Liberty Bell celebrates Nick Centeno’s walkoff grand slam on Saturday. SOURCE: KEN HOFFMAN
For Nick Centeno, what happened on the baseball field at Picariello Playground on Saturday represented the ultimate tale of redemption. His coach, Ken Hoffman, called it something out of a Hollywood movie script.
The 16- to 18-year-old Liberty Bell Patriots had been in this game before, although the circumstances were a bit unfamiliar. It was the championship game of the Lower Bucks County Senior Babe Ruth League, a highly-competitive league with an assortment of teams that essentially amount to local high school all-star squads. The Patriots hail from schools across the Northeast — Franklin Towne Charter, Washington, Father Judge, Archbishop Ryan, MaST Charter and Swenson, among others — and many of the teammates, while suiting up for various high schools, have been playing together for Liberty Bell and Hoffman since they were as young as 8 years old.
They’ve grown together — and won together, too — claiming 65 wins in 73 Babe Ruth contests the last two seasons, including another championship in 2014. The Patriots led Tri-Township, 3–0, but the opponent scored five unanswered runs, including two in the top of the 11th inning to take a 5–3 lead, aided in large part by an inopportunely-timed error on the mound from Centeno. But there was still the chance for Centeno to bat in the bottom of the inning, and when he came to the dish with the bases loaded and nobody out, he didn’t disappoint, drilling a walkoff grand slam to dead center to give his team a 7–5 victory. The ensuing celebration ranged anywhere from joyous to chaotic bedlam.
“It definitely is an unforgettable feeling,” said Centeno, a 2014 Ryan graduate and current student at Eastern University. “It was my first grand slam and first walkoff hit of any kind. I’ll definitely keep the ball, and every time I see it, I’ll remember a group of guys who became my brothers, my family. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”
For Centeno and the rest of the Patriots, playing for Liberty Bell represents an assortment of motivational interests. Roger Hanson, who graduated from Washington last year, announced it would be his last game for Liberty Bell, and it could also have marked the final chapter in Centeno’s career as well, so the ability to walk off the field as champions one more time meant everything.
For Franklin Towne teammates Rob Henry, Phil Gilchrist, Matt Schlernitzauer and Jason Santiago, suiting up for the Patriots was an opportunity to win two championships in one calendar year, hot on the heels of their Public League title victory.
“Even if we come from different high schools or leagues, we all come together as brothers here,” said Schlernitzauer, a senior-to-be at Towne. “This team here, it’s amazing, the best one I’ve ever been on.”
Henry and Gilchrist echoed that sentiment.
“We don’t just play off our talents … we work hard, and heart and hustle is our motto,” Henry said. “I’ve never seen a team like that.”
“I can’t compare or rank the championships I’ve won here and at Towne,” added Gilchrist, one of the longest-tenured Patriots. “I think both mean something bigger than any of us could imagine.”
It’s also a place where strangers come together to form lifelong friendships. That’s the case for pitcher Eddie Tingle and power-hitting first baseman Ishmael Bracy, both heading into their senior campaigns at Washington. The two met as youngsters, playing for Liberty Bell starting at age 8; since then, they’ve won two Babe Ruth championships, in addition to a 2014 Public League title at Washington. Now, they’re best friends, and similar bonds have developed throughout the rest of the team.
“It’s not a team, it’s a brotherhood,” Tingle said. “This is a second home to all of us. It’s something else, and I really can’t put it into words. After high school and college, for the rest of our lives we’ll still be together.”
“Ed is my brother for life,” Bracy said. “And Ken, all of this is because of him. Everybody chirps his name but nobody really knows about him and what he does behind the scenes for us. He loves the game more than anyone I’ve ever met. He helps me keep my head on straight while reminding me to love this game, because it’s a beautiful gift. For Liberty Bell, you win, but you also meet lifelong friends, and that’s not something you can duplicate. It’s surreal.”
The success the players have at Liberty Bell has also served as a vehicle to get to college. Ryan Conner and Brian Kaelin, of MaST, will play for Rowan next year, as will Father Judge’s Jim Huston; Swenson’s Brian Nieves is bound for Widener; Rush’s Anthony Moore is on to Bloomsburg, and Gilchrist (Indiana University of Pa.) and Roman’s Christian Von Hofen (West Chester) may attempt to walk on. Ryan’s Anthony Fratunduono will run track at Kutztown, but Hoffman said he has every bit of what it takes to play baseball in college if he wants to.
“I came here three years ago, and we just immediately clicked,” said Von Hofen, who was cut from his high school team. “I knew playing baseball with these guys would be my last shot.”
“Everyone on this team does his part, no matter how big or small,” Fratunduono said. “That’s what makes us special. They make me want to play baseball until I can’t run anymore.”
The best part for Hoffman and his assistants (Bracy’s father, Larry, and Fratunduono’s dad, also named Anthony) is that aside from Hanson and maybe Centeno, everyone should be back in 2016 to go for a three-peat in Lower Bucks Babe Ruth. They also have their eyes set on the state tournament, which they competed in this summer as well, but lost in the finals to a team from Williamsport.
But regardless of what happens, the Patriots can enjoy what they’ve already won. And for Hoffman, he can enjoy the fact even more so that he’s helped mold a bunch of raw kids into mature, polished baseball players.
“It’s a cast of characters on this team,” Hoffman said. “But they get it. Friday night before the championship game, they were all here practicing when they could have been out doing other things. As a coach, I couldn’t ask for anything better. They want to battle for each other. I love being around these kids.”
And while some team members are off to college and others will stay behind in high school, one fact remains: they will go their separate ways, for now, but they’ll be back again for more in 2016.
“Sure, we’ll all go do different things,” Huston said. “But then we’ll all be right back here. Same family, same band of brothers … no matter what, we’ll be back to win it again next year.” ••
For whom the bell tolls: The Liberty Bell 16–18 baseball team won its second straight Lower Bucks Senior Babe Ruth League championship on a walkoff grand slam in 11 innings. Pictured are, bottom row (left to right): Christian Von Hofen, Anthony Fratunduono Jr., Phil Gilchrist, Rob Henry, Matt Schlernitzauer, Eddie Tingle; top row (left to right): assistant coach Anthony Fratunduono Sr., Brian Nieves, assistant coach Larry Bracy, Nick Centeno, Ishmael Bracy, Jim Huston, head coach Ken Hoffman. Not pictured: Ryan Conner, Brian Kaelin, Roger Hanson, Jason Santiago, Matt Wilson, Ryan Heckmanski, Sean Heckmanski, Anthony Moore. MARIA S. YOUNG / TIMES PHOTO
