
Dave Meltz, left, and Neil and Ginni Jones were at the 2016 Raymond Angulo Men’s Memorial Fastpitch Tournament, Sept. 3-4. Meltz pitched for Redline, while Neil Jones pitched and played the infield for Streamline 55-Older Masters team. The three are long-time friends who once lived in Wisconsin, but now Meltz lives in So. Calif., and the Jones’s live in Las Vegas. Photo By BOB OTTO
LAS VEGAS – There are sports buffs who will do just about anything to satisfy their particular passion. Neil Jones is one of them.
Back in the early 1970s while a student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Jones happened by a softball diamond, saw some guys playing fastpitch, and thought, “this looks like fun.” So he joined a team and started playing. And he’s never stopped.
In fact, several years later, he went into business and bought a tavern – the Diamond Inn – in Deerfield, just outside of Madison.
He could have continued driving the 21 miles to Madison to play fastpitch. But he had a better idea: Build his own ball diamond at the inn.
“I wanted my field of dreams,” said Jones.