Collier Township took on ‘celebrity’
One in a series looking back at notable individuals, teams and events in Western Pennsylvania high school sports.
A future MLB first-round pick played in the Pennsylvania Little League state championship game and wasn’t even close to being the biggest name on the field.
Austin Hendrick and Collier Township took on Mo’ne Davis and Taney (Philadelphia) at Palmer Field in Skippack on July 27, 2014. Taney beat Collier, 6-4, to move on to the Mid-Atlantic Regional and eventually got within a win of the Little League World Series championship game.
Davis became a national celebrity that summer after becoming the first girl to earn a win and shutout in the LLWS. She appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, and earned praise from the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Michelle Obama and Mike Trout.
The Collier team was loaded and didn’t lose a game until the state tournament. Hendrick, now a senior at West Allegheny who will become a multi-millionaire next month, led the way, but the team also included Sam Tortorella (Keystone Oaks), Troy Donofrio (Chartiers Valley), Colby Rockacy (Keystone Oaks) and Christian Trottier (Canon-McMillan). Trottier is the son of hockey hall of famer and former Penguin Bryan Trottier.
“We honestly didn’t have any competition until states,” Donofrio said. “In districts and sections, we kind of blew everyone out. We didn’t have one bad player.”
Hendrick’s legend was already growing. He lived in Green Tree at the time, which made him eligible to play for Collier. Webb Park in Collier has two fields. On the smaller one, Hendrick would hit bombs over the trees. On the larger one, he’d smack balls more than 300 feet over the fence.
“I just remember every time he’d be up, I was almost positive he was putting one out of the park,” said Rockacy. “Every time he’d hit, it was incredible.”
Added Tortorella: “He was special. We all worked hard, but he just had something special when he hit the ball that just made it go farther and look better than everyone else.”
Collier actually played Taney three times, so they grew very familiar with Davis and the buzz she was beginning to create.
“The talk around the tournament was that there was a really good girl we’d be going up against,” Donofrio recalled.
Taney handed Collier its first loss of the season, 13-10, in the winner’s bracket final. But Collier bounced back to beat Red Land, 5-4, in an elimination game to punch its ticket to the championship.
In order to win the title, however, Collier needed to beat Taney twice. Collier got the first win, beating Taney, 7-2. Davis homered on the third pitch of the game, while Hendrick and Tortorella hit home runs for Collier. A day later, the teams played the decisive game. Collier got to Davis early, racing to a 4-0 lead in the top half of the fourth inning. Hendrick had an RBI triple. But Taney rallied for the win after scoring two in the fourth and four in the fifth. Davis had eight strikeouts in 4 ⅔ innings, while Tortorella also struck out eight in four innings.
“She was seasoned. She knew what she was doing out there,” Tortorella said of Davis, who now plays softball at Hampton University.
The loss made for a long trip home — it was already more than 300 miles — and left the Collier players with a big “what-if.”
“A week later we see them getting on TV and I was like, ‘If we hold on for a few more innings, that’s us,’” said Tortorella, an Akron recruit.
For years, the Collier players have told stories of how they played against Mo’ne Davis, but it might not be long before that narrative changes to them also being teammates with Austin Hendrick.