JEFFERSON TWP — He's been a champion for a while — only Joel Zacherl didn't know it.

Zacherl, Knoch's senior left fielder through most of the 2015 high school baseball season, had to report to Marine boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., shortly after graduation.

And before the conclusion of the Knights' run to the PIAA Class AAA championship.

“We weren't allowed any contact with him once he reported to camp,” Tina Zacherl, Joel's mother, said. “We still aren't. No phone calls, not by Skype ... All we can do is send mailings in nothing bigger than a 8.5 by 11 envelope.”

Zacherl knows his team won the championship now. His mother sent the Butler Eagle game articles to him along with additional information.

Though he wasn't physically at the game, Zacherl's presence could be felt. Catcher Asa Adams — his best friend on the team — wore Zacherl's cap during the two playoff games Joel could not attend.

“Joel had phrases he wrote on that cap,” Adams said. “He was always told he wasn't big enough, fast enough ... So he wrote on his cap that even though we may not be the biggest, fastest or strongest, that we can still show them.

“You play with your heart. That was his big thing.”

Zacherl hit .320 with five RBI in 14 games for the Knights this season. He struck out only three times.

Adams was with Zacherl the day before he left for boot camp.

“It was tough, losing him,” Adams admitted. “We all wanted to be together all the way through the end of that run. But Joel inspired us the rest of the way. His absence, just knowing his sacrifice, motivated us and gave us an edge.

“I told him before he left ... 'Yeah, we're experiencing a memory that's going to last a lifetime, but you're dealing with real life. People who have done what you're doing are the reason we're able to go out and enjoy playing these games in the first place.'”

Zacherl has gotten through the first third of boot camp. His parents won't see or talk to him again until Family Day at the base Sept. 3, when he officially becomes a Marine.

“He's chosen the toughest branch of the service,” George Zacherl, Joel's father, said. “Only one percent of the entire U.S. population joins the military. Only 10 percent of that 1 percent opts for the Marine Corps.

“We're proud of him. This is what he always wanted to do.”

One of Zacherl's teachers in eighth grade, Shaun Brumbaugh, had each student in his class write an essay about what they wanted to do in life. That essay was given back to those students at the senior breakfast four years later.

Zacherl had written that he wanted to be a Marine.

“He never wavered from that,” Mrs. Zacherl said. “Still, not having (Joel) there when the team won the championship was bittersweet for me. But I loved going on the field and accepting his championship medal for him.”

That medal now hangs in Zacherl's bedroom, awaiting his return.

The PIAA championship games were played at Penn State University, Mrs. Zacherl's alma mater. Joel's sister, Courtney, is a student at Penn State and was able to swing by and enjoy the championship moment as well.

“Joel wasn't permitted to participate in action on the field for a couple of weeks before he left,” Mrs. Zacherl said. “The Marines didn't want any risk of him getting hurt before boot camp.

“He was able to hang around the team. He just couldn't play. That weaned him off it a little and that helped. Joel took this whole process better than we did.”

Zacherl played football and was captain of the bowling team at Knoch. He became the first student in school history to letter in football, baseball and bowling. He maintained a 3.4 grade point average.

“We're gonna get together again,” Adams said. “I already miss him. Joel's just a hard-working, dedicated guy. He's definitely in the right place.”