There’s a great scene in the 1990 baseball classic film “Field of Dreams.” In it, fictional author Terrance Mann—played by actor James Earl Jones—delivers a monologue about the importance of baseball.
Mann says, “America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It’s been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game—it’s a part of our past.”
In Centre County, the Centre County Baseball League has stood the test of time. The teams, players, coaches and fields have changed over the past 90 years, but the league has remained.
The CCBL has a long, storied history. To learn about where the league is heading, we must first take a look back at the past.
A Rich History
The CCBL doesn’t have an official historian. However, Bellefonte resident Harry Breon is the closest the league has to one. Breon, who has a passion for Centre County history, has penned a pair of books about the CCBL. He has been immersed with the league since 2006.
“It all started with a call from the library. The librarian wanted some information about the county league. I said, ‘I will start looking some things up,’” Breon says.
And so it began.
Breon threw himself into the project. Countless hours at the library and on the internet led him down a massive rabbit hole.
He found baseball records dating all the way back to 1900, so he started there. According to Breon, few leagues existed back then, but many communities had teams. There were squads in Philipsburg, Howard, Snow Shoe, Orviston, Centre Hall, Pleasant Gap, Pine Grove Mills, Bellefonte and State College. But there was no organization, and players often played for multiple teams, Breon says.
It would be decades before the CCBL would take shape.
“The first year was 1932. Fred Healy came up with it. Before that, they had put some leagues together, but it never really jelled. The ’32 league went on for about three years, and then it split up,” Breon says.
The teams went their separate ways, but a new league formed. That incarnation of the league lasted until 1940. The league finally started to take permanent shape in 1946.
“It really took some time,” Breon says.
But once it had legs, the league took off like an outfielder chasing a deep drive. There were a pair of divisions—eastern and western—with eight teams in each. In the first-ever championship, State College defeated Centre Hall, three games to two.
There were teams representing every nook and cranny of Centre County. In addition to State College and Centre Hall, there were teams from Port Matilda, Pleasant Gap, Bellefonte, Coleville, Milesburg, Howard, Lemont, Pine Grove Mills, Millheim, Boalsburg, Spring Mills, Madisonburg and Rebersburg.
“A lot of it was all about community pride. You really have to understand the intensity of it. There were intense rivalries between the towns and communities,” Breon says.
According to the historian, it was not uncommon for the rivalries to lead to fisticuffs between the squads.
At that time, you had to reside in the community to play on a team. However, as the league evolved and rosters thinned out, the rules were modified and teams started taking players from different communities.
“In the late 1950s, they started to say, ‘OK, if you don’t have a team, you can come play.’ It helped. That’s pretty much how it is today,” Breon says.
Like any sport, any league, the CCBL has seen ebbs and flows.
“A lot of the teams that I used to watch just aren’t there anymore. It’s been sad to watch,” Breon says. “But just when people think the league will die, it finds itself.”
The current version of the league features seven teams—six from Centre County and one from nearby Mifflin County. Regardless of how many teams are involved, Breon is there to record history and keep track of the records.
“I love it, I really do,” Breon says with a smile. “I love going through old newspapers, old scorebooks and old box scores. There’s always something to discover.”
Big Names
Over the years, the CCBL has seen plenty of big names come and go. Centre County scholastic stars, former minor league players, even a few Major League Baseball players have made their way through the ranks.
According to CCBL lore, a total of five players with MLB ties have played in the league: Paul Musser, Myles Thomas, Bill Bishop, Cal Emery and Eric Milton. Milton, a Bellefonte Area High School graduate, had great success in the majors, playing for four teams and tossing a no-hitter for the Minnesota Twins against the Angels.
For the Love of the Game
There is no pay involved for those playing in the league. In fact, players have to pay to play to cover costs of uniforms, equipment, field use, upkeep and umpire fees.
There’s also no glory involved. The CCBL doesn’t livestream games, and crowds are typically limited to family and friends.
But talk to anyone who has played in the CCBL and you’ll quickly learn that their passion for the game of baseball runs deep.
Rob Gavlock spent his entire CCBL career with the Clarence Mounties—first as a player, then as a manager. He’s no longer involved, but he says he cherishes all the memories.
“It was fantastic being involved and making those lasting friendships,” Gavlock says. “In Clarence, we were a tight-knit group. I miss the game, but I truly miss the players and the many nights staying at the field two hours past the end of the game hanging out. The camaraderie is what I miss.”
Gavlock’s Clarence teams in 2016 and 2017 were a juggernaut, winning back-to-back championships.
“We were something like 45-3 over a two-year span and didn’t lose a playoff game during that time,” he recalls.
Players in the CCBL often talk about the camaraderie. Teams are comprised of close friends and, sometimes, relatives.
Tyler Lalli plays for the Spring Creek Shockers. He’s been playing ball in the CCBL for more than a dozen years.
“I’ve always found it to be pretty competitive,” Lalli says. “Everyone playing has a lot of pride. Each team goes at it. … A lot of it is about the pride. We get a lot of college guys and [former pro] draft picks, so that keeps it interesting.”
Over the course of a dozen years in the CCBL, Lalli, 31, has played for four teams across the county. He says the league is interesting because of the wide age range of players. The league plucks players from area high schools, colleges and other baseball leagues. There truly is no age limit to play, so even some senior citizens take the field from time to time.
“You get to see a different experience level. The younger guys are obviously faster, but the older guys have the knowledge and experience of the game. The older guys have their ways to get things done, too,” Lalli says.
Lalli says he has seen teams come and go over the years. This year, for example, the Spike Island Pirates from Philipsburg have returned.
“Philipsburg was gone for a couple of years; they’re back this year,” Lalli says. “To my understanding, it’s the [American] Legion team that went to nationals. They put a team together and that’s great.”
One team that has enjoyed sustained success is the Blanchard Bees. The Bees have won three of the last five CCBL championships, including in 2022.
Several years ago, though, the Bees folded up. Toner Corl, who was playing for perennial power Penn State-DuBois, was home from college.
“It was five years ago, my first summer after [American] Legion ball, and we had no summer baseball to play,” Corl says. “My friend Bryce Hanley and I said, ‘What can we do?’ We got together and decided to start the Bees back up.”
The Bees returned to the league in 2018. Corl, currently a player/manager, says they stockpiled the team with “young guys.” Since Blanchard didn’t have a team for several seasons, the field had fallen into disrepair.
“We did a lot of upkeep to that field,” Corl recalls. “Bryce and I put a lot of time and effort into it. We knew we had the talent. It was just getting all of our ducks in a row, getting funds around … everything like that.”
Once the field was ready to go, the Bees dominated, winning 14 of 21 regular-season games on their way to the CCBL title. They won it all again in 2019.
Corl, 25, says the return of the Bees has been a joy.
“It’s been fun. This group of guys … we’ve played together forever,” Corl says. “Everyone is young, we all have some gas in the tank, so to speak. It’s very competitive and just a great league.”
2023 Centre County Baseball League
- Blanchard Bees
- Howard Hawks
- Lemont Ducks
- Lewistown Foxpro
- Spike Island Pirates
- Spring Creek Shockers
- Spring Mills Braves
Learn more about the league at LeagueLineup.com/welcome.asp?url=ccbl. To join the league, email Trider1976@gmail.com.
T&G
Chris Morelli is the assistant editor of The Centre County Gazette.
