Weller named team MVP at Bears’ postseason banquet
Event held at Bally Fire Co. on Oct. 30
Three months and four days after their season ended, the Boyertown American Legion Baseball Bears held their post-season awards banquet. Mike Ferreri, member of Boyertown Area Youth Baseball, served as master of ceremonies for the event, which was held at the Bally Fire Company on Sunday, October 30.
After greeting those gathered, Ferreri introduced team physician Dr. Garland Fisher to lead the pre-meal prayer, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. He then thanked the many people who make a Bear season possible. After that, he had the 18 members of the 2016 Legion Bears who were present introduce themselves and their guests.
After the meal, Ferreri introduced head coach Rick Moatz, who extended congratulations to the team and stressed the importance of the many volunteers in making the season possible. First base coach Chris Mackey followed Moatz and reiterated his appreciation to the many volunteers.
Pitching coach Pete Hiryak then made his usual humorous comments, adding his appreciation to all who made the season possible. Assistant Head Coach Craig Eddinger was then introduced and spoke to those gathered. He mentioned how the season presented several scheduling challenges, but added that the season was still successful, with the Bears winning the Berks County regular season title.
It was then time to present the post-season awards. First, Ryan Weller was presented the Jason Benyo/ Brandon Mason Scholarship by Ferreri by members of the Benyo and Mason families. Next, Mackey presented the Raymond “Pidge” Kepner award as the Rookie of the Year to co-winners Cory Melchior and Quinn Mason, while Hiryak (after mentioning the many players who did catching duty during the season) presented the Dick Ludy pitching award to Andrew Bauer. The high point of the awards followed when Eddinger presented the Melvin “Buck” Rhodes Award as Bears MVP to Ryan Weller.
Moatz then presented college scholarship awards to Weller, Bauer, Trevor Waldman, and Justin Wieand. He also thanked Mike Ferreri and his son Connor for providing online game commentaries for the season.
After the volunteers and everybody associated with the program were thanked one last time, Dr. Garland Fisher offered the final prayer.
The Bears finished with a final record of 20-11 (.645 percentage) . . . Mason led the team in hits (28), walks (23), batting average (.341), and on-base average (.509). Tate Yergey led the team in slugging average (.426), while Mike Raineri led in stolen bases (15). Wieand compiled the team’s best ERA at 1.62, while Bauer finished with an incredible strikeout-to-walk ratio of 36-to-5. Mike Xanthopoulos led the pitchers with 6 wins … Texarkana (AR) won this year’s World Series with an 8-6 win over Salisbury (NC). Ironically, Salisbury was also the national runners-up in the Little League Softball World Series, losing 5-1 to Greater Helotes (Texas). . . The coaching team of Rick Moatz and Craig Eddinger have now amassed 1242 career wins . . . The Bears host no tournaments in 2017 … As always, the author thanks all of those people who made the 2016 so memorable, with a particular note of thanks to the Bears ground crew for their dedication.