East Butler baseball players extend season
MANOR TWP, Armstrong County — If not for the uniforms they had on, it would’ve appeared that East Butler’s baseball players had been splashing about.
For a team that had played a disappointing game of Marco Polo for consistent competition for much of the summer, it was fitting. At the Freeport International Baseball Invitational, the group found exactly what it had been searching for.
“Today, we played a doubleheader, it was 90 degrees, there was no shade,” East Butler coach Jay Wagner said Thursday. “It looked like they just got out of the swimming pool afterwards, they were sweating so much.”
“We were all just drained from that first game, and that second game came around and it just pretty much wiped us all out,” outfielder and team captain Colton Dickinson said. “Our shirts were completely drenched and sticking to us.”
Zarian Finucan, a third baseman and pitcher, wasn’t about to let the heat ruin his enjoyment.
“It’s been, really, a lot of fun, just to play baseball,” he said. “Almost everyday, doubleheaders, it’s just fun going out there with your teammates.”
The team opted to take part in the invitational rather than the Butler County Area Baseball League (BCABL) postseason. A season filled with game cancellations took some luster away from the finale.
“There were only two other teams participating in the BCABL playoff, and it would’ve been double elimination,” Wagner said. “Whereas this tournament gave us an opportunity to play 6-8 games in a week. ... It didn’t make any sense for us to play in a three-team playoff.
“Our last game, I just asked the kids, ‘Who wants to play possibly eight games in five days?’ Almost every one of them raised their hand.”
From Tuesday to Friday at the invitational, East Butler played teams from Mercyhurst, Armstrong, Springdale, and Cleveland, varying in age from 15-20 years old.
“I feel like those kids got short-changed with Pine-Richland dropping out and games being canceled,” Wagner said. “This, playing all these games — I know it’s a lot of games — they were exhausted today because it was so hot and we played a doubleheader.
“They’re getting their games in. They’re getting their at-bats.”
Wagner had picked up the phone to seek whatever organized competition he could on other occasions, too. The team took on a crew from Moniteau in a pair of exhibitions this summer, as well.
“It seemed like every game, it was either we wouldn’t have enough players or the other team would show up or there was just always something,” Jacob Wagner said. “It’s frustrating, because we were practicing and getting ready to play, then when it was time to play we couldn’t.”
Finucan agreed, adding that it also reminded him how much he likes to play.
“It was frustrating, but at the same time, it just teaches you that you really can’t take anything for granted,” he said. “When you get back out on that field, you have to play it like it’s your last.”
When the opportunity came about, the players ran with it.
“I was excited,” Dickinson said. “I just couldn’t even wait to get out there, honestly. Especially after thinking there wasn’t even going to be a season at all. ... It made up for all of these playoff games that we would’ve been missing, plus more.”
Even before dealing with the difficulties of a fractured league, Wagner had to sweat out gathering enough players for a team.
“It was a lot of stress,” Coach Wagner said. “The league wanted an answer and I wasn’t sure. We had some last-minute sign-ups after the high school season ended, then I asked most of the Knoch team if they wanted to play (in the BCABL). Almost all of them said yeah, so we were able to make it happen.”
Cody Stroup, Justice Schmeider, Cam Cygan, and Dickinson were the team’s only returners from last go-round.
With the help of the East Butler Baseball Association, uniforms arrived just in the nick of time and baseballs were stocked for the league’s season. Rather than an evenly spread out schedule, East Butler instead played the majoritiy of its contests with Seneca Valley and Freeport.
“We want to stick together,” Coach Wagner said. “They have two more years of (BCABL) left, the majority of our team does. When I went to the scheduling meeting, I was shocked that there were only four other coaches there.”
The BCABL had nine teams in 2018, a total that has steadily dwindled since and leaves doubt about its future. Whatever the case, the elder Wagner sees his team being back out on the field in some capacity next year.
“They’ve improved so much, from our first (BCABL) game to today,” Coach Wagner said. “Every single player is better today than they were two months ago. ... We’re hitting better, we’re playing better defense, our pitchers are locked in. I’m going to be bummed when it’s over this weekend.”
East Butler closes out its week in the invitational with a game against a team from France on Saturday. A win would mean a 5-1 record at the event.
