Ken Algien
As a youngster, and growing up on Pueblo's Eastside, Ken Algien was the young kid in the neighborhood that everyone wanted him to be on their team.
During summer mornings you could find him on an Old Timers baseball field, while the afternoons were filled with Cub Scouts competitions, and his evenings spent competing in the Pueblo County Softball Recreation League on the Risley Junior High School field.
After playing Varsity Baseball for Pueblo East High School and graduating in 1970, he became associated with notable softball teams in Pueblo such as El Nopal, Capritta's Oasis, James Bond Insurance Agency, Blue Knights, Pueblo Suns, and the Pueblo Aztecs. This competition was centered at the El Rey Field, Bessemer Park Independent Leagues, and the Pueblo Softball Association playing at City Park.
His membership on the Blue Knights team lead to a State Championship and his first appearance in a world tournament in Kimberly, Wisconsin.
Playing for the Pueblo Aztecs, his team won another State Championship and garnered a seventh-place finish in the World Championship Tournament in Bakersfield, California. As a member of the Pueblo Suns, that notable team won two State Championships and appearances in World Tournaments held in Wisconsin and Iowa.
As a recipient of numerous All-Tourney and Most Valuable Player awards, Ken was more focused on being a team leader, good citizenship characteristics, and most importantly, a team player.
To quote a statement in one of his PSHOF recommendation letters, "As a foe, Ken was always a hitter that you did not want to see at the plate, and as a fielder, you were much better off hitting the ball somewhere else."
These are the kinds of details that make Ken Algien special. The kind of details that earn a man a spot in the Pueblo Softball Hall of Fame.
Timmi Jo Miller-Lisac
Joining her fellow high school teammate into this year's softball hall of fame class is Timmi Jo Miller-Lisac, who along with Tia Morenz enter the 2019 Pueblo Softball Hall of Fame. She began her softball career at a very young age and progressed to playing for the prestigious Pueblo Stingers softball team. It is noted that her coaches for this team consisted of her father Tim along with 2011 Hall of Fame inductee Lee Poteet.
She began her high school playing days as a freshman at Pueblo County High School where she lettered in both softball and basketball and was named to the South-Central League's All-Conference Second Team in softball. At the start of her sophomore year, she moved on to play at South High School where she lettered in both softball and basketball and earned First Team All-Conference and All-State honors in softball. Her most prolific achievements occurred during her junior and senior years where she helped the Colts win the 1994 Colorado State Softball title playing for the late 2015 Pueblo Softball Hall of Fame coach Jim Maldonado. Both years were rewarded with First Team All-Conference and All-State selections along with being named the 4A "Pitcher of the Year" by the Denver Post.
Upon her graduation, she enrolled at Colorado State University-Pueblo where she earned the Female "Athlete of the Year" award in 1996. Timmi Jo was recognized by the Greater Pueblo Sports Association in 1995 by receiving the Brian McCartney Award for the Most Outstanding Pueblo High School Female Athlete.
After college, she gave back to her community by coaching the Pueblo Stingers girls' softball team for nine consecutive seasons.
Timmi Jo was inducted into the Greater Pueblo Sports Association Hall of Fame in 2017.
Tia Morenz
The majority of the top female athletes to come from Pueblo began their athletic careers at a very young age. This can be said about Tia Suzanne Morenz who started playing at age four in the Pueblo Parks and Recreation t-ball program. As she grew older, she became one of a very few girls to play in the city-wide Old Timers Baseball League, playing mostly with boys. As she progressed into softball, she played catcher and outfield from l 988-1994 with the Pueblo Stingers and the Denver Diamonds club softball team along with playing on Pueblo South High School's girls softball team.
As a member of the Pueblo South High School girls softball team, she earned four varsity letters, twice named to the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post Defensive Player of the Year award, earned the Colorado Women's Sportsman of the Year award, led the South Colts to the 4A State Girls Softball Championship in 1993, and tied a national record for most stolen bases (76) a single season. Tia was also a member of the 1992, 1993, and 1994 South High School Girls Basketball team that won consecutive State titles under the direction of Coach Jim Harrison. Tia was also recognized by the Greater Pueblo Sports Association in 1994 by receiving the Brian McCartney Award as the Most Outstanding Pueblo High School Female Athlete.
Upon graduation from South High School, she signed a full-ride scholarship to play softball at the University of Hawaii. While playing at Hawaii, she earned multiple awards, including batting average, hits, runs, doubles, stolen bases, fielding percentage, put outs, and assists. The percentages, which are too numerous to list, led to her selection as a member of the Louisville Slugger Division I AllAmerican Second Team. This selection was only the second one in the school's history. She also received many accolades in the Big West and Western Athletic Conferences, along with several Most Valuable Player awards to add to that In 1998, she was drafted by the Georgia Pride of the Women's Professional Fastpitch League and was invited to a trial for the 2000 Olympic team. She was inducted into the University of Hawaii's Athletic Hall of Fame where her number 24 jersey was retired.
Today, Tia is a teacher and the Activities Director at Platteville Middle School in Greeley where she founded the FEVER Fastpitch Softball Organization which works with 10-18 year old girls to help them gain skills to play at a higher level including college softball.
Joe Scalese
Joe Scalese enters this hall of fame in three categories that depict the contribution that a person makes to the sport of softball. Those categories are as a player, a coach, and an umpire.
Joe's involvement with the sport began when he started playing in the C.F.&I. League and the Catholic Church League, at various fields around Pueblo. Most notably, the El Rey Field, Giadone's Field, and the memorable "Hole" in City Park. Along with the period of playing the sport, he also found time to serve as an umpire.
Upon his exit as a player, he decided to put together a group of young rag-tag athletes who blossomed into being very excellent softball players. In fact, several of these players have already been enshrined into the Pueblo Softball Hall of Fame and the American Softball Association Hall of Fame.
Playing under the sponsorship of teams such as Stifino's Blue Lady, and Hole in the Wall, Joe led his teams to several City League Championships, six Colorado State Titles, and appeared in six International Softball Congress World Championship Tournaments. Participating in the Colorado Traveling League, this team would play five or six games on any given weekend in cities like Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and El Paso. I.S.C. World Championship Tournament play took them to Kimberly, Wisconsin; Bakersfield, California; and Aurora, Illinois.
Through his individual generosity of raising money to fund all this travel, his dedication to the sport, and his tenacity as a coach created one of the finest men's fastpitch teams to ever come out of the City of Pueblo.
Throughout this ten-year span, Joe accomplished all of this along with running a very successful business by the name of T &S Excavating.