Schenck still strong on the mound at 41

By Jeff Hare, Correspondent

Competitive baseball may be a young man's game. Just don't tell Dave Schenck of Anamosa.

The 41 year old Schenck recently pitched his Red Top team to the Iowa Valley League title, defeating Watkins 10-1 in the championship game.

“You can say, the old man led the way,” Schenck said, laughing.

“I went eight innings in the final game and wanted to finish up, but wasn't able to. But I am real pleased with the way it all turned out.”

Though he does pitch a great deal, Schenck isn't about to miss out on the fun when he's not on the mound.

“When I started playing in high school (at Dubuque Hempstead), I was in the outfield,” he said. “Then in college at Kirkwood, and Upper Iowa, I moved to shortstop. Now mostly I play first base.

“As much as I like to pitch, I also enjoy playing in the field.”

On the mound, Schenck likes to take control.

“Mostly I hit locations and try to throw a lot of strikes,” he said. “I try to rely mostly on my fastball to get me through. However, I do have five different pitches that can I can throw. They are the fastball, curve, slider, change up and knuckleball.”

Age does have one drawback.

“After pitching, the next day my whole body aches,” Schenck said. “I have developed a routine that I like to do to work through it, with some light throwing, that type of thing. I do get sore.”

His highlight this season was easy to pick.

“This year I had the thrill of playing with my 18-year-old son,” he said. “Before I hang it up, my goal is to also play with my 12-year old, and finally with six-year old twins. I may not be able to throw then, but I still want to be in the game, and be on the field with them.