'Local guys' good enough to win baseball championship

Kurt Bruksch felt better than usual on Sunday as he chased a baseball championship at Lippold Park in Crystal Lake.

There he was, a 49-year-old starting shortstop in a league with players as young as 28., feeling confident and ready to show he still had it. The youngest guys on the field were born in 1977, the year Bruksch was a star shortstop leading the Big Ten Conference in hitting while playing for Northwestern.

By the end of the day, he was a champion, again, eventually shifting to the pitching mound and earning the victory as the Crystal Lake Diamond Jaxx beat the Johnsburg Tigers, 6-4, to win the 28 Year Old Division of the Northern Illinois Men's Senior Baseball League.

THE PLAYERS
Bruksch is one of several key players on the Champion Diamond Jaxx who were at least 45 years old.

Another senior is Dan "The Diamond" Dowejko, 45. Dan pitched the last two innings and earned the save while also going 2-for-3 and delivering the game-winning hit. Dowejko played college ball at Harper College and at Eastern Illinois. Dowejko said. " It feels good to win this one."

Bobby "Base Hit" Long, 47, played catcher, threw out another runner trying to steal a base and went 2-for-3. "When you have a chance to do what we did, it's a nice feeling." We had a great team all year long and everyone associated with this team deserves some credit for the Championship. It really was a team effort.

This group of guys proved to be talented and unselfish and their willingness to do whatever it took to make this season a success made it a most memorable experience for everyone involved .

Curt Salata, 29-year-old starting pitcher earned the honor of starting the Championship game by pitching superbly throughout the season. When Curt is not pitching, he is playing a stellar shortstop with great range and an even better arm.

Shawn Anderson is the team's starting center fielder. Shawn features a cannon for an arm and has the speed to cover both left center and right center. Sean had an exceptional season hitting and led the team in laser beams, both on throws to the infield and on verbal jabs meant to keep the team on its toes.

One player who helped as much behind the scenes as he did on the field when he was playing was Jim Brown. Jim, a former Daily Herald All-Area 2nd baseman and a 2-time All Conference baseball player while playing at Harper College, played in 12 of the 16 games and hit a healthy .391 during the regular season.

Jim's contributions off the field included taking extra time most weeks to bring out a Swingaway unit that provided many of the players a chance to get in some extra swings through out the season. Jim also designed and hosted the team's web site adding an element of fun to the journey. (ThePerformanceCenter.com) This season-long online diary gave the team a sense of pride in knowing the whole world could be watching; well, at least some close friends and family.

A special thanks goes out to the whole team - Brian, Paul, Mike, Kurt (1B), Roger, Denny, Bill, and even Craig. It was a team that was on a mission and it's nice to know as the sun sets on this season, we can all say Mission Accomplished!!!

THE SEASON
The odyssey of this Championship season began back in February as a few of the loyal stalwarts began to meet at the cages for a regular routine of hitting, throwing and running. Then as the weather started to warm in late March and April, they took their show outside for some hitting off of live pitching and regular infield practice. As the season began May 1st, the tone was set as the Jaxx jump out to a 9-0 record and the rest was simply putting the right pieces in place for the final stretch run.

Under the managerial leadership of Ken Anderson, this 62 year old baseball brain trust was out there all season long hitting infield, hitting outfield, coaching 3rd base and making out the lineup card each and every game. Along with being the acting team psychiatrist, it was Ken that put together the team that ebbed and flowed its way to the winner's circle. Nice job Ken!

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Curt Salata was the starting pitcher and went 5 strong innings. Bruksch and Dowejko followed in the rotation and each pitched well. The Diamond Jaxx took the lead while Bruksch was on the mound so he got credit for the win and Dowejko closed it out for the save but as was typical of this team all season long, it was a team effort and all three should get credit for 1/3 of a win..

THE OFFSEASON
Bruksch was probably feeling a little older and a bit slower after the game but the satisfaction that comes from putting forth the effort of preparing, then competing and eventually winning is a tough thing to walk away from.

It's easy to say at the end of a season, "This is the perfect way to walk away from the game, to go out on top" but next spring, when the body has had time to heal and the spring is in the air, that little voice starts to whisper, "Come on, let's just go have a catch" and when it doesn't hurt to throw and you go to the batting cage and you can still rip the ball, it's hard not to say, 'Oh what the heck, let's play one more year.' It's so much fun and when you still can compete, why not?

"I don't know if we could top this," he said. "It was the old guys who paved the way, and it's a great way to go out." But then again, can you say Back to Back Jaxx Championships??????