Past winners recall teams, times
By: Justin Feil
While the West Windsor 12-year-old all-star softball team captured a third straight District 12 championship this summer, district titles have been a little harder to come by for WW baseball.
This summer’s District 12 crown was the first in 15 years and just the third in the 50-year history of the West Windsor Little League. It followed titles in 1982 and 1991. This year’s summertime run returns many fond memories for those closest to the other district title-winning teams.
"It was a tremendous deal for the championship because West Windsor had never won," said Dick Druckman, a coach with the 1982 team that won the first district crown in league history. "The township was considerably smaller. It seemed like half the township came out for our last game. It was very exciting. We won, 2-1, and beat Nottingham. We beat them earlier coming up then they went ahead and won the losers’ bracket. It was just like this time. We were undefeated."
West Windsor didn’t need a deciding game to pull out the championship. Danny Sexton homered for one run and Steven Druckman doubled home the other run. Dale Huang hurled a two-hitter in the deciding game.
Dick Druckman has followed this year’s current team as a professional photographer. He was working when the 12s beat Nottingham in the if-game to capture the crown at the R.J. Ward Complex.
"It brings back really wonderful memories of the team and the players," Druckman said. "They’re all grown men now. They’re all in their mid-30s. My son played as the catcher. He’s expecting his third child now.
"I occasionally bump into the kids. Don Nelson was the manager. He passed away this year. We had a very, very good team. Every kid could hit a home run. We had two good pitchers. You need three to go really far."
The current WW team is in uncharted territory after winning its first two games of the Section 3 tournament. The 1982 team’s loss to Paulsboro ended their sectional tournament quickly.
"It was a one-game thing," Druckman said. "We got knocked right out. We faced a really good pitcher."
Druckman still thinks about the run, which was the last season in which he coached his youngest son.
"We had some wonderful times," he said. "Those were great years. Whenever we get together with my kids, we talk about it. I had three sons and I managed all three. It was a very close-knit team. They were good from one to nine. Everyone could hit a home run.
"I think they compared very well, equally to this team. Maybe we had a slight, slight advantage because we had two No. 1 pitchers."
Nine years later, West Windsor put together a talented team with two dominant pitchers that won the league’s second district crown. Don Davidson, the manager of the 1991 team, was waiting to see another banner at R.J. Ward Complex.
"I’m very surprised it’s taken that long," said Davidson, whose son Sean was on the 1991 team. "It took us nine years. Everyone was acting like that was an eternity. I’ve been to a lot of games through the years. I went to Nottingham’s field to watch a game last year.
"I’ve been waiting for them to have a stud pitcher like we did. We’ve got a pitcher in the majors now. It’s pretty neat. This is a kid we didn’t allow to throw curveballs back then. Dan Kaufman and (Kevin) Barry were just throwing fastballs. We didn’t allow our pitchers to throw them to save their arms. Who knows if he’d be as good as he is if we did?"
Kevin Barry is now a reliever for the Atlanta Braves, but he’s far from the only professional athlete to have played on the 1991 team. It’s an indication of how special the team was.
"We had about 10 kids who played Division I sports," Davidson said. "They weren’t all baseball. We had divers. I had Mike Nugent, who played for the MetroStars, on that team. I brought him up as an 11. Nugent and Lee Jelenic were 11s and the rest were with the 12-year-old team since they were 9s. We had had success on every level. Our kids just blossomed. Barry and Dan Kaufman, the papers called them the Twin Towers. People still ask about the Twin Towers.
"It was a tremendously athletic team," he continued. "I had at least four who played pro sports. Mark Urbanek played pro golf, Lee Jelenic played pro hockey, Mike Nugent was on the MetroStars and of course Barry is in the major leagues. Many other kids went and played in big programs. They were tremendously athletic and it was a tremendous offense."
West Windsor showed that when, like this year’s current crop, it was able to celebrate the banner win at R.J. Ward. West Windsor, which had been knocked into the losers’ bracket by Chambersburg in 1991, came back to win at Chambersburg, 19-5, and then won, 20-0, in the championship game at Ward. Davidson, who watched this year’s WW team 10-run Florence in bracket play, remembers an electric atmosphere.
"One of the biggest differences," he said, "in going to the games I was very, very surprised how few people showed up to the (Florence) game. My recollection of our district run, maybe because it was fueled by an almost unpleasant rivalry with Chambersburg, was there were enormous crowds that came out. They were lining and ringing our entire field. Kids were sitting on top of the storage shed in right field.
"When we took the team to Chambersburg, there were 2,500 people. The next night we came back and won, 20-0, in the final and there must have been 2,000 people there with balloons and everything. It was a fever atmosphere. There was crazy enthusiasm. It was way beyond just parents."
After the district, Davidson remembers a show of sportsmanship from the Nottingham team that West Windsor had beaten in the losers’ bracket finals.
"One of my main memories is we ran into some really bad weather a couple days following our game with Chambersburg," he said. "Nottingham came up and gave me access to their indoor batting facility because they wanted our district to win."
The 1991 team lasted three games, winning once, before being ousted in the double-elimination Section 3 tournament.
"We ran into a Vineland team that almost went to Williamsport," Davidson said. "They swept through the states and they came within an out or two of going to Williamsport. They were a tremendous team. They had a tremendous pitcher, Mike Diaz.
"Kaufman threw harder than anyone in the district and these guys lit him up. They were a fastball hitting team that just rocked him."
It wasn’t the end of the good times for the group. The next year as 13s, they won the Babe Ruth state title. As 14-year-olds, Davidson took the team to Barcelona, Spain for an international tournament before coaching them one more season as 15s.
"From age 9 until they were 15, Greg Kaufman and I, coached them," Davidson said. "This time of year is very, very special."
Davidson continues to follow this year’s West Windsor district champions. He recently returned from the Czech Republic and hopes to catch the team in action again.
"I’m very impressed by this team," Davidson said. "They’re clearly the best team since my team. They’re well-coached, well-managed, and they have a lot of spirit. I hope they have the pitching to go deep into the state tournament.
"I wish them all the best. It’s been 15 years. They’ve got a chance to go a lot farther than we did. They’ll run into the studs eventually and that will be the test."
Davidson and Druckman will be following the progress of the West Windsor 12s baseball team. More than interested observers, the two former coaches of the last West Windsor teams to reach the sectionals are also big fans.