Tucson Golden Aces beef up roster for MSBL WS

The Tucson Golden Aces added eight players from out of state in order to beef up its roster for next week's Mens Senior Baseball League (MSBL) World Series in Phoenix. Twenty-two of the ballplayers are from Tucson and include members of the southside Old Pueblo Club and the Tucson Old Timers (TOTS) from the eastside of the town.

The locals include Mike Morales (manager and player), Joe Banner, Frank Castillo, Lou Russo, George Gafner, Marc Sewell, Joe Jimenez, Ozzie Espinoza, John Nowotny, Danny Price, Ernesto Escala, Ron Ward, Arnold Mares, Hector Castillo, Jerry Hamelin, Larry Armstrong, Jeff Helzel, Chico Bigham, Dave Rhoades, Floyd Lance, Arnie White and Tom Barrow.

The out-of-state players include Jay Hayner (New York), Roger Miller (Virginia), Brad Buchan (New York), Ken McGruther (Florida), Tom Hawkins (Virginia), Allan Long (New Jersey), Al Delgado (southern California) and Miguel Barraza (El Paso, Texas).

Play gets underway Monday, Oct. 18, for the Aces in the 60-and-over division and play commences on Oct. 25 for the players involved in the 65-and-over division. The Golden Aces' players participating in both weeks are Morales, Banner, Price, Buchan and Hayner. The oldest player on the Golden Aces this year is Floyd Lance, 85, and he will compete in the 65-and-over division. Lance, a first baseman, would have preferred to play in the 70-and-over division -- the oldest of the MSBL divisions, but was unable to hook up with a team. "There's just not a lot of players in that division," Lance said, recently at a Golden Aces' practice. "I believe there's only four teams participating this year." Lance was born in Glen Gardner, New Jersey on September 6, 1925 and has been a member of the TOTS since 1999.

The Aces kickoff the MSBL World Series on Monday when they tangle with the Tri-Valley Hawks, a team out of southern California, at 10:00 a.m. at the Kansas City Royals spring training facility (annex field #6) in Surprise, Arizona. Bookemdanosports will post the scores and highlight some of the individual accomplishments of the Aces' players as well.