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Senator
O’Leary and Representative Sarah Peake Welcome the World
Champion Back Office Associates 70+ Softball All-Stars to the
State House
The
Back Office Associates 70+ All Stars completed its best season
ever in 2008 by winning Senior Softball USA’s coveted Triple
Grand Slam in the 70 plus AA Division at the World Championships
in Phoenix, Arizona.
By
winning the Eastern, National and World Championships in the 2008
season, the team from Cape Cod finished its eighth year of
existence on top of the world. The team
played in eight tournaments over all, won seven and placed second
in the other. Competing in sixty local and regional double-headers
during the 2008 season, Cape Cod completed the season with
fifty-one wins and nine losses.
“Cape Cod is carrying on Massachusetts’s reputation for being
#1 in sports. We’ve got the World Champion Red Sox, Celtics,
Patriots, even the Bruins are making us all proud this season and
now we can add the World Champion Back-Office All-Stars to that
list,” Said Senator O’Leary. “I’m thrilled to have them up
at the State House and am hoping I can get a few pointers on my
swing.”
The Back Office team is made up of players from the Cape Old Timers
Softball league on Cape Cod. The League has more than 280 seniors
playing in four age divisions, with players ranging from age 57 to
over 80. The average age on the World Championship team for the
2008 season was 73.
The team is sponsored by Back Office Associates,
an international computer firm with its main office in Harwich on
Cape Cod.
"I'm
very proud of each and every member of the team for bringing home
this championship,” Said Rep. Sarah Peake. “I stand in awe of
their athleticism and their abilities."
The
team has had a stellar record with a solid 2006 season and winning
the Eastern and National Championships in 2007. However 2008 marks
the first Triple Grand Slam accomplishment for the Back Office
All-Stars.
The
2008 Team roster was as follows:
Dick
Sullivan – Manager, first baseman
Bernie
Powers – Asst. Manager, outfielder
Chris
Sweeney - a rangy shortstop
Joe
Wignot - hard hitting outfielder-first baseman
Tony
Fucci - new leadoff hitter and outfielder
Jim
Parmelee – left field
Vince
Van Norman – third base
Nate
Koppel – middle infielder
Jack
Ferrie - speedy outfielder
Hank
Baldassarri - a speedy outfielder
JimVanBaalen-
a post ’05 addition, a versatile outfielder and infielder whose
hustle and consistent hitting, would prove to be key in 2008.
Mike
Onnembo, - Outfielder turned pitcher also a strong hitter
Tom
Fazio - veteran infielder
Ed
Demeo - versatile infielder, heavy hitter
Bob
Parsons - designated hitter known as ‘Mr. Clutch’
Steve
Ramsay - starter/reliever
Dan
James - Steve’s catcher/ third baseman.
Ed
Gorrigan - Consummate team player and outstanding first baseman
would anchor the infield until health issues put him on the shelf
for the Phoenix trip.
The
team will spend the better part of Thursday at the State House
where they will have a tour, some photo-opportunities, lunch and
will hopefully be recognized by both chambers of the legislature.
The
team was also committed to community service and pledged as a
group to work on a housing project for Habitat for Humanity during
the Spring of 2009, along with individual members committing time
and efforts to various charities and local organizations.
The
team will be moving up to the AAA Senior League for the 2009
season.
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