Presently one of the top young players on the Penn State Behrend men's volleyball team, Cody Schnur appreciates his past.

He grew up on baseball — and plans to continue spending time on the diamond.

Schnur, a member of the East Butler team in the Butler County Area Baseball League, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the league prior to its All-Star Game Monday night at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park.

“I've been playing community baseball my whole life,” Schnur said. “I've loved the experience. This just puts a topper on it.”

Annually, the BCABL encourages all players in their final year with the league — who have been part of the circuit for at least two years — to write a one-page essay explaining what playing community baseball has meant to them.

Independent sources read the essays and voted to determine the winners.

There were 12 entrants vying for the scholarships this year. Two other $1,000 scholarship awards are usually presented, but there was a four-way tie for second place this year. Receiving $500 scholarships were Chris Zidek and Trevor Gahagan of Center Township, Alex Scalone and Elijah White of Cranberry Township.

“I thought it would be hard to write that (essay),” Zidek said. “But once I sat down, everything came easy. It was just describing our feelings about playing baseball.”

Schnur wrote in his essay that “an opponent from last year ended up attending the same college as me. We instantly hit it off and talked about our community baseball memories.”

Schnur eventually began assisting in the process of getting the field ready for game-day. He became an umpire this year through the Butler County Sports Officials Association.

“When I play my games now, I always have two more people to talk to in the field,” he wrote.

Zidek wrote about his team overcoming huge deficits to win games.

“We won because we believed in ourselves,” he wrote. “We believed in each other. Even when it was hard to achieve what we wanted, we kept going and eventually beat the odds ... To me, that is what it means to have persistence.”

Scalone is headed to Kent State University to major in sports management. He hopes to work in the office of a major league team someday.

White is headed to Grove City College and will be a pitcher for the Wolverines.

“I want to take what I learned from community baseball and continue to implement it into my everyday life,” Scalone wrote. “I plan on pursuing a career in baseball.”

White said that he's learned about teamwork and relationships through baseball.

“The friends I was able to make through baseball have made me grow into a person who is able to laugh with those I may not agree with and to love those who are the complete opposite of who I am,” White wrote. “This is a lesson of more value than any wins we have won together as a team to me.”

Gahagan is headed to Butler County Community College and will play first or second base for the Pioneers. He said he learned the value of practice and commitment through baseball.

“The more I practiced, the better I played,” he wrote. “I quickly learned I would only get out of something what I put into it.

“I broke my arm two summers in a row and I had to miss the end of my seasons when I was 8 and 9 years old. I was devastated! But I still went to practices and games to hang out with my teammates and cheer them on. I learned a sense of commitment.”

The league's scholarship program has been going on for nearly 10 years.

“We collect our registration fees, pay for rental of the fields, umpires, bought a new traveling trophy,” BCABL president Larry Stelitano said. “All of the other money goes into these scholarships. That's how we run our league.”

Schnur said the biggest benefits of the league have nothing to do with baseball.

“It's not the wins or the losses or baseball itself,” he said. “It's the bonding of all the players. That's what makes this so great.”