“Nice guys finish last,” Hall of Fame baseball coach Leo Durocher supposedly said; the quote is probably made up, but the sentiment is universally understood.

And so it’s understood that the residents of Butler County are the nice guys once again, stewards and keepers of Connoquenessing Creek, which this week was named runner-up in the voting for 2018 Pennsylvania River of the Year.

Loyalsock Creek in north-central Pennsylvania was announced as River of the Year by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Pennsylvania Organization for Waterways and Rivers.

In an online vote the Loyalsock got 6,100 votes, while Connoquenessing Creek got 5,381 votes.

In truth, the Connoquenessing never finished last, not even when the creek wasn’t so nice.

“In 2000, it was called the second-most polluted waterway in America,” says Christina Handley, board president of the Allegheny Aquatic Alliance, whose members have worked tirelessly to reverse the stream’s water quality and improve its recreational impact.

That’s a dramatic improvement. A leap from the nation’s second-worst waterway to Pennsylvania’s second-best in only 17 years should qualify the Connoquenessing as a hands-down winner of the Most-Improved River Award. But that was not the criteria this time.

As for the winning river, accolades for the Loyalsock are well deserved. Those familiar with the Loyalsock Creek probably think of World’s End State Park in Sullivan County, where quaint rental cabins line a picturesque, steep valley and a clear, swift-running limestone stream. The creek meanders under state Route 154, where a swimming area has been sculpted into the stream bed.

A signature trait of limestone streams is that the lime buffers any acidity and rust color in the water, leaving it crystal-clear. The clarity exposes an abundance of trout making half-hearted attempts to hide in the shadows, but they’re enticingly visible to anglers from the surface. The conditions make World’s End a favorite fishing spot.

The Loyalsock also is a favorite with campers, hikers, whitewater kayakers and other nature lovers.

It’s difficult in many respects to include the Loyalsock and the Connoquenessing in the same category — except for one encouraging historical perspective.

A century ago, extensive logging turned a large portion of the Loyalsock watershed into a wasteland of tree stumps, brambles and logging waste, prone to forest fires, flooding and erosion.

It took decades of vision, patience and determination to restore the Loyalsock to the pristine playground that it is today. The effort dates back to the Great Depression, when the former state Department of Forests and Waters began buying up the devastated land to create a state forest park. The first state appropriation, $50 in 1932, was used to buy four picnic tables.

Maybe the Connoquenessing will never overtake the Loyalsock Creek to become Pennsylvania River of the Year. But considering its advantages — including a limestone creek bed and a 90-year head start in its restoration — coming in second to the Loyalsock isn’t such a bad finish.

A multitude of thanks and congratulations to the Allegheny Aquatic Alliance for displaying the same vision, determination and patience that has reversed the fortunes of the Connoquenessing Creek. All of us are reaping the benefits of their work.