CHICAGO — Terry Hayden and Tod Moorhead were teammates for the Niles Merchants baseball team in 1980 and 1981, and after the team disbanded, each went their own way.

Only after recently crossing paths again, they reunited for a week in the Roy Hobbs baseball Sunshine Classic Feb. 10 through 13 in Ft. Myers, Florida, with the Chicago Northstars.

Both players contributed plenty to their team over the week, as Hayden pitched a no-hitter and almost a perfect game, and Moorhead hit .750.

The Chicago Northstars compiled players from Chicago and Michigan to form a formidable team in the Sunshine Classic. The 14-team tournament brought squads from Kentucky, Missouri, Boston and Ohio to participate in six games in four days. 

The Northstars started with a win against the Toledo McGuire team, which had won the tourney last year, beating them 6-2. The following day is when Hayden shined. Hayden proceeded to mow down the Kentucky Yardbirds, throwing a no-hitter with three strikeouts and no walks. Only a late-game error kept him from a perfect game, allowed the only baserunner.

The Northstars finished the week with a respectable 5-1 record.

Moorhead defied opposing pitchers as he hits safely in his first seven at-bats before going on to hit 15-out of-20 with four extra-base hits (.750 average and a .850 on-base percentage). 

Both Hayden and Moorhead teased each other the entire week as each was in awe of one another’s accomplishments.

Through the week, Moorhead and Hayden also teamed up for double plays and a pickoff to help the Northstars stay on a winning path.

“Out of the 40 innings we played, we only had two bad innings [which was our only loss], but the rest was superb ball playing,” Moorhead said.

Both Hayden and Moorhead have been diehard baseball players from an early age.

“The love of the game has never changed,” Hayden said, “It’s our age that makes it more difficult to bounce back from muscle strains, but winter workouts allow us to keep going and are blessed to keep getting back on the field. We play hard each game, because we don’t know when that game could be our last.”

Both Moorhead and Hayden currently participate in several softball and baseball leagues during the summer in Ft. Wayne, Chicago and South Bend.