1982 VARSITY BASEBALL

Front row:  Bob Gable, Doug Furness, Mark McClintock, Roger Riegel, Ed Dolson, Rabdy Spurlock; 2^nd row:  Kathy Badger, Doug Cassell, Shawn Abner, Ron Ney, Scott Middlekauff, Dave Pellowitz, Mike Parsons, Bill Sauve, Betsy Boswell; 3^rd row:  Coach Sauve, Mike Dietrich, Dan Jones, Bill Price, Kevin Connor, Chris Bowen, Tom Levosky, Mike Teeter, Ryan Priest, Coach Shirley

The beginning …

Athletes Spring Forward into Upcoming Season

            Mandatory practice for all baseball players not involved in basketball or wrestling began on February 23.  Potential players began extensive training the first night in an effort to become a member of the highly touted Wildcat baseball team.  After about two weeks, final teams were chosen for varsity and junior varsity.

                Head baseball coach Donald Shirley says, "I hope the hard work will produce a successful season."  They have approximately 12 players returning to varsity.  Tomorrow they host Palmyra for their sixth game.

(April 7, 1982 Torch)

Capital Area Long on Experience this Year

            Despite the wealth of experience, the Patriots have to stretch things to match Don Shirley's Mechanicsburg outfit which features 12 veterans.

                "We didn't' lose that many seniors and used a lot of different people depending upon who was hitting," explained Shirley, whose club was a solid 14-8 last year.  "We did lose a big gun in Ben Abner, but his brother Shawn (a sophomore outfielder) hit .420 as a freshman and (senior shortstop Ryan) Priest hit .430."

                Senior Bob Gabel and junior Randy Spurlock also played in the outfield last season with Ron Ney. Ney, a junior righthander, returns to mound duty, too, with seniors Dan Jones and Kevin Connor.  Junior Mike Teeter and senior Chris Bowen both played first base last year, and junior Scott Middlekauff still is battling senior Tom Levosky for that second base slot.  Senior Mike Deitrich is back at the hot corner.

                Other veteran-laden outfits include Palmyra and Susquehanna Twp.

(April 3, 1982  Patriot  News)

Trojans Drop Wild Game

In the bottom of the second inning at Henninger Field Monday afternoon, there were whispers that the Chambersburg-Mechanicsburg baseball game would not make it to the sixth inning.

                The way the Trojans were hitting the ball, some conjectured that the 10-run rule used in high school baseball would surely stop the massacre the Trojans were putting on the Wildcats.

                But as things turned out, after Mechanicsburg posted 12 runs in the fifth and sixth innings, someone reiterated that maybe the 10-run rule would still be enforced.  Only, this time, it would favor Mechanicsburg.

                Well, the game finally went the full seven innings, and the Wildcats were able to fend off a Trojan seventh-inning rally to post a 15-11 non-league baseball triumph.

                "A team that has a lead like that tends to sit on it," Wildcat coach Don Shirley said, referring to the Trojans' 7-0 second-inning advantage.  "They started hitting the ball like crazy.  I didn’t' think we'd ever get them out."

                True enough.  Of the seven Trojan hits Monday, five were in the first two innings.  The Trojans walloped three home runs and a triple that accounted for seven runs.

                Trojan third baseman Denny Little got his team out of the gate by driving a 2-2 Mark McClintock delivery over the fence in left-center for a 1-0 lead in the first.  It was the first of three Trojan blasts that would find their way to the Pet Ritz building.

                The Trojans then broke loose for six runs in the second as they chased McClintock. Jerry Howe started the attack with a single to right.  He was forced at second on a John Werteen infield bouncer, but Tim Stonesifer drew a walk to give the Trojans a pair of baserunners.

                Designated hitter Dave Rajtik then cleared the bases with the team's second homer of the day, this one down the left field line.

                Kent Garman kept the inning alive by getting hit by a pitch.  Jeff Gipe's walk preceded Gary Best's two-run standup triple to the right center field alley.  Best then scored on a Little single to center for a 7-0 Trojan lead.

                But the pitching and the defense did not hold up for the Trojans, who committed three more errors and four sixth-inning walks to start, and keep alive, two Wildcat outbursts.

                "Wild game, huh?" smiled Chambersburg coach Bob Thomas.  "Other than hitting, we didn’t do a whole lot right." 

                "There were some good plays (on defense), but there were some plays we didn't' make that we should have that let them into the game."

                Two good plays in the fifth inning offset a pair of throwing errors that kept a four-run Wildcat inning from becoming a laugher.

