More on Fostoria

More on Fostoria, 1999

Former Area Duo in Ohio Softball Hall of Fame

Father-son Hall of Fame duo learned many lessons from fast-pitch softball

Article by Justin Moor - Sentinel Staff Writer July 30, 1999

Even though the achievements that made Richard "Rip" Riley Sr. and Dick Riley Jr. one of the two father-son duos inducted into the Ohio Softball Hall of Fame have been reduced to collection of memories and newspaper clippings, the lessons the two have learned from the sport are timeless

As the pair sits down and starts talking, the ticking of the clock seems to start going in reverse. While the journey back begins, men's fast-pitch softball, which is currently on its death bed, slowly begins to take on living form along with the tales of two of the game's legends.

When the time machine arrives at Wayne in 1938, it is the start of "Rip's" fabled career. The seed of the youth's work ethic is born here, where he is pitching for six different teams and it is nothing for him to play three games a day.

As the years and thousands of games go by, all the repetitions has led to many successes on the field. In two of the three national championships tournaments in which he played, Rip managed to throw two no-hitters. When the three time All-American pitched, the catcher put a steak inside of his mitt in hopes that the added padding would take the sting off of Rip's fastball, which was clocked at 104 mph. His fastball resulted in an average of 17 strikeouts a game.

While there was glory being experienced on the field when this accomplished pitcher got placed as the fourth highest ranking player in the nation, disaster had already found its way into Rips home life. This twice divorced father of three realized that his priorities needed to be rearranged.

He said. "Family should be the center of life and sports should be put on the back burner as a hobby."

With this lesson acquired, Rip started to move away from the games, which sometimes had upwards of 7,000 fans in attendance, toward those offspring who had cheered him on long after the stands were cleared.

Dick Jr.was the one who provided his dad with the opportunity to watch a child and remain around the softball field simultaneously. At age of twelve, this little slugger stepped into the spikes of his father determined to one day make them fit.

"The only way to eliminate the fear that existed from other people's standards was to attack them head on by playing the sport.: He said. The attitude resulted in 10 national championship tournament appearances and All-American honors three times over.

In the middle of these accomplishments, this once secular man discovered his spiritual side. he said. "By performing for something other than self-glorification, the accomplishments became more rewarding."

After all this, Dick Jr. realized in 1990 that he had upheld the family honor on the field while keeping up the tradition of learning life lessons.

Now that both of these individuals are retired, men's fast pitch softball struggles to exist, but the memories and timeless principles that these two homegrown Wayne Hall of Famer's have taken from the game are very much alive.