PT's Gallagher wins Challis Award

Mike Gallagher, a senior at Peters Township, is the recipient of the John Challis Memorial Award given by the WPIAL Baseball Coaches Association (WBCA). Gallagher will be honored at the WBCA's Awards Banquet on June 11.

Challis graduated from Freedom High School in 2008 and died of cancer two months later and the award goes to an individual who is a current high school student associated with his high school baseball team; has overcome or currently struggling with a physical, mental or significant obstacle; and serves as an inspiration to players and coaches.

Gallagher certainly qualifies.

The brother of Peters Township great Jim Gallagher (named the top local high school athlete of the past 10 years on this blog), Mike Gallagher's route to the Peters Township varsity baseball team was a difficult one.

A designated hitter/outfielder, Gallagher developed a seizure disorder called Complex Partial Seizures. Numerous prescription medications failed.

"It tears your heart out as a parent any time your child deals with a chronic illness. It was something we lived with every day," James Gallagher, Mike's father, said. "We were fortunate that Mike had good care."

After medications failed, the Gallaghers opted for brain surgery after learning Mike was a candidate. On Dec. 13, 2005, Gallagher woke up from a coma and, after being cleared for physical activity, began to train for baseball, which he hadn't played since the age of 10.

With help from Jim, who was playing for Duke University at the time, Mike basically learned how to play baseball all over. Only a few months later, he made the freshman team at Peters Township. He made the varsity roster in 11th grade.

"Because of what I've been through, I appreciate everything very much, " Gallagher said. "Playing baseball is not like a lot of other sports. These guys are going to be life-long friends."

APB, Where are they Now?

Blogger's note: With the increased traffic from people in the Ringgold School District, The Varsity Letters thought the time to find the following athlete was once again appropriate.

Robert "Bean" Heller last played sports at Ringgold High School in 2005-06. Following one year at the Kiski School, Heller surfaced at Waynesburg University in 2007.

It was a fall to remember.

Heller ran all over the Presidents' Athletic Conference in his first year with the Yellow Jackets. His 2,176 rushing yards established an all-divisions freshman record. The man whose nickname was a tribute to Beano Cook was even the subject of a Facebook page titled, "Robert Heller Was Heaven Sent."

A year later, the relationship between Heller and the Waynesburg coaching staff soured. Shortly after a story published in the Observer-Reporter, the four-sport standout (football, basketball, baseball, track) from Ringgold was nowhere to be found. Various rumors had Heller attempting a boxing career or playing football for Marietta College. None were ever confirmed.

Heller is once again the target of the latest All Points Bulletin.

Anyone with legitimate information regarding Heller's whereabouts is urged to contact The Varsity Letters.

Baseball blowout

Three innings, 45 runs, one embarrassing loss

THREE LAKES, Wis. (AP) — Ben Wales had a game he won’t soon forget.
The same goes for Phelps High School in northeast Wisconsin.
Wales went 6 for 6 while hitting for the cycle, drove in 12 runs and had a no-hitter going as Three Lakes defeated Phelps 45-0 on Tuesday in a game called after three innings.
Three Lakes coach Jeff Liebscher told the Rhinelander Daily News he felt bad for Phelps after 22 runs, 23 hits, 21 walks and 11 steals in the first inning alone.
Fortunately for Phelps, none of it will count.
Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association spokesman Todd Clark told The Associated Press that, according to national rules, the game will be ruled a forfeit because it failed to reach the required number of innings.

Baseball player throws no-hitter, hits for cycle in same game

http://www.denverpost.com/preps/ci_14822745

Keeping up with ...

Jim Gallagher

One of the premier athletes in Peters Township history, Jim Gallagher played centerfield and pitched baseball teams that appeared in consecutive PIAA Class AAA championship games back when there was only three classes.

After three successful years at Duke University, Gallagher was drafted in the seventh round (239th overall) by the Chicago White Sox. After a strong 67-game stint in rookie ball, where Gallagher hit .332 with nine home runs, he moved to the Class A team in Kannapolis.

He spent the final 27 games of the 2009 season playing for Birmingham, Chicago's Class AA affiliate. Gallagher hit .280 with a .385 on-base percentage.

This spring, Gallagher became the first Washington County player to participate in spring training since fellow Peters Township baseball alum Brian Simmons. Gallagher has played in five games for the White Sox, going 0-for-9 with two strikeouts. He most recently played against Texas on Sunday, March 28.

WPIAL baseball players at the next level

West Penn Baseball Prospects (www.wpabaseball.com) runs an extraordinary amount of information about baseball at various level throughout the region. As a recent e-mail release states, "West Penn Baseball Prospects is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to help create opportunities for local student-athletes to play college baseball."

