Knock baseball sports 06/2022

After a campaign in which Knoch’s baseball team made an unexpected push to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinal, coach Bill Stoops wanted to send his seniors off with a meaningful keepsake.

Before the graduating class even reached into their gift bags at the team’s season-ending banquet, senior catcher Eli Sutton had a pretty good idea of what he was going to pull out.

“Everybody has their own little inside running joke or their mascot kind of thing,” Sutton said. “Toothpicks were, in a way, our connection ... When he started giving those out, that was the pretty popular guess.”

You read that right.

Of course, the quirky mementos require a backstory.

Stoops frequently nibbles on cinnamon-flavored toothpicks, a custom he picked up on after health issues forced him to ditch chewing tobacco. Throughout the season, the Knights’ players would hound him, asking him to share the skinny wooden sticks.

He eventually had to get a larger container to hold them in, as he’d be run dry soon after he pulled them out. It was just another case of the lighthearted nature that helped carry the team on its run.

Initially, in being brought on for the job in December, Stoops wasn’t sure where his team would wind up. He knew how they’d arrive there, though.

“I knew there was a lot of seniors,” Stoops said. “When I went there for my interview, I told them, ‘I’m here to win and have fun.’

“I like to bunt, I like to hit and run, I like to steal. I do the fundamentals.”

Such a style of baseball was enjoyable to play and to take in.

“That’s much more fun than just kind of the ‘Get on base and swing it,’” Sutton said. “We put a lot of pressure on defenses ... There’s a lot of energy when you play like that. It fit us well.”

The group, Sutton added, played a lot looser than other teams he’d been part of. In practices that usually included intrasquad scrimmages, Knoch kept things light, but didn’t let their fun get in the way of focus.

For a team that was underestimated most of the year, that was crucial.

“According to everybody, we were supposed to finish fourth (in our section),” Stoops said. “I like a challenge.”

Stoops questioned his players on whether they were afraid of the Section 1-4A powers that be — namely North Catholic and Highlands. A series split early in the schedule against the Golden Rams went a long way in providing an answer. As did a district quarterfinal victory over the Trojans.

If the Knights hadn’t crossed paths with West Mifflin, the eventual WPIAL champions, they likely would have reached the state tournament.

“Going into the season, we didn’t have the rankings that some of the people we ran into did,” Sutton said. “They were a lot more popular on paper ... We never really backed down from any kind of challenge.”

During games, the Knights’ dugout was almost always abuzz. Encouraging commentary usually spilled out. The often unexpected deliveries added a flavor of comedy.

“’Gelo!” they’d randomly blurt out when senior Angelo DeLeonardis dug in at the dish.

“Nope, I don’t want it,” they’d yell when an opposing pitcher offered a ball outside the strike zone.

“Before the game, we fool around,” Stoops said. “But, once we cross the line, it’s a different story. We’re out there to play the game.”

The program graduates Luke Priester, Dathan Gillis, Jacob Boris, Luke DiSanti, Anthony Grafton, Sutton, and DeLeonardis. Jackson Pacek, Brady Wozniak, Logan Cypher, Jacob Stallsmith, and Jacob Wagner will act as the nucleus Stoops builds around next spring.

Having coached for north of 35 years, Stoops said his most recent crew ranks on the top of his list. Off the diamond, the Knights were goofy. On it, not quite as much.

“This team was a no-nonsense team that didn’t want to quit,” Stoops said.