Infusion of new players stirs local summer baseball leagues

Blue Mountain vets Dan Roth and Mike Deutsch step aside, create room.


By Ted Meixell
Of The Morning Call

 

Two of the biggest names in the Blue Mountain League over the last decade have called it a career -- at least for now.

Martins Creek slugger Dan Roth and Mike Deutsch, Catasauqua's premiere pitcher/outfielder, are sitting out the 2001 season.

Because the Creekers still have a bevy of sluggers available, Roth's departure, even coupled with the loss of hard-hitting catcher Jay Rothenhausler to the Northern Yankees of the Tri-County League, hasn't had a major impact.

Young Erinn Pesaresi has filled one of the voids ("He's a stud," player/manager Chris Sule said.) and veteran outfielder Rich Fenstermaker, who missed almost all of 2000 with a torn ACL, is back. So the Creekers are off to one of their customary fast starts (8-3). They fell a half game out of first place Sunday when Lower Nazareth fireballer Jayson Williams silenced their big bats in an 8-0 shutout.

The Catty story is different. Deutsch, the ace of a deep staff that led the team to four straight BML crowns and five in six years, has been sorely missed.

The Black Sox have stumbled to a 5-7 start and are in sixth place, four games behind Paul Engelhardt's first-place Phillies (8-2).

True, the Sox successfully played rope-a-dope with their rivals last year, finishing fifth in the regular season before picking their game up a notch in a triumphant playoff run.

But Deutsch was on board. Without him, the Black Sox's reign appears to be over -- especially with the league down to eight teams and only four making the playoffs.

New, young blood seems to be the order of the year in both area adult amateur leagues, with the Phillies (and the veteran Creekers) opening up a bit on the rest of the BML and Bob Fatzinger's third- year Tri-City Fleetwings sprinting away to an 11-1 start in the Tri- County League (and facing an early-season showdown with two-time defending champion Gabelsville at 6 tonight in Scherersville). The Owls (7-2) are in second place, 2 games back.

Engelhardt's Lower Nazareth gang, a doormat until two years ago, appears to be continuing its three-year upward trend. The Phils are doing it with youth -- as are the Tri-Co Fleetwings.

"We've also been doing it with smoke and mirrors lately," Engelhardt said. "We lost [third baseman] Steve Rohn to a pulled hamstring, and he'll probably be out another four weeks. We also lost [veteran slugger] Mike Reenock to an injury, and don't know when we'll get him back."

The Phils' pitchers have been their heroes.

"The staff has kept us in every game so far," Engelhardt said. "P.J. Yoder, Jayson [Sigley], Bret Remel, Josh Carter and Marcus Ward, a rookie who played at Northwestern [High] last year. And Rob Diefenderfer has given us good middle relief."

Chuck Draper has been the biggest offensive weapon, when he's around; he was 13-for-21 before Sunday's game. And speedy Nazareth rookie Justin Graf (like Draper, Carter and Rohn, he arrived via Engelhardt's Muhlenberg Pipeline) was at .350 with eight steals in eight attempts.

"[Bethlehem Catholic grad] Chris Connors has stepped in at third for Rohn and played very well," Engelhardt added.

Martins Creek still has its imposing batting order. But, although veterans Sule, Eric Reiter, Bob Siemon and Joe "Rags" Ragozino have been hitting well, The Creekers haven't been putting up the pinball- machine numbers they're noted for.

"Great pitching," Sule replied, explaining how his team has gotten off to a fast start. "Mike Pavolko is 3-0 and [lefty] Dave Bendel, who missed all of last season with a bad arm, has pitched two great games. [Rookie Easton High product] T.J. Heimbach will be our No. 3 starter and [veteran] Chris Schellhamer is in the rotation. Right now, Ryan Barsony is hurt."

Want more great pitching? Try the Fleetwings' on for size.

Dennis Kinney, the 49-year-old left-handed Methuselah who once pitched for the San Diego Padres, is back after an injury-plagued 2000 season. "All" he's done is go 3-0 and compile a microscopic 0.33 earned run average.

Josh Gunkle ("He doesn't have to pitch every other day like he did last year," Fatzinger said.) is 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA and Mike Palos (now doing double duty with the 'Wings and the BML's RCN Orioles) is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.84. Three pitchers with ERA's of 1.00 or under? Awesome.

The 'Wings also boast Parkland product Dan Dillon, who's now with them full time after doing double duty with the BML Bethleon Blue Jays.

In truth, the pitchers have had to be good.

"Pitching and really good defense has carried us," Fatzinger said. "We're a completely different team. Matt Marcks and Justin Godusky are only with us part time, and we lost Ben Swatsky completely. That was 15 home runs and more than 50 RBIs last year."

But the biggest factor is probably maturity.

When Fatzinger put the team together two years ago, he did it with kids just coming out of Legion ball, including his own son, Teague, and veteran Mike Witkowski's son, Brendan.

"Experience. That's it exactly," Bob Fatzinger said. "Two years ago these guys were 18-19. Now they're 20-21. It's made a big difference."

Besides Gabelsville, Lehigh Township (7-3) and Limeport (7-3) are also within hailing distance of the top of the Tri-Co standings.

Each of the area Legion leagues boast early-season surprise packages. Well, surprise packages only in the sense that they haven't enjoyed much success in recent years.

In truth, Fullerton and Palmer Township were both expected to make lots of noise in 2001 based on returning personnel. Neither have disappointed.

Fullerton, which boasts a mixture of players from Catasauqua's Colonial League championship club and Whitehall, came out of the blocks with four straight wins in the Lehigh Valley Legion League. They were tied for the North Division lead with defending champ and perennial contender North Parkland, a half game ahead of South Parkland (3-0).

Lower Macungie, another perennial contender, was at 3-0 to lead the South.

Palmer Township won four of its first five games and tied in the other (Northampton County Legion counts ties in the standings) to lead NorCo's East Division with nine points.

Defending NorCo champion Lehigh-West Bethlehem, now playing on snazzy new digs adjacent to the Lehigh Little League complex on Illick's Mill Road, is also off to a fast start (3-0) and leads the West. Hellertown (4-2-0-8) stands atop the South and the North is an early four-horse dead heat.

ted.meixell@mcall.com

610-559-2152

From The Morning Call -- June 12, 2001

Copyright © 2001, The Morning Call