Great baseball players aren’t made overnight.
It takes a dedicated work ethic, a passionate desire to be the best and a mental understanding of the game to turn physical talent and superb skills into greatness.
From the time they were in Little League, Pottsville’s Travis Blankenhorn and Eli Nabholz possessed the physical attributes, talent and ability to become great baseball players.
They excelled at every level, traveling all over the eastern part of the United States during the summer and fall to participate in travel baseball tournaments and showcases.
Their talents earned them national recognition, and NCAA Division I scholarship offers to Kentucky and Penn State, respectively, as high school juniors.
As seniors this spring, all of the hard work Blankenhorn and Nabholz put in to become great players rose to the forefront.
Their exceptional on-the-field skills and off-the-field leadership abilities helped the Crimson Tide to their longest postseason run in program history, as Pottsville won its second straight Schuylkill League title, captured its first District 11 crown since 1998 and reached the PIAA state semifinals for the first time.
Those exploits made it easy to select the major award-winners for the 2015 Republican-Herald All-Area Baseball Team — Blankenhorn is the Player of the Year, while Nabholz is the Pitcher of the Year.
Pottsville coach Mike Welsh, who guided the Tide to its 23-5 record, is the Coach of the Year.
Tri-Valley freshman shortstop Dawson Schwalm, who helped the Dawgs capture the District 11 Class A championship, is the Rookie of the Year.
‘Can we hit a few?’
If there’s an image from the 2015 season that’s burned into the memory banks, it’s Blankenhorn taking batting practice following home games at Steidle Field.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pounder was pursued heavily by professional scouts the entire season, with a bevy of them wanting to see Blankenhorn hit more after games.
His individual batting practice sessions for the scouts became a “must-see” event, as fans stayed after games and players from other teams came to night games just to see him hit.
The exhibitions worked, as Blankenhorn was selected in the third round (No. 80 overall) of the Major League Baseball Amateur Player Draft by the Minnesota Twins. He signed a week later with a signing bonus of $650,000, and is currently in Florida playing third base for the GCL Twins of the Gulf Coast League.
Only three players from Schuylkill County — Pottsville’s Chris Nabholz (No. 49, 1988), Blue Mountain’s Lance Rautzhan (No. 57, 1970) and Pottsville’s Jeff Yoder (No. 63, 1995) — were selected higher in the 50-year history of the MLB Draft. He was the first area player to be drafted and sign a pro contract right out of high school since Mount Carmel’s Dave Shinkie was taken in the fourth round by the Twins in 2003.
“That may never happen again,” Welsh said of the batting practice sessions. “We did our best to embrace it and enjoy it.
“It didn’t really interfere with anything we were doing. It was like the Fourth of July every night.
“People would stand around and watch, opposing teams would stay and watch. It was something fun that I don’t know as a coach that I’ll ever be part of again.”
Blankenhorn finished the season hitting .441 (41-for-93) with 40 runs scored, six doubles, six triples, six homers, 27 RBIs, 13 stolen bases and an on-base percentage of .544.
He led the area in runs scored, hits, triples and home runs, and was third behind teammates Darion Jacoby and Nabholz in RBIs. All despite being pitched around by every opposing pitcher.
“For him, the tools are all there,” Welsh said. “He runs super well, he has a rocket for an arm. He hits for power, he has great hand-eye coordination.
“This year especially, he understood how he was being worked as a hitter, how opposing teams were attacking him. That’s a credit to him for being patient, understanding how things were going to happen.
“He was super successful. To be able to do that, with all the pressure on him, everybody under the sun looking at him ... he never blinked. He was mentally strong. He played the game the right way, night after night, and that’s tough to do at 18 years old.”
Mental approach
key for Nabholz
At 6-foot-6, the hard-throwing Nabholz has always been an imposing figure to opposing batters.
A fixture in the Tide rotation since he was a freshman, the right-hander was the Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore and an All-Area first-team selection as a junior.
This year, however, Nabholz was flat-out dominant.
Nabholz finished the season 11-1 with a 1.49 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 70.2 innings. He pitched in every one of Pottsville’s big games, with all of his victories coming against playoff qualifiers: Pine Grove, Blue Mountain (3), Tamaqua (3), North Schuylkill (2), Marian and Spring Grove.
He threw a no-hitter and struck out 13 against Spring Grove in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, and his only loss was 4-3 to Abington Heights in the PIAA Class AAA state semifinals.
