This granite plaque containing the names of the 1950 Mill Hall Little League All Stars Championship team will mark the field where that team played for the title 71 years ago. PHOTO PROVIDED
LAMAR — The Porter Township baseball field will be dedicated in honor of the 1950 Mill Hall Little League All Stars Championship team on Saturday, June 12, at 2:30 p.m.
The ceremony will immediately follow the 2 p.m. dedication of the Veterans Memorial, which was recently moved to the township’s Recreation Park.
In the process of creating the project called “Memory Bricks” and after the decision was made to relocate the Veterans Memorial to the park, an Express newspaper article called “Lasting Memories” traveled many miles through friends and family and detailed some amazing stories about the good old days growing up at the Porter Township park in Lamar and playing ball at the sand lot.
A former resident of Porter Township, Blaine Fleming, now living out of state, produced the article and asked the township to dedicate the ball field in honor of his childhood baseball team — the 1950 Mill Hall Little League All Stars Championship Team. After review from the Porter Township Recreation Board and the township supervisors it was agreed to honor his request.
Fittingly, Blaine and members of the Fleming family will be at the park on the day of the dedication holding their annual family reunion.
Blaine, who was the pitcher for the team, talks about the championship game as if it was yesterday. Here’s what he wrote: “Seventy-one years ago, the team had already won playoff games to take the district and regional titles including a must win over the rival Lock Haven all-stars who had dominated local playoffs to compete in the PA title championship games for several previous years.
“We entered the PA championship playoffs against a McKeesport team. It was their first year of Little League ball. The game went on for 5 1/2 innings and with a 5-3 run advantage, it appeared we would win the game. But McKeesport got two men on base in the last half inning. But they also had two outs. One more out and we would win. McKeesport’s batter, a big husky fellow who carried a season .500+ regular season average and had clobbered four home runs in their last five playoff games, was up.
“Fleming’s first pitch was a ball, the second one he smashed a high and far foul ball (a bad omen). The next pitch he hit another foul. ow the count was one ball, two strikes. Now we were, everyone thought, in control. Fleming’s next pitch was well off the plate, now two balls and two strikes. Here we are, one strike away from a win, two men on base, two balls and two strikes on the batter… and a two-run lead.
“It was down to power against power. Fleming did a wind-up and I threw with all my power a fast ball that just moved toward the inside corner of the plate. The batter swung and as the crowd of thousands quietly watched, the ball took a high arc out over the infield, then over the outfielder’s out-stretched glove to the other side of the fence. We had lost, 7-6. What a heart break.”
Those on the team included Dave Motter, Daryl Krape, Fred Page, William Stringfellow, Blaine Fleming, Jim Smith, Perry Eisenhower, Don Rishell, Richard Davy, William Vonada, William Ferre, James Bursley, Robert Young and Richard Aeppli. Managers were Richard Duck and Stanley Phoenix.
An engraved 2- by- 2-foot granite piece with the team’s name and the names of the players will be dedicated at the baseball field located at Nittany Valley Drive and the corner of Washington Avenue in Lamar at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 12. The event will be held rain or shine.
The township invites coaches, teams and the community to come out and recognize the 71-year-old championship team and their achievements, which serve as an appropriate example of how a community and Little League bond as the Keystone 2011 players did, to create a lasting impact both on, and off the field.
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