College coaches have known for years that the Schuylkill League is rich in baseball talent.
Wednesday, college coaches mined that talent like they never have before.
In an historic day for the Schuylkill League, six area players signed national letters of intent as part of the NCAA’s early signing period — five to Division I schools.
National Signing Day started bright and early, as three members of Pottsville’s Schuylkill League championship squad — Travis Blankenhorn, Eli Nabholz and Connor Hinchliffe — signed their letters as part of a 7:15 a.m. ceremony in the high school library. Blankenhorn, a middle infielder, signed with Kentucky; Nabholz signed to pitch for Penn State; and Hinchliffe signed as a catcher with La Salle.
Later in the day, Schuylkill Haven pitcher Nick Behm signed his letter of intent to attend Marist, while Tamaqua’s Brett Kosciolek inked his letter to play at Rider.
The sixth player, 2014 Republican-Herald Player of the Year Bo Rottet of Tamaqua, turned down a Division I offer from Bucknell to sign with Division II Kutztown University.
For Blankenhorn and Nabholz, Wednesday was just a formality. The two Crimson Tide stars had given their verbal commitments more than a year ago, with Blankenhorn picking the Wildcats in August 2013 and Nabholz committing to Penn State last October.
For the other three Division I signees, their minds were made up this summer. Hinchliffe and Kosciolek gave their verbal commitments in July, while Behm picked Marist in early September.
A 6-foot-2, 210-pounder, Blankenhorn is a two-time All-Area first-team selection who has hit .385 (79-for-205) for his high school career with 54 runs scored and 64 RBIs. The shortstop/pitcher decided not to play his senior season of football to focus on baseball and enhance his chances of getting selected in next June’s Major League Baseball Amateur Player Draft.
The 18-year-old Pottsville resident played in showcase tournaments over the summer and fall in New Jersey; Florida (Perfect Game
Nationals); North Carolina (Tournament of the Stars); Syracuse, New York (East Coast Pro); Arizona (Chandler World Series); California (Area Codes); Jupiter, Forida (Fall World Series); and Georgia (WWBA World Championships).
“It helps a lot. You can get some recognition around here, but going down there, you’re pretty much going around for (scouts) to see you,” said Blankenhorn, who said he will play basketball for the Crimson Tide this winter. “There’s a lot of opportunities playing far away and having scouts get a look at you. Not a lot of scouts come to Pottsville.”
A similar tour in the summer of 2013 led to Blankenhorn visiting and signing with Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference. Blankenhorn picked the Wildcats over Virginia, Virginia Tech, Maryland, Coastal Carolina and Texas Tech.
“I loved all the coaches there. It was a great place,” Blankenhorn said of Kentucky, where he will major in communications. “When I went there, I loved the atmosphere. I liked the conference I’m going to play in, and the education is obviously good. I felt it fit me perfectly.”
A 6-5, 220-pound right-hander, Nabholz was the 2013 Republican-Herald Pitcher of the Year and an All-Area first-team selection in 2014. He was 7-2 with an area-best 0.70 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 2013, and 5-3 with a 2.74 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 2014.
Nabholz picked the Nittany Lions over Virginia Tech, Alabama and Missouri. He will major in political science.
“Penn State was actually one of the last schools I talked to,” Nabholz said. “Compared to all the other schools, it felt like home and the coaching staff was exactly the type of guys I wanted to play for.”
Nabholz competed for the Chandler World travel program the past two years, playing in tournaments across the southern United States and Arizona.
“Penn State first saw me in a tournament last year in Maryland,” Nabholz said. “They saw me a couple of more times, and I actually committed while I was playing in a tournament in Florida.”
Blankenhorn said the two Pottsville standouts had talked about going to the same college, but it never materialized.
“We went on a couple of visits to the same place together, and if it happened, it happened. But it didn’t,” Blankenhorn said.
Hinchliffe, who may be the only high school catcher in Pennsylvania who gets to catch two Division I recruits in the same year, landed at La Salle after playing for the GrandSlam Blue Rocks 18U team in tournaments in Georgia, Florida, New Jersey and Maryland.
The 6-1, 180-pounder plans to major in accounting. He chose the Atlantic 10 school over Lafayette and George Washington.
“I really liked La Salle’s coaches,” Hinchliffe said. “I’m going to enjoy ending up in Philly and playing in the A-10. They have a really good honors accounting/business program, and I felt it would be a good fit for me. Plus they put me in a good financial position.”
Behm, 17, wanted to stay relatively close to his Lake Wynonah home. The 2014 Republican-Herald Pitcher of the Year, the 6-1, 195-pounder plans to major in sports communications after picking Marist over Seton Hall, Penn State and Virginia Commonwealth.
The hard-throwing right-hander went 13-2 with a 1.85 ERA and an area-best 122 strikeouts in 91 innings last season, pitching Schuylkill Haven to the District 11 Class A championship and a trip to the PIAA Class A semifinals.
“We were looking at bigger schools, and my parents and I decided that a bigger school wasn’t a fit for me,” Behm said. “I didn’t really like the city feel or the big campus.
“Marist came and saw me 3-4 times when I was in Maryland and Georgia, and they liked what they saw. I talked to them and they had my major. I wanted to go somewhere that had my major, was the right size school for me and had a good program. They have a beautiful campus.”
Kosciolek was the 2013 Republican-Herald Player of the Year after hitting .417 (35-for-84) and compiling a 7-2 pitching record, but battled injuries for most of the 2014 season. The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder from Lake Hauto returned to go 1-0 with a 0.93 ERA in nine appearances, helping the Blue Raiders win a second straight District 11 Class AAA crown.
After the high school season, Kosciolek pitched for the Lehigh Valley Carpenter Cup team and for the North Parkland Legion team. It was the second straight summer Kosciolek had pitched for both teams. Lehigh Valley won the Carpenter Cup in 2013, and Kosciolek helped North Parkland win the Region 2 Tournament this summer.
It was during his stint on the Carpenter Cup team that Rider became interested in Kosciolek. He picked Rider over New Jersey Institute of Technology, Lehigh and St. John’s.
Pine Grove’s Dave Hafer and Williams Valley’s Brandon Cotten have played for Rider in recent years.
“They saw me pitch in the Carpenter Cup twice,” said Kosciolek, 17, who hopes to major in business at Rider. “I went for a visit and they contacted me on the first day they were allowed to call me. I went there and really liked it.
“I really liked the program. I met some of the kids and I just really liked everything about it.”
Rottet hit .446 (45-for-101) last season and went 6-2 with a 2.15 ERA on the hill for the Blue Raiders, who lost to Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class AAA state semifinals. The 6-1, 170-pounder could have signed with Bucknell, but the Bison wanted him as a pitcher.
The 18-year-old wanted to play middle infield, however, and had an interest in Kutztown. Current Kutztown assistant coach Chad Derck was Rottet’s Teener League coach, and Bo’s older sister Kailee currently attends Kutztown.
“Bucknell wanted me mainly for pitcher, and Kutztown was going to give me the opportunity to play middle infield,” Rottet said. “I would rather play middle infield than pitch. I also liked the coaches at Kutztown better.
“I got in the mix with Kutztown in Teener League, and they followed me through high school. I finally made the decision to go to Kutztown.”