Tag Archives: Dunmore Freedom League

Dunmore Freedom League Continues to Expand

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baseball-picBy

Steve Svetovich

The Dunmore Freedom League at Sherwood Park continues to thrive.

Charlie Ehnot, commissioner and founder of the Dunmore Freedom League, coached and managed for over a decade when it was known as the Collegiate Summer Baseball League (CSBL).

The name changed and now the Dunmore Freedom League enters its third year of summer baseball.

The summer season begins just after Memorial Day in early June and concludes at the end of July with playoffs. There will be at least six teams this season.

Most of the games are played at Dunmore’s Sherwood Park.

Charlie Ehnot, a Scranton Prep graduate, formerly coached his three sons – Marc, Jerry and Chaz – for 20 years in the Dunmore Little League and Teener League.

“I was looking for a league for my boys to continue to play in, so we started the Collegiate Summer Baseball League. I had the fortune of coaching my three boys in this league all over again.”

His son Chaz is now a player-coach in the Dunmore Freedom League. He and Mark Simko coach one of three Dunmore entries in the league. Honesdale, Old Forge and a group of former Scranton Prep baseball players who call themselves Varsity Pit Stop round out the current six teams.

Mark Simko played eight years in the league before becoming strictly a manager. His brother “Dirt” Simko was a key player in the league for several years and symbolized the gritty nature of most of the players.

Former Holy Cross and University of Scranton standout Anthony Duchnowski, now a Latin teacher at North Pocono High School, is one of the league’s constants and a star performer. He can’t wait every summer for the season to start.

All teams make the playoffs with the top two teams getting first round byes.

“There is a championship and a lot of good competition! but no trophy at the end,” said Chaz Ehnot. “This is all about the kids playing to stay active in the summer. It’s a supplemental work program that helps keep collegiate baseball players in shape. It helps keep their skills sharp.

“We are very proud of what we have done with this league and what we are going to do. We work hard to make this a classy field. We are trying to freshen it up and make it better.

“All the coaches, along with my dad as commissioner, take part in the schedule and mapping out of the league.”

Charlie Ehnot said local Eagle Scouts improved and enhanced the Sherwood Park baseball field through various scouting projects. One Eagle Scout was instrumental in the building of a new backstop.

You need to be at least 17 to play in the Dunmore Freedom League. There is no maximum age limit. Charlie Terrery played in the league last season at age 57. He played on the same Dunmore team as his son Alex.

Most of the players, however, are in the collegiate age bracket and up to 10 years above. The prime age seems to be 18 to 35.

There are no boundaries. You don’t have to live in Dunmore. You need to be competitive.

“The league is very competitive,” said Chaz Ehnot, “but we do play for fun too. We play for the love of the game. It doesn’t always have to be serious.”

Ehnot said the Dunmore Freedom League is actively seeking new teams and players. “We want to get this league to how it was before. We once had 10 teams and the local newspapers publicized the games. We think this league can get there again.”

Any player or team interested in joining the Dunmore Freedom League can call Charlie Ehnot (570-479-2289) or Chaz Ehnot (301-503-0131).

It is competitive hard ball at its best.

And the players in the league, who range from 18 to 58, love every minute of it.

Play Ball!

McGinty’s resilient in capturing Dunmore Freedom League title

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Athletes of the Month- Freedom League Champions

By Steve Svetovich

McGinty’s, managed by former Dunmore baseball player Tyler Chulvick, fought against the odds to earn the Dunmore Freedom League baseball title after entering the playoffs as the number four seed.

McGinty’s finished 5-5 during the regular season. The Dunmore Freedom League at Sherwood Park is run by Charlie Ehnot.

There were six teams in the Dunmore Freedom League this summer.

McGinty’s entered the playoffs as the number four seed against Prep.

McGinty’s beat Prep, 5-4, in extra innings. Robert Seprish pitched the first six innings and Dave Chromey, who plays for the University of Scranton, pitched the final three to gain the win in the nine-inning contest.

Danny Capwell, a West Scranton graduate and third baseman, singled to right to score Zach Foley-McGinty to win the game as McGinty’s advanced to play Dunmore, the number one seed at 9-2.

Alex Terrery, who played baseball for Dunmore and Penn State Worthington, fired a complete game while striking out 10 in a 6-3 win to upset Dunmore, coached by veteran Mark Simko. Tony Ricci, a Scranton Prep graduate, hit a double for McGinty’s in the win.

McGinty’s then entered the finals of the playoffs in a best of three series against a team called Best.

The finals were played at West Scranton’s Battaglia Field.

Riley Sullivan, who played baseball at Dunmore, hurled two shutouts in one day to defeat Best, 11-0 and 3-0. The first game went five innings with McGinty’s winning 11-0 due to the 10-run rule. Sullivan, with his rubber arm, pitched a complete game seven-inning shutout, 3-0, in the second contest as McGinty’s advanced.

