2017 Male Player: Scott Spoolstra

Scott Spoolstra

In 1993, Scott “Spooly” Spoolstra started playing softball with his buddies on the Kamikazees during which time they won the Class C Illinois State Championship. They went on to capture the Divisional Championship in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Scott was named MVP for both of these tournaments. That same year, they placed fifth in the World Series in Las Vegas. Over the next 12-year span, Scott played on teams such as Ken’s Beverage, Tron Piping, Extreme Easton and Kings. He also played for Belcher’s Construction, his favorite sponsor. In the course of those years, Spooly made multiple All-Tournament selections. Scott learned from and was honored to play with such outstanding teammates as Brian Schultz, Jim Cushing, John Kramer and Brian Floeckher, just to name a few.

One of Scott’s most memorable experiences was beating Hague, the defending Major World Series Champions, twice in the same year when he was playing with Belcher’s. We were getting shut out and a no hit going into the fifth inning, needing to score a run to avoid slaughter. Coming back, scoring runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to defeat Hague, helping the team win that tournament in Springfield, Ohio. That same year, Belcher’s played Hague in Milwaukee and beat them in extra innings.

While playing outfield, Scott posted an estimated batting average of .650 and hit over 500 home runs. That kind of production landed him on many state, national and world tournament teams. When asked, “How would you like to be remembered as a player?” he answered, “That I gave 110% every time I stepped on to the field, my leadership and how I treated my teammates with respect.”

2017 Male Player: Matt Myers

Matt Myers

Matt Myers was raised on a farm in Southern Illinois. He says, as a boy, he didn’t have anybody to play ball with so he spent hours throwing the ball in the air and catching it. “I also improvised using a chicken house roof for a pitching machine. As the ball rolled off of the roof, I hit it against the wall destroying many balls,” he said.

Matt played slow pitch for over 20 years, 12 of those years with the Hecker Loggers, a Southern Illinois powerhouse team during the 70s and early 80s. Matt was an integral part of the success of the Loggers team. The Loggers played in USSSA Divisional and World Tournaments every year from 1975 to 1982, finishing in the top five several times. In the Cincinnati, Ohio Central Divisional Tournament in 1979, Matt hit .700 while his team battled back to a fourth place finish after losing their first game. Also, in Milwaukee in 1980, Matt hit .690 to help his team finish fifth in the Divisional Tournament. In 1978 at a very competitive Worth Invitational Tournament in Tullahoma, Tennessee, the Loggers finished in the top ten where Matt hit .650. In 1980, Matt was picked for the All-Tournament Team after hitting .650 with seven home runs in the Taylorsville, Illinois USSSA World Tournament Qualifier.

Matt was an outstanding right center fielder making very few errors in his USSSA career. He batted .590 over his career and pounded out over 600 home runs. He was an All Star in several leagues, receiving awards for batting average and home runs.

This new Hall of Famer contests that playing USSSA softball with the Loggers was the best experience of his softball career. “I loved the competitiveness of the teams, leagues and tournaments and how the whole USSSA organization was run,” Matt stated. “I ow my softball success to the Loggers’s Manager Rich Kaiser and my teammates.

2017 Male Player: Terry Dunn

Terry Dunn

Terry began playing softball in the early 80s, but would like to recognize Brian Campbell for getting him started in USSSA softball in 1988 when he joined the Steamers. A few years later, Terry would join Home Run Inn in 1990, which produced USSSA B State titles in 1993 and 1994, and a fourth-place finish in the Great Lakes National Tournament in 1995. Home Run Inn would also finish runner-up in the 1997 Class B State Tournament.

While he continued winning USSSA B State tiles with Creative Design in 2005 and KBI in 2008, Terry would add a 40+ USSSA Would Series in 2010 in Arizona.

Former teammate Alex Wanless added, “Terry stood out in many ways: he was a fierce competitor and in over 25 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make a mental error in the outfield. He was a player with an abundance of physical tools; could hit for power and average and was extremely fast with great instincts.”

Terry says that USSSA softball has given him the ability to play with and against the best players in the game. In addition, great friendships and memories have been built over the years. Today, Terry enjoys playing Senior softball and hopes to continue playing for many years to come.