Howard Hughes, Umpire

Howard Hughes has been a USSSA umpire since 1982. Howard has gone out of state to several Regional and Divisional tournaments and has always represented the State of Washington in an exceptional manner. Howard has worked the Church World Tournaments in 1987 and 1991, the ‘D’ World Series in 1994 and the Women’s ‘A’ World Series in 1985. Howard was the recipient of the “Jack DeRosia Award” in 1984. Howard is a positive influence on the younger as well as the veteran umpires and doesn’t hesitate to help fellow umpires become better. The love of the game led Howard to umpiring and the USSSA Washington State Softball Umpires Association has benefited ever since.

Cathryn Cole-Dow, Female Player

Cathryn Dow has been a player for 20 years, many of those years with USSSA. She has played from the mixed co-ed level to the competitive ‘A’ level. Although her main playing position has been as 2^nd baseman she has also played shortstop and the outfield. She credits Carl Riedel as being an influential coach/manager. She has been fortunate in her career to have played in three World ‘A’ Divisional Tournaments. Cathryn made the All Tournament Team in the Mixed World Tournaments division for 3 years (1989, 1990 and 1991). All State Tournament Awards are part of her achievements. She has also been selected MVP in State Tournament play. She has enjoyed all aspects of the game of softball. Watching the home-run hitting contest in 1990 with Billy Blake was one of many highlights of her career. She believes USSSA to be a worthy association and has been proud to be a participant.

Darren Idler, Male Player

Darren has been playing USSSA softball for 20 plus years, starting at the ‘C’ level and working his way to the A/AA level with Long Pest Control. Darren’s most exciting moments were winning the 1995 USSSA Church ‘A’ World Series. Darren lives in Burbank, Washington with his wife Ranae and 5 children. Darren has played most infield and outfield positions and boasts a lifetime .702 batting average and over 800 home runs. Darren is a situational hitter using the entire field and taking advantage of what the defense gives him. Darren has five State Tournament All Star awards and was Regional All Tournament in 1994.

Kent Johnson, Male Player

Kent has played USSSA softball for the past 15 years, he started at the ‘D’ level with Milton Tavern. He then played for Shipper-Gateway’s team at the ‘B’ level. In 1990 he moved to the Slow Pitch News team. In 1993 the Slo-Pitch team finished third in the AA World Tournament and placed 5^th in the Major World Series, where he was named to the All-Tournament team. The last few years he has played with Hendu/Rainier and last year with Long Haul Trucking/Hendu’s/TPS. They played in the AA World tournament and finished second, with Kent being named to the All-Tournament team again. They also went to the Major World Series and finished 3^rd. Kent ’s lifetime batting average is over .650 and he has hit over 800 career home runs. He has played in many state and other tournaments where he has been named to the All-Star teams. He was also named the Slo-Pitch Newspaper Player of the Year. He has been on the Major players list for many years.