SV had surprise run to '95 title
This is the first in a series of articles profiling the 2012 inductees into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. The Hall's annual banquet is at 6:30 p.m. April 28 at the Butler Days Inn.JACKSON TWP — Talk about coming out of nowhere.The 1995 Seneca Valley baseball team returned only two starters from its WPIAL championship squad of the previous year, lost five of its first eight section games and trailed Butler 4-2 in the sixth inning of No. 9.“If we lost that game, we're probably eliminated,” said Dave Florie, the Raiders' coach.A five-run rally in the sixth netted a 7-4 victory. The Raiders won six of their final seven section games and wound up winning the state championship.“A truly remarkable story — and an amazing team,” Florie said.It was amazing enough to gain entrance into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame later this month. The 1995 Raiders will become the third team to gain induction, joining the undefeated 1950 Butler football team and the 2000 Karns City girls basketball state championship squad.Seneca Valley finished 20-7 in 1995, losing to North Catholic in the WPIAL semifinals, then winning four straight games to claim the state crown.“Nobody expected us to do anything that year,” catcher Tony Felt said. “North Allegheny called us the hicks from the sticks. They beat us 17-0 on our own field earlier in the year.”Florie recalled the gloomy preseason forecasters as well.“The New Castle paper picked us to finish last in the section,” he said. “There was so much negative talk about our team, I'm surprised these guys didn't get an inferiority complex.“All they wanted to do was prove the critics wrong. And once we got rolling, nobody wanted to play this bunch.”Felt and pitcher-infielder Brent Ruby were the only returning starters from SV's 1994 WPIAL title team.“Tony and I became team leaders and the team just jelled at the right time,” Ruby said.Ruby, Todd Raithel and Shon Norris developed into the top-three pitchers on the staff. Raithel, a junior, won the state title game, defeating Williamsport by a 7-3 count.
Norris had a run-scoring triple in that game, while Ruby hit an RBI-double and Felt delivered a two-run double.Players from that Raider team wound up playing college ball at Slippery Rock, Pitt, Louisville and UNC-Asheville, among other schools.“The second baseman from that Willamsport team (Nick Kelly) wound up being my roommate at SRU and best man at my wedding,” Felt said.Seneca Valley became the first Butler County school to win a PIAA baseball title and the first WPIAL team to do so since Connellsville claimed the gold in 1989.All Felt cared about doing was having Seneca Valley win a state baseball title before North Allegheny.“We were such bitter rivals,” he said. “When we arrived to play them at their place, there was a poster-size picture of me with a target circled around me, taped up in our dugout. The coaches took it down right away, but I saw it.“I hit a home run in that game and took the slowest trot around the bases I ever took.”The 1995 Raiders were built on pitching and defense.“We rarely made errors and we had a bunch of guys who could play different positions,” Ruby said.“I remember our state semifinal game against North Catholic at Pullman Park. They beat us earlier and there were 3,000 people at this game. I mean, they were standing around everywhere.“I was the losing pitcher when we played them last time and I pitched against them this time, too. All I kept telling myself was there's no way they're gonna beat me twice,” Ruby added.Confidence played a major role in the team's success as well. Seneca Valley wound up ranked No. 25 by the USA Today.“Being the first Butler County team to win the state title meant a lot to these guys,” Florie said. “They believed they were good. They never stopped believing they would win.”Felt credited Florie and the coaches for that feeling.“The younger guys on our 1994 team, whether they were courtesy runners, bench guys, whatever, they were part of that team,” Felt said. “When it was their turn to step up and play in 1995, they were ready.“That's all coaching.”Tickets for the Hall of Fame dinner are $20 and are available at Parker Appliances in Chicora, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, Bill's Beer Barn or Snack n' Pack in Butler, Maddalon's Jewelers in Zelienople, Saxonburg Drug or at www.bcshof.com.
