Old Bridge Village Rookies win top title
By ANDREA GALABINSKI
nfmneighbor@breezenewspapers.com
Despite an injury plagued year, Old Bridge Rookies Softball Team continued to keep winning, said Team Member Raymond Gagner.
“Again the Rookies won the Mark Ford Softball League with a 18-2 record, and a eight-year reign on the top spot in the league. The Rookies have compiled a 169-13 record over the years, and at one time running of 59 wins in a row.
“We’ve shared or won the Mark Ford Softball League eight years in a row,” he said.
The Mark Ford League consists of 11 teams from North Fort Myers, Old Bridge Rookies, Old Bridge Village People, Sable Springs, Del Tura, Herons Glen, Lake Fairways, Pine Lakes, Six Lakes, Heritage, and two teams from Buccaneer, the Raiders and Pirates.
The Old Bridge Rookies is comprised of all North Fort Myers residents.
“The League is a North Fort Myers League. We – the OBV Rookies – are all from Old Bridge Village community.”
Little did Manager Dennis Driebel know when he, Tom Schneider, Bill Gorham Don Knisley and Bill Crosmas, decided to put a team together from Old Bridge Village Community, the team would end up being so successful, said Gagner.
Driebel admits there were several years of growing pains, without winning many games, but said they were having fun.
“In 2004 with the addition of Ozzie Oswald, Ray Gagner and Bob Letourneau, things seemed to jell and the Rookies won their first of eight years in a row either winning or sharing the top spot in the League,” Driebel said.
Year after year with new additions, along with the base team of players including Don Lippy, Bill Gorham, Bill Crosmas, Andy Riccio, Don Knisley, Schneider and Driebel, the team seems to get better and better.
“Driebel has a knack of finding players from his home state of Wisconsin to fill in the missing parts of the puzzle to refining the team. With the additions of John Heisdorf, Gary Baehler, Mark Hiese, Darwin Durge, and the newcomers, Cris Poskin, Ray Sheldon, and this year’s addition of Jeff Jung really helped due to all the injuries,” Gagner said.
Driebel admits dealing with this group is a lot of fun, but also comes with some sleepless nights preparing for the games in preparing the lineups. Driebel knows every Monday and Wednesday he will get a visit from both Knisley and Gagner, giving their advice and opinions on the strategy of the game.
Driebel is assisted by Andy Riccio, a former player who scouts the other teams and is now bench coach; Bill Crosmas, player coach and Warren Camp player coach.
“Everyone has worked together and helped build this winning team.”
Old Bridge Village Community has two teams, the Rookies and the Village People.
It hasn’t taken the Village People team as long to grow into a respectful team, and they won their division last year. Driebel admits it won’t be long before the two teams are fighting for the top spot in the league.