Sullivan struck out 11 batters in each game. He walked only one batter in the two games combined while giving up only one hit in the first game and two hits in the second contest. He totaled 22 strikeouts while walking only one in the two wins.

“An amazing pitching performance all in one day,” said Chulvick, a player-manager.

Capwell, who coaches the West Scranton senior American Legion team, had two hits, including a two-run double in the first contest. Terrery, whose dad Charlie is also a key member of the team, had two hits. Justin Magistro also had two hits for McGinty’s.

McGinty’s scored the three runs on just four hits in the second contest. Capwell, who played baseball at Marywood University, hit a two-run single in the first and scored on a passed ball in the sixth.

And McGinty’s, a resilient club, became the 2016 Dunmore Freedom League champions.

“This is one of the most enjoyable teams I ever coached or played with,” said Chulvick, a senior at Keystone who also coaches junior high baseball at Old Forge High School.

“It is simply one of the most fun and enjoyable teams I was ever associated with.

“And personally, it was my first championship at any level. I had never won a championship before, so it was a great experience.

“Our team never wavered entering the playoffs as the number four seed and coming together as a team at the end to win a championship. It is absolutely incredible how we came together at the end and picked up big wins. It’s a great group of guys.”

Like Father Like Son

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terrery family

By Steve Svetovich

Baseball is life.

And Dunmore’s Charlie Terrery and his son Alex are living it in the Dunmore Freedom League at Sherwood Park.

Alex, a Dunmore High School and Penn State graduate, grew up in Dunmore learning about the game of baseball from his dad who mentored and coached him.

Never did Alex ever think he would get to play with him.

But in this “Field of Dreams” at Dunmore’s Sherwood Park, that is exactly what this father and son are doing this summer.

This father and son duo are doing their own rendition of Ken Griffey, Sr. and Ken Griffey, Jr. who once hit back-to-back homers while playing in the same outfield for the Seattle Mariners.

charlie terrery pic

Charlie Terrery is show in the 1981 photo of the Ohio Northern University baseball team.

Charlie Terrery, 57, a pharmacist at Gino Merli Veterans Center, Scranton, is playing competitive baseball this summer with his son Alex, 24, in the Dunmore Freedom League. Charlie is more than 20 years older than the league’s next oldest player. Most of the players are between 18 and 30.

Still, Charlie has been able to compete at a high level and is closing in on 10 hits for the season after two recent 2-hit games in which he drove in three runs. He has been playing first base and DH.

He made sure he was in shape for the season and did not want to embarrass anyone. He wanted to compete with players 20, 30, and even 40 years younger.

“This has been great,” said his son Alex who played four years of baseball at Dunmore and four more at Penn State Worthington. My dad taught me everything about baseball since I was a small child. To see him doing it on the field and playing with me is icing on the cake.

“And he has played quite well. At first I just told him not to get hurt. But he has been very competitive. He hits the ball almost all the time. He rarely strikes out. He fields the ball clean.

“This has been a really fun time. He loves it. I think he is coming back next year. He is having a blast.”

terrery2

Alex Terrery is shown here playing with the Penn State Worthington baseball team.

Alex, a 2011 graduate of Dunmore, was a first team all-star first baseman in his senior year. He was a second team all-star as a junior. He led his conference in hitting and gained all-star status as a junior at Penn State Worthington. He was a pitcher-catcher-shortstop-first baseman at Penn State.

Alex graduated from Penn State in 2016 with a B.S. in Information Technology and minor in Security Risk Analysis. He currently works as a computer analyst at TMG Health Care, Jessup.

Charlie is a 1977 graduate of Dunmore High School where he played four years of baseball as a center fielder.

He went on to play three more years of baseball at Ohio Northern University where he earned his Pharmacy degree. He was an outfielder-catcher there.

Charlie also teaches Advanced Pharmacology at the University of Scranton and University of Binghamton at SUNY.

Charlie played 20 years of modified softball in local leagues. He coached both of his sons, Alex and Jason, in Dunmore baseball leagues from T-Ball to Little League through American Legion. He was proud to watch his son Jason play in the state title game for Dunmore’s football team in 2007.

Charlie and his son Alex play for McGuinty’s in the Dunmore Freedom League.

He started thinking about playing again last summer while watching Alex play in the league.

“I thought I was still in pretty good shape to compete,” he said. “And I don’t like sitting. So I decided to give it a shot this year. So far it has worked out.

“My reaction time is a little slower and my legs are slower, but I can still compete.

“Alex was supportive and comfortable with it. I coached him from T-Ball right through Legion, so it has been great playing with him. My wife Faith has been supportive.

“I’m not embarrassing Alex, because I’m still hitting the ball and making the plays.

“It feels great to play baseball again. I always loved the game. I’m very comfortable on the field.

“And I will play again next year if I am healthy and can still compete.”