Ken Deforrest

Was born in Tacoma in 1947 and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1965, where he played baseball and basketball. He took to the diamond as an All-City shortstop at Lincoln High School and played on the Early Construction team, which won league and state championships only to lose in the regional finals to the eventual notional champ from Oregon. Ken played baseball for StaGreen in the AABC Southwest League and won the title. In 1968 he began playing softball and he continued almost every year through 1990. Slow Pitch caught his fancy in 1973 when he was named to the Western Washington League All-Star team. In 1978 he storied the Tacoma Firefighter team sponsored by Foss Tire. He was player-coach and the team won numerous titles including the ASA Industrial District and ASA Industrial Regional crowns. He batted .728 and was voted MVP of the regional tournament, in 1979 he hit .741 and the Firefighters, now sponsored by B&I Sports, claimed district and regional championships again. In 1980 they duplicated that winning record a third time in a row. In 1982 Ken joined Heel Athletic Supply to help win a berth in the USSSA “B” National Finals. 1983 found him up to his old tricks with the Firefighters, winning district and regional honors once more. He was Tacoma’s head coach for the first Fireball Classic in the Tacoma Dome and played on winning teams at that event in both 1985 and 86. In 1985 he played for Lakes Drywall, a combined Police-Fire employee team, and they repeated their success at district and regionals to reach the notional finals at Athens, GA. In 1990 he moved on to the 35 and over ranks where his Haven team won the Washington State USSSA Slow Pitch Championship. Ken was voted to the all-state team. On to the notional tourney in Oklahoma they went where they won their first three games and finishing in the top 10 among SD teams. In four decades of slow pitch ploy he appeared in 7 national tournaments and won all-star and MVP awards in each decade.