BASEBALL Raiders' success was no surprise
By Vinny Pezzimenti
- vpezzime@centredaily.com
For a program that has been nationally ranked by USA Today, has graduated countless stars — major leaguer Eric Milton and college All-Americans included — and has been led by three steady coaches since 1942, maybe the only missing piece in the collection is a state championship.
CDT/Christopher Weddle
Bellefonte's Bryant James takes a swing against Chartiers Valley during a PIAA Class AA semifinal game at Indiana on Monday, June 8, 2009. CDT/Christopher Weddle
When it came right down to it, that’s what this Bellefonte baseball team was aiming to achieve. And after a come-from-behind 8-4 victory over District 3 Donegal in the PIAA tournament opening round, and then a dominant 7-2 triumph over WPIAL champion Moon in the quarterfinals, it just felt like this band of Red Raiders would be the one to place the final piece of the puzzle.
Even when Bellefonte stepped up to the plate for its final at-bat Monday, trailing Chartiers Valley 3-1 in the semifinals, you figured coach Denny Leathers’ crew would find a way to muster a few runs.
When they didn’t, senior Seth Tressler, who was waiting on deck as the final out was recorded, bent to his knees in disbelief.
“We were better than we played today,” Tressler would say. “Things didn’t go our way.”
How good the Red Raiders actually were would seem debatable, depending on when and where you saw them.
When they clobbered powerful Central Mountain 13-2 on April 28 to chalk up an eighth straight win and improve to 11-2, one could’ve predicted then a long postseason run.
When they lost to a struggling Penns Valley the very next day, commencing a late-season funk, Bellefonte’s standing became very questionable.
Then Indian Valley visited on May 8 and everything changed again. Sporting a freshly cut mohawk and making only his second start of the season, Tressler pitched the Red Raiders to a 4-1 victory, avenging an earlier loss to the Warriors and foreshadowing the team’s playoff march.
Tressler explained that day that the initial plan was to get the new hairdo only if Bellefonte won the District 6 title. Tressler couldn’t wait, and the mohawk become the team’s calling card.
After Bellefonte did indeed win the district crown, a fan yelled, “The power of the ’hawk” as the team celebrated on the Blair County Ballpark field.
More players would follow Tressler. Even fans in Indiana on Monday displayed their mohawks proudly.
In the days before the Red Raiders were to meet Donegal, Tressler said, “Go figure what a little mohawk can do for you.”
Ultimately, the curious cut didn’t push Bellefonte to that elusive PIAA championship. What it did, though, was help contribute to a season and team that will never be forgotten.
“I’ll remember this always,” Tressler said. “This is probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had.”
Senior Matt Fisher agreed.
“It’s a memorable one,” he said. “At the beginning of the year we weren’t quite sure. Then, as the year went on, we just got better and better. I’m glad this was my senior year. It’s one I won’t forget.”
Leathers, who completed his 28th season as Bellefonte’s coach, was most proud of the way this team improved and endured. The Red Raiders (19-7) went into the playoffs as the District 6 Class AAA third seed. They came out of it as undoubtedly one of the top handful of teams in the state.
“We surprised a lot of people,” Leathers said. “I think we did a lot better than people thought that we would do. Our seniors, especially people like Fisher, (Bryant) James and Tressler — all of them — they did a great job. They wanted it. I think they just had a terrific season.”
Indeed, Fisher and Tressler put together seasons that will go down as two of the best in Bellefonte history.
A third baseman headed for Jefferson State Community College (Ala.), Fisher batted .528 with eight home runs, 14 doubles, 29 RBIs and 42 runs scored. Of his 38 hits, 25 went for extra bases.
In addition to going 5-1 on the mound, the Mansfield University-bound Tressler hit .427 with six homers, 31 RBIs and 36 runs scored.
The Red Raiders will also lose standouts James and Frank Parkes, pitcher Cole McClarren and key role player Ian Musser to graduation.
The cupboard is far from bare, though.
Center fielder Ethan Kline and first baseman Jordon Schainholz both had solid junior seasons, and sophomores Robert Gummo (11-2 in two years on the mound), Eric Regel, Matt Watson and Brandon Quay — all of whom led Bellefonte to a state teener league title in 2007 — were also major contributors.
There, of course, will be new faces, one in which Leathers mentioned on Monday after the Red Raiders were frazzled by a left-hander for the final time this season.
Asked why the all-right-handed-hitting Bellefonte lineup struggled with southpaw pitching, Leathers said, “Maybe because we don’t have a lefty on the coaching staff to throw BP. I don’t know. But we will next year. We’ll have somebody that will come in and throw.”
And the push will be on again to complete the collection.
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