Gilbertsville is the team to beat again

Tri-County baseball league preview.

By Keith Groller
Of The Morning Call


When it comes to the Tri-County Baseball League, there have been few secrets in recent years. Gilbertsville has been the team to beat. All the other teams knew it. Gilbertsville knew it, too, and withstood the strong challenges coming from all directions. Well, the same scenario is expected in the Tri-Co again as the 1987 season, the 29th year for the circuit, gets under way this week. Gilbertsville, the defending regular season and playoff champion, seeks to continue its dominance, while the 11 other teams look to knock off the powerhouse from the Boyertown area.

Play begins Wednesday night for eight of the 12 teams in the league and all the clubs will be in action by week's end. Each team will play 27 regular season games in a two-division (North and South) setup - three games against teams in the same division and two games against each team in the opposite division.

The North Division features the Allentown Angels, Bethlehem Township, Coplay, Limeport, North Parkland and Salisbury, while the South includes Delaware Valley, Gilbertsville, Old Zionsville, Quakertown, Silver Creek and Upper Perk.

The top three teams in each division advance to the playoffs. Both a playoff champion and a regular season champ are crowned.

Here's a brief look at what to expect from each team this summer:

NORTH DIVISION

ALLENTOWN ANGELS - The Angels got off to a respectable 5-6 start last season, but then had the bottom drop out and wound up finishing the year with a disappointing 6-21 mark. Manager Ray Ganser said his team a year ago, "didn't get the hitting when it needed it and lost a lot of one and two- run games." With that in mind, Ganser picked up a few younger players to bolster his offense.

Among the team's key offensive players will be first baseman Dave Chapman and outfielder Rick Wittman, while the pitching staff is anchored by Scott Buck and Keith Myers.

BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP - Nick Marino's Pirates had their best season ever last year, finishing 13-14 and earning a post-season playoff berth. Marino is hoping to get over the .500 hump this time around.

Last year, the Pirates got a no-hit pitching performance from Dan Silverblatt, who will be joined on the pitching staff by Clark Deemer and Ray Morin this year. Third baseman Glenn Snyder is a consistent .400 hitter and Bethlehem Township has strong defense up the middle with shortstop Dave Shortell and second baseman Nick Marino.

COPLAY - After winning the playoff championship in 1985, Coplay went 20-7 in the regular season and fell to Gilbertsville in the playoffs a year ago. This year, the team has a new manager in Jack Evans, who had been involved for several years with the West End Youth Center legion program.

"Nobody wanted to take over and it looked like they might have to fold up, so I decided to get involved," said Evans, who replaces Bob Bartholomew at the Coplay helm. "Heck, since I moved to Coplay, I've been coming out to a ballgame just about every night in the summer, anyway."

Evans didn't find the cupboard bare when he took over. Shortstop Randy Remaly, second baseman Eric Csencsits, centerfielder Steve Weidner, third baseman Chuck Mondschein, first baseman/pitcher Lou Falco are all back. Jim Emerick returns as the mound ace, although Evans is somewhat concerned about his pitching staff.

"I just felt that there are too many players up here that would not have had a place to play without this team," said Evans. "That's why I got involved. Plus, these are my kind of players. They are not getting paid and they're not out there to please Mom and Dad. They are out there only because they love to play the game."

LIMEPORT - Another guy who is out there only because he loves the game is Limeport manager, IshkyFatzinger. After having spent the past 33 years playing in either the Blue Mountain or the Tri-County League, the 49-year-old Fatzinger will be back in action again this summer.

Fatzinger would love the game even more this year if his club could avoid "the late season collapse" he says his team has suffered the last couple of seasons. His squad, which has made the transition from being one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest in the past couple of years, won the league crown in 1982. Limeport finished second behind Coplay in the North last year with a 19-8 mark.

Key hitters returning include Dale Weiss, Herb Hemerly, Bill Fatzinger and Tom Levy. Joe Turri, back after missing most of last season with an injury, returns to head the pitching staff along with Bill Sandt and Bill Fatzinger.

NORTH PARKLAND - Improvement in the pitching department is what North Parkland manager George Horn is looking for this season. NP struggled through a 10-17 record last season, prompting Horn to go out and get Jake Hammond, a pitcher with North Parkland legion last year and Bob Jones, a hurler with South Parkland legion a year ago, to join his team.

Key hitters back include shortstop Brett Simock, outfielder Ted Young and second baseman Jim Kucharczuk, while pitchers Rick Correll and Dave Chandler also will return.

SALISBURY - Last year, Dave Snyder's suffered through a 7-20 campaign - the team's worst finish since entering the league in 1980. "Lack of hitting," said Snyder in summing up the disappointing performance.

