By Keith Groller | OF THE MORNING CALL
After back-to-back postponements, the skies cleared and some local softball stars came out to shine Friday night at Pates Park as the Lehigh Valley Softball Hall of Fame held its ninth induction ceremony.
The five new inductees include Dave Bilger, Dale Culton, Lisa ”Noisy” Sommer, Sally Whittaker-Kahan and Brent Windsor.
With their induction, the hall of fame now has 49 members.
Here’s a look at each inductee:
Dave Bilger began pitching at age 11 in the Allentown Church League and began pitching in the Allentown City League at age 16.
Bilger won the City League title three times with the Allentown Patriots and was a member of seven title teams overall. He was also a member of three Pates state title teams.
In addition to the Pates, he pitched for several other local teams and squads from outside the Lehigh Valley.
He was the winner of the Brey Brennan Award, saluting him as the outstanding City League player of the year.
When his playing days were over, Bilger served as Salisbury High’s pitching coach for six seasons and also gave pitching and hitting lessons to high school players from throughout the Lehigh Valley.
Dale Culton has made his mark as a player, manager, umpire and innovator for the last 45 years.
He was a starter on some of the Allentown Patriots’ outstanding men’s teams from 1965-1971, helping them win five state championships and finish third and fifth in national tournaments. He helped the team win five state championships, playing on the same powerful roster that included local legends such as hall of famers Ty Stofflet, Dale Miller, Art Weida, Dick Bingel and Jack Ohl, among others.
From 1975-1995, he was a player-manager for teams such as Crest Sporting Goods, Wessner Beverages and The Brass Rail, all teams that won Allentown City titles.
In 1996, after 31 years as a player and manager, he became a men’s and women’s fastpitch umpire.
Later, he became involved with umpire safety, inventing his own protective gear. He attained trademarks and patents for several new-concept chest protectors, shin guards and compression shorts. His gear is worn by thousands of umpires worldwide.
Windsor made his mark as one of the area’s finest men’s fastpitch pitchers for more than two decades and also as one of the area’s top girls softball’s assistant coaches.
As a player, Windsor pitched for 23 years, finishing in 1995. He was one of the game’s best in that era, pitching for the Federation of Eagles Club, the Algemeiner Club, the Catholic War Vets, the Patriot Kings, Patriot Aces, Crest Sporting Goods, Wessner Beverages, The Brass Rail, Faust Auto and All Seasons.
Brent Windsor was also an assistant coach for 17 years, seven at Allen with hall of fame coach Ed Stinner and then another 10 at Parkland with Glen Ray, who is also a previous hall of fame selection.
At Allen, he was a member of the staff that won the 1990 state title. At Parkland, he was a member of state title staffs in 1995 and ’98. He was also influential as a youth coach, working with the state championship Renegades program led by hall of fame coach Terri Adams, as well as the Allentown Stars and The Extreme.
keith.groller@mcall.com, 610-820-6740