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Site updated 07/27/10 10:02 AM Upper Dauphin Sentinel ©2006 Local News
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HANOVER • Stop for a moment and think about what it takes to get a Legion baseball team on the field. There is so much more to it than showing up at the field, rolling out a couple bats and balls and playing. Think about it and one will understand why Head Coach Scott Deitrich got a bit choked up when he spoke of the 2010 Upper Dauphin Legion baseball team’s Region 4 championship. “This was so much bigger than us. This was for so many people ... The families, the fans, the businesses who support us, all the players who have worn the uniform (before us),” Deitrich said. He talked of the parents and volunteers who ran the concession stand at home games or labored at helping get the field ready or worked in the press box, washed uniforms, drove to away games … you name it. Deitrich talked about the assistant coaches – Paul Herb, Ralph Markel, Chad Deitrich, Curt Deitrich and so many others who helped this team. “Those guys would get there to the field before I would and they would have everything ready. It made my job so much easier,” Deitrich said. The emotion following UD’s 11-3 victory over Campbelltown July 21 didn’t really hit Deitrich until after the awards were handed out and all the photos were taken. He talked about his predecessors and what they meant to the program – such as Tim Williard, for whom he played and Pete Sitlinger, for whom the Upper Dauphin Legion’s annual tournament is named. “I was sitting on the bench in the dugout doing what I normally do when the team is in the field, charting pitches, trying to align the defense, when the last out was made. I just looked down at Coach Herb and was like ‘we won,’ ” he said. “It wasn’t until Tim came up to me and gave me a big hug. I was there (regionals) twice and played for him. He said I did something he was never able to do for the kids. That really meant something to me.” “And I know it would mean so much to Pete. I never had the honor to play for him, but I understand what he did for this program. I know Tim coached with him and is a lot like him in his approach and the way he taught us to play,” Deitrich said. When bad is good. There were a few events during the five-day baseball feast that at first looked like horrible setbacks, but actually helped UD’s cause. The first was a postponed game. Upper Dauphin was slated to play Penn Manor July 19, but just 45 minutes prior to the start of the game a tremendous thunderstorm rolled through Hanover. It didn’t last more than 30 minutes, but there was so much rain that animals were starting to pair up. Someone said they even spotted a couple guys in a row boat fishing along the first base line. No one could confirm nor deny a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but it was enough to force the game to be pushed to another day, forcing both clubs to return home. Both had to travel at least 1 1/2 hours. It all seemed bad at first, but allowed Upper Dauphin to start Tyler Herb, the staff’s top starter, and he tossed another gem in a 2-1 win over Penn Manor to guarantee that UD would play for the championship. That postponement was the second such rainout of the summer for UD. The first was the Dauphin County championship game which allowed Ancheff an extra day of rest. Upper Dauphin’s only loss, 9-6 to Campbelltown July 20, can’t really be called meaningless, but let’s just say it didn’t hurt UD’s chances too much. UD already was guaranteed a spot in the championship round regardless of the outcome. The loss allowed UD the opportunity to sit back and relax July 21 as Campbelltown and South West York battled in the morning in an elimination game, the winner having to come right back in the sweltering summer heat to clash with Upper Dauphin for the title and the trip to the American Legion State Baseball Tournament which is slated to start Tuesday, July 27 in Boyertown. It also allowed Upper Dauphin to unload the other barrel of its pitching shotgun and pitch Ben Ancheff. He didn’t disappoint as he pitched a complete game victory. CHAMPIONSHIP GAME Upper Dauphin 11, Campbelltown 3, July 21. Ancheff certainly earned any accolades or recognition he received for his performance in the tournament. In the tournament, Ancheff posted two pitching victories, throwing 301 pitches in his 17 innings. When he wasn’t pitching, he was the catcher in the other three games. The lowest game-time temperature was 94 degrees. American Legion baseball at this point also does not allow courtesy runners or reentry to the game. The games also are nine innings, rather than the seven that are played during the regular season. “He epitomizes the entire team’s ethic,” Deitrich said of Ancheff. “He never wants to surrender. He never wants to quit or come out of the game. You don’t find many kids like that … I’ve got a bunch of them. I’m a blessed man.” For the first time in the tournament, UD won the coin toss and was the home team. After an uneventful top of the first, Upper Dauphin exploded for four runs in its half of the opening frame. Lead-off hitter Ty Raubenstine, who collected 14 hits in the five games and was 4-for-4 on the day, walked to start the inning. Then Campbelltown appeared to be moving toward getting out of the frame unscathed, but Upper Dauphin followed with four straight hits. Zach Markel drove in a run with a single. Ancheff singled and then Tyler Koppenhaver tripled in two more runs. He then came plateward on Sean Collins’ double. Campbelltown scratched out a run in the top of the second to make it 4-1, but they couldn’t mount much of a threat on Ancheff who allowed eight hits, three walks and struck out eight batters. UD put up another four spot in the fourth to take charge. With a little help from the bottom of the lineup, UD loaded the bases with no outs on a single by Kreiser, a walk to Ryan Welker and a single by Raubenstine. Following a force out at home, Herb singled home two more runs. Markel drove in a run with a grounder and Ancheff singled home the final run of the inning to make it 8-1. After batting around in the fourth inning, the bottom of the order kicked into gear once again. Kreiser started the fifth like the fourth inning by reaching with a single. Welker then smacked a double. Raubenstine then drove home a run with a single and then Welker scored on a wild pitch to run the score to 10-1. “Having guys like that at the bottom of the order is a blessing. (Kreiser) is a good hitter, he was all year for (Upper Dauphin). Welker is like having another leadoff hitter and when he is on base he certainly is clogging up the base paths for the top of the order,” Deitrich said. Campbelltown added single runs in the sixth and seventh frames, but Raubenstine added another RBI single in the sixth to drive home Kreiser (three runs scored) who had walked. “Wow, things really worked out for us and we’re going to states,” Deitrich said. “The guys got themselves here. It only can show the guys what they are capable of. We stressed to them all year that they were a great team. Last year we came up a little short. We wanted to take the next step and get to regionals and now we take this next step to states. “I’m pretty pumped up to have been able to help do something for these kids who stuck it out over these years,” he said. A really, really long day. Because of the postponement of the Penn Manor game from July 19, Upper Dauphin had a very long day July 20. The Penn Manor game started at 9:30 a.m., but the UD team met at Ralph Lehman Field in Elizabethville at 6:30 a.m. – and had batting practice before leaving for Hanover. By winning that 2-1 decision, UD did not have to come back until the third game of the day which started after 4 p.m. Arrival back in Elizabethville was somewhere between 10 and 11 p.m., but no one was really keeping track. Deitrich said the team was able to book a back room at a Hanover-area Pizza Hut to eat and stay out of the heat between games. “We had three to four hours to kill. We just got out of the heat and we actually got away from baseball for a while,” Deitrich said. UD 2, Penn Manor 1, July 20 (Game 3). Another lost coin toss gave Upper Dauphin the chance to jump in front early. It did with two runs in the top of the first and it was enough for Herb as he held Penn Manor – a team that scored 16 runs its previous game – to one run on seven hits with 15 strikeouts. Penn Manor got its only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Unfortunately, it was enough in support of their ace Patrick Welsh who had an equally impressive pitching line of nine innings, five strikeouts and six hits allowed. Raubenstine played his roll of leadoff hitter to perfection once again as he singled to start the game. Wolfe followed with a single and Raubenstine moved to third. Wolfe then stole second. A wild pitch allowed Raubenstine to score. Wolfe then scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Markel. Welsh pitched brilliantly as UD really only threatened again in the second and ninth innings. Penn Manor scored its run in the bottom of the first, getting its run when Zach Buterbaugh scored on a wild pitch. Penn Manor had a runner at third in the sixth inning with one out and a runner at second with one out in the seventh, but never was able to tie the game. Campbelltown 9, Upper Dauphin 6, July 20 (Game 4): After its little hiatus at Pizza Hut, UD returned to Diller Field and suffered its only loss of the tournament. “It’s not like we threw in the towel. We had 13 hits and left 10 guys on base. We battled back and put the tie run on base in the ninth inning,” Deitrich said. “We just couldn’t get the big hit.” It was Campbelltown that had the big early lead this time, utilizing a five-run second inning to take a 6-1 lead. Raubenstine had another big day at the plate with three hits. Herb cranked up his third home run of the tournament with a two-run bomb in the seventh inning. That bottom third of the order was also big in this clash combing for seven hits – Collins and Welker had three hits and Kreiser added a double. The game, despite it being a loss, was a great learning experience for some of the younger UD players, guys who Deitrich expects to be a big part of the team’s future. Ethan Calnon, who pitched sparingly during the summer, got the start and threw more than 100 pitches over six-plus innings. Owen Daniel, who just completed his freshman year in high school, was impressive in his 2 2/3 innings as he allowed just one run on two hits. “They both gained some valuable experience in a regional tournament. That’s something none of the older guys had a chance to do,” Deitrich said. “Owen didn’t see a lot of time for us, but he is a big piece of our future. (Campbelltown) won the (Lebanon County) title and he came in (to pitch) in the middle of a jam and didn’t give up a run. He wasn’t phased. We asked him to keep loose and he was ready to go. ‘‘Ethan was tremendous. He gave us more than we could have asked. He had some big hits and played great defense at short when (Herb) pitched.” Up next. Deitrich said the team actually did take a day off following the championship game. “Actually, the guys wanted to keep going,” he said. The team was going to have batting practice during the weekend and get back at it in earnest July 25 and 26. The team had plans to stay in Boyertown during the tournament to avoid the long commute each day. “We just hope it’s a long stay,” Deitrich said.
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