Tag Archives: baseball

Trolley Rides to the Ballpark Schedule

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trollety

The Electric City Trolley Museum is once again taking a page out of the area’s rich railroad history by offering excursion runs to PNC Field this spring and summer for Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders ballgames.  Select games through August,will offer fans an opportunity to “take the trolley” to the park at a very reasonable rate. This hassle-free service will also provide the riders with a picturesque snapshot of our community’s natural beauty.

The price of the excursion is $20 per person and includes the trolley fare, game ticket and a $2 voucher for either the concession stand or team store.  If you have game tickets and just want to ride the trolley, the cost is $11. Reservations for both packages are required.

Game dates are: June 10; July 1, 15 & 29; and Aug. 5 & 19.  “First pitch” is at 1:05 p.m. The “Sunday Baseball Special” departs the Trolley Museum at 12:15 p.m. For more information and/or to make reservations, please contact the Museum at 570-963-6590.   

Dunmore Senior Shortstop is Savoring the Moments

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Athlete of the Month - Richie GrippiBy Steve Svetovich

The Dunmore senior shortstop, a 4-year starter, knows he only has one month of high school baseball left. So he is taking it all in.

Son of Rich and Shannon Grippi, Dunmore, Richie Grippi is hitting .392 and has a 97 academic average.

A lead off hitter for Dunmore, the 18-year-old scholar-athlete will attend Pennsylvania State University and major in engineering in the fall.

“Going to Dunmore is the best,” he said. “Dunmore is a very unique community. It is close knit. There is no place like it. It’s been awesome.

“I know my baseball career is coming to an end. It really flew by. Everybody told me it would go by fast. And it did. I really can’t believe it. It just hasn’t set in with me yet.”

The senior standout has been playing baseball in Dunmore leagues since age five.

His late grandfather Doug Miele, former editor-reporter for the old Scrantonian Tribune, died six years ago this coming September. He attended everyone of his grandson’s games right to the end of his life. His wish was that his grandson have a successful and enjoyable high school baseball career at Dunmore.

That wish apparently was fulfilled to the fullest. “Have a good cheer,”  his grandfather would say when finishing a conversation or saying goodbye to a friend.

baseballRichie was also a 4-year member of the Dunmore basketball team. He averaged 10 points per game in his senior season as the shooting guard on the team.

He is president of the Spanish Club at Dunmore High School. He is a member of the French Club, Earth Club, SADD and TACT.

His favorite subject is math.

Richie likes listening to music in his spare time. His favorite musical artist is Luke Bryan.

The scrappy shortstop is among the league leaders in hits, doubles, runs and batting average this season.

He talked about what it takes to be a solid shortstop. “You need to have very good range. I played second base the previous three years, so I had to practice a longer throw. You need a strong arm and have to practice those long throws in the off season.”

Richie, humble but confident in nature, said his parents taught him a lot.

“My parents always taught me to work hard. They taught me to never let anyone out work you. And they tell me to do the right thing even when no one is looking.”

Richie has learned plenty from Dunmore baseball coach Sid Hallinan who is in his first year at the helm after several years at Riverside.

“Coach Hallinan teaches us to always compete. He tells us it is most important to go out there and work hard, but also have fun doing it. He has been great for us.”

A member of the National Honor Society, Richie has learned how to balance his time well. “It’s a challenge. But at Dunmore, academics always come first. It is easy to translate that out onto the field if you put academics first. It’s a nice balance. It all ties in together.”

He talked about his goals. “Well, this will be it for me in baseball. It just hasn’t sunk in yet. I probably won’t play anymore. I will concentrate on college and earning a degree. Law School in the future is also a possibility. I am thinking about that.”

In the meantime, Richie is enjoying his senior baseball season to the fullest.

Former Scrantonian Tribune staffer Doug Miele, with cancer, two weeks before he passed away, was in a rush to get out of his house and to the baseball field. He had to get to one of his grandson’s final summer baseball games.

“I live for that,” he said. “That boy is going to be some ball player.”

He was right.

Dunmore Freedom League Seeking New Players, Teams

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baseballBy Steve Svetovich

Charlie Ehnot has been involved in summer baseball at Sherwood Park for the past two decades.

Ehnot, Dunmore, a Scranton Prep graduate, is founder of the Collegiate Summer Baseball League (CSBL). The named changed in recent years and this summer will mark the fourth consecutive season of the Dunmore Freedom League.

