Male Player – Doug Weston

Doug has played USSSA for over 25 years and has accumulated an outstanding list of accomplishments as part of some very prestigious teams over the years.  Doug won two World Championships with Peoples Church, two World Championships with JSG, one National Championship in the Men’s “B” program and three State Championships at the Men’s “A/B” level of play.  He has also been a part of teams that won 6 State Championships in the Church program.  Along with the above Doug has earned the respect of every ball player he has played with or against, and has earned numerous All Tournament awards.  Doug has also been very instrumental over the years in getting teams to support USSSA, and getting some of the local leagues to switch over to USSSA.

Male Player – Sam Long

Sam has played, coached, found sponsors, and personally baby sat his teams for many years.  If there was ever an example of a player from the lower divisions of play that deserves this honor, Sam fills the bill.  In the “C” and “D” divisions of play, Sam was well known for his ability on the mound.  He hit for a high average, was totally unselfish, in all aspects of the game, and was the ultimate example of an MVP of any team he played on.  Not for just his ability to play the game, but for all the other things he brought to the field of play.  No person could play the game with Sammy without very quickly learning that there was only one thing Sammy ever demanded from a teammate, and that was the desire to win, and have fun doing it.

Female Player – Aileen McManus

Aileen’s athletic career took off in high school where she played basketball and softball for Reardon High.  Aileen emerged onto the softball scene in 1989 in Washington playing with the South End Merchants.  She hooked up with the Mosquito Squad in the 1992 season where she played 10 years in left center.  Aileen has speed, a glove and an arm.  She was twice named to the Slow-Pitch News first team outfield and was defensive player of the year for the 1999 season.  Ms. McManus feels that USSSA is the strongest program within the state and nationally for women.  She was one of the best leadoff hitters in the game.  She would beat out routine grounders to 3rd, and then on the next at bat would hit it over the left fielders head.  She was a career 650+ hitter with power, and was the quiet leader for the Mosquito Squad team.  She was also a great player in the Mixed Program as well playing with the Seattle Beats, Myron Trucking, and others.  Between the women’s team and mixed teams she was on 7 state championship teams being named all-star or MVP on each of them.  She has been named tournament all-star over 25 times and in National tournaments she was MVP once and all-star 4 times.  She has been named All-World on one occasion.  Aileen went a stretch at the 1998 National tournament of 14 straight base hits. Aileen was extremely dedicated to the game.  She loved to practice as well as play.  She was a quiet joker in the dugout that did so much for team chemistry and camaraderie.

Female Player – Reiko M. Frank

Reiko began her softball career in 1986 in the 18 & Under youth program and immediately made up her mind that she wanted to continue her softball career in the adult Women’s program.  After many years of winning numerous All Star and MVP awards for various teams, Reiko finally managed to be part of a World Championship team.  This was in 2001 and her team won the USSSA Women’s “B” World Championship title.  The following year she joined the Seattle Express/3N2 team and has played with this illustrious group of ladies until the present time.  In 2005 this team achieved the highest goal possible by winning the Women’s “A” World Championship.  Reiko, or “Rake”, as she is known by most people, strongly believes in the youth program and sincerely hopes that USSSA continues to support the growth of this program.  She has spent the majority of her softball career behind the plate, but has always been known by her coaches as having that special talent of being a great utility player.  “Rake” hit for an average of approximately .650 over the years, and in her own words, “is not much of a long ball hitter, but can at times”.  When asked of her “Special Awards” while playing, her response, as is the answer by so many women, was that “her enjoyment of the game overshadowed any individual achievements”.  The rewards that she remembers the most are the ones that her team won together.  She is also very proud to have played for some of the best coaches in Washington State, which include Gene Johnson, Russ Christiansen, and Al Medley, all of which are current members of the Washington State USSSA Hall of Fame.

Manager/Coach – Dick Calvo

Dick began his coaching career in 1969 when he formed what was to become the first in a long line of successful teams in slow pitch softball.  He knew from the very beginning that the road to personal, and team success, was to be found at the very highest levels of play.  Throughout the 70's his teams quickly earned the reputation of being some of the very best in the northwest.  He has won numerous State Championships throughout the years and since the inception of USSSA in Washington State, over 28 years ago, he is still the only coach that has won a USSSA World Championship in the Men's Program.  That team was Mercury/Price/Mollette, and they won the 1984 USSSA Men's "A" World Championship.  His team, Slow Pitch News, qualified for and finished fifth in the 1992 Men's World Series in Daytona Beach.  At that time, this was the highest that any Washington team had finished in the Major World Series, and is still the best finish by any team that had a roster of 90% Washington players.  Over the years Dick recruited, and coached, 20 of the 34 Male Players that are currently in the Washington State USSSA Hall of Fame.  His devotion to the game, his teams and to Washington USSSA has never been equaled by another individual.

Umpire – Bob Scott

Bob has been a USSSA Umpire for 18 years.  Bob is presently, and for many years, felt to be one of the fairest and best umpires in the state.   There isn’t a team at the “C” level, or above, that doesn’t look forward to a fair game when Bob is working.  As a tournament director, you can not run an upper level tournament with out the presence of Bob on one of the fields.  He continually fights against working the Major NIT, year in and year out, but when “Dad” calls and says he is needed, Bob is always ready to help.  Bob is truly one of the best umpires that USSSA Washington has had the honor of having work for us.

Special – Tim Tyni

Tim was an umpire for over 17 years, during which time he worked approximately ten World and National tournaments throughout the country.  He served as the Region II Director for over 12 years.  During that time frame, and is some cases even before that time, Tim attended every league meeting that was held in his region.  Along with the attributes, Tim took on the responsibilities of helping to put our State Office in shape over the years and was instrumental in the day to day computer workings within our association.

Special – Betty Barnes

Betty first became involved with Washington USSSA in 1981, as a coach of her work team.  After participating and seeing how the organization was run here is Washington, she volunteered to become a part of the Mixed Program Committee in 1986, and has been an integral part of softball in the Olympia area ever since.  She has served as a member of the Mixed Classification committee for over 20 years, while running tournaments for USSSA during the entire time.  She attended every one of the State Seminars that we offered over the years, as well as the National Convention in New Mexico in the early nineties.  Betty was awarded the Owen B. Shackett Award in 1993 and the Washington State Special Service Award in 2003.  During the last twenty years she has run numerous State Championship Tournaments, served as the secretary for the Olympia Softball Leagues, been employed at the Bucknell Softball Complex and has become one of the most recognizable faces of USSSA softball in the state of Washington.  She has, without a doubt, had an individual impact on the success of Washington USSSA over the past 20 years.

Sponsor – Paul Peterson

Paul has been the “Go-To” guy in Bremerton, when it comes to sponsorship, for almost twenty years. He has been one of the owners of the Cloverleaf Tavern since 1989 and has been active in the sponsorship of teams in USSSA for the entire time.  The Cloverleaf sponsors between 8 and 12 teams every year, and in some instances helps out many more in one way or another.  Paul has always believed in giving back to the community he lives in and does so in many ways.  He has been a major player in the Special Olympics in the Kitsap community over the years and has been the major tournament director for the baseball program for the past two years.  Paul has supported efforts of many of our directors through the years, including Mike Burton, Steve Grubb, O.J. Simpson and Roy Covey.  His slow pitch tournaments are well attended and have earned reputation of having the best awards packages of any USSSA event.  He believes that by giving back to the teams and the community, he is able to help not just his business, but the overall growth of softball and baseball in the community.  Paul has been involved with other associations over the years and believes that USSSA provides a better overall package for both the adult participants and the youth of his community.