THE BIG PRIZE … The 1975 Class AA State Baseball Championship Trophy won by Bryan is proudly displayed in the Golden Bears dugout.
LOOKING BACK … This was a team photo located on the display table and taken following the 1975 baseball season in which Bryan High School had captured the Class AA State Baseball Championship. In the photo, Golden Bears head coach Ray Sumpter is in the middle of the second row.
(PHOTOS BY JOHN FRYMAN / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
STATE CHAMPS HONORED . . .Members of the Bryan High School 1975 Class AA State Championship baseball team were honored Friday night at Ray Sumpter Field prior to the Alumni baseball game.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
It was a reflection of special memories for members of the 1975 Bryan Golden Bears Class AA state championship baseball team as they gathered for a fifty-year reunion on Friday and Saturday, July 18-19, marking a half-century of the school’s first ever state championship.
Team members returned to Ray Sumpter Field, named after the late Bryan head baseball coach who guided the Golden Bears to the 1975 state title, for the reunion.
“He (Sumpter) was the greatest coach there was,” said Dave McCord. “You couldn’t ask for a better guy.”
Among those players recognized were Gene Andres, Terry Crow, Chuck Culler, Steve Fireovid, Jeff Grant, Mark Peugeot, Rick Saneda, Randy Thorp, Dave Batt, Brian Blakely, Doug Grant, Dave McCord, Ron Miller, Bill Peggs, Chris Saneda, Doug Freed, Jeff Smith, along with assistant coach Larry Taylor, team manager Jim Tucker, and bat girl Karen Snyder.
They were honored before the alumni baseball game which featured many former BHS baseball players in a nine-inning affair.
“We’re a niched group and we played together since Little League most of us,” pointed out Dave Batt who was the starting catcher.
“To have an opportunity to play in a big scene like that was just phenomenal. A lot of butterflies going into it, but once the ball started to be thrown around a little bit, that was gone. Just excitement and having the fan base we were ready to play.
Despite the fact Bryan had a losing regular season record of 3-10, the fortunes of the Golden Bears drastically changed when they began play in the state tournament.
“It was interesting the way it turned out because they were 3-10 starting the tournament,” commented former WBNO radio broadcaster J.B. Orendorff who along with the late Don Shumaker had broadcasted every Bryan tournament game that year. “And in order to finish the season over .500, they had to win all eight games.
Indeed, they did in close fashion as there were several close calls during the Golden Bears’ tournament trail run. Bryan’s triumphant state championship conquest began in the Hicksville sectional where they posted wins over Fairview (5-1) and Northwest Ohio Athletic League archrival Wauseon (4-1).
The Golden Bears would pull off a couple of close one-run victories over Western Buckeye League foes, Van Wert (3-2) and Elida (5-4), to win the Lima Bath district title
One week later, Bryan made a return visit to Lima Bath in regional action, blanking Marion Elgin (3-0), in the semifinal and blasting NWOAL foe Evergreen, 11-1, for the regional title and earned themselves a trip to Columbus.
With a 9-10 overall record entering the state tournament at Ohio State’s Trautman Field, the Golden Bears faced a 20-5 Medina Buckeye squad whose starting pitcher Jim Walter had a perfect 12-0 record entering the state semifinal.
Despite the fact, the semifinal game was postponed from Friday until Tuesday, not only did it give the Golden Bears a much-needed rest especially for standout pitcher Steve Fireovid who had previously pitched in all six tournament games.
Fireovid who would eventually be drafted by the San Diego Padres, had allowed nine runs, 24 hits and struck out 50 batters.
Prior to the Golden Bears tournament run, Fireovid had seen limited action during the regular season in which he was recovering from a basketball injury.
“We really didn’t have many options”, admitted Fireovid in terms of the Golden Bears overall pitching depth. “There weren’t any rules back then as far as innings pitched. And I had a rubber arm to go along with my rubber brain.”
“So, I could throw all the time, because I didn’t throw that many pitches most of the time. It worked out well. We had other guys that could pitch, but this was our best option.”
Following a five-day weather postponement, Fireovid needed just 68 pitches to record a 4-0 shutout of Medina Buckeye to advance Bryan into the state championship game.
