By PHILIP CMOR
sports@centrecountygazette.com
JOHNSTOWN — Chris Sanders, manager of Cumming Motors in the Altoona and Tri-State All-American Amateur Baseball Association summer leagues, still recalls when Colton Burd was referred to him by another player a few years ago.
“So I meet the kid and I think, ‘Now what am I going to do with him?’” Sanders said.
Win, Chris. You’re going to win with him. A lot.
Fast forward four years. Burd not only has cemented himself as Sanders’ starting catcher, but Sanders has made the 2019 Bellefonte Area High School graduate and current Indiana University of Pennsylvania player his captain.
Burd has also helped create a pipeline of players from Centre County to the Cumming Motors franchise that’s paid dividends on both sides. Four Centre County position players, two starting pitchers and a reliever helped key the team’s run to the final eight in the AAABA national tournament last week in Johnstown after Cumming Motors earned the right to represent Altoona there.
“When you get to play with these guys, you get to see what Centre County baseball is all about,” Burd said. “There are a lot of guys from this area that are going on to play at that bigger level.”
Burd batted .313 with a home run and double and tied for the team lead with five RBIs as the Altoona entry went 2-2, finishing second in its pool to advance to the quarterfinals before falling to the Brooklyn Cougars, 8-5, in the tournament for baseball players age 21 and younger.
One of four former State College Little Lions on the team, Jake Hillard roamed center field in his second year with the team and led Altoona with eight hits, batting .421 and smacking a pair of doubles while stealing a pair of bases. Designated hitter Charlie Bakken and second baseman Alex Hlivia were others who played scholastic ball under Jeremy Dinsmore at State High that drew starts for Altoona in the tournament, while Mack Miengs threw three innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits.
A late-season addition to the roster, Philipsburg’s imposing 6-foot-5 Ryan Whitehead went the distance and fanned 13 as Altoona trounced Youngstown, 10-0, in eight innings in its tournament opener on Aug. 1 at Mount Aloysius College.
“I knew all these guys all through high school ball and played travel ball with them. I knew they were an outstanding group of guys. I just trusted them to win games,” Whitehead said.
Bellefonte’s Derek Fravel, who, like Whitehead, touches the low 90s with his fastball, got the start on the mound in Altoona’s second game, an 8-4 loss to New York, which capitalized on a pair of errors to score three unearned runs on the former Raider right-hander in a pivotal sixrun third inning.
In addition, the roster included Penn State club player Michael Buck. Buck was the starting catcher for Tyrone’s 2021 PIAA champion team and is working on trying to catch on with Rob Cooper’s Nittany Lion varsity.
Cumming Motors needed to defeat the Johnstown league champion to punch its ticket to the elimination round and pulled the upset, 8-3, as Hillard went 2-for-5 and Miengs came out of the bullpen to strike out three in 2 1/3 innings to close it out.
“It felt good getting past the pool play, especially after last year. Last year we lost two games I personally feel we could have won,” said Hillard, who plays collegiately for Penn State Altoona. “It was really a testament to how hard everyone on the team worked.”
Hillard said playing the caliber of competition Cumming Motors did in the regular season helped prepare it to advance beyond its 2021 showing, when it won the first game in pool play but lost the next two. He also believed the deep familiarity with a lot of his teammates benefited the squad.
“The team really already had that chemistry coming into the season,” Hillard said.
Hillard played tee ball with Hlivia and Miengs when they first got into baseball.
“It’s big. A lot of us know each other already, so we have that connection,” said Bakken, who was in his first year with the team. “I feel it helps us bond. We can talk about high school, when we played with each other or against each other.”
While the team had a heavy influence of Penn State Altoona on its roster, it also included players from Division I Radford and Toledo. Fravel is one of two Division II Seton Hill players on the squad.
“It’s a little intimidating, because you never know what it’s going to be like. The first time pitching is always going to be a little nerve-wracking. It definitely was an eye-opener. It’s a good starter for college knowing everyone out there is going to be good,” Fravel said. “It felt awesome (to make the elimination round).”
Having a couple of AAABA teams in Altoona affords Centre County college or college-level baseball talent an opportunity to play in the offseason, hone their skills and keep the rust off without spending the summer at college or driving several hours for a game that might not take as long to play as the trip itself.
Sanders also had Bellefonte outfielder Maxwell Rogers on the team for the regular season, but Rogers couldn’t make it to the tournament. Still, area fans should expect the influx of talent from the county to keep making an impact with the Altoona teams.
“There’s so much talent in that market, in that area,” Sanders said. “There’s so much untapped talent in a place like State College that can contribute to a team like ours.”
Burd is hoping this year’s success is a steppingstone for Cumming Motors. He and all the other Centre County players have eligibility remaining to try to make an even deeper run next year.
“Everyone on the team comes back except for one. We’re going to have a good, solid core coming back,” Burd said. “I’m really excited to see what happens in the future and how we can build off of that.”
