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DURYEA — Cars begin to fill the parking spots. Men of different ages and physical statures emerge from them. Some are carrying bags containing the equipment needed for their weekly athletic endeavour.

It might sound like a Sunday at a local golf course, but it isn’t. These guys are here to play baseball at a field behind the old Duryea High School.

Yes, baseball — a game that many of them excelled at decades ago. And I’m one of them as a player in the fledgling Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association.

It’s been 36 years since I played competitive baseball. There’s been many years of softball since then on men’s teams and co-ed teams made up mainly of my co-workers at the Times Leader.

My softball playing days, though, ended about 15 years ago and it never brought the feeling baseball did.

There are several reasons not to do this. A herniated disc. Right shoulder impingement. A right thumb that was dislocated and surgically repaired. Rice Krispies knees. (They snap, crackle and pop with every movement).

But there’s a bigger reason to play.

My son Thad has heard many stories about my playing days several times over, even the most bizarre ones like when the police drove onto the field during a teener league game, put our right fielder in the back of the cruiser and drove away.

But stories can get muddled and embellished with time. Playing in front of my son can not.

So I walk over to the field, dragging a bag containing my nephew Joey’s catching gear, wearing Joey’s baseball pants and with my feet jammed into the spikes I wore as a teen to play baseball on a team with no one I know.

HOW THE LEAGUE STARTED

Jim Lavelle, a financial advisor for Prudential and a West Pittston resident, came up with the idea of a local adult baseball league three years ago.

“The guys I coached with in Little League and guys I played with back in the early 90s, we kept asking ourselves why is there no adult baseball in the area,” said Lavelle, 47, who played baseball for Seton Catholic. “So I looked into it and found out all you need is a field, an insurance policy and players.”

There are two adult baseball leagues in the region. The Hazleton Hardball League has been around since 2009. The Lehigh Valley MSBL started in 1988. After talking to guys who played in them, the Hazleton league sounded a little too competitive, especially for older men. The Lehigh Valley league is a better fit — it has age-group divisions with the oldest 45-and-over — but travel and occasional doubleheaders eat up an entire Sunday.

The WVABA plays on Sundays with games starting at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. There are no practices since the Duryea teener field is being used by youth teams during the week.

You show up, play baseball for two hours or so and go home.

The WVABA started in 2014 as a 30-and-over league, getting players via Facebook and word of mouth. But as the first season progressed, Lavelle realized that model couldn’t sustain itself. So players 18 and over were able to join last year.

“What we did was modify pitching rules so us older guys could still come and have a good time,” Lavelle said.

Baseball, though, wasn’t for everybody who gave it one more try.

“The first two years, we lost about one-third of our players each year for a variety of reasons,” Lavelle said. “But every year we’ve been able to replace that one-third without any problem. This year, we retained our core of two-third of our players, and I feel the group that we added this year is not going to be leaving. So hopefully in the next year we’re going to be able to go up to six teams.”

If the league does expand to six teams, Lavelle said it would like to add a second field so games don’t start too late.

“We want to keep it convenient to everyone time-wise because the majority of our players are in their 30s and 40s and they have children and families,” Lavelle said. “We have to keep it convenient as far as game times.”

BENDING THE RULES

The WVABA is about as close to traditional baseball as possible. However, there are a few rule changes to prevent younger players from dominating the league.

• Games are seven innings, but only two innings total can be pitched by players ages 18-30. Pitchers over 30 must be used for the other five innings. The rule also prevents a team from stacking up on younger players. Lavelle also makes sure that doesn’t happen by distributing new players to teams based on age and experience to balance out rosters as evenly as possible.

• Baserunners can’t steal until the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand. Nor can they advance if a pitch gets past the catcher and to the backstop. Considering the close proximity of home plate to the backstop, this happens quite often. There is no dropped-third-strike rule.

• Older players can request a courtesy runner. Players are also allowed to overrun second base and third base as long as they don’t make any movement towards the next base. The rule is to prevent injuries from sliding.

• Teams can set their lineups two ways. They can bat 1-9 and sub players in or they can bat a continuous order, meaning if 11 players show up then they bat 1-11. In the field, teams have an option of using four outfielders.

• The 10-rule run is in effect after five innings, but teams can agree to play the final two innings.

JOINING THE LEAGUE

Cost to play in the WVABA is $50 and it includes jersey, hat and insurance. The schedule is 10 games starting in early April, weather permitting. Rosters are 13 to 14 players, but it’s not common for everyone to show up due to other commitments.

New players are assigned to teams based on need. Once Lavelle knows which players are returning, he fills roster holes with the newcomers and tries to assure teams have enough pitching and are fairly balanced with players under and over 30.

I’ve been assigned to the Kearney Funeral Homes Inc. team along with about five other newbies. Kearney lost a good chunk of its roster when some guys decided to switch to slow-pitch softball.

The Kearney’s team is an eclectic bunch. We have one of the youngest players in the league in Dan Hodne, who played last year at Cazenovia College in New York. We also have the oldest in 64-year-old Russ Susko.

Susko played a few years of high school ball in New Jersey. He also played locally in the Bi-County League and Central League, once-thriving avenues of amateur baseball that faded away long ago.

