For his ability to catch, throw, hit, and run…Centerville’s Matt Graveline ranks among the best of Big Ten catchers. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
More tournament games, more distance to travel, unpredictable venues…and fewer writers to cover it. Some words on those you don’t know, who do. And it never gets written about, but take it from me…the value of a good catcher is inestimable to the development of young pitchers.
Among the litany of things that people are unhappy about with this year’s OHSAA tournament – distance, more divisions, scheduling, and lopsided scores – there are more games to cover now with three more divisions, and the same amount of media to cover as in the past.
Every day, in fact, I hear someone mention their disappointment that Press Pros wasn’t there for this game, or that game, but realistically…it’s never been harder to decide on which game to see. And how far do you have to travel to see that game?
Dale Barger (above, right) receives the OHSAA ‘friend of athletics award from Southwest District Board member Bob Huelsman.
That said, I want to take a moment to commend fellow reporters and photogs out there like Dale Barger (Darke County), Galen Blosser (Darke County), Gary Rasberry (Mercer County), Rob Kiser (Miami County) and the Sidney Daily News guys for trying to do more with less.
And of course, Scott Ward at Greenville’s WTGR radio, and Jack Kramer with SCORES, who do as many of those games as possible on radio and the internet.
But in particular, Dale Barger has been a friend for more than thirty years, his background is in marketing, and he’s always done Darke County sports – particularly Tri-Village – simply out of a commitment to the community and a love for competition. He does good work, and from time to time he always says ‘yes’ when we call needing an extra set of eyes. And I doubt if you’d find compensation for it on his tax return.
Galen Blosser used to own a lumber yard, but got involved with photography years ago and has had affiliations with the Greenville newspapers for decades. Like Barger, he always seems to be where others aren’t, and he ain’t getting rich, either.
Scott Ward is simply Scott Ward, the hardest working cowboy in the corral, who not only broadcasts for WTGR but is responsible for selling his own advertising…for setting up and tearing down before and after games…and anything else that has to be done to run the railroad. I’ve never heard him complain.
But from experience, I know how much time these people devote, how many miles they log, and how many people appreciate their work without ever letting them know. So I’m letting them know for you.
Something that needed to be said.
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If you’ve followed any of the Ohio State baseball action for the last three weeks, you know they’ve struggled against the best competition in the country; and you know that they’re playing those teams with a young pitching staff that like Conway Twitty sang about…has never been this far before.
Someone asks on a daily basis if they’re going to get better, and I maintain that yes, things are going to improve. After all, the Reds and the Indians play 35 spring training games to figure things out and still haven’t gotten it by the time they go north for opening day. The Buckeyes, by comparison, have played just ten.
But one of the reasons that I believe positive change is ahead is the fact that no Big Ten team has a tandem of catchers better than junior Matt Graveline and sophomore Mason Eckelman. And the reason I give much credit to catchers is from my own experience.
When I played Legion baseball for Coach Frosty Brown, in Troy, all those years ago, Frosty made pitching sound pretty simple – “Throw the ball with movement and throw it in the strike zone, right at the catcher’s chest,” he say. Our catcher was a guy named John Moyer and he made a pretty big target from which any pitcher could benefit.
Sophomore Mason Eckelman lunges to save a wild pitch in a game against Arizona State.
Graveline and Eckelman both make big targets, too, catch the ball well, throw well, and what I discovered when I went to the next level as a player is that what Frosty said worked at any level. Throw the ball with movement, throw it down in the strike zone, and trust your catcher to help you.
And of course, when you miss and throw it in the dirt you have to trust that he’s going to block the ball and keep it in front of him. Graveline and Eckelman are both exceptional in that respect.
Finally, when I was in high school I threw to the same catcher, Dave Reed, for three years and catchers over time become something like a security blanket for pitchers. So the more the Ohio State pitchers throw to Graveline and Eckelman the more I’m sure of their gaining confidence and success.
It’s something that’s often taken for granted, but like people who cover high school sports, there comes a time when catching in baseball needs to be recognized and appreciated.
Something, yes…that needs to be said.
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