ILLINOIS ASA 2005 HALL OF FAME

The Illinois Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame Committee last month named eleven people to the Illinois Softball Hall of Fame. State Commissioner, Don Brewer of Murphysboro and the State Hall of Fame Committee Chairman, Jim Nicol of Decatur jointly released the announcement. Included are eight players, two umpires and an Illinois ASA Vice President who was included under the meritorious service category. Those selected for induction and enshrinement in 2005 are:

Dave Sagle, Springfield…Men's Fastpitch player for 30 years with Springfield and Bloomington area teams. Dave, still managing & playing, made All-State three times in major competition.

Larry Moffett, Mount Zion…Men's Fastpitch player for 30 years for Decatur, Bloomington and St. Louis area teams. He was an All-Stater and All American 12 times.

Steve King, Bloomington…Men's Fastpitch player for 18 years for Bloomington Hearts and the Farm Tavern in Wisconsin. He was a member of the 1999 USA Pan American team.

Richard Spiller, Elkville…Men's Fastpitch player for 27 seasons with Murdale Martin Oilers and several southern Illinois teams. Had a career batting average of .313 and played on 3 state championship teams.

Don Donohoo, Wood River…Slo-pitch player and sponsor for Alton and Wood River teams. Sponsored teams for 29 years.

LeAnn Bonifas, Peoria…Women's Fastpitch player from Peoria-Pekin. She made several All-State teams, primarily for Peoria Avantis.

Kathy Richards, Peoria…Women's Fastpitch player from Peoria-Pekin area. She made several All-State teams, primarily for Pekin and Peoria teams.

Julie Rathbun, Manito…Women's Fastpitch player from Peoria-Pekin area. She made several All-State teams for Peoria Avantis.

Raymond Wise, Carbondale…Thirty-five-year umpire for southern Illinois area. Ray worked many state & national tournaments.

Steve McCrillis, Palestine…Twenty plus years as umpire for southeast Illinois area. Worked many state and national tournaments.

Roger Sensabaugh, Galesburg…ASA Vice President and Executive Board member for 20 years.

For the first time, this year's Hall of Fame Class also includes four adult teams representing Men's and Women's Fastpitch and Men's and Women's Slo-Pitch. The Decatur ADM team will be inducted representing Men's Fastpitch; Pekin Lettes will be inducted representing Women's Fastpitch, Bellevile Whiz Kids will be inducted representing Women's Slo-Pitch and Harvey Stuckel/Peoria Merchants will be inducted representing Men's Slo-Pitch. These will be the first four teams inducted into the state softball shrine via the "team" category.

The players and teams will be formally inducted on April 2nd at the Dragon's Dome in Pekin at the Annual Hall of Fame Dinner. The public is invited and ticket arrangements will be announced later.

The Illinois ASA Hall of Fame was established in 1969. Enshrinement is the highest honor attainable by a player, manager, fan, sponsor, commissioner or softball promoter.

The Amateur Softball Association of America is the largest team sport association in the world. In 2004, there were over 225,000 teams and 50,000 umpires. Illinois ASA registered over 5,000 teams and 600 umpires. The Illinois ASA is the 10th largest organization of the 93 associations (State and Metro) that comprise the Amateur Softball Association of America.