“I love baseball,” Susko said. “Plus, I love to compete with the younger guys. That’s something I’ve always enjoyed. I love athletics. As long as I can go and not be a joke, I’ll go as long as I can.”

Susko isn’t a typical 64-year-old. He’s an assistant cross country coach at Misericordia University and runs three to four miles nearly every day. He also coached track at Bishop Hoban for five years.

The key, Susko said, for older men thinking of playing is knowing their limitations.

“I’d tell them to give it a shot,” Susko said. “You have nothing to lose if you really love to play ball. You just play within yourself physically. I look at it this way. Everything you play, everything you do is for your health so you’re just not sitting on the couch. So you’ll be around.”

OPENING DAY

Our opening-day opponent was Underwater Screen Services. Lavelle Insurance and BNT Movers played the opener.

The idea was to ease back into baseball. Maybe catch an inning or two, play some outfield. But the night before, Lavelle texts me to let me know Kearney’s regular catcher, a holdover from last year, can’t make the game. I have to catch all seven innings … for the first time in 36 years.

The pitching was surprisingly good and much better than Lavelle let on. There were a couple guys who can throw over 80 mph. And, of course, some that can’t.

But heck , it’s fun catching. The whole game was, especially when we took a 4-2 lead into the seventh and got out of a mess.

USS had runners on first and second with two outs. There was a single to left. Then came a sequence pretty impressive for guys who’ve never practiced. The relay throw came in to our shortstop — I think it’s Dan, I can’t remember. Then the throw goes to home. I reached far to my right then dove to my left to tag the runner on the back of the thigh.

Game over. Disney couldn’t write a script better. A grown-up version of “Sandlot.”

Of course, there’s an epilogue.

A slider in the second inning hit my catcher’s mitt the wrong way, bending back my thumb. It was the size of a turkey drumstick a few innings later and I could barely squeeze the catcher’s mitt on my hand. And it hurt like hell.

But after washing half of Duryea down the shower drain, the night was spent with an ice pack on the left hand and a beer in the right. Everything else felt fine, and by midweek the swelling was almost gone.

So it was back to the field the following Sunday. I went 2 for 3 with a run scored in an 8-2 loss to Lavelle Insurance, but the outcome doesn’t matter.

What does is we’re playing baseball. The game has passed us by, but we’re catching up.

Times Leader sports writer John Erzar catches for team Kearney Funeral Homes during a Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association game in Duryea.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball1.jpg.optimal.jpgTimes Leader sports writer John Erzar catches for team Kearney Funeral Homes during a Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association game in Duryea.

Lavelle Insurance second baseman Mike Sperazza throws the ball to first after diving for a grounder.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball2.jpg.optimal.jpgLavelle Insurance second baseman Mike Sperazza throws the ball to first after diving for a grounder.

Kearney Funeral Home’s Kevin Pugliese slides safely into third base as Lavelle Insurance’s Sean Gallagher is late with the tag.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball3.jpg.optimal.jpgKearney Funeral Home’s Kevin Pugliese slides safely into third base as Lavelle Insurance’s Sean Gallagher is late with the tag.

Kearney Funeral Homes third baseman Justin Schwartztrauber makes a throw to first base.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball9.jpg.optimal.jpgKearney Funeral Homes third baseman Justin Schwartztrauber makes a throw to first base.

Two Lavelle Insurance players share a laugh during a game in the Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association at Duryea.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball11.jpg.optimal.jpgTwo Lavelle Insurance players share a laugh during a game in the Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association at Duryea.

Joe Gardjulis throws a pitch for Kearney Funeral Homes.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball6.jpg.optimal.jpgJoe Gardjulis throws a pitch for Kearney Funeral Homes.

First baseman Kevin Kelly makes a catch for Lavelle Insurance.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball7.jpg.optimal.jpgFirst baseman Kevin Kelly makes a catch for Lavelle Insurance. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Jim Thomas pitches for Lavelle Insurance in the Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball4.jpg.optimal.jpgJim Thomas pitches for Lavelle Insurance in the Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Kearney Funeral Home left fielder Mike Lavelle catches a foul ball.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball8.jpg.optimal.jpgKearney Funeral Home left fielder Mike Lavelle catches a foul ball. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

The Kearney Funeral Homes team waits to bat.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_TTL050116AdultBaseball5.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Kearney Funeral Homes team waits to bat. Aimee Dilger | Times Leader
Local adult baseball league gives men chance to continue playing

By John Erzar

[email protected]

WANT TO PLAY BASEBALL?

The Wyoming Valley Adult Baseball Association offers people 18 years old or older the opportunity to play baseball. The league is in its third year and plays games at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Sundays at the Duryea teener league baseball field, which is off Foote Avenue behind the old Duryea High School. The season runs from April to June.

While rosters are set for this season, the WVABA is always looking for new players every year and hopes to expand from four to six teams in 2017. For more information, visit the league’s Facebook page or contact founder Jim Lavelle at 570-704-7637.

Reach John Erzar at 570-991-6394 or on Twitter @TLJohnErzar