For two seasons, Halo Burger-Foutch Auto Wash was
more than just the one of the most successful teams in
the long history of amateur baseball in both Flint and
Michigan.
Manager Roger Foutch’s clubs were also among the
best in the United States.
Maybe the very best.
In 2001 Halo-Foutch was the undisputed No. 1 team
in the entire country after winning the American Amateur
Baseball Congress’ Stan Musial World Series. And Halo-
Foutch almost became one of six teams to win back-toback
national titles before losing in the semifinals the
following year.
For those exploits, the 2001-02 teams are being
enshrined into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of
Fame.
No team in Flint history had a better two-year run as
Halo-Foutch posted a combined record of 75-7. That’s a
winning percentage of .915.
“No question … they were the best team in the state
of Michigan back to back,” said Foutch, who doubled
as one of the team’s sponsors. “Look back at the
history of the national championships and dating back
to the 1920s, only nine Michigan teams won national
championships and three have come out of Flint.”
None of the nine won back-to-back, which Halo-
Foutch nearly did. And surprisingly, the 2002 team that
didn’t win it all might have been the better of the two
clubs.
Foutch said the thing that helped prepare his team for
the amazing two-year run was a preseason trip to The
Netherlands for an international tournament in 2001.
Although Halo-Foutch posted a 1-7 record in the event,
the competition included professional national teams
from places like Cuba and China.
“That was a great experience,” Foutch said. “That set the tone. We lived together, slept together, ate together.
We played some of our best baseball against good
competition.”
Surprisingly, Halo-Foutch lost its first game after
returning to the U.S., dropping the opener of the City
Baseball League season. But after that, Foutch’s club
didn’t lose another game until the state tournament,
which it didn’t even win.
At the national tournament, Halo-Foutch lost 11-2 to
Atlanta in the championship round before winning a 5-4
rematch the next night to capture Flint’s second national
title in the tournament’s 66-year history
Matt Pearson, who joined Halo-Foutch for the
postseason run, was named the Most Valuable Player
of the national tournament after batting .450, driving in
six runs and hitting three homers, including a two-run
shot in the title game that put his team ahead for good.
He was named to the all-tournament team along with
relief pitcher Shayne Mishler and first baseman John
Faccio, the club’s elder statesmen.
“It was like when Rocky wins the fight,” said Foutch,
whose team lost in the title game three years earlier.
“To walk off the field knowing you’re the last team
standing, I can’t describe the feeling. It’s a feeling of
accomplishment, a feeling of pride … knowing you’re the
best in the United States and Puerto Rico.
