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Varsity Baseball 1993

Row 1:  Mike Flor, Bryan Hellam, Justin Shoemaker, Jason Hall, perry Albert, Heath Centazzo;

Row 2:  Coach Sassaman, Mike Edwards, Dave Zeigler, Mike Beitzel, Bob Strickler, Doug Grant, Nate Book, Bob Serafin, Ghia Pollak;  Row 3:  Steen Nielsen, Dave Wagner, Matt Lichtel, Justin Stewart, Dan Fulton, Ty Woods, Kirk Bordlemay, Eric Maguire, Coach Shirley

In the beginning …

Mid-Penn I Is Strong From Top To Bottom

                “This could be the most balanced Division I ever,” said Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley.  “All members are capable of finishing first.”  A case could be made for each of the nine teams, but the projection here is for Shirley’s Wildcats to reclaim the division crown they last held in 1987.

                The Wildcats have eight starters back from last year’s 15 – 6 club that wound up second behind Chambersburg .

                Senior catcher Kirk Bordlemay anchors the Mechanicsburg lineup, which features seniors Matt Lichtel and Bob Strickler.  They will alternate between the mound and first base.

                Other seniors include pitcher-third baseman Dan Fulton and catcher-third baseman Jason Hall, along with southpaw pitchers Eric Maguire and Bob Serafin. 

                Finally, there is sophomore shortstop Mike Edwards, who gained instant notoriety last year when he belted four doubles in one game against Palmyra .

Mechanicsburg Downs Hershey

                Matt Lichtel got Mechanicsburg off to a fast start, striking out nine in four innings of one-hit mound work as the Wildcats trimmed Hershey 5-1 in their season opener yesterday.

Wildcats Make Opener Rough for Trojans

Everyone knew that the Chambersburg Trojans were going to have to find some legitimate, steady Mid-Penn I pitchers if they wanted to compete for a third straight league baseball title.

                Their first task was to take on Mechanicsburg, one of the MPC I favorites.

                It wasn't pretty.

                The Wildcats used a five-run fifth inning Thursday to blow open a 3-2 game and take a 10-4 victory over the Trojans.

                Trojan starter Jason Burns, a sophomore, looked good at times using his offspeed stuff, but his fastball didn't overpower the veteran Mechanicsburg batters often enough.

                "We knew if we had a deficiency it was pitching," said Trojan coach Bob Thomas.  "Jason threw pretty well at times, but wasn't consistent enough."

                Case in point: In the first four innings, Burns put the Wildcats down in order twice, but in the first and third innings, they pounded out six hits.

                The Wildcats (3-0, 2-0 MPC) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Eric Maguire.

                The Trojans (0-1, 0-1 MPC) tied it in the second when Nathan Hansen doubled down the leftfield line and came home on Anthony Cleary's hit.

                Mechanicsburg took the lead in the third, however, when leadoff batter Mike Edwards hit a 280-foot home run over the short rightfield fence.

                "I think that may have gotten to Jason a little because that's normally a fly out," said Thomas.

                Dan Fulton then doubled and scored on Matt Lictel's single to give Mechanicsburg a 3-1 edge.

                In the fifth inning, the Trojans manufactured a run.  Eric Folmar reached on a fielder's choice and moved to third on Steve Toms' line single to centerfield.  Soon after, Toms took off for second and Wildcat catcher Kirk Bordlemay came up throwing.  Folmar immediately took off for the plate and easily scored.

                "We felt good there, being down 3-2, but they took advantage of our mistakes and clumped their hits together," said Thomas.

                The Wildcats then had five straight runners reach base to kick off the fith.  A pair of two-run singles off Rusty Truett put the Trojans in too big a hole.

                "We were able to bunch our hits together and our outfielders made good plays all day long that kept them off the bases," said Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley.

                "I think the fact that we had played two games prior to this game gave us an advantage.  This was a big win for us.  Any time it's Chambersburg , it's big."