They recently completed a survey of college and junior college baseball rosters for WPIAL and District 8 products and found 586 current players, with 86 playing at the Division I level.

WPB broke down the top high school producers of college talents by classification.

Class AAAA
1. Seneca Valley 26
2. North Allegheny 20
3. Bethel Park 16
Butler 16
5. Pittsburgh Central Catholic 15

Class AAA
1. Blackhawk 17
2. Chartiers Valley 11
3. West Allegheny 10
4. Laurel Highlands 9
5. Hopewell 8

Class AA
1. Center 8
Riverside 8
3. South Fayette 6
Steel Valley 6
5. Seton-La Salle 5

Class A
1. Geibel 5
2. Chartiers-Houston 4
Neshannock 4
Rochester 4
Vincentian Academy 4

Keeping up with …

Matt Pierpont

Pierpont, a key member of Canon-McMillan's 2008 PIAA Class AAAA championship baseball team, is in the middle of his freshman season at Division I Winthrop University.

The 2009 Observer-Reporter Baseball Player of the Year, Pierpont has played in 16 games with 13 starts and is batting .261 (12-for-46) for the Eagles as an infielder/pitcher. He's hit two home runs and drove in 12 with a pair of stolen bases and seven runs.

Pierpont has made three pitching appearances and has allowed 5 earned run over 6 1/3 innings for a 7.11 ERA. He does have eight strikeouts.

Winthrop, a member of the Big South Conference, beat Penn State on Saturday and is 12-6 overall.

WPIAL baseball alignment 2010-11, 2011-12

Class AAAA (28 teams)
Section 1 – Butler, Fox Chapel, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, Shaler
Section 2 – Albert Gallatin, Connellsville, Hempfield, Laurel Highlands, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford
Section 3 – Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, McKeesport, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair
Section 4 – Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Franklin Regionals, Gateway, Kiski Area, Penn Hills, Plum, Woodland Hills

Class AAA (32 teams)
Section 1 – Ambridge, Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Hopewell, Moon, New Castle, West Allegheny
Section 2 – Belle Vernon, Derry Area, Elizabeth Forward, Greensburg Salem, Mt. Pleasant, Ringgold, Uniontown, Yough
Section 3 – Chartiers Valley, Keystone Oaks, Montour, McGuffey, South Park, Thomas Jefferson, Trinity, West Mifflin
Section 4 – East Allegheny, Hampton, Highlands, Indiana, Kittanning, Knoch, Mars, Valley

Class AA (39 teams)
Section 1 – Bishop Canevin, Carlynton, Freedom, Northgate, Quaker Valley, Seton-La Salle, South Fayette, Sto-Rox
Section 2 – Brownsville, Burgettstown, Charleroi, Fort Cherry, Frazier, Southmoreland, Washington, Waynesburg
Section 3 – Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Deer Lakes, Ford City, Freeport, Summit Academy, West Shamokin
Section 4 – Brentwood, Greensburg Central Catholic, Jeannette, Riverview, Shady Side Academy, South Allegheny, Steel Valley, Wilkinsburg
Section 5 – Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Laurel, Mohawk, New Brighton, Riverside, Shenango, South Side Beaver

Class A (29 teams)
Section 1 – Beth-Center, California, Carmichaels, Geibel, Jefferson-Morgan, Mapletown, West Greene
Section 2 – Avella, Bentworth, Chartiers-Houston, Clairton, Monessen, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Serra Catholic
Section 3 – Aliquippa, Cornell, Neshannock, Quigley, Rochester, Union, Western Beaver
Section 4 – Avonworth, Elderton, Leechburg, North Catholic, Sewickley Academy, St. Joseph, Springdale, Vincentian Academy

No baseball for Hull?

Canon-McMillan senior Mike Hull, who is currently in San Antonio, Texas, for the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, is leaning toward not playing varsity baseball this spring.

The first practice for spring sports is scheduled for March 8 – the PIAA baseball and softball championships are scheduled for Friday, June 18 – and Hull is expected to arrive at Penn State early this summer to join the football team.

"I don't think I'll play baseball because it's so close to when I leave for Penn State," Hull said Wednesday from San Antonio. "I might do track or something to do with running."

Hull batted leadoff for Canon-McMillan when it won the 2008 PIAA Class AAAA championship and also started in the outfield as a junior. He earned baseball all-district honors both years.

Alderson leaves C-H baseball

Dan Alderson, the most successful baseball coach in Chartiers-Houston High School history, had his resignation accepted by the school board Monday night.

