By Tim Morris
It was their love of baseball that brought them together and it’s the love of family that has kept them together.
The Black Sox softball team that competes in the Freehold Township Recreation’s Men’s Modified-Pitch A Division Softball League consists of former high school teammates and opponents from both Freehold High School and Freehold Township High School.
Now grown up and between the ages of 45-50, they have families of their own. The Black Sox have been a fixture in the softball league for more than 20 years with the goal of becoming a generational team that keeps it all in the family, with their children — who are all growing up together with the team — on the path the becoming future Black Sox.
“We have a farm team that is soon to be,” said Pete Striano, who was a pitcher for Jon Block’s Freehold High School Colonials in the late 1980s.
“We all grew up together playing in the Freehold Township Little League,” said Todd Lewis, a teammate of Striano’s at Freehold. “We played with and against each other.”
No one loves the sport of baseball as much as Lewis, who was a standout on Colonials divisional championship teams.
“Baseball is the best game one earth,” he said. “The values it teaches you, the friendships you make with teammates and opponents, the competitiveness all stand the test of time.”
Softball is providing all those things for Lewis and his teammates.
“We all do this to get out and be with friends,” Lewis said. “We play because we want to play. We have fun. We have friendships that have lasted.”
Herbie Kunz, who played center field for the late Bernie Goldwater’s 1986 Freehold Township state championship baseball team, pointed to the closeness of the players and their families (they have barbecues and annual summer and winter parties) as the reason he still travels from his Sea Girt home to games at Michael Tighe Park, where he played his high school ball, in Freehold Township.
“The only reason I’m still playing ball is the team camaraderie,” he said. “It’s family-oriented.
”It’s a great, great environment for the kids.”
It’s that camaraderie that makes the team so special to the players.
“What’s great about the Black Sox is that we all get along well,” Striano said. “It keeps us young.”
Kunz, who went on to a fine college career, played hardball after college as long as he could.
“I played baseball a long time,” he said. “You have to be ready to play — mentally prepared.”
There came a time when he just couldn’t give it that 100 percent effort. That’s when he turned to the softball diamond.
“Softball was a nice alternative,” Kunz said. “It got to keep me in the game.”
It did the same for Striano, who said when his baseball career ended, he hadn’t given softball a thought until Lewis talked him into giving it a try with the Black Sox.
“I came out one night and never looked back,” he said.
Coming from winning programs, it’s no surprise that the Black Sox have been more than competitive. They’ve aged well, more than holding their own against much younger teams, who to their own detriment have learned that these “old” guys can still play ball.
“We keep winning. That’s the icing on the cake,” Striano said.
The Black Sox have won the A Division championship four of the last five years and are in this week’s championship series looking to claim their eighth championship overall.
One of the teams that has been the Black Sox’s biggest rivals has been, ironically, the Hellraisers, a team that features Kyle and Brian Goldwater (Bernie Goldwater’s sons).
What the Black Sox have going for them is a couple of the things on the diamond.
“The team is so versatile, anybody can play anywhere,” Kunz said. “It’s a good thing to be able to do.”
Lewis pointed to the team’s experience of playing together that the other teams don’t have. It makes them fundamentally sound. Plus, they’ve been through it all.
Striano said that no matter what the score is, there is a collective confidence that the team will get through it from having done it before. It’s what’s kept the Black Sox one step ahead of their younger competition.
The Black Sox are Brad Hayes, Charlie Hayes, Todd Lewis, Gary Wecksler, Pete Striano, Herbie Kunz, Jason Carrell, Steve Kochinski, Brad Trebotica, Alan Walker, Mickey Cook, Joe Battaglia, Tom Hoskins, Rob Meisner, Billy Exner, John Sheridan and Carl Moldonado.