Seniors help restore standard to Freeport baseball team
BUFFALO TWP — Freeport’s baseball team earned a spot on the playoff stage through effort complimented by a raucous atmosphere. All the Yellowjackets needed for a truly fairy tale story was a long run through the postseason.
But the success Freeport found this spring legitimized its work over the previous four years.
With almost all of last year’s team returning and the ‘Jackets falling into Class 3A, the team expected better results — and they got them. Freeport finished 15-6 overall, including a 9-3 section mark, and notched a win against South Allegheny in their WPIAL first-round playoff matchup.
“I think everybody knew we were going to come out this year and be successful because of the amount of seniors we had and how many of them started as a sophomore,” Freeport senior shortstop Zach Clark said.
The Jackets’ progress this season proved cathartic for a large senior class that felt the disappointment after their freshman season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“To pack up from a team that we thought had a chance to win a state championship in 2020 ... and have to get on the field as freshmen and sophomores who never played JV — let alone varsity,” Yellowjackets coach Ed Carr said after his team’s WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal loss to undefeated Riverside last month. “And just take the licking they did and persevere and bring this program back to prominence. I’ve got so much pride right now.”
The ‘Jackets other seniors were Eli Abbott, Matthew Parsi, Jonathan Hotalski, Anthony Demharter, Jack Smetak, Tyler Asti, Dylan Stonebraker, and Gabriel Colangeli. All have left their mark on a program trending upward.
“We’re sad, but I’m leaving here proud of the men these guys have become,” Carr said. “They’re going to be successful in life and they set this program up to win from here on out.”
Carr was highly complimentary of the crowd that showed up at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park for the WPIAL quarterfinal playoff against Riverside.
“I’ve never been part of an atmosphere that I saw tonight,” he said. “Even down nine, the atmosphere was unbelievable. That’s Freeport. That’s the town of Freeport. That’s the community, that’s these families, and the parents. And the support they give is unmatched. The kids fed off that and they continued that energy throughout the game, even to the final out.”
Having a change in atmosphere was something that stuck out to everyone involved with the program.
“We always do a team break before we go out to take the field and I just looked up and I was like, ‘Wow, there’s a bunch of people here,’” senior outfielder and lead-off hitter Brady Stivenson recalled. “That place was probably three-quarters of the way full ... I remember saying to the team, ‘Turn around and look at all the people that are here.’
“Freeport baseball hasn’t been able to see an atmosphere like that in three years.”
Heading into the 2020 season, the ‘Jackets were coming off a campaign in which they went 15-7 — winning 10 of 12 section contests — finished third in the WPIAL, and competed in the state tournament. The team had high hopes, but the pandemic washed them away.
The loss of the season had a butterfly effect on the crew’s younger guys.
“Obviously, translating from Pony ball into varsity and JV is a lot different speed-wise,” Stivenson said. “I was most bummed about it because I couldn’t learn from any of the experiences of the older kids. We were supposed to be good, and they were doing all the right things.”
In the two years before this one, Freeport went a combined 10-28 with just two section wins. In essence, it was a baptism by fire.
“It was kind of like we were being fed to the wolves,” Stivenson said. “It was definitely frustrating, but it was a big leap and big learning experience.”
Clark shared that sentiment.
“We all went into our sophomore year hopping straight into varsity without playing a single JV game,” Clark said. “We were kind of thrown out into the water, you could say. We weren’t really ready for it.
“We might not have performed very well, but we definitely got experience under our belt that helped this year.”
Getting a chance to see the fruits of their labor left this senior class wishing they had one more chance at a run next season.
“It’s bittersweet, because I have to leave it now,” Stivenson said. “Now that I feel like it’s in a lot better situation than where it started. Overall, I would say that it was just a great feeling that we finally turned the table over and that we were able to make something happen.”
