A former minor league baseball player who played five years for the Detroit Tigers Organization, Carl Solarek turned to playing softball after his stint in baseball ended. He got started in fast pitch in 1972, Solarek earned ASA first-team All-America honors in 1974-76 and 1978 playing for Rising Sun, the Billiard Sunners and the Reading Sunners. With these teams, he was a member of three ASA Men’s Major fast pitch National Championships teams, one runner-up and one third-place. Solarek’s only appearance in ISF World Championship play came in 1976 when Reading, representing the ASA and the USA, shared the ISF Men’s World Fast Pitch Championship in Lower Hutt, New Zealand with Canada and New Zealand. Solarek batted .800 in the event and had a .985 fielding percentage in nine games. In addition to the ISF World Championship, Solarek played in the United States Olympic Festival in 1978 and 1979 and was one of the leading hitters for Billiard Barbell, batting .421 (8-for-19) with four RBI in the latter event in helping the team win the gold medal. In the ‘79 gold medal game against Clearwater, Fla., Solarek went two-for-three, scored a run and drove in a pair of runs on a two-run single in the fourth. Solarek had one of his best national tournaments in 1977 in Midland, Mich., leading Billiard Barbell to the National Title. The championship necessitated two games when Aurora Home Savings and Loan of Aurora, Ill. Handed Barbell its first defeat, 3-0. Led by Solarek in the second game, Barbell emerged with a 4-0 win. Solarek went three-for-three on offense and drove in three of the team’s four runs. He and winning pitcher Ty Stofflet had half of the team’s eight hits. Although Solarek starred in the championship game, he wasn’t named to either of the All-America teams, finishing with a .278 batting average (5-for-18). A year earlier, Solarek had batted .313 in the National tourney to earn first-team laurels. Solarek is a member of five Halls of Fame: Anthracite Basketball, Pennsylvania ASA, District 12 Softball, Berks County Hall and Luzerne County Hall.