                Following a leadoff single and a run-scoring Trojan error, Mechanicsburg's Andy Sheely roped an RBI single to center.  The throw home from Gipe was cut off by Little at the mound and relayed back to Best at second to get Sheely trying to advance.  But the Trojans' lead was just 7-5.

                Mechanicsburg continued to bounce back when Ed Dalson restarted the inning with a two-out single.  Randy Spurlock then hit a grounder to Little at third, whose throw to Werteen drew the big first baseman off the bag.  The umpire ruled Werteen missed on his sweeping tag of Spurlock, a ruling Thomas contested. 

                That set up consecutive RBI hits by Tom Levosky and Shawn Abner that tied the game.  The inning ended on Abner's double to left when Stonesifer hit cutoff-man Howe, who threw a strike to catcher Steve Fairchild to get Levosky trying to score.

                Mechanicsburg then broke the game open in the sixth, sending 12 men to the plate to score eight runs.  Reliever Brian Carbaugh had trouble hitting the strike zone.  Four of the six batters Carbaugh faced drew walks.  The other two singled, one of which was a perfect suicide squeeze bunt down the third base line. 

                The Wildcats got the final five runs home in the sixth with Trojan Greg Andrews on the mound on a two-run double by Spurlock, a sacrifice fly by Abner and RBI singles by Mike Deitrich and Ryan Priest.

                Chambersburg's last chance in the bottom of the seventh was started by the Wildcat pitchers, who yielded five walks around a Rajtik single.

                With the gap closed to 15-11, the bases loaded and nobody out, the Trojans brought the tying run to the plate three times in the persons of cleanup hitter George Fuller, Howe and Werteen.

                But Ron Ney, the starting third baseman who re-entered the game as the Wildcats' sixth pitcher, got two strikeouts and an infield grounder to end the game. 

                NOTES: Little and Rajtik had two hits each for the Trojans… Priest, Mechanicsburg's all-time leading running back in football, paced the Wildcats with three hits, two stolen bases, two runs scored and one RBI… Abner (two doubles) and Levosky each added two hits for the winner. All eleven Trojan runs were earned. 

(April 2, 1982 The Public Opinion)

Mechanicsburg Earns Initial Carlisle Tourney Crown

                Mike Deitrich cracked a home run and an RBI single in the title game Sunday as the senior third baseman twice brought Mechanicsburg from behind to trim host Carlisle, 5-2, in the inaugural Carlisle Invitational Baseball tournament.

                The Wildcats, now 13-4 on the year, also rallied to trip defending District 3-AA champion West Perry, 5-4, in the semifinals.  Carlisle had escaped Shippensburg, 6-5, in the other first-round match.  West Perry hammered a prom-stripped Shippensburg squad, 19-2, in the five-inning consolation contest.

                In the championship game, Carlisle grabbed a 1-0 lead in the third inning as Mike Glass' two-out-double plated Brad Walker.  However, Deitrich's solo homer to deep left center knotted the count in the bottom half of the inning.

                Mike Shearer put the Herd back ahead in the fourth frame as he singled, moved to second on a muffed fielder's choice, stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

                Mechanicsburg's Dan Jones shut the door after that, holding Carlisle to another Shearer single over the final three innings.  The Wildcats finally chased yeoman Carlisle starter Keith Crissman in the fifth stanza with consecutive singles by Randy Spurlock, Tom Levosky, Shawn Abner and Deitrich en route to a 3-2 lead.  Two walks and a throwing error accounted for the last two Mechanicsburg runs in the sixth.

                Crissman had blanked Shippnesburg in two innings of relief to gain the victory in the opener.  Against Mechanicsburg, the righthander fanned seven and was riding a two-hitter until the roof fell in during the fifth.

                "Deitrich has had an outstanding year so far," lauded Wildcat boss Don Shirley, whose third sacker also had a run-producing triple in the first game.  "He's playing a solid third base and hitting around .350.  He's one good all around player."

                Citing Carlisle and the Carlisle Sports Association on the quality of the tourney, Shirley noted he was just glad to be invited and get a couple more games into the schedule as his club gears for the tightly packed Capital Area Conference stretch run.

                Against West Perry, Mechanicsburg jumped ahead on Ron Ney's two-run base hit.  But, the Mustangs came back with three runs in the third inning and another tally in the fourth when Wildcat hurler Bill Price surrendered six of his eight walks against 10 strikeouts.  Dave Zimmerman and Len Reisinger also had key singles in that span.

                After Deitrich's RBI triple cut the West Perry advantage to 4-3 in the fourth, Mike Teeter tied things with a sacrifice fly and Roger Riegel drove in the eventual game winner with a single in the fifth frame. 

