Robert “Bo” Windy LANNY SLEVIN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Accomplishments ● A 1957 La Salle-Peru
graduate, coached summer baseball for 25 years (19671992) ● Helped start Little League District 20 and served as longtime D-20 administrator ● Driving force behind Peru hosting the Central States Senior League Tournament ● Ran the Central States Senior League Tournament from 1980-92, tournament is still hosted in Peru/Illinois Valley to this day
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
By Brandon LaChance
E
WHERE are they NOW
very summer Peru and Oglesby are flooded with baseball teams from several Midwest states such as Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri and Iowa, among others. The reason is one of the best tournaments in the country – the Central Region Senior League Tournament. If it wasn’t for Bo Windy, the tournament would never have landed in the Illinois Valley, and Peru wouldn’t be classified as a baseball hotbed. “I started coaching with my children on the Minor League team and advanced into the Senior League team, which was 14-15-yearolds,” Windy said. “I took a couple of teams to the state tournament, and I always wondered where that team would go if you won a state tournament. “In 1978, I wrote a letter to the Central States Senior League
20 June 2022 | Illinois Valley Sports Hall of Fame | A NewsTribune Publication
