Fast-starting Falcons hope to stay in BML playoff picture

FROM THE MORNING CALL

It's the first weekend of summer and the Blue Mountain League's Easton Falcons are enjoying themselves.

In fact, they woke up on Saturday to find themselves in first place.

But BML playoff berths are not nailed down on June 25.

If you want to play in August, you must navigate your way through July and that's what the Falcons hope to do to secure their first-ever BML posteseason slot.

Easton got off to a 7-1 start, but lost three of four before bouncing back with a 11-1 win over Limeport on Friday

Can they hang in there and bust down the playoff door they've been knocking on the last two seasons?

They think so.

"We can run, we can hit, and we've got a hard-nosed attitude," said Keith Tone, who co-manages the team with Ellis Weitzman. "We've come close to making the playoffs the last couple of years, but this is a very different team. We've beaten some good teams so far this season. The key is to beat the teams you're supposed to beat and not let up. That's what's going to get you in the playoffs."

Many key players from 2010 left the team for one reason or another, so Tone and Weitzman went out and revamped the roster by going after local college kids. The Falcons feature just six holdovers from last year's team and the new faces are also younger.

"Dale Paulus is 25 and Andrew Feher is 23 and they're considered the old guys," Weitzman said.

The youth movement has paid offensively. Easton had a league-best .323 batting average.

Tom Crimi (.464), Ryan McCormick (.414), Trevor Dubiel (.400) and Dan Bierce (.364) are among those off to good starts offensively. Ryan Miller, who has been with the franchise the longest, is batting .333.

Paulus was off a 3-0 start with a 2.21 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 251/3 innings. Mike Ciavarelli was 2-1 with a 3.36 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 162/3 innings.

Easton, which was a perennial powerhouse and won two titles in the Lehigh Valley Men's Senior Baseball League before coming into the BML, finished 22-14 and a game out of the playoffs in 2009. The Falcons dropped to .500 last year after starting 0-4.

"It has been tough the last couple of years because we've been so close," Tone said. "But these guys come to play every day and have fun. They are just finding out what this league is all about. Of the 22 guys on the roster, 16 of them had never stepped on a Blue Mountain League field before this year."

Easton may have snuck up on some teams at the start of the year, especially coming off a 16-16 season.

They have everybody's attention now and that means opponents are coming after them harder.

"We've started to see the top pitchers from most teams, either their No. 1 or No. 2 guy," Tone said. "It has been a little different so far this season because we have never had the luxury of looking at teams in the rear-view mirror before. You can start to walk on egg shells a little bit."

Easton plays most of its games at Easton High. A few games are over at Hackett's Park, including a July 29 game against Martins Creek that will kick off the Senior League's "50 Hours of Baseball" charity marathon.

"We want to get in the playoffs because once you get there, anything can happen," Tone said. "We've just got to get there first."

DID YOU KNOW?

The defending Tri-Co champion Gabelsville Owls lost their season opener, but entered play on Saturday not having lost in their last 18 games and were on a 15-game win streak. — the longest streak in recent league history.

SHARKEY ON TRACK

Back in May, I wrote a column about Dan Sharkey, a former Downingtown High standout and top prospect, on his attempt to bounce back from a myriad of problems related to drug and alcohol abuse.

Sharkey, 27, has used baseball as his avenue to get back on the right track in life. He had an outstanding spring for Lehigh-Carbon Community College and scored the game-winning run when the Cougars won the Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference title.

The good news has continued for Sharkey, who is a member of the Northern Yankees in the Tri-County League this summer.

He has been accepted academically at Kutztown University and needs just one more solid semester to make himself NCAA-eligible again.

Once that happens, Sharkey could resume his college career — put on hold years ago by his personal problems — and continue forward with the game he loves.

Sharkey will either play at Kutztown or at Division II Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Ga. Both of those schools have expressed an interest in Sharkey.

PLESSL PLUSES

Ted Plessl is riding high these days.

Not only was he the head coach of the Lehigh Valley entry in the Carpenter Cup, but his Blue Mountain Hawks are on a hot streak in the Blue Mountain League.

Plessl is going to have hip replacement surgery this week, but he hopes to be back in business in time for the Keystone State Games, which are coming up on July 28-31 in Harrisburg.

Plessl is the Lehigh Valley regional coordinator for KSG and he believes that the local guys could stage another championship run in the KSG just as they did in the Carpenter Cup.

He's looking for more participation from area kids. Tryouts are being held today at Lower Nazareth Park from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and again on July 9 in the same time frame and location.

The junior division is for kids entering grades 9-10 in the coming school year and the scholastic division is for those entering grades 11-12.

Among the highlights of this year's KSG is a showcase game in front of at least 200 college coaches, set for July 28 at Metro Bank Park, home of the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. For more info, call Greg Candelmo at 610-366-1818 or 484-894-2786.