                "Hopefully the guys won't let this affect them much," said Thomas.  "We're young and that showed at times.  I think we'll be all right."

                Note: Chambersburg 's Ryan Folmar launched a shot to centerfield in the sixth that would've easily cleared the fence, but it hit the top portion of a tree and landed inside the fence.  He wound up with a triple.  "That's only the second time that a ball has hit a tree and come back in play here," said Shirley.

Mechanicsburg Edges Cedar Cliff

                In one of the day's wildest games, Mechanicsburg edged Cedar Cliff 6-4 in nine innings.

                Matt Lichtel's RBI double in the ninth drove in the game-winner for Mechanicsburg.  Cedar Cliff had tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh on Kyle Beinhower's two-run homer.

Mechanicsburg Tops Central Dauphin

                In prep baseball, Central Dauphin East and Mechanicsburg remained tied for the Mid-Penn I lead, each at 6-1.  The Panthers topped Carlisle 8-3 thanks in part to Chad Goodsell's 3-for-4 day.  Mechanicsburg whacked Central Dauphin 10-1 as Perry Albert had a double, single and two RBI.

Baseball Action

                In baseball, Mechanicsburg blanked Mid-Penn Division I baseball rival Cumberland Valley 9-0 on the combined 3-hit pitching of Matt Lichtel, Justin Stewart and Mike Edwards.  Doug Grant drove in three runs on three hits while Perry Albert went 3 – 3.

Mechanicsburg Smacks Cedar Cliff

                Cedar Cliff couldn't get Mechanicsburg's Bob Serafin out, which went a long way toward explaining the Wildcats' 15-9 victory.  Serafin went 4-for-4, knocked in three runs and scored three more to keep Mechanicsburg unbeaten at 6-0.

Mechanicsburg Stops C.D.

Mechanicsburg zeroed Central Dauphin 6 – 0 behind the four-hit pitching of Bob Strickler.  Dan Fulton had three hits and drove in two runs for the winners, while Mike Edwards chipped in with a pair of hits, two runs scored, and an RBI.

Colleges Catching Talent from this Big 11 Team

                Pitching may be 90 percent of baseball, but somebody has to be on the receiving end.  Catchers are supposed to be a rare breed.

                How many people can squat for hours, throw a ball 130 feet on a line with no windup, take short-hop pitches on their body and absorb football-like collisions while catching a ball?

                Well, in southcentral Pennsylvania , there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to those sore-fingered, bruised and dirt-streaked masters of the baseball diamond.

                The 1993 Sunday Patriot-News Big 11 team reflects that talent.

                In all, there are three members of the ninth annual select team who are comfortable toiling behind the plate.

                The reasons are seniors Mike Gargiulo of Bishop McDevitt and Ryan Folmar of Chambersburg , who both are returning members of the 1992 Big 11.

                Matt Helt of Millersburg is the third catcher on the Big 11.

                However, despite an all-star summer in American Legion baseball, the versatile senior actually spent most of this season guarding third base for the Indians.

                Joining Folmar and Gargiulo in their second consecutive Big 11 appearance are Waynesboro pitcher Dan Welsh and East Pennsboro outfielder Matt Farner.

                Others include Hershey pitcher Tim Manwiller, Mechanicsburg first baseman Matt Lichtel, Cedar Cliff second baseman Jason Leader, Red Land shortstop Kevin Troup and Carlisle outfielder Matt Royal.

                The lone junior to crack the senior-dominated first team is outfielder John Bolton of Lower Dauphin.

                Matt Lichtel built a reputation with his bat, but he also stepped up to carry a major load on the Mechanicsburg pitching staff.  His 58 strikeouts led the division last week.  Virginia Tech expressed interest in Lichtel, who is considering several schools.

Mechanicsburg Raps Dover

Looks can be deceiving.

                Mechanicsburg seemed to be struggling at the plate against Dover pitchers Shawn Hedrick and Branden Reinert in its District 3-AAA baseball tournament opener yesterday.

