Marion's 1958 Pony League

 

Front row L-R: Truman Croft, Jim Guess, Lynn "Lefty" Birdwell and John O. Hodge; 

Middle row: Jimmy Alderdice, Eddie Joe Burkalew, Donald "Hurtsey" Easley, Buck Travis, W. A. Franklin and asst. manager Gerald Tabor.

Back row: Carson Davidson, manager, Frankie Browning, Allen Franklin, Jesse Bennett and Asst. manager, Lonnie Burkalew     (not shown that was in the group were Jerry  Abell, Jimmy Love and bat boy Steve Davidson.)

What a team. First Little League squad was probably Marion's best ever

It was 1950. The “Korean Conflict” was on everyone's mind. The post WW II prosperity was hitting full stride. A strange new sound called rock-and-roll was eminating from radios in teenager's hands all across the country.

In Marion, 1950 was the first year for Rotary Club Little League baseball. That first team was coached by Orville Pfunder and Carson Davidson. Mr. Pfunder one of the organizers of this group and surely never in the history of the community has any one man done more towards making a success of this project. 

Davidson believes, and with good reason that that first team was probably the most successful, on or off the diamond, that Crittenden County has ever fielded. Fourteen players, a bat boy and Davidson worked their way from little league in '53, '54, '55, and '56 to Pony League in '57 and '58, American Legion ball in '59 and the Marion High School team after that.

Six of the team went on through college, three on baseball scholarships. One was named to the Murray State Hall of Fame, and one had a tryout with the St. Louis Cardinals.  

Lynn "Lefty" Bridwell was named to the Murray State Hall of Fame for his southpaw pitching.

 Donald "Hertsey" Easley was the shortstop.  Easley graduated from Marion High School, and was given the opportunity to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals. 

 Jim Guess was the man behind the plate.  He won a baseball scholarship from U. K., but went to Kentucky Wesleyan in Owensboro.

Jimmy Alderdice played second base. Alderdice played baseball at David Lipscomb College in Nashville.

 

Davidson said, one of the thing that always stood out to me about these boys was that they were such an intelligent and hard working group. The most rewarding things is to know that baseball helped these boys going out into everyday life, some of them got scholarships for school, and seeing how these boys turned out in everyday life.

Mr. Davidson said he was assistant coach under Orville Pfunder when the team took to the field the first time as Little Leaguers. He took over during their last Little League season and guided them through Pony League and American Legion play.

The best season was 1954. The boys were in Pony League and went 20-1 on the season.

 

The boys biggest opposition came after they moved into Legion ball in 1955. They came face to face with the Paducah Chiefs.

The Chiefs weren't your standard American Legion team. Their roster boasted names like Hawk Taylor, who went on to play catcher for the Milwaukee Braves, and who was thrown out of a ball game here by umpire Jim Fred Mills. Phil Roof, who shuffled around the big leagues for a while, and Charlie Loyd, U. K. pitching ace, were also with the Paducah Chiefs.

The teams split regular season games and met in the finals of the sectional tournament after winning their respective regions. The Marion boys suffered one of their infrequent defeats, 4-3.

The boys moved into high school the next year, a few going to Crittenden County High and most to Marion High. Lefty Bridwell transferred to MHS from CCHS to play with his long-time teammates.

The MHS team took the runner-up position in the regional tournament, losing to Murray High School 1-0 on a balk. The call was one of the most controversial in the history of high school baseball in Kentucky.

Davidson said, “I still think we had a better ball team than they did. Our pitcher (Bridwell) had a no -hitter until the balk call. I believe the umpire was honest in his thinking, but it just didn't work out for us. He said later that he never would have made the call if he'd have known what it would have started.”

As with any group of young people, the boys went their separate ways after high school. In later years, Davidson said, he felt that this first little league team gave a strong start to the Little League program in Marion, a program he feels has improved over the years and been good for our youngsters.

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