches developed the pitchers who made fastpitch highly competitive and popular for several decades.
The Vancouver City League had two divisions, with the best teams making up the top division. The annual local tournament to determine the state tournament representatives was highly competitive, Raines said.
Four decades have passed since slowpitch softball began to gain popularity in the 1970s and fastpitch faded as the game of choice among athletes in their prime.
The days when fastpitch games were covered by this newspaper and fastpitch players were some of Vancouver’s most celebrated athletes are a distant memory. Chronis, Raines and others from that era hope Saturday’s gathering will be an important first step toward cementing the legacy of teams such as Lucky Lager, Sellberg’s Tavern, Palace Billiards — and ensure that the boys of summer who for more than three decades made fastpitch games a summer happening in Clark County are not forgotten.