Ehnot has been the league’s commissioner for the past 14 years.

Most of the games are played at Dunmore’s Sherwood Park. The season starts Memorial Day weekend and goes into the first week of August when playoff games are held.

It’s a competitive hardball league and players range from age 17 to as old as 58. Although most of the players are 19 to 30.

Dunmore’s Charlie Terrery, playing in his third consecutive year, is the league’s oldest player at 58. His son, Alex Terrery, plays in the league.

Former Holy Cross and University of Scranton baseball standout Anthony Duchnowski, Dunmore, plays in the league every summer. “Every year, I can’t wait for this to start,” he said.

Marywood University senior outfielder Dylan Svetovich plays centerfield on one of the Dunmore teams and will be in his fifth consecutive year in the league.

Harry Wildrick, a Kings College senior who played two years of baseball at Penn State Worthington, will be playing in his fifth consecutive year on one of the Dunmore teams.

West Scranton graduate Brett Lesh, 21, is looking forward to his fourth consecutive year in the league. “I can’t wait for it to start,” he said.

It is a highly competitive hardball league. In order to play, you need to be at least 17 and be able to play competitive baseball. There are many college and post college players in the league.

Ehnot pic

Charlie Ehnot, left, commissioner of the Dunmore Freedom League, is shown with his son, Chaz Ehnot, a coach in the league.

Ehnot is looking for new players and new teams to play in the expanding Dunmore Freedom League. Any player or team interested in joining the league can call Charlie (570-479-2289) or his son, Chaz Ehnot (1-301-503-0131) who is a player-manager in the league.

“We would like to have from six to eight teams in the league,” Charlie Ehnot said. “Right now we have about five committed. We want to expand the league with more teams.

“We’ve completed some renovations at the field. The backstop was fixed up. New dirt was added to the field. We would like to add a couple new teams if possible.”

Ehnot has baseball in his blood. He managed various Little League, junior and senior leagues and youth baseball in Dunmore for a couple decades. He managed his three sons, Jerry, Marc and Chaz, from t-ball to Little League to Teener League and up.

His son, Chaz, is enthusiastic about the coming season.

“Right now we have five teams who are committed to play next year. We have three Dunmore teams, Honesdale and a team of Scranton Prep graduates. We also have a possible team from Old Forge. We want to add two more teams. We want to have eight competitive teams if possible.”

Chaz said each team will play a 14-15 game schedule followed by playoffs. The final two rounds will most likely be best of three.

He talked about other plans for the league.

“We would like to move the back stop back about four feet. We would like to put up a nice retaining wall in the area behind the back stop. We want to make the bleacher area really nice for our fans. We want to turn this into a really nice field for us and other leagues who want to play here at Sherwood Park.

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Sherwood Youth Association will host their annual Dunmore Summer Festival this month. (Photo Credit: Sherwood Youth)

“We want this to be a first class field. The dugouts were put in by an Eagle Scout for his scouting project. They are nicely built and will sustain us for a long time. We want to work on the backstop even more. We are getting another tri-axle  of dirt. We will place 25 tons of dirt. There were 25 tons of dirt placed on the field last year.

“With manpower, we will get everything done. Every year we have something else going on. Every year we are doing something to improve the field.

“We would like to start the season a little earlier, but we like to get all of our college kids involved without missing any games. That’s why we usually begin play Memorial Day weekend.

“We shoot for a 14 to 15 game schedule for each team followed by playoffs. We play a good brand of competitive baseball and these teams only look to win. There is an instructional and teaching component for our younger players.”

Managers in the league include Chaz Ehnot, Mark Simko, Tyler Chulvick, Bobby Best, John Grandquist and Kevin Sompel. Most of the managers serve as player-coaches to some degree. Some more than others.

“I get into some of the games if I need to,” said Chaz Ehnot. “But I don’t like to take at bats away from my players at this point. So I stand back and coach and manage. And I love doing that.

“This league has come a long way. We went from three teams to six and are hopeful of having eight this season. We’ve made real good strides. I’m proud of how we’ve done things here. We play competitive baseball. These guys want to win.

“The Dunmore Freedom League is here for good and I’m proud to be a part of it. There is an instructional element and the younger guys learn from the older guys. We would like to add more competitive players. Feel free to call us. We can’t wait to start the season.”