State slowpitch tournies contested two divisions for the first time.

For this edition of Replays, we travel back thirty-five years, revisiting some of the local softball headlines from the summer of 1974.

That season marked the first time the state slowpitch tournaments were divided into two categories -- the Open and Class A divisions. The state A men's tourney was held in Helena, at the two diamonds at Batch Fields, and Kindrick Legion Field.

The Capital City was represented by District champion East Helena ASARCO, as well as Taco Time and Phillips Cloverleaf Dairy.

In A league regular season action, Bill ";Hooter" Houston pitched the win in Taco Time's 8-2 victory over Helena Construction. Houston is now the state director of the Class A Legion baseball program.

ASARCO scored 19 runs in the final two innings to overwhelm Corner Pocket Billiards, 24-7. Tom Mulvaney hit a home run for the winners, while Marty Mouat pitched the win.

Skip Hoveland hurled Tait Pumps to a 4-3 victory over Diehl Development. In Diehl's 14-8 triumph over Heidelburg, Tom Matosich tossed the victory, as both Tom Tillo and Scot ";Scooter" Wordell went yard. Brothers Jim and Chuck Wiseman knocked homers for the losers.

Ken McLaughlin belted two taters to lead Dodge City's 19-1 romp over Tair-Pacific. Bob Conyers was the winning pitcher.

In the men's Open division, during season play, Capital Sports downed Pizza Hut 11-3, behind two home runs by Larry Olson, and another dinger by Pat McCutcheon. Rock Rickman was the winning pitcher.

Hanson's Hardware downed Diehl Development in eight innings, with Dick Westlund on the mound, and Ed ";Bags" Robinson tagging a homer. Sandy MacDonald and Harry Crawford collaborated on the bump in Coke-Helena Sand's 12-9 success versus Tait.

Oly defeated Tait 15-2, as Doug ";Old Man" LeBrun earned the mound victory. LeBrun had played collegiate baseball for the University of Montana. Frank Marron powered a dinger in Dodge City's 9-3 win over the Red Meadow.

In tournament play, Village Inn, the defending state runners-up, placed second at Great Falls' It'll Do Stein Haus event. VI dropped the chipper 12-6 to the Great Falls Sponsors. Local outfielder Neil Horne was selected as the tourney MVP, with teammates Pat Railey and Jim Tuss joining him on the all-tournament team.

At the 32-team Iron Bull Invitational in Billings, Hanson's Hardware won the consolation bracket. Hanson's dropped an 8-6 decision to 1973 Regional champion Buck's Bar of Billings in the opening round, and then won its next three games to capture the consolations.

Left fielder Andy Tucci was named the outstanding offensive player of the tourney.

Dodge City of Helena placed third at the Howard's Pizza-Lariat Bar Invite in Conrad, while landing two players on the all-star team. After dropping its first contest, Dodge City won the next five games, before losing in the conso semis.

Bob Henry and Mike Walchuk were chosen for the all-tourney squad.

Village Inn was an undefeated 23-0 in local competition before being upset by Hanson's Hardware in the District championship. HH shortstop Jim Chambers later played in the national fastpitch championships for a Seattle team, while third baseman John Lagerquist went on to become the radio ";Voice of the Saints."

In men's fastpitch, First Builders of Great Falls copped the 20-team Helena Invitational, defeating GF's Hawk Electric, 6-0 in the finale. Reggie Voiles, Mr. Lucky's catcher, was tabbed for the all-tournament second team.

During the City league season, Jerry Sanderson of Northwestern Bank hurled a no-hitter in a 14-1 win over Capri-O'Tooles-Cheerio. The great Jack Howard spun a shutout in Mr. Lucky's 3-0 triumph over Holiday Inn, the offense being sparked by Dan Lieberg's big fly.

Mr. Lucky's captured the regular season crown, compiling an 18-2 record, and then went on to win the District Tournament. Howard n a former multiple state AAU and Gold Gloves heavyweight boxing champion n fired a pair of 5-hitters in their last two games, as Lucky's prevailed over Clausens-Husky Truck in the winner's semis and the championship, 6-3 and 10-2.

Jim Martin, who was part Helena's 2008 national tournament seniors' team, pitched for the 1974 runner-up Clausen's squad. Mark Blessinger helped The Sponsors to a third-place finish, when he blasted a grand slam home run in a 10-5 win over Holiday-Oly in the consolation quarter-finals.

During the regular season in the women's league, MPS was behind 10-3 to Pepsi Cola, but rallied for three runs in the bottom of the sixth stanza and five more in the seventh, to pull out an 11-10 win. Susan Thompson was the winning pitcher.

House of Wong, behind the hurling of Nelma MacDonald, held off Mr. Lucky's 14-12, despite a 5-run outbursts by the losers in the seventh inning. Capri-Mr. Lucky's downed Village Inn 9-6, with Bonnie Kalaveras on the mound for the win.

House of Wong won the Open district championship, beating ICI in the chipper. The A-league district title was captured by Capri-Mr. Luckys.

Remaining members of the ";A" champs included Marnette Cowles, Debbie Havens, Diane Dietrich, Nikki Norris, Mitzi Lyons, Mary Serati, Denise Smigaj, Kathy Dietrich, Sherry Petek and Veronica Serati. They were coached by Buddy Phillips, Cliff Johnson and Tom Jones.

Prior the state tournament in Bozeman, Capri-Mr. Luckys played a challenge game against a group of A division All-Stars, made up of Leslie O'Neil, Pat Bryant, Kerry Hartick and Sherry Hartford (Truckers); Vi Merritt, Cheryl Hansen, Rosslyn Ingman and Corine Kaufman (Village Inn); Alice Hoover, Dixie Riley, Betty Moe and Terry McCarthy (Pepsi); Debbie Thomas, Patty Blodnick, Colleen Kochivar and Terry Funk (Rialto); and Janet Parsley, Jeanne Yellowtail, Kathy Cardinal and Monica Smith (Indian Alliance).