Fivesome found fun, wins
Liberty earns team, coach of the year honors; Vital, Eichenlaub share player of the year award
Jase Barker strolls down the fairway with his golden locks flowing and a smile on his face.
It doesn’t matter if his tee shot found the fairway or is in the deep rough, golf is fun for him.
It is more fun when Barker is playing with his friends.
He and his friends Matt and Michael Vital, cousin Jimmy Barker and Matt Ronca — disguised as Liberty teammates — have been having fun on the golf course for years.
Liberty’s opponents the last three seasons enjoyed that fivesome’s company, but didn’t care much for the results.
That’s because the Hurricanes won three consecutive EPC and District 11 Class 3A championships plus advanced the most players in that span to the PIAA Golf Championships.
For that, Liberty is The Morning Call All-Area golf team of the year.
Steve Bradley, in charge of the Hurricanes for more than two decades, earns coach of the year honors.
And Matt Vital shares the golfer of the year award with Moravian Academy’s Evan Eichenlaub. Vital won consecutive District 11 3A individual titles and was the EPC runner-up in a playoff each of the last two seasons. Eichenlaub won the Colonial League and District 11 2A championships this season and finished fourth at states.
Vital, who has had many top-10 finishes while playing a national schedule in and out of the high school season, and his brother are headed to Temple to continue their golfing careers.
Eichenlaub is attending Babson (Mass.) Business School.
The Hurricanes’ chemistry was as good as their play. That is the impression they left on Bradley.
“They came in as eighth graders a funny group,” Bradley said. “They are a loose group. We didn’t want to change that. You keep them what they are. They’ve played together since they could walk.
“They’ve talked about getting to the state tournament. I sent three to states this year. I’ve never sent three before.”
Matt Vital has been the Hurricanes’ quiet, smiling leader. His ability to recover from bad shots, bad starts to rounds and his competitiveness is equaled by love for the game. He is as determined as anyone but can balance that out with the joy of the playing a sport with his friends.
“He has the ability to go super low and win tournaments,” Bradley said. “He has a different kind of game. He consistently plays the game well.
“All the kids are good kids. The way they play is a credit to their families. They get them to the golf course. They have them playing on weekends, playing in tournaments,
keeping them sharp.
“All [assistant coach] Derron [Henning] and I do is keep them loose, make it fun, keeping the stress away.”
Eichenlaub shot 4-under to cruise to the league title, then survived an 18th-hole lip out by Palmerton’s Tyler Hager to win the district crown on the first
extra hole. The Lions senior was at the top of the leader board at states with four holes to play before finishing fourth.
He consistently improved his game throughout his four-year career to the point where he was in contention in every event this season.
Palmerton gets special mention in team of the year consideration. Hager, Connor Reinhard, Nathan Steinmetz and the rest of the
Blue Bombers won the Colonial League championship for a third year in a row and the district 2A team title for a fourth consecutive season.
Those three seniors also finished their careers by qualifying for the PIAA meet.
Hager and Steinmetz played their final high school round in the same group.