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| Image courtesy Dan Bretta |
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| Image courtesy Dan Bretta |
In 1956, minor league baseball returned to Superior. The town had a team in the Nebraska State League during the leagues first incarnation from 1910-1914. The town was the smallest in the league with a population of only 3,200 in 1956. Superior boosters purchased 250 season ticket books on the first day of sales. They wound up with 559 total season ticket holders. Their largest crowd showed up on the last day of the season when 1,882 fans filled the stands and bleachers.
Superior played at Brodstone Memorial Field. The diamond was one of three in the league that did not have a grass infield.
The team was managed by Charles Ray Baker and it was a farm club of the Washington Senators. Charles managed the Senators for two years then he was replaced by Hal Keller for the 1958 season.
Superior played on one of the three diamonds in the league without a grass infield. Opening day saw Ms. H. C. Hanna, mayor of Superior, throwing out the first pitch.
The Senators were never very competitive in the league and their fifth place finish was their best finish during the three years they were in the league. For the season they managed a 34-29 record and wound up 7 games out of first place. The team was first in batting for the year and first in fielding also. Their lack of pitching depth hurt them in August and they were unable to stay with Lexington.
Roster:
The rest of the infield was split between a number of players. Norbert Krings played 39 games at second and averaged .307. Floyd Hiney was at second for 24 games, third for 15 games and played some games in games in the outfield. Tom Mieczkowski played 36 games at third and 19 at short and averaged .223. Don Dantoni alternated at short and third with Mieczkowski. He was second on the team in batting with a .333 average
The Senators had an all star catcher with Ed Stogoski handling the mask chores and averaging a health .329 for the season.
George Harbold was a consistent presence in the outfield and averaged .278. He was joined by Gary Embleau who also averaged .278. In addition, Don Stunoff played in the garden for 23 games with a .193 average and Robert Scheyli played in half the games and averaged .206.
Pitchers:
The Senators had a five man staff who handled most of the pitching chores
for the team. William Felker was 7-6 with 18
appearances. Dayton Stone pitched in 20 games and had
a 6-2 record. Harold Blackwelder was 7-4 in 16 games.
The pitching chores were handled by Jerry Leak 16
times and he managed a 7-5 record. William Sheffield was
3-5 for the year.