Clarinda A's Baseball

Ed Briggs became the manager of the A's in 1960 and the first real effort was made to make Clarinda Baseball Day a big community event - one that continues today. A board of directors was also formed to pr9mote just baseball. Members of the initial board were Lyle Fann, Orval Ridnour, Laurence Higgins, Vernon Hamilton, Bill Bench and Merl Eberly. The team won the American Legion sponsored tournament here that season and finished with a 19-4 record.

1961 found Clarinda joining the oldest semi-pro league in the area - the Nodaway Valley League. The finished second and again won the Clarinda Legion Tournament. Under new manager Merl Eberly, they finished with a 28-8 record.

In 1962 Clarinda won the NVL title reeling off 14 straight and posting an overall record of 30-4. Their 1963 mark was 36-10 and the third place league finish in 1964 was the lowest ever for Clarinda while showing an overall mark of 26-17 and they continued downhill in 1965, posing only an 18-14 mark. The arrival of a young left-handed pitcher by the name of Scotty Kurtz started the A's back to the top. Another young pitcher, Curt Lantz, along with veteran Virgil Briggs drove the team to a 20-10 year in 1966.

1967 was the first NBC State Tournament appearance and also Clarinda's first encounter with the National Baseball Congress that has now become such a big part of the overall A's program. Clarinda, using their fine pitching claimed a third place in the state and were 27-4 for the season.

Clarinda won the 1968 NVL crown going 16-0 and used balanced hitting and strong pitching for an overall record of 28-5. 1969 highlights were a second place finish at the state NBC tourney, beating West Des Moines 10-1, Boone 7-2 and Nevada 1-0, before losing in the finals 5-3 to Fort Dodge.