Dewey’s softball continues to win

Change of league brings no change for champions

By: Bob Nuse
   The Dewey’s Upholstery softball team always manages to find someplace to play. And wherever that place might be, they usually find a way to win.
   When the Montgomery Softball League faded away several years ago, Dewey’s found a home in Princeton, where they and Perone Landscaping dominated the Princeton Recreation Softball League for many years. When the Princeton league folded three years ago, Dewey’s landed in South Brunswick, where the team has also found success.
   In three years, Dewey’s has won one regular season and two playoff championships. This year, the Montgomery-based team finished second in the regular season before winning the playoff championship.
   "It’s a pretty good league and we’ve developed some good rivalries," Dewey’s manager Joe Weingart said of the South Brunswick Men’s Major League. "They have a team, Chauncey’s, that has been one of the top teams there for a long time. They’re like we were in Montgomery, where they’ve had a lot of success. We’ve had a pretty good rivalry with them."
   Weingart and the rest of the Dewey’s teams had built some solid rivalries in the Montgomery and Princeton, particularly with Perone Landscaping. But with the demise of those two leagues, the teams all seem to have gone their separate ways.
   "This league in South Brunswick is sort of like the Princeton league was," Weingart said. "There are four really good teams, then a couple of pretty good teams and a couple at the bottom. It’s a pretty good league. It’s two nights a week, which is just right for the guys on our team."
   Most of the players on the Dewey’s roster have been together since the team formed in 1980. So to stay together for more than 20 years while finding some new leagues hasn’t been easy.
   "It’s been a while, so I guess we all must love it," Weingart said. "It does get tougher once the guys start having families and the kids are old enough to be playing sports. I only made it to about half the games this summer. And my brother, Scott, also has his daughter playing softball, so that’s made it tougher.
   "We’re the only two with kids old enough to be playing right now. But as the other guys start to have their kids get a little older, it’s going to be tougher to keep it together."
   Through it all, Weingart still holds out hope that perhaps the old days might return. The days of fledgling leagues in Princeton and Montgomery.
   "I really miss the Princeton league," he said. "That was a perfect situation. It was great for the guys and there were some real good rivalries. Maybe some day it will be back."