                Yet by the time the Wildcats (16-4) packed up and motored home from Horn Field with a 5-2 victory, they had rapped out 11 hits, including a clutch double by Mike Edwards.

                "I would have guessed we had six or seven hits,” said Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley.  "[Hedrick] kept his pitches down and had us hitting a lot of balls into the ground."

                Shirley noted the key was how his team kept the pressure on even after Hedrick worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning.

                The first of Mechanicsburg's clutch hits came in the bottom of the fourth inning.

                Perry Albert, who had singled in the tying run earlier in the inning, scored the go-ahead run on Edwards' two-out doubled.

                An inning later, Kirk Bordlemay lashed a two-out single to drive in the winning pitcher Matt Lichtel with a key insurance run that opened a 4-2 advantage.

                "We were hitting the ball hard in the first half of the season, but they were going at someone," said Lichtel, who had two hits and an RBI of his own.

                Bob Serafin, Dan Fulton and Doug Grant added two hits apiece in the subtle offensive show.

                Lichtel's arm also has been important for Mechanicsburg.  The 6’ 4” right-hander struck out three in five innings of three-hit pitching before giving way to reliever Bob Stickler.

                "Matt was getting tired, and his pitches were getting up in the strike zone," Shirley said.  "I have a lot of faith in Bobby."

                Strickler, a junior southpaw, basked in that confidence.

                "I like to think I have the coach's confidence, and I'm working to keep it," he said with a smile.

Mechanicsburg Gets Third Shot

                It's the baseball rubber match for Mechanicsburg and Waynesboro , and the stakes have been raised.

                Waynesboro , which shifted from the defunct Blue Mountain League to Mid-Penn Division I this season, nipped the preseason favorite Wildcats by one game for the division crown.

                The traditional baseball powers split their regular-season games, each winning on the opponent's home field.

                Their third meeting will come tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Chambersburg 's Henninger Field in the District 3-AAA semifinals.

                In addition to a spot in the district title round, the winner is assured one of District 3's two berths in the upcoming PIAA tournament.

                "We're looking forward to playing them again," said Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley.  "It should be a good game."

                By the time Waynesboro and Mechanicsburg get started, the other District 3-AAA finalist may have been decided; Shippensburg and Elizabethtown square off at 4 p.m. in Red Lion.

                Shippensburg is one of three Mid-Penn Division IV survivors after two round of district action.

                In the Class AA semifinals at Ephrata's War Memorial Field tomorrow, Greencastle will test Wyomissing at 5:30 p.m. and Biglerville will face Lampeter-Strasburg in the late game.

                Shirley looked back wistfully at Horn Field after posting consecutive district victories over Dover and Hempfield at the Red Lion High School facility.

                "Now we finally got out of Red Lion, and I've grown to like it," he said.  "I wouldn't mind going back, especially since we're playing in Waynesboro 's backyard at Chambersburg ."

                Waynesboro (15-3) built its second straight championship run on the one-two mound punch of senior left-hander Danny Welsh and junior right-hander Greg White.

                White (5-2) beat the Wildcats 6-2 at Mechanicsburg, but suffered the loss to Mechanicsburg in relief of Welsh (6-1) in their 5-1 defeat at Waynesboro .

                Mechanicsburg's senior right-hander, Matt Lichtel (6-2), was the pitcher in both Waynesboro games for the Wildcats, who are 17-4 on the season.

                "Those guys are outstanding," Shirley said.  "The key to beating Waynesboro is being able to hit their pitchers.  That's true for everyone who played Waynesboro .

                While Welsh is due up on the Indians' rotation, Shirley said he would wait until today to decide if he would stick with Lichtel.

                The 6’ 3” hurler labored in the opening round, and Shirley said Dan Fulton is ready to go if Lichtel isn't 100 percent.

                Mechanicsburg has been enjoying a good tournament at the plate.  Led by sophomore shortstop Mike Edwards' 4-for-7 performance, the Wildcats have 19 hits in the two postseason outings.

