Bedford High School - Epic Yearbook (Bedford, OH)

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Pre-game jitters. Pat Lefty George nervously eyes the practicing pitchers. At the completion of the school year. Coach George left BHS to coach Baldwin-Wallace's baseball team 1979 JUNIOR VARSITY BASEBALL BHS OPP 5 Willoughby 15 8 Euclid 20 9 Mayfield 3 5 East lake 7 11 Maple Heights 5 16 W.R.A. 2 4 Brush 3 12 Eastlake 6 6 Willoughby 3 2 Euclid 1 4 Mayfield 6 4 Mentor 0 7 Maple Heights 9 5 Mentor 3 WON 9 LOST 5 Perfecting skills. Craig Koteles. the leading hitter, warms up before adding to his season total of 16 hits. Although he struck out 13 times. Craig's 390 batting average was the best of the junior varsity Bearcats. Narrow escape. After getting the hit-and-run sig- nal from Coach George, Pat Collins successfully avoids a tag by Maple's third baseman The lead- ing RBI man with 13, Pat's .333 batting average was the third best on the team. JV BASEBALL 24

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 WE WERE DIS- TRICT SEMI-FINAL- ISTS...SHOULD'VE TAKEN THE GCC,' ' CHRIS LIOTTA Close play First baseman Scott Ridgway sets him- self for a pick-off play from pitcher Bob Konopa The base runner was one of two Parma players to reach first base during Bedford's 2-0 victory in the opening sectional game A One Man Show We were district semi-finalists, but we could have taken the GCC , remi- nisced Chris Liotta. Both the Cleve- land Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Press picked Bedford to capture the GCC crown for the 1979 baseball sea- son. But Euclid and Mayfield did not believe all they read as the varsity hardballers finished 7-7, a distant third place. At the beginning of the season, six out of seven non-conference games were rained out. These tune up games were never rescheduled, so many reserves lost the opportunity to play commented Mario Bienvenue. As the diamond men began their quest for the state crown, ace right-hander Bob Konopa pitched five of the six tournament games. Because of his ab- sence in the regular rotation, the team dropped five of the eight regular GCC contests. We had a one-man team...Bob Konopa, said relief pitcher Terry Toth. The superarm of the team, Konopa, pitched his way to a record of 7-1. He had an outstanding strike-out record, whiffing 102 men in 52 in- nings. Bob's victory over Mentor highlighted the season. He struck out the first 16 men he faced, and when the game was over, 19 out of the 21 opposing players never touched first base. In addition to his pitching ability. Bob led the team in hits with 26, RBI's with 16, and a .433 batting average. Konopa has a good shot at the big league, commented Coach Loeffler. Major league scouts constantly watched Bedford's pitching sensation in action. They were impressed by his fast ball which had been clocked at 86.9 m.p.h. The Minnesota Twins se- lected Konopa in the third round of the high school draft, and sent him to their triple A farm that spring. BOTTOM ROW: Stuart Hall. Scott Ridgway, Mario Bienvenue. Chris Liotta. Rich Konik, Joe Globokar. John Gerstenberger. Garry Check! TOP ROW Dave Nagy. Joe Kanyok. Scott Jaros. A.J. Wagner. Bob Konopa. George Gaspare, Paul Tomcufcik. Terry Toth. VARSITY BASEBALL 23

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They Only Lost Sleep BOTTOM ROW: Jim Chilinski, Chuck Valentino, Jim Krisco, Cliff Taylor, Kevin Cray MIDDLE ROW Herb Marshall, Mike Diederich. Bill Cosgrove. Mike Belsito, Bob Schroeder BACK ROW: Jim Akerley. Craig Koteles. Ron Konik, Bob Dvorak, Pat Collins, Rick Barnes. Coach Pat George. At 6:30 every morning, while most sophomores were still in bed, the JV baseball players began working out. 'The practices were for our benefit. We didn't have to go, but most of us did, remarked third baseman Frank Battaglia. We had batting practice in the auxiliary gym and weight training in the weight room, explained out- fielder Pat Collins. The early practices were important; they really helped me out, comment- ed pitcher Bob Dvorak. I didn't like coming in, though, at six in the morn- ing! Bob allowed only five runs and six walks in the 24 innings he pitched. He struck out 18 opposing players, and his 1.45 earned run average and 4-0 record was the best on the team. Other key Bearcats included Ron Konik, Craig Koteles, Frank Battaglia, and Mike Diederich. Konik pitched the most innings, 37. He also doubled as second baseman when not on the mound. While leading the hitting with a .390 batting average, Koteles crossed home plate 11 times. During his 41 times at bat, he had 16 hits including two homers. Frank Battaglia supplied an additional source of power by smashing two homeruns and two tri- ples. Hitting at a .382 pace, Frank had 12 RBI's and was issued the most walks (9) of all the Bearcats. Although he hit only .200 for the year, Mike Diederich was a person who opposing teams did not like to see on base. In addition to his 11 hits, Mike walked seven times, and while on the sacks, he successfully stole sixteen. Ron Konik and Frank Battaglia char- acterized the team as being similar to a family. We were almost like brothers, the way we stuck together. In review- ing the JV's second place GCC finish, they added, We played tough. We'll have a good chance for the conference crown in 1980. Hats, glows Spike. Second baseman Belsito and first baseman Cosgrove wait for Mayfield to leave the diamond before taking their positions. Spike” Loeschen gives dugout support. Clutch hit. Completing the last leg of his two-run homer. Chuck Valentino is congratulated by teammates Ron Konik, Pat Collins and Mike Diederich at home plate during the JV's 11-5 vic- tory over Maple Heights. J.V. BASEBALL