Sports Editor
Wednesday, February 12, 1958
The Daily Reporter
Dover, Ohio
WITH THE COUNTY TOURNAMENT at hand it's time to dust off the record book!
STRASBURG TIGERS - The Tigers are the current leader by about a mile in the number of Tournament Championships won. The Bengals, who grabbed their 1st Trophy in 1923, first year of the tournament and has won 14 titles in all. Their last was in 1955. Three other time they were the runner-ups.
MIDVALE BLUE DEVILS - The Blue Devils, the current pre-tournament favorite, has salted away 7 titles and on 7 other occasions were 2nd best. The Diablos are 2nd only to Strasburg in the number of appearances in the finals.
THE OTHER FELLOWS - The Gnadenhutten Indians, which took the title last year, has won 5 crowns, the Sugarcreek-Shanesville, now Garaway, captured four, the Tuscarawas Broncos and Bolivar Cardinals, now part of the Tuscarawas Valley Trojans, 2 each and the Stone Creek Golden Panthers and Dennison Railroaders one each.
That leaves the Baltic Eagles and Port Washington Purple Riders as the only teams which haven't won, excluding Tuscarawas Valley and Garaway. The Eagles have appeared only twice in Championship games and the Purple Riders have never been in the finals. However, Port Washington did win the Consolation Division Championship in 1956.
THE YEAR FOR THE BIGGEST ATTENDANCE of the tournament was in 1954 when 7,271 fans made it through the doors of Dover's Memorial Hall. That year the Tuscarawas Broncos, with Terry Deems aboard, copped the Championship, while the Strasburg Tigers were runner-up and the Baltic Eagles were the Consolation Division winner. The attendance in 1954 bested the mark of 7,268 in 1949 when Midvale bested the Mineral City Tigers in the tournament finals and Sugarcreek-Shanesville walked off with the Consolation Division Title. No attendance figures were kept between 1923 and 1930, but the lowest on record was in 1934 when only 2,818 attended.
SCORING RECORDS are not well kept, but it is doubtful that if anyone has ever come really close to the 50 points scored by Ed Bates of Port Washington last year. Bates got that many in the Purple Riders' 105-74 romp over Baltic. The 45 points scored by the Dover Tornadoes' Jake Lengler in the 1950-51 season against the Coshocton Redskins was Memorial Hall's previous mark. Bates also went over the 44 points racked up by Jerry (Goose) Von Kaenel of Strasburg against Midvale in the 1955 tournament.
The Port Washington Purple Riders' scoring machine...Ed Bates (50 Points...1958)
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