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Someone asked me late in the season, when was the last time Belleville, Lewistown, Reedsville and Yeagertown were not in one of the final three spots when a season ended.
That’s a good question. Remebrer over the last half century, the four teams have racked up 2,429 wins against 1,459 losses. Not to metion 31 league titles.
This year the four teams went 20-87.
So, when was the last time that Belleville, Lewistown, Reedsville and Yeagertown didn’t finish in the top three?
Answer: 1973, and the top three teams that year were Burnham, McVeytown and Strodes Mills. Look and sound familiar?
Here’s how all the teams fared this year:
Beaver Springs (13-14): Not the year the Springs wanted. Its longest winning streak was four, early in the year. It closed with three straight losses. The highlight of the year came on May 7 when it beat McVeytown on the road, 9-5. One good sign for the Springs is a good solid group at 14 years old.
Belleville (11-16): An 11-16 record may not sound very good, but when you start only two 15-year-olds, it’s pretty good. The Big Valley club has a lot of good, solid 13-year-olds and by 2018, the team could be on top.
Belltown (18-9): Last year Belltown won its first league title in 41 years. It didn’t fall too far off the title chase in 2016. It beat Strodes Mills twice and finished on a five-game winning streak.
Burnham (22-5): The new coaching staff at Burnham did a wonderful job preparing the team to play. The team had pitching, hitting, speed and the most depth of any team in the league. Burnham won 20 or more games for the ninth time and for the first time since 2009. Burnham had it all, but one thing: luck.
Lewistown (3-23): Lewistown’s defense got better as the year progressed. Itt was a very young team with at least four starters being first-year players. It struggled on offense and scoring runs is a must in this league. Lewistown’s streak of 15 years in a row with double digit victories came to an end this summer. That streak was the fourth longest in league history.
McVeytown (22-5): When the dust settled in McVeytown for the final game of the year and Strodes Mills was the champion, the best team in the league might have been the one that had just given them the title. Since May 13, when McVeytown beat Belleville, 21-2, it won 17 of its last 18 games. It marked only the fifth time that McVeytown has won 20 or more games and it’s the first time since 2005.
Milroy (15-11): This was the surprise team of the year. I had them picked for sixth and they finished fifth. Milroy had speed, power and some consistent pitching. They almost pulled off wins against the top three teams in the league. Milroy beat Burnham, 9-7, McVeytown, 6-3, and just missed against Strodes Mills,7-6.
Reedsville (6-21): For the first time in years, Reedsville had to pull players from other parts of the league to have a team. Give them credit, they never gave up and never had to forfeit a game despite having a roster of only 11 or 12 players. On June 1, Reedsville almost pulled off the upset of the year as it just lost to Strodes Mills, 5-4. One of the longest streaks in league history was stopped this year as Reedsville failed to win at least 10 games. The streak was at 39 years and the last time Reedsville didn’t win 10 games was in 1976. Things are looking up for Reedsville in 2017 as a large group of 13-year-olds are expected to be at spring training.
Strodes Mills (23-4): Seeing Strodes Mills win brought back a lot of memories of their championship years: Dean and Dale Reynolds, Randy McLaughlin. Roy Bickel and the late Gary Cieciersaki (manager), 1975; Brian Fisher, Ed Shifflet and Craig and Aaron Weston and Dale Pollock (manager), 1989. This year marked only the fourth time that Strodes has won 20 or more games with the last time in 2001.
Sometime this winter when the wind is howling and the snow is drifting, think back to how the Mills’ boys won in 2016, strong hitting, solid pitching and speed. Then think about the ending, Strodes had to win two of its last three games, but didn’t. Then it had to watch the second and third place teams play to see if their championship dreams would come true. It came down to the last pitch in the bottom of the seventh before Strodes could celebrate.
Yeagertown (0-27): It was a new experience for a lot people in the Yeagertown program. Fred Zook died last October and it’s never easy filling a position that someone had held for 28 years. Yeagertown did have some good moments. On April 24, Reedsville just nipped Yeagertown, 4-3. Late in the year, Beaver Springs found itself in two battles with Yeagertown before pulling out wins. On June 9, the Springs had to score 10 runs late before winning 13-2 and on June 13, the Springs edged Yeagertown by a run, 4-3. A young team, Yeagertown only had three 15-year-olds on their roster.