Utilityman Dave DeWitt knocked in son Chad on a walk-off triple Monday, June 22, as Mike’s 12-Pack entered the Cottonwood men’s softball league playoffs with its 16th win, 19-18.
Not bad for a bunch of old guys.
“We’ve got all kinds of old people on the team,” said head coach Tarrin Walz, 46, after the second win of the season over second-place HDH 1, co-sponsored by Angies House. “Three weeks ago, we run-ruled those young guys [who] practice six days a week and play 350 games a year, supposedly.”
As the top seed in the seven-team men’s softball league, presented by Cottonwood’s Parks and Recreation department, Walz and his 12-pack of players will enjoy a bye to the second round of the three-day playoffs, which begin June 24, at Riverfront Park.
“I’ve been playing third base for the last four years,” Walz said. “I’m the only one dumb enough to play it. I’m pretty sure that’s why I was selected to play in the first place.”
But although the team is sponsored by Walz’s rehabilitation center, every player wears, on the back of his jersey, the last name and former 12-Pack number of Mike “Chuck” Zunitch, who was killed in an automobile accident in Camp Verde last year.
“We play for Mike,” Walz said. “Everything’s for [him]. What a quality individual he was. He’d give the shirt off his own back for you. He’ll be with us forever.”
For more photos, final men’s and women’s league standings, playoff schedules and the full story, please see the Wednesday, June 24, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
