On This Day: Aurora Sealmasters Complete Incredible Run to 1959 National Championship

On This Day: Aurora Sealmasters Complete Incredible Run to 1959 National Championship

September 29, 1959 — Clearwater, Florida

On this day in fastpitch history, the Aurora Sealmasters completed one of the great comeback runs in ASA Men’s Major Fast Pitch National Championship history.

Aurora’s tournament certainly didn’t begin like a championship run. The Sealmasters lost their opening game, immediately dropping into the loser’s bracket and leaving themselves virtually no margin for error.

Their response? Nine straight wins.

Aurora battled all the way back through the tournament and eventually found themselves opposite the hometown Clearwater Bombers with the national championship on the line.

That’s when pitcher Harvey Sterkal took over.

Sterkal delivered back-to-back 1–0 shutouts against Clearwater to complete Aurora’s remarkable championship run. After shutting out the Bombers in the first championship game, he returned for the deciding contest and threw 10 scoreless innings in another 1–0 victory.

His numbers for the tournament were staggering:

8–1 record | 66 innings pitched | 108 strikeouts

Sterkal was rewarded for the performance by being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and earning First-Team All-American honors.

From an opening-game loss to nine consecutive victories and a national championship, the 1959 Aurora Sealmasters provided a perfect example of why you’re never truly out of a double-elimination fastpitch tournament.

More than six decades later, their run—and Sterkal’s performance in the circle—remain an incredible piece of fastpitch history.

On This Day — September 29, 1959.

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