                However, Shirley noted Waynesboro also is solid offensively from top to the bottom of its batting order.

                White, shortstop Ben Henicle, outfielder Jamie Long and catcher Dave Sullivan all have had multiple-hit games in the playoffs. 

Waynesboro Puts it Together

                When a pitching-rich baseball team like Waynesboro fits together a potent offense and an airtight defense, it's time for the opposition to look for shelter.

                Indians ace Danny Welsh enjoyed just that kind of support yesterday as Waynesboro shut out Mechanicsburg 8-0 in their District 3-AAA semifinal before more than 300 fans at Henninger Field.

                "I don't worry about the runs," said Welsh, a lanky left-hander with a 7-1 record after his second straight district shutout.

                "I know the guys will come through for me, and they came through big today."

                The victory over its main Mid-Penn Division I rival means Waynesboro (16-3) will return to Henninger Friday in search of its third District 3 title in seven years.

                Awaiting the Indians are the upstart Elizabethtown Bears, who nipped previously unbeaten Shippensburg 4-3 in their Class AAA semifinal at Red Lion.

                Meanwhile, Wyomissing rallied by Greencastle 5-3, and Biglerville needed nine innings to edge Lampeter-Strasburg 2-0 in their District 3-AA semifinal doubleheader at Ephrata's War Memorial Field.

                Wyomissing, which also is chasing its third district crown since 1987, will face the defending champion Canners at Ephrata Friday afternoon.

                All four semifinal winners clinched berths in the PIAA tournament, which opens Monday.

                Mechanicsburg, which bowed out at 17-5 and another near-miss in district competition, had brought a strong offensive team into the playoffs.

                However, Welsh limited the Wildcats to a pair of singles by Mike Edwards.  The senior hurler struck out 11 against one walk and one hit batsman.

                "Welsh was pitching well, and it doesn’t' take many runs when he's on," said Mechanicsburg coach Don Shirley.  "You have to give him a lot of credit."

                Shirley added that Waynesboro (16-3) kept up the offensive pressure as well and took advantage of an uncharacteristic four errors by the Wildcats.

                After stranding four runners in the first two innings, the Indians broke through in the third inning when a walk and an error opened the door.

                Ben Henicle, who later added a two-run homer, lofted a sacrifice fly for one run, and Greg White singled home another.

                Things fell apart for the Wildcats in the fifth inning when Waynesboro 's Dave Sullivan led off with a crushing home run.

                A third-base error and another walk set up a two-run base hit for Jamie Long, who moved to third when his hit was misplayed and scored on a ground out.

                Dana Weber, White and Long had two hits apiece to back the Indians' charge, led by the long balls from Sullivan and Henicle.

                Welsh agreed, pointing to a pair of stellar catches by center fielder Dana Weber as well as the offensive explosion.

                "We're right on a peak, and we are working to stay there," Welsh said.  "We aren't letting down now."

Heading for Home

"This is one of the best teams ever," remarked Coach Don Shirley of the 1993 Varsity Baseball Team.  Wildcat baseball caught fire in '93, scorching opposing teams en route to a 15-4 regular season record.  Competing in one of the toughest divisions in recent years, the Cats finished strong by winning 5 in a row, including an extra-inning triumph over CD East, and grabbed an at-large birth in the District playoffs.  Led by the dominant pitching of team MVP Matt Lichtel and junior southpaw Bob Strickler, Mechanicsburg claimed victories over York-based Dover and Lancaster power Hempfield, before falling to a tough Waynesboro team in their third contest.  Despite the accompanying rejection, the outlook for next year is optimistic.  Back to seek revenge on Waynesboro will be flamethrowers Nate Book and Justin Stewart along with sophomore standouts Mike Edwards, Perry Albert, and Bryan Hellam.  Shirley challenged next year's squad, saying, "I expect us to be better next year than we are this year."  Given the success of the '93 team, those are high yet fullfillable expectations. 

1993 Varsity Scores