Snyder is hoping for a turnaround this year with basically the same cast back. First baseman Larry Miller (.424 last year) returns along with second baseman Joe Ernst and centerfielder Tom Fenstermacher. Tom Golden and Rick Krieg anchor the pitching staff, which Snyder feels has been pretty consistent over the years.

Because of renovations to the athletic complex at Salisbury High School, the team will play its home games in East Texas this season. Snyder is hoping the change of scenery helps his team change its win-loss record in a positive way.

SOUTH DIVISION

DELAWARE VALLEY - Player-manager Chuck Ciganick lost at least four key players - Tom Angstadt, Bill Wieder, George Becker and John Fortunato - from last year's team that posted a surprising 15-11 regular season record after going just 4-23 in 1985. Del Val then continued to surprise in the playoffs, upsetting Limeport in the opening round.

As for this year, Ciganick admits, "We've got some holes to fill."

Delaware Valley will return pitcher Bruce Alpaugh, outfielder Matt Smull and infielder Steve Smull and other players back include Mike Thompson, George Piperato and Steve Wippel.

The team, which has had its home field change numerous times in recent years, hopes to play its games at Palisades High School this year.

GILBERTSVILLE - Kevin Mackey, who co-manages Gilbertsville along with Brian Gilbert, says his team will have "pretty much the same corps of guys back" to defend its championship.

Gilbertsville, well-stocked with fundamentally-sound players out of the illustrious Boyertown legion program, went 21-6 in the regular season a year ago. The team did lose centerfielder Billy Sassaman, but a key addition could be lefthanded pitcher Joe Melcher. Familiar faces to Tri-Co fans back with Gilbertsville will be first baseman Scott Gilbert, outfielders Jeff Evans and Charlie Baer and catcher Neil Fox. Mackey and Brian Gilbert also return as pitcher and second baseman, respectively.

"I feel we'll be as good anybody else, but everybody else is always improving," said Mackey. "We know everybody will be out to knock us off. We alwayssee the other team's best pitcher and there's always an extra effort given against us. The key for us has been executing the fundamentals of the game and not beating ourselves with mistakes. You can win a lot of games that way."

OLD ZIONSVILLE - Manager Bill Moyer expects Gilbertsville and Upper Perk to again be the top two teams in the South Division, but he's hoping his club can bounce back from a dismal 7-20 season a year ago to get the third playoff spot in the division this year.

Old Zionsville, which will play its home games at Emmaus High School, returns Don Rosenberger and Greg Dickerson on the pitching staff and hitting leaders back from last year include, Gary Henry, Rob Weston and Don Keiser. Moyer hopes the additions of pitcher Dave Nonnemacher and hitters Mark Csencsits and Kevin Michaels will improve his club.

QUAKERTOWN - Manager Chip Friday had the league's Most Valuable Player a year ago in shortstop/pitcher Bob Kile, who hit .430 and knocked in 28 runs while posting a 5-4 record on the mound. Other key players back include catcher Steve Bauder (.393 last year), outfielder Terry Keller and regulars Rod Rush, Mike Schaeffer, and pitcher/first baseman Scott Davis.

Quakertown suffered some pitching woes last year in posting a 13- 14 record, but with Tom Hartman and Dennis Jones joining the staff, Friday is hoping for a better performance on the hill and in the league standings.

SILVER CREEK - The Creek is hoping Gary Laub, a standout performer with the club two years ago before leaving for the Blue Mountain League, will rejoin the team. Laub's big bat could add explosiveness to an offense that has always scored its share of runs and would also solidify the pitching staff.

Key returners from last year's 12-15 club figure to be designated hitter/ manager Mike Kotkoski, centerfielder Jon Ference and leftfielder Tom Boice. The pitching corps will have Bob Carr and Dick Brennan returning.

UPPER PERK - The Chiefs, always one of the league's top clubs, went 18-9 last year and were ousted by Coplay in a hard-fought playoff series. Player/manager Bob Graber has virtually the same team back this year.

Among the top Chief hitters should be catcher Mike Svanson, coming off a good spring at Villanova University, shortstop Pete Hoff and Graber. The pitching staff is led by Tim Fox (8-0 a year ago), while Todd Swenk and Tom Cichocki provide added mound strength.

"Gilbertsville should be strong again, but I think we'll be strong as well," said Graber. "We always look forward to the games with Gilbertsville because we're close to them and know each other very well. There's a pretty good rivalry between us. The key for us will be to stay away from injuries. If we do, we should have another good year."



keith.groller@mcall.com

From The Morning Call -- May 10, 1987

Copyright © 1987, The Morning Call