Not only, he limited Medina Buckeye to just three hits and seven strikeouts on the mound, but he also contributed at the plate with a double and a triple while scoring two runs and drove in another run.
“The thing that really worked to their benefit in Columbus was some timely thunderstorms that gave them a little rest between the games they played getting down there,” said Orendorff.
With a winning season and a shot at the state title on the line, Bryan faced a very tough Hamilton Badin squad who had a 27-7 overall record going into the championship game.
Things didn’t go very well for Bryan despite committing an uncharacteristic five errors in the game and eventually trailed 4-1 after Hamilton Badin had scored three runs in the top half of the eighth inning.
As the Golden Bears came to bat in the eighth inning, not only there was a three-run deficit staring at them, but a comeback was in the making.
Jeff Grant, who had already collected three hits, fueled the Bryan comeback rally with a two-run double scoring both Brian Blakely and Chris Saneda.
Fireovid then walked and McCord drove in both Jeff Grant and Fireovid with the tying and winning runs and the state championship with a dramatic come-from-behind 5-4 victory.
“It was amazing, because I was nervous as I could be,” commented McCord who now resides in Arvada, Colorado. “I was hoping that Jeff Grant wouldn’t hit a home run before I got up there, but that didn’t happen.”
McCord provided the big heroics for the Golden Bears driving in three runs with a single and a double in the decisive eighth-inning comeback rally.
“We had a great comeback down three runs to tie it back up,” pointed out McCord. “We thought it was going to take everything we got to win this game.”
“It was unbelievable I mean. I got to first base and coach Larry Taylor grabbed me and I didn’t know I had won the game. He (Taylor) then told me we just won the state championship. I just couldn’t believe it.”
Coming home with a state championship was something that McCord will remember. “That’s something that I will never forget,” added McCord. “Seeing all the people waiting for us at the city limits was quite something.”
Fireovid would again get the win on the mound, allowing four runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and a walk in the state final.
Taylor, who served as an assistant coach under Sumpter described him as a great leader and a very fundamental coach.
“He really had a good handle on this group of kids,” said Taylor. “They were a great group of kids and the chemistry that they had was one of the reasons any coach wants to have chemistry on this team.”
“He prepared them mentally and physically. And when you have a group like this they’re going to give it their all and not give up.”
Karen Snyder, who now resides in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, served as a bat girl and scorebook keeper for the Golden Bears baseball team.
“This whole group of guys was so much fun and the experience we had especially at state,” said Snyder. “The community just rallied behind them, and it was just amazing.”
Rick Saneda, who was the starting third baseman and now residing in Los Angeles, California, said it was an amazing and unbelievable experience in the state tournament.
“We knew the potential was obviously there and just took that long and it really showed,” said Rick Saneda.
“It was either at districts or at regionals, we were graduating, so we had a lot of graduation kinds of things that we were trying to do at the same time.” “We also had prom one night and we had to go back and play the next day. Obviously, we won.”
Former Bryan City Mayor Doug Johnson, who at the time served as an assistant principal and athletic director at Bryan High School, read a proclamation from Mayor Carrie Schlade congratulating the 1975 Class AA state baseball champions.
“It was one of the greatest moments ever for me to have that tournament,” said Johnson. “I can remember all the crowds, all the rain delays we had to keep going.”
“Steve Fireovid was able to pitch every game because of rain delays. It was a tremendous community experience for Bryan.”
“I remember the trips on I-75, State Route 15 and U.S. Route 23 and people were hanging out over the viaducts and saying, ‘Welcome Home Bryan” and everything clear from Columbus.”
Winning a state championship also meant that Bryan, who finished with an 11-10 record, thus avoided its first losing season since 1954.
“It was the operative thing at the end of the game Bryan is down 4-1 and Hamilton Badin’s fans must have thought they were going to win, because most of them left,” said Orendorff.
“And after they left, before the game actually concluded, Bryan scored four runs and won it 5-4. Talk about a Hollywood finish, it was great stuff.”
“It was more than just a Bryan state championship. There were lots of people pulling for them. They (Bryan) were the ultimate underdog.”