(April 27, 1982 The Carlisle Sentinel)

CAC Baseball Race Tightens

                Mechanicsburg, another major contender at 5-3, temporarily helped the Trojans as Wildcat hurler Ron Ney blanked Red Land, 9-0, on a five-hit effort which included 10 strikeouts without a walk.  Shawn Abner and Ryan Priest were both three-for-five to back Ney, while Mike Teeter knocked in three Wildcat runs with a single and a triple.

(May 14,1982 Patriot News)

Batters Hit the Mark

            How would a Wildcat fan describe the 1982 baseball season?  Coach Shirley called it, successful but frustrating!"  In a winning streak the varsity team was able to take 12 games in a row, including the Carlisle Tournament.  With Ron Ney the leading pitcher and Shawn Abner the leading hitter, the team was able to have a 20 win and 5 loss season, placing second in the CAC.  They were 6 - 3 the first half of the league season and 9 - 0 the second half.  First half key victories came against Lower Dauphin 3 - 1 and Red land 9 - 0. The close losses to C.V 5 - 6 and Hershey 8 - 9 could have been the difference between a good season and a great one.  Important second half games were against CV 3 - 0, lower Dauphin  1 - 0, Palmyra 11 - 1, Hershey 4 - 3, and Red Land 7 - 1.  When asked what he would remember most, Ron Ney replied, "The running, the timing of beginning practice."

(1982 Artisan)

Mechanicsburg Soph Leads Baseball Area

                Shawn Abner, Mechanicsburg's hard hitting sophomore sensation, has earned Most Valuable Player honors in the first Sunday Patriot News All Star Baseball Team.

                A powerful underclassman who also covered his centerfield position like a kingsized blanket, Abner appeared at the head of more than half the ballots submitted from 15 coaches representing a cross -section of scholastic baseball in the Greater Harrisburg Area.

Abner, already termed the best pro prospect in the area by major league scouts and bird dogs, hit .404 as the leadoff hitter in his second season as a regular.  He hammered out 16 extra-base hits, including a grand slam homer, in the Wildcats' school record 20 - 5 season.

Despite batting leadoff, Shawn still collected 19 runs batted in to go with his 26 runs scored.  The six-footer also had seven stolen bases.

On defense, he played errorless ball, using his speed to turn many potential extra-base hits into routine fly outs.

Observed one coach wryly, "I should just be thankful we don't have to play against him in the new Mid-Penn Conference, but after he had four hits in our game I told him I could find a nice home for him in our district."

Ironically, Abner's teammate Ron Ney was one of three other underclassmen - all  juniors - to earn first team recognition. 

A junior righthander who sees action as a designated hitter, Ney joined fireballing John Dopson of Delone Catholic and Chambersburg's Jerry Howe in a three way tie for runnerup honors in the voting.

Ney rolled up a 7 - 0 record with three shutouts to finish with a microscopic 0.70 earned run average.  Ron reeled off 69 strikeouts in 55 innings and carried a respectable .290 batting average.

Ryan Priest, shortstop, was  a second team selection.

(May 23, 1982 Patriot News)

Recent Alumni News:

Going to College Right Move for Ben Abner

By Skip Hutter

            Little more than a year ago, Ben Abner's budding baseball career suffered a major reversal.  The Mechanicsburg High School grad was passed over in the 1981 free agent draft. 

                It was a bitter pill for the young man to swallow.  He had played well for the Wildcats and in American Legion ball.  But it apparently was not good enough for the major league scouts who followed him.

                There would be no minor league baseball.  A decision on college had to be made and that decision will probably turn out to be the best move, from a baseball point of view, that he could have made.

                Ben headed to Georgia Southern College in Statesboro, Ga.  Little did he know what was in store for him in his freshman season.

                In fact, he played so well in his first intercollegiate season that he was selected to play for a United States team in an international tournament at the World's Fair in Knoxville, Tenn.  His name made the national wire services when he hit a homerun in the championship game.

                Home for a brief respite before heading back to Winchester, Va., where he's playing in the Valley League, a summer circuit for college players, Abner talked about the happenings in Knoxville.

                It was a big event for Abner, who banged out 14 hits in 29 plate appearances for a .485 average.  In the championship game, a 10-5 triumph over Japan, he collected four hits in five trips, including the roundtripper, and drove in three runs.

                "We played seven games and finished 6-1," he recalled.  "We lost to the Japanese, 6-5, the first time.  But then we beat them the second.  We went to the championship and won again, 10-5."

                "We had a pretty good mixture of guys from all over the country.  They were all pretty good ball players."

                The players came from such notable places at Florida, Arizona State, Washington Stat, Ole Miss, Tennessee and San Diego State to mention just a few.

                Abner explained the method of selecting the team from college, junior college, high school and American Legion players.

                "The names of players were fed through a computer," he said.  "The computer eliminated all down to 50.  Then the coaches, who were from Tennessee, Georgia Southern, and North Carolina, eliminated the rest down to 18."

                With his coach on the staff, Abner had a good shot at making the team.  But more than that, he had impressive stats throughout the 1982 season.  Impressive enough to make the U.S. Team.

                Starting in left field for a team that compiled a 34-33 record against tough Division I competition, Abner banged out a team-high 87 hits for a .332 seasonal bating average.  Actually, he tied for the team lead in hits, and the number placed him in the top 20 nationally in Division I.

                Hitting the No. 5 position in the order much of the time, Ben drove in 56 runs.  Among his run producing hits were the nine homeruns and two triples.  His 22 doubles fell one short of a school record but placed him 10th in the NCAA.

                Prior to his selection to the U.S. team, Abner's biggest moment occurred in the Hall of Fame Tournament, which Georgia Southern hosts.  Against James Madison in the title game, two of his three hits were home runs, which helped him lead his mates to a 7-5 triumph.

                Later he was named to the Trans American Athletic Conference all-star team.

                He realizes his freshman year is one he won't soon forget.  He hopes things will be even better the next couple of years at Georgia Southern.

                "I want to have a few more good years like my freshman year," he noted.  "I feel I'll have a good shot at being drafted after my junior year."

                Ben Abner would have to agree what a difference a year makes.

(July 15, 1982 Patriot News)

Mid Penn to Begin Soon

                As the old adage goes, all good things must come to an end, and so does the Capital Area Conference (CAC).

                The CAC was formed in 1960.  The seven original members were Mechanicsburg, Cumberland Valley, Hershey, Lower Dauphin, Middletown, Palmyra, and Susquehanna Township.  In 1962, membership in the CAC increased with the addition of Milton Hershey.  Annville_Cleona, East Pennsboro, and Red Land were introduced into the league in 1967.  However in 1971, Annville-Cleona withdrew its membership. 

                The Capital Area Conference will officially expire after the 1981-1982 school year to give way to the new Mid Penn Conference.  The Mid Penn will be a kind of conglomeration of existing conferences; the CAC, Blue Mountain, and South Central.

                The conference will be made up of three different divisions, with Division 1 being the toughest.  Twenty-two teams will be put into these divisions based on three categories: rivalries, size, and past performances.  The divisions are by no means permanent, with teams being able to move up or down depending on performance.

                Although the new conference may help inter-division competition, the problem of confusion may arise.  Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Mr. Richard Bollinger said that many of the teams will be in different divisions.  For example, soccer will be in Division 1 while football will be in Division 2 and boys and girls basketball will fall into Division 3.

                Even though it may scramble your brain a little, the new Mid Penn Conference should provide exciting sports action for years to come.

(May 18, 1982 The Torch)

1982 Varsity Scores

1982 C.A.C. Final Standings

Leading hitters: 

                Batting average:  Shawn Abner - .404; Roger Riegel - .318; Tom Levosky - .303

                Doubles:  Abner – 9; Bob Gabel - 8

Triples: Abner - 8

Home runs:  Mike Teeter - 2

RBI’s:  Team batting average:  .266

Leading pitchers:

Wins:  Ron Ney: 7 (no losses!); Bill Price - 5

Innings pitched:  Ney - 55; Price - 40

ERA:  Ney - .89

Ks:  Ney – 69; Price – 51

1982 Team Records (up to 1982 – Some are still records today!):

Most games played – 26 (1 tie)

Most wins – 20

Most consecutive wins – 12

Most runs – 187

Most Abs – 791

Most hits – 210

Most Abs / game – 30 (tied 1981)

Most runs / inning 9 (tied 1981)

Most doubles – 30 (tied 1981)

Most triples – 21

Fewest errors / game – 1.5 (tied 1973)

First Carlisle Invitational Tournament Champions

1982 Individual Records:

Most runs: Abner – 26 (same as 1981)

Most hits / season: Abner – 38 (tied with Ben Abner)

Most Abs / season: Abner 94

Most triples / season: Abner - 8

Most doubles / season: Abner –9 (tie with Ben Abner)

Career batting average:  Ryan Priest - .391

Most extra base hits: Abner – 16 (tied with Ben Abner)

Pitching:

Most wins: Ron Ney – 7

Consecutive shutouts: Ney – 3

Undefeated (4 or more decisions): Ney – 7 - 0