Silver Streaks pick up trophy at year-end event
Members of the Owatonna Silver Streaks senior softball team pose with the trophy they earned by winning the final two games of their 2024 season. They defeated Northfield and Cannon Falls during a year-end event held on Aug. 20 in Northfield. Submitted photo
The Silver Streaks senior softball team from Owatonna finished the 2024 season by taking home a trophy at a year-end event in Northfield on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
The Northfield teams sponsored the event, which included ball games and food afterward.
There were six area teams, with three in the "A" division for younger players and the rest in the "B" division for older players. Owatonna's Senior Silver Streaks “B” team member ages average 74 years with six members over 80.
Each team played two games. In the "A" division, the Faribault team won both games against Northfield and Rochester. In the "B" division, Owatonna’s Silver Streaks defeated Northfield 15-12 in the first game and then defeated Cannon Falls 9-5 in the final to earn their trophy.
Players for the 2024 Silver Streaks included Dan Richter, Jerry Besser, Errol Stillings, Pete Gustafson, Roland Moesler, Ron Dufrene, Steve Halverson, Leslie Partridge, Craig Tidemann, Gary Moore, Richard Quiring, Bill Traetow, Daryl Paulsen, Bill Effertz, Merv Henke, Bill Steinbronnn, Jim Kaplan, Jim Drache, Norman Brown, Roger Skluzacsk, Sarah Schlicker and Scott Reese.
The week prior, the Owatonna Silver Streaks senior softball team traveled to Cannon Falls on Aug. 13, for the last game of the regular league season.
This time, Owatonna’s bats struck first with five runs in the first two innings. With a 5-0 lead, Owatonna came to bat in the third inning and scored another run. As the defense improved, the runs got tougher to add. The Silver Streaks had built a 10-0 lead by the seventh inning and shut out Cannon Falls in the seventh and eighth innings.
Senior softball has a special rule: If the visiting team has a lead after eight innings, they can use the "flip-flop" rule and choose to bat last in the ninth inning. All innings except the ninth have a five-run rule. With the 10-0 lead, Owatonna chose to use the "flip-flop" rule.
Cannon Falls came to bat first and scored three runs with just one out. They scored two more runs before finally making the second and third out to give Owatonna a 10-5 win.