On Friday, July 31, prior to its game against Indians Baseball, Knights Baseball honored the 13 seniors on its squad who missed their final high school season at North Penn due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Senior Night photos provided courtesy of Linda Bealer. Senior photo courtesy of Connie Lee.)
Celebrating Senior Night on July 31 is hardly typical, but the spring of 2020 was anything but typical. After missing their entire spring baseball season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, North Penn High School’s 13 seniors were recognized prior to the Knights Baseball/Indians Baseball contest at Memorial Park in the third game of the Bux-Mont Baseball Classic.
“Especially with the Senior Night and the circumstances we did have, coach (Kevin) Manero did an outstanding job on the planning of it and what he had to do,” senior Chris McLean said. “The opportunity to play with these guys we grew up with really means a lot.”
“We all have a good team spirit, and we’re all for each other,” senior Kolby Barrow said. “We love the game so much, and we were eager to get back out and play.”
“This helps, but it’s such a heartbreaker finding out your season is cancelled, especially being a senior and not making the playoffs junior year. We wanted to come out with a vengeance and show that we’re back.”
Knights Baseball fell to Indians Baseball 3-0 in last Friday’s battle between the neighