Goalie wants to save lives
Northampton Middle School’s Green is up for the Challenge
Aidan Green loves the game of ice hockey.
The 11-year-old plays for his Northampton Middle School team and the Scranton/
WilkesBarre Junior Knights of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League.
“I love hockey a lot … it’s my life,” he said. “I started playing when I was four. I tried football and I didn’t like it that much, and then I tried hockey and I loved it. I especially like being a goalie so I am in a position to help my team win.”
Green’s saves have helped his teams win and now he’d like to make more saves in the game of life.
That’s why he got involved in the October Saves Goalie Challenge, a program that raises money for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, INOVA of Virginia and Stand Up To Cancer.
The money raised goes to research and facilities offering support in the fight against cancer, especially pediatric cancer. The idea is to make every save count via pledges.
Donations can be made on a per-save basis or with a flat contribution.
“I got involved because I want to help people beat cancer,” Green said. “I wanted to make a difference.”
This is the third year Green is involved and his goal for this October is $3,000 and, as of last week, he had raised $1,579. In 2017, he raised $1,275 and last year he raised $1,830.
“Our whole family has gotten behind it,” said Chris Green, Aidan’s father. “You always look to see what you can do to help, but you don’t always have time to do it. This is a great way for my family to get involved because we’re so busy with ice hockey. I’ve had two or three family members who have beaten breast cancer and they’re free and clear at this point.
Aidan saw first-hand how tough an opponent pediatric cancer can be when one of his Lehigh Valley Phantoms Youth teammates had to deal with it.
“That family is good friends of ours and when we saw what they were doing and what they went through, we felt we needed to find a way to help so other kids don’t have to go through this,” Chris Green said.
Green is playing against some of the top teams in the country with the Scranton/WilkesBarre team with the Revolution Ice Centre in Pittston being the home base. He is in a program filled with some of the game’s rising stars and his coach is also the personal coach for Flyers standout Ivan Provorov.
His dream is to play NHL hockey one day, but at the moment his focus is on helping other kids get a chance to live out their dreams by beating cancer.
Green said he hopes other goalies will sign up and get involved.
“They can sign up at octobersaves.org and they can start raising money for a great cause or those who want to help can support the goalie of their choice,” he said. “The more people involved, the better.”
BML Hall adds 2
Jay Rothenhausler and Adam Sandt were inducted into the Blue Mountain League Hall of Fame Wednesday night at Stefano’s Restaurant in Bethlehem. It was the Hall of Fame’s 36th annual induction banquet.
Rothenhausler played 22 seasons in the Lehigh Valley’s premier amateur baseball league and was a 12-time all-star and five-time all-league catcher.
He finished with a .330 career batting average with 100 home runs and 512 RBIs. His best seasons were with Martins Creek in 1998 and 1999 when he batted .402 and .421, respectively, with combined totals of 88 hits, 11 doubles, 26 home runs, and 80 RBIs. He also was an outstanding defensive catcher and helped four teams win league titles.
“He was just a great player offensively and defensively who showed up for every game, which was the way it was in the Blue Mountain League back in the day,” said Chris Sule, a former teammate who introduced Rothenhausler at the bannquet. “I was proud he was my teammate for all of those years.”
Sandt played for 11 seasons, all but one with the Egyptbased Orioles, and won an unprecedented three straight MVP awards. In 2012, he won the BML’s triple crown by hitting .452 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs. He was the first player to accomplish that feat since 1965.
He finished his career after the 2013 season with a .383 batting average and 1.117 OPS.
“He could hit and was also an incredible infielder,” said teammate and manager Dave Stoudt. “But the most important thing about Adam is that he loved to play baseball. Every day of the week, Adam was playing baseball.”
When he wasn’t playing for the Orioles, he played for the Northern Yankees in the TriCounty League before the Yankees joined the BML in 2014.
“I wish I wasn’t standing up here at this point of my life because it means my BML playing days are over,” Sandt said. “I had to move out of the Lehigh Valley for my job. Now, I realize how unique the Blue Mountain League is and how lucky I was to play in the BML. All of the places in the league are special places with a ton of history. There’s also great community support. I play in some leagues in North Carolina and it’s not even close.”
In addition to Rothenhausler and Sandt, 1996 BML-champion Martins Creek was honored and Caleb Tereska was saluted as the BML Hall of Fame’s ScholarAthlete Award winner.
Tereska, a Liberty High graduate, is attending Muhlenberg after graduating in the top 10 percent of his class at Liberty. He also was a Morning Call All-Area honorable mention selection and third-team all-league.
Lehigh players honored
Lehigh’s 21-14 win at Colgate Saturday allowed two Mountain Hawks to be honored by the Patriot League.
Senior linebacker Keith Woetzel, who had 13 tackles and 2½ sacks, was named the league’s defensive player of the week and freshman running back Nate Hope was named rookie of the week.
Woetzel’s effort spearheaded a defensive charge that limited Colgate to one touchdown, nine yards rushing and registered seven sacks.
Hope had 13 carries for 33 yards and two receptions for 79 yards, including a 60yarder on a 99-yard scoring drive and a 19-yard TD reception.
Lehigh (2-3) has its second bye week this weekend and returns to action Oct. 19 at Fordham.