On the final bus ride home, the game ball was dropped out the window and never seen again.
That was about the only mistake the Bentley High baseball team made in 1973.
The Bulldogs were nearly flawless otherwise in rolling up a 22-6 record and winning the Class B championship, the first state title in school history.
With major-league prospect Gary Conn and Rich Tessner on the mound, and a sound defense behind them, Bentley won six tournament games by a combined score of 21-2.
The Bulldogs’ only weakness was hitting, with just two players batting over .300. But they knew how to manufacture runs and score when they had to.
I always figured if we could get a run or two lead, we were in good shape,” said Bentiey coach Jim Vukovich. When you have somebody like Conn that averages 12 strikeouts a game, and Tessner with 10, that doesn’t leave you many outs to go.
Conn was simply overpowering, with a 90-mph fastball that he threw 90 percent of the time. He went 12-0 with a 0.42 earned-run average and recorded 145 strikeouts in 83 innings, nearly two per inning. He had two no-hitters as a senior, three for his career.
Scouts swarmed to his games, as many as 17 in one day, and the Milwaukee Brewers gave him a $30,000 bonus to sign right after the state championship game.
I was really blessed with a good arm,” said Conn, who was throwing smoke in sixth grade. It was just God-given talent.”
Tessner wasn’t nearly as fast, but had a natural sink on his fastball that netted a lot of ground balls. The sophomore right-hander started slowly but soon became as unbeatable as Conn. Both had excellent control, and catchers Mike Minock and Dave Kammerzell handled them well.
The defense took care of the rest.
It was one of the lowest error totals I’ve had on any ball club,” Vukovich said.
Tessner and second baseman Mark Spencer both hit over.300, but the team average was under .280. Those were the days of wooden bats and no designated hitter, and the Bulldogs also say Vukovich was stingy with his score keeping.
But he was big on fundamentals.
We could bunt, steal and hit-and-run,” said Spencer.
“We knew how to produce runs.”
The rest of the starting infield had lead off hitter Ken Sutkowi at third base, Doug July at shortstop and either Conn or Tessner at first base. Tom Gilbert joined his twin brother Tim in the outfield, along with left fielder Gordon Hesse.
The Bulldogs started slowly at 4-4 but won the County B League by three games, even though Conn sprained an ankle May 21 and sat out the last two weeks of the regular season.
He was still limping in the district tournament, but fired a three-hitter to beat Mt. Morris 5-1 for the title after Tessner had three-hit Frankenmuth 1-0 in the semis.
The regional at Hamady High was a Duel of aces” between Ainsworth’s Glen Slater, and Conn.
Conn beat him 1-0 as both hurlers tossed four-hitters. That was one of the most pressure-packed moments I’ve ever been in because Glen Slater was my cousin,” said Spencer, who singled off Slater in the first inning and scored the game’s only run on Tessner’s double. If we had lost, I believe Ainsworth would have won the state.” Bentley then bombed Lowell 11-0 to reach the final four at Wyandotte Roosevelt.
Rain pushed the games to Monday, June 18, and Conn tossed a 2-1 one-hitter at Pinconning in the morning. Tessner then three-hit Romeo 1-0 in the title game, with the final out coming on a dropped third strike that Minock had to throw to Conn at first base to end the game.
Minutes later, Conn was in a limousine, signing with the Brewers. Then, on the team bus, he teased Tessner by holding his glove out the window, not realizing the game ball was inside.
“Oh please, don’t,” Tessner cried as the ball fell out and bounced down 1-75 near Tiger Stadium.
At first they all thought it was funny, but they didn’t realize it was the game ball,” said Tessner. Oh well.”
Tessner went on to lead Bentley to another state title in 1975, the second and last one for Vukovich.
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