Celebrating with their gold medals are members of the Sun City Cutters, champions of the six-county Senior Olympics softball tournament. Kneeling in front, from left, are Fred Thomas, Glenn Groebli, Olympics official Teresa Grodsky, Bill Gagne, Tom Briglio, Pete Karambelas, and Tom Tobin. Back row, from left, are Harry Dalof, Stan Lempa, Ray Hafertepe, Ed Nastek, Ken Andersen, Matt Barone, and Dennis Kuta. Not pictured is Sam Geati.
SUN CITY – Among the hundreds of softball players in the Sun City Softball League, there are many of exceptional talent who have played on prominent championship teams. Some of them have won distinguished individual awards.
Some of these “best of the best” are members of the Sun City Cutters, one of the best teams ever put together at Del Webb in Huntley. They proved it when they swept through the competition and won the gold medal at the recent six-county Senior Olympics team softball competition. The games were played in Elk Grove Village.
This is a group of men in their 70s and 80s who truly play for the love of the game. Most of them play on several teams, both in Sun City Leagues and on travel teams throughout the Chicago area. Their commitment to the game and to the physical fitness that comes with it is so great that their playing schedules sometimes resemble that of major league baseball players. They can hit, catch, throw, run, and pitch like players half their age, and do them better most of them.
They play slow pitch, Chicago-style softball, which was invented in this area. Years ago, they played without gloves, but today they give in a bit to their age and put them on.
When the Cutters heard last year that Olympics’ officials added softball to the menu of events at each summer’s competition, they made an obvious decision: they had to be there. Glenn Groebli, one of the top players in two Sun City leagues, put together a team of all-stars from Sun City teams, mixed in a couple of Chicago-area players who he plays with on travel teams, and took off for Elk Grove.
One of their pitchers was 85-year-old Pete Karambelas. The other was Harry Dalof. Fred Thomas, Groebli, Bill Gagne, Tom Briglio, Stan Lempa, Tom Tobin, Ray Hafertepe, Ed Nastek, Ken Andersen, Matt Barone, Dennis Kuta, and Sam Geati completed the roster.
They defeated a team from Elk Grove 8-3 in the first game, with Dalof on the mound and then walloped a team from Villa Park in the championship game 15-5. Karambelas was the winning pitcher in the title game. “Pete is amazing; he really is into the game and keeps himself in great shape,” Groebli said. “When we heard about this opportunity, we just couldn’t resist. It was a great chance to compete with the best players in the whole area. It’s something guys like us live for.”
“The Olympics competition is for two age groups, over-60 and over-70,” Groebli said. “It was no problems for us to put together a quality over-70 team.”
Groebli himself is a lifetime softball junkie. In addition to two teams in Sun City, he plays on the Chicago Geezers, a team of 70-year-olds that travels and competes around the country.
The Cutters got their name from their sponsor, Chris’s Lawn Care. “We thought Cutters was an appropriate name in recognition of the organization that sponsors us,” Groebli said.
In Sun City, when someone says, “Softball, anyone?” a lot of guys answer the call. Some of them have gold medals hanging from their necks.
