Indiana Magic History

Magic History

In 1984, Frank Knox and his wife Dorothy put together  a team to play in the Indiana State tournament.  It went by the name of the Morris Bryant Raiders.  When this first “Magic” team was formed, there were no traveling teams anywhere in the Lafayette and surrounding area.  It was the one and only time we played together as a team.  The following year, we became a traveling team and won the State Tournament. In 1985 when our 18-Under team won the state tournament, it was the one and only year an Indiana champion did not have a direct bid to the Nationals.  The direct bid is based on the number of teams registered in a given state.  As a result of an oversight, many of the registrations from Indiana were not mailed in on time. 1987 was the first year for a trip to the Nationals for our program.  Our program's first game in a National Tournament was in 1987 when we played the Gordon Panthers in Lodi CA.  We lost 3-0.  Their pitcher was Lisa Fernandez, one of the pitchers on the USA Olympic Gold Medal Team.  Indiana Magic 18-U has also played against Jenny Finch many times and although we have never beaten her we came close a time or two. In 1988 a 16-Under team was added to the program. In 1989 a 14-Under team was fielded. We began play under the name Indiana Magic Limited in 1990.  A 10-Under team was fielded in 1990, but only played in a few tournaments and did not participate in state. In 1991 a 12-Under team was added to the program The Indiana Magic Pin was written up in Fast Pitch Magazine as the third most popular trading pin in the 1994 season. All of the trophies from State Championships and Tournament Championships won between 1985 and 1994, for all age groups, were housed in large trophy cases at Morris Bryant Smorgasbord.   All were lost in the fire that destroyed Morris Bryant Restaurant on April 23, 1994. In 1996, a 10-Under team was fielded. Our best National finishes were 2nd place NSA in 2000 and 3rd place ASA  in 1995.  We have also had numerous top 20 finishes. In 2005 Frank Knox was inducted into the Indiana ASA fastpitch Hall of Fame. in 2008, the Indiana Magic became the first and only Junior Olympic Organization in the state to be inducted into the Indiana ASA fastpitch Hall of Fame...