At the plate, Nabholz hit .419 (36-for-86) with 12 runs scored, seven doubles, 30 RBIs and a .469 on-base percentage.
“The last couple of years, he’s pitched in every big game for us that he’s been eligible to throw,” Welsh said. “It was nice to hand him the ball and say ‘Go get it, big guy.’
“He loved that moment, and he thrived in that moment. Night after night, he was a special pitcher.”
Nabholz finished second all-time in Tide history with 23 career victories and third in strikeouts with 244. He became only the fifth pitcher in Pottsville history to compile double-digit victories in a season, joining Pat Boran (13, 1998), uncle Chris Nabholz (10, 1985), Dave Hopkins (10, 1977) and Pat Flannery (10, 1976).
Nabholz threw as many as six different pitches — fastball, two-seam fastball, cutter, change-up, curveball, breaking ball — but the key to his success this year, he said, was an improved mental approach.
“The first three years in high school, I really didn’t know how to deal with adversity when it came along, especially in the course of a game ... in the course of a big game,” said Nabholz, who is already at Penn State, taking summer classes. He plans to major in political science.
“It’s something you work on. Practicing the mental side of the game is just as important as the skills and the pitches you throw. The more I practiced the mental game, when those rare innings did pop up, I was able to get out of them giving up just one run or so.”
Welsh guides Tide
on magical run
In his fifth year as the Tide’s head coach, Welsh wasn’t quite sure how good his team would be entering the 2015 season.
He had four great senior leaders — Blankenhorn, Nabholz, Ty Painter, Connor Hinchliffe — and Rookie of the Year Darion Jacoby returning, but the rest of the lineup was a question mark.
Welsh was able to put it all together, blending talented underclassmen Brandon Daubert, Eric Wapinsky, Gavin Hinchliffe and J.J. Spehrley into the mix while getting strong play from role players Mike O’Pake, Trent Barnes, Ryan Kalinich, Aiden Liptok, Mitch Robison and Sam Siminitus.
He was able to keep his team focused despite the circus-like atmosphere that surrounded the scouts’ pursuit of Blankenhorn, and managed his pitching staff so that Nabholz could face all of the top challengers in a rugged Schuylkill League Division I race.
The result was Pottsville’s most successful season in its long and storied history.
“A ton of the credit goes to the kids,” said Welsh, who is 81-37 overall. “From Day 1 they bought into anything we tried to teach them. The seniors were great leaders for our program. Every day they showed up to practice and worked hard.
“It was magical ... it doesn’t happen like that every year. I certainly enjoyed it.”
Freshman provides
spark for Dawgs
Tri-Valley started five freshmen in 2015, all of whom made key contributions to the Dawgs’ run to their third District 11 Class A championship in five years.
Schwalm, however, provided the spark that got Tri-Valley moving in the right direction.
The 14-year-old Hegins resident batted leadoff all season for Bob Felty Sr.’s club, leading the team in runs scored (19), singles (20) and stolen bases (10).
The 5-10, 160-pounder finished hitting .300 (24-for-80) with four doubles, six RBIs and an on-base percentage of .458.
“He batted leadoff for us all year and he consistently put the ball in play,” Felty said. “He was very patient at the plate. We were very pleased with him. He did a great job for us.”
Schwalm’s biggest contribution, however, might have been his play at shortstop when All-Area first-team pitcher Hunter Bordner toed the rubber.
Schwalm started the season in left field, but Felty moved him to shortstop after some early season defensive troubles. Schwalm stabilized the infield and helped shore up the Dawgs’ defense.
“I never really played outfield before, and I was a lot more comfortable at shortstop,” Schwalm said. “I could make the plays. In the outfield, it was harder for me.
“Ever since I grew up I played shortstop. It was easier for me. It worked out for our team, too, because our outfield ended up pretty good with Willy (Kimmel), Tyler (Lucas) and Ashton (Buchanan).”
Tri-Valley loses Bordner and two other starters to graduation, but the bulk of the Dawgs’ roster returns next season. Schwalm is excited about the future.
“That was crazy, winning (a district title) with five freshmen,” said Schwalm, who plays shortstop and third base and pitches for the Hegins Teener team this summer. “In the years to come, we hope to get better and continue to improve. Hopefully as seniors we can win a state championship.”