1966 Port Huron Northern High School Baseball Team

Year Inducted: 2025

Titles were hard to come by in an era when competition in the Eastern Michigan League was controlled by the teams close to Detroit. In the 22 years between 1950 and 1972, only two teams from Port Huron won the coveted EML baseball title. Those two teams were the 1961 Port Huron High School Big Reds and the 1966 Port Huron Northern High School Huskies.

Coached by Robert Clark and Assistant Coach Anthony (Tony) Bonito, the 1966 Port Huron Northern High School Baseball Team became the first PHN Baseball team in history to win the EML title, in only the second year of the team’s existence. The end of the season was highlighted by the team winning seven of the last eight games. The one loss was to a non-conference team. Its title-winning record for the season was 11-3. Prior to 1971, there was no playoff system within the Michigan High School Athletic Association. This left the ‘66 Huskies wondering, “what could have been?”

The team was led by a cadre of strong pitching arms: Stewart Kilbourn, Thomas Stafford, and Gerald Weaver. Thomas Stafford became the first Northern pitcher to fashion a no-hitter in an epic 1-0 battle with East Detroit; Stafford was inducted into the Port Huron Sports Hall of Fame in 2021. High batting averages in the 1966 season were: Gerald Weaver (.538), Michael Angerbrandt (.375), Bernard Spaulding (.360), Daniel Crocker (.357) and Thomas Dagg (.333). Larry Setter and Thomas Stafford were named to the 1966 All-Eastern Michigan League team, with Daniel Crocker receiving honorable mention.

Team members were William Angerbrandt, David Brown*, Daniel Crocker, Thomas Dagg*, David Eppley, Dale Goulette*, Edward Harrison, Daniel Jex, Charles Kelly, Stewart Kilbourn, David King, Frank Mitchell, Robert Papineau*, Gregory Repp, Larry Setter, Bernard Spaulding, Thomas Stafford*, and Gerald Weaver. The team manager was Thomas Riggs.