Alderson went 133-44 in nine seasons as Bucs head coach. He spent the previous six years as an assistant with the baseball team. During his tenure as head coach, Alderson won three section titles and coached in two PIAA Class A semifinals and the 2005 WPIAL championship game at Consol Energy Park.

"Most people enjoy fishing, hunting and golfing," Alderson said Tuesday. "This was my fishing, hunting and golfing. It's something I had a passion for."

Alderson resigned to spend more time with his two daughters, Kaci (8) and Kelli (3). Alderson's wife Tricia coaches the Chartiers-Houston softball team.

For more details, read Wednesday's Observer-Reporter.

Aluminum bat safety trial

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Fighting off a Helena Senators’ fifth-inning rally, pitcher Brandon Patch checked the runner on first base. The 18-year-old Miles City Mavericks’ southpaw then went into his windup, delivering what looked sure to be another strike.
Instead, the Senators’ hitter connected squarely, smacking the baseball so hard that it was nearly impossible to follow — until it ricocheted off Patch’s head. The ball eventually fell behind first base after traveling, by some accounts, as high as 50 feet in the air.
Patch, pitching in what was to be one of his final games with his American Legion team, collapsed on the mound. He managed to speak briefly to his father and coaches, and to some of the teammates from the eastern Montana town of Miles City, who had rushed to help him. Minutes later, Patch went into convulsions as a horrified crowd watched on from the bleachers.
Within hours, Patch had died from head injuries suffered while playing the game he had loved since he’d been a small child.
“It was just so quick. Everything happened so fast,” Mavericks’ first baseman Kevin Roberts recalled more than six years later in a courtroom, where the bat’s manufacturer is being sued by Patch’s mother for allegedly producing an unreasonably dangerous product.
At issue in the trial that is expected to last at least until early next week is whether anyone could have known the danger that could come from using an aluminum baseball bat, and whether the manufacturer should be held liable for Patch’s death.
“There is absolutely no warning anywhere ... that this bat can create a situation where a pitcher is defenseless,” said Joe White, the Patchs’ attorney.
Metal bats came into vogue in amateur sports in the 1970s. More recently, however, they have come under increased scrutiny and criticism as injuries from fast-moving balls hit by the lightweight bats have mounted.
What makes aluminum bats different from their wooden counterparts is that the weight is distributed more equally in the metal ones, making it easier to swing faster and harder. They’re also generally shaped to have larger sweet spots, the area that produces hard-hit balls.
In 2002, the U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission ruled that there was inconclusive data to support a ban on metal bats in youth and high school baseball games. Its study found that from 1991 to 2001, there were 17 deaths nationwide due to batted balls. Of those, eight were from metal bats, two from wood and another seven were of unknown origin.
But Patch’s death in 2003 cast new light on the issue when his team refused to use metal bats or play American Legion games against those who did.
Since 2007, high school teams in North Dakota and New York City have also played only with wooden bats. States including Montana and Pennsylvania, home to the Little League World Series, have also considered state laws banning metal bats since Patch’s death, although none has passed.

Lapkowicz earns all-state honors

Carmichaels High School graduate Joby Lapkowicz earned a spot as one of three pitchers on the 2009 Pennsylvania High School Baseball Coaches Association All-State Small School team.

As a senior, Lapkowicz compiled a 7-1 record with 117 strikeouts in 66 2.3 innings with a 0.84 ERA.

Lapkowicz was the only player from Washington-Greene to make the team.

Large school (Class AAAA-AAA)
Ben Rawding, Blackhawk P Sr.
Cameron Black, Penn Manor P Sr.
Mark Jones, Manheim Township P Sr.
Michael Tomko, Sharon C Sr.
Cody Dolan, Central Mountain 1B Jr.
Austin Wulf, Blackhawk 2B Sr.
Phil Bondi, Moon Area SS Sr.
Pat Kregeloh, Pleasant Valley 3B Jr.
Edwin Rohena, Frankford Sr. OF
Greg Weatherly, Blackhawk Jr. OF
Wander Nunez, Frankford Sr. OF
Addison Dunn, Warren Sr. DH

Small school (Class AA-A)
Joby Lapkowicz, Carmichaels P Sr.
Colin Kelly, Loyalsock P Sr.
Blaise Fernandez, Tulpehocken P Jr.
Christopher Miller, Serra Catholic C So.
Tyler Dawson, Union City 1B Sr.
Adam Wayman, Wilkes Barre-GAR IF Sr.
Caleb Erb, Brandywine Heights IF Sr.
Brad Goedeker, Monaca 3B Sr.
Chris Halcovage, Nativity BVM OF Sr.
Joel Nay, Pine Grove OF Sr.
Skyler Schultz, Monaca OF Sr.
Kory Foster, Towanda DH Sr.