Twelve individuals, two teams and one organization were inducted into the Columbus Indiana Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame Saturday at the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Pictured are, front row from left, Steve Corya, Randy Lawson, Dave Cleland, Danny Reynolds; and back row, Tom Crawford, Mike Gehring, Rich Delay, Jerry Littrell and Steve Pavey. Also honored were the late Steve Hollenbeck, Charlie Swengel and Donn Voyles, along with the Tom Pickett’s Music men’s team, the Ponytails women’s team and the Columbus Softball Association.
Submitted photo
About 200 people packed the Fraternal Order of Eagles Saturday night to honor this year’s inductees into the Columbus Indiana Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame.
Twelve individuals, two teams and one organization were honored at the ceremony. This was the fourth class of inductees to the hall of fame, which was started in 2019.
Steve Corya and the late Charlie Swengel were automatic, or “All-Star” inductees for being members of other state or national softball Halls of Fame. Swengel played in Columbus, mostly for Mahan Ford, for more than 50 years and was inducted into the ASA Indiana Softball Hall of Fame in 2009. He once pitched a seven-inning no-hitter in a city league championship game.
Juanita Swengel, second from right, receives the Columbus Indiana Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame plaque for her late husband Charlie Swengel, from CISSHOF chairman of the board Jerry Cox, left, Saturday at the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
Corya played in Columbus for 34 years and was a CSA All-Star Game participant and won the Republic Softball Challenge numerous times. He has coached Wilson Concrete to multiple state and regional titles and last year’s WSL Midwest National Championship and was inducted into the Indiana NSA Hall of Fame as a coach in 2020.
Dave Cleland coached in Columbus for 15 years, posting a record of 606-152 and leading Mahan Ford to the Open Division Indiana State Championship in 1968. He built the Bakalar diamond in 1972 and was its league director and tournament organizer. He also was a longtime umpire in Indiana and Florida.
Tom Crawford played softball in Columbus for 42 years and was on the 1980 Golden Foundry national championship team and 1983 Columbus Comets co-ed national championship squad. Following a career in the military, he returned to win seven senior national championships and multiple MVP awards.
Rich Delay played in Columbus for 45 years. He won multiple MVP, Defensive Player, All-American and All-Tournament awards and played on multiple national championship teams.
Mike Gehring spent 45 years as a player, coach and umpire. He estimates he has umpired more than 2,500 games, mostly in the city weeknight leagues and the “Open” league. He also has bee a member of the Columbus Softball Association board the past four years.
The late Steve Hollenbeck was selected as an “Elite Member.” The former Columbus High School basketball and baseball star, played softball in Columbus for 21 years, winning multiple league tournament titles. He also played travel softball for Central Indiana Bankers, one of the state’s top teams.
Randy Lawson played in Columbus for 36 years, including 30 years of competitive travel softball. He won numerous state, national and world tournaments. He also coached a travel team for 10 years and was assistant coach at Columbus East for four years when his daughter was playing there.
Jerry Littrell began playing softball at age 15 and won the King of Slow Pitch Tournament in North Vernon in 1976. He coached and played on the Cummins Engine Company State Industrial championship and runner-up teams. He also played on the National Seniors AA 55-plus champions in 2001 and was assistant coach for the Major Plus team that won a national championship.
Steve Pavey played in Columbus for 16 years. He was a member of the DECO ASA Class A state championship team in 1980 and played on 10 city league championship teams in the highest division.
Danny Reynolds has been playing softball in Columbus for the past 51 years. He played and coached in 40s, 50s and 60s leagues and played for the Indiana Legends 50s, 55s, 60s, 65s and 70s. He has won multiple Best Defensive and All-American Awards and has won several national championships. He won the Doug Webb Coach of the Year award after winning the SPA Dalton (Georgia) National Championship in 2010.
The late Donn Voyles played in Columbus for 58 years. He played in 40-and-over and 60-and-over senior travel leagues and won multiple city league and city tournament championships.
Tom Pickett’s Music won 23 tournaments in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio from 1971-75. They won the Columbus A League championship from 1972-75, the North Vernon League titles in 1974-75. They also were 1972 Class A ASA semistate champs and 1975 Class A state champs.
The Ponytails women’s team was inducted into the Columbus Indiana Slow Pitch Softball Hall of Fame Saturday at the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
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The Ponytails women’s team played in Columbus from 1975-86, winning multiple women’s city and county league and state championships. They won more than 600 games and 100 tournaments together as a team.
Also honored on Saturday was the Columbus Softball Association. Created to run adult softball leagues for the community, CSA has been associated with Columbus Softball for more than 35 years. The organization has recruited thousands of teams, administered games, hosted hundreds of youth and adult tournaments and physically changed Lincoln Park to better accommodate all teams.
