1957 Lorain National Tube Nine – (1988)

Manager: Gene Krupp. Business Manager: Carl Olsen. Coach: Eddie Molnar. Pitch: Stough, Telatnik, Ridenour, Cousins, Vesling, Garcia. Catch: Hartman, Martinez, Abraham. Infield: Mitroff, Mize, Pressick, Farschman, Caco, Nabor, Abraham, Krupp. Outfield: Johnson, Vesling, Krupp, Kalo, Dubosh, Abraham.

LORAIN NATIONAL TUBE 1957 NATIONAL CHAMPS

After back to back Lorain Class A baseball titles, the 1957 National Tube nine entered the NABF tournament determined that their fifth attempt would finally bring the national title to Lorain, Ohio.

When capturing the Lorain-Cleveland area sectional and the regional at Warren, Ohio, the local contingent traveled to Flint, Michigan to compete against other regional winners in a four day tournament.

When the smoke had cleared from the early round firing, Ben Garcia, drafted from the Puerto Rican club, twirled a brilliant 4-1 victory to eliminate defending champion Detroit in the quarter-finals. The semi-final pairings were then set — Lorain vs Memphis and Flint vs Cleveland.

Battery mates Bill Stough and Carl Hartman were superb against Memphis. Bill tossed a two-hit 4-0 shutout allowing no one past first in the final six innings. Carl went 3 for 3 including a blast deep into the left field bleachers.

In the championship game, Flint jumped to a 3-0 lead in the third inning off starter John Telatnik. In the fourth inning, second baseman Ken Farschman propelled a 385 foot homer to ignite Lorain's rally. Before Flint could quell the blaze, with Ray Mize and Gene Krupp on the basepaths, Keith Vesling lofted a long home run over the 30 foot right field wall to gain the lead. Six additional runs in the fifth put the game on ice as Howard Cousins blanked the home team in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. After two insurance runs in the seventh, Bill Stough came on to nail down the 12-8 victory. Flint added four runs in the ninth, although three were unearned. The 1957 NABF crown rested in Lorain, Ohio.