Ex-Butler mates team up again
ROBINSON TWP— Most high school graduates say goodbye and go their separate ways in June.
Three 2007 Butler graduates — Andy Onufrak, Aaron Ordy and Brian Warheit — haven't strayed far from each other, however.
Each was a senior on the 2007 Golden Tornado baseball team that fell a game short of the WPIAL playoffs. Each went on to an NCAADivision IIschool, where each started for his respective school as a freshman.
Each played against each other this spring and now all three are teammates for Robinson Township-based Baseball Academy in the Tri-State Collegiate Baseball League.
"I've known the coach there (Dave Kirilloff) for a long time and he asked me how well I knew the other two guys,"Onufrak said. "That was easy. We've been playing baseball together since we were little kids.
"It's cool that we're teammates again this summer. It's been a blast."
Onufrak played third base and shortstop for Wheeling Jesuit of the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this spring and batted .247 with 11 RBI. He led the Cardinals with 16 walks and five sacrifices.
Warheit is a pitcher at Seton Hill, also in the WVIAC, and was 2-2 with a 3.23 earned run average. He struck out 29 and walked eight in 30X\c innings pitched.
He is 2-2 with a 2.60 ERAthus far this summer with the Baseball Academy, which is 9-10 overall.
"We have six or seven starting pitchers on this summer team,"Warheit said. "When it's your turn to pitch, they leave the game in your hands. I've already thrown a complete nine-inning game and seven-inning game."
Ordy played second base for California (Pa.) of the PSACthis spring. He hit .275 with nine RBI and started 18 of the 32 games he appeared in."I'm playing shortstop this summer because our (California) shortstop is graduating and I'm anticipating being moved to that spot,"Ordy said.None of the three experienced any playoff games this spring. Wheeling Jesuit is only a third-year program and finished well below .500. Seton Hill was 26-23, but wasn't eligible for postseason play as a first-year WVIACmember.Cal missed qualifying for the PSACplayoffs by a game after being swept by Indiana (Pa.) in the final conference doubleheader of the season.This spring marked the third straight season Ordy's high school or college team fell a game short of the playoffs."It's not going to happen next year,"Ordy declared. "I want to develop into an all-conference guy, maybe even an all-region guy."Onufrak and Warheit have similar aspirations. The summer league, which was formed in 2006, is designed to help them get there.The 18-team league is comprised of NCAADivision I, II and IIIcollege players, with teams as far away as Toledo and Columbus, Ohio."We do a lot of traveling on weekends,"Onufrak said. "The level of play is very similar to our college seasons. The added experience is invaluable."Theteams play about 44 regular season games, followed by the playoffs."I'm facing the same caliber of hitters I did in college, better hitters in some cases,"Warheit said. "Control is a much bigger issue with me now."In high school, I could get by with just throwing the ball hard. In college, if you don't locate the pitch well, they crush it."
Ordy expects the team to finish with a winning record."We're playing better now that the team has gotten to know each other," he said.As for reuniting on the field with Onufrak and Warheit?"It's been so much fun,"Ordy said. "You don't see your high school teammates much once you graduate, and when you join a summer team after playing in college, you're not sure who's going to be there."We've got the best of both worlds. We're wearing the same uniform again and we're helping each other get better."
