By Dan Nilsen
They can laugh about it now, 20 years later, but the Halo Burger/Foutch Auto Wash baseball team that won the 2005 American Amateur Baseball Congress Stan Musial World Series nearly let it slip away in the title game.
The Flint team was on the brink of clinching its second national championship in five years, having taken the 2001 crown, and nearly winning the 2002 title.
In the 2005 finale, Halo/Foutch sent 11 batters to the plate in the top of the third inning and scored seven runs for a 7-2 lead over Canton, Ohio. Jeff Tanner and Brad Foutch both had two-run singles and Anthony Holyszko a two-run double.
A three-run fourth made it 10-2, but in the bottom of the sixth Canton took advantage of six Halo errors and had eight hits to score eight runs and tie the game at 10-10.
It was a scene right out of the baseball movie “Moneyball,” in which the high-flying Oakland A’s blew an 11-0 lead, only to win the game on a walk-off homer.
Halo/Foutch also battled back, with a run in the top of the seventh to pull out the 11-10 victory. Holyszko led off with a single, and a sacrifice bunt by Joe Funsch turned into a wild throw at first base that left runners at first and third.
Eric Cannon’s sacrifice fly sent Holyszko home with the deciding run.
Scott Gardner earned the victory by working a scoreless seventh inning. Tim McDonald pitched a scoreless eighth, and Shayne Mishler retired Canton 1-2-3 in the ninth for the save.
Holyszko had three hits and three RBI, Darin Dreasky three hits, Tanner two hits and three RBI, Brad Foutch two RBI, Mitch Bohn two RBI. Bohn was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Halo Burger/Foutch Auto Wash became only the second Michigan team to win two national championships in the history of the AABC, which goes back to 1938. Halo also ranks second in history with five regional championships. Kalamazoo Paper won six in the 1940s and one in the ‘50s.
“There’s nothing more satisfying than to walk off the field knowing that you’re the only team left,” said manager and team co-sponsor Roger Foutch, whose 2005 team now joins the 2001 and 2002 teams in the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame. Nine of his players were on all three of those teams.
That final 2005 game wasn’t the only bizarre twist in the four-day tournament at Battle Creek’s Bailey Park.
Halo/Foutch opened the Stan Musial World Series on Friday, Aug. 12, with a crazy, 4-3, come-from-behind win over West Regional champion Novato, California, which was more like a gift.
Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Halo/Foutch got the winning run without any hits. Brad Foutch was hit by a pitch, Funsch reached base on an error, Cannon was hit by another pitch to load the bases, and Dreasky drew a walk to force home the winning run.
The Flint Journal wrote it up as “An undisciplined bit of pitching” by the California team. But a win is a win to Foutch, who phoned in the game details and some quotes for the newspaper.
“It’s satisfying to get to this point,” said Foutch, whose team was making its fifth appearance in the national tournament. “To get here is the hardest part. It’s very relaxing and very baseball, and it’s a lot of fun.”
It wasn’t so much fun the next day, as Halo-Foutch lost 9-2 when Puerto Rico scored all nine runs in the third inning on eight hits and three errors to knock Flint out of the winners’ bracket.
“It’s a long road,” said Foutch. “We have the pitching and stuff, we just have to play better baseball. Our goal is to get to Monday.”
Halo-Foutch did so on Sunday, beating Battle Creek 7-2 in the first game, then edging previously unbeaten Canton 7-6 in nine innings. Dreasky singled home Funsch in the bottom of the ninth.
Monday was the rematch with Canton for the title.
Roger Foutch knew he had the pitching all season. In league play back home, Eric Place threw a 6-inning no-hitter with 11 strikeouts in June.
In July, Place, Terry Owens and Shayne Mishler combined for a one-hitter as Halo/Foutch clinched its 13th straight CBL-West regular-season title. The next day, Dan Garman pitched a four-hitter with 13 strikeouts in a 2-1 win.
In the Stan Musial District Tournament at Broome Park, Halo/Foutch won by scores of 9-2, 3-1 and 12-1. Holyszko had two hits and three RBI in the district final, and Tom Derwin two RBI.
Isaiah Gainforth had two hits and a run scored, and Mike Gates and Tanner each had an RBI in the 3-1 win over the Michigan Bulls.
At the North/Central Regional in Battle Creek, Halo/Foutch opened with a 3-0 win over Battle Creek Bud, then beat Muskegon 7-2 in the second round, scoring two runs in the first, second and third innings each.
The next day, Halo/Foutch was scheduled to play twice against Lombard, Ill., the two-time defending champion. Brad Foutch doubled home three runs in a 10-4 win over the Illinois team.
In the second game, Jay Bobel allowed no runners past first base in another win over Lombard, 8-0. Dreasky had two hits, two RBI, while Foutch again had a double and three RBI.
On Sunday, Halo beat Muskegon 7-4 to win the regional.
Halo went 5-0 in winning its fifth regional in 11 years and first since 2002. Bohn had two hits and two RBI against Muskegon. Brad Foutch had three RBI and finished with 10 in the four-day regional.
“It’s an amazing accomplishment,” said Roger Foutch, who also managed Halo Burger/Foutch Auto Wash to its first crown in 2001. “To win one is hard, but to come back and win another four years later, it’s a remarkable feat. To get here is one thing, but to win it is remarkable. It’s hard to keep a team together. It’s hard to keep a nucleus together.”
It was also Flint’s first national AABC title since the Bishop Construction team won in 1975.
Halo’s final record in 2005 was 20-3 in the City Baseball League-West and 44-11 overall, an .800 winning percentage.
The 2005 championship would be the last for Halo Burger/Foutch Auto Wash. The 2006 team lost in the nationals in Texas. They didn’t get out of the regionals after that, and Foutch and son hung it up in 2008, with an impressive baseball legacy in hand.
Sat. Aug. 13, 2005 paper: Series opener Friday. Halo beats Novato, Calif. 4-3. Score tied 3-3 bottom of 9th, Foutch HBP, Joe Funsch reached on error, Eric Cannon HBP, Darin Dreasky walked to force home the winning run. “It’s satisfying to get to this point. To get here is the hardest part,” Foutch said. “It’s very relaxing and very baseball and it’s a lot fun.”
