It all started in 1981 for Ted Mahan and the
Centilli and Grossi Connie Mack baseball team. That summer,
Mahan coached the summer league baseball team to a thirdplace
finish in the American Amateur Baseball Congress
Connie Mack World Series.
But, with most of the high school players returning to form
a 16-man roster the next summer, Mahan knew he would
have a collection of talent capable of competing with some of
the best teams in the country.
So, with a team made up of only Genesee County ball
players, the Centilli and Grossi baseball team went one step
further the next season, taking second in the Connie Mack
World Series, falling in extra innings to the team from Joliet,
Ill. While the team fell short of their goal of a national title,
Mahan said the team is one of the best he has ever coached,
including squads at Davison, the University of Michigan and
Michigan State.
The 1982 Centilli and Grossi Connie Mack baseball
team will be inducted into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall
of Fame’s Class of 2012 for their success during the 47-13
season.
“Every kid was from Genesee County and that is amazing,
to play with teams from around the country and every kid is
from Genesee County,” Mahan said. “It was the cohesiveness of the unity. They didn’t care who got the big hit or the big play
as long as we won. We were talented too, with about eight
or 10 players going on to play in Division 1, but I’ve coached
for almost 40 years and that summer with those guys was
special.”
The Connie Mack baseball league was for players from
age 16 to 18 and Mahan’s squad was made possible by
sponsors Bob Centilli and Joe Grossi, who also helped bring
the best players together on one team. The team played in
the Flint Connie Mack League as well as the men’s league,
playing against older players during the summer.
Still, Centilli and Grossi held their own, winning the Flint
Connie Mack League as well as the east division of the men’s
league before going on to win the district tournament in Flint
and the regional tournament in Marshall to earn their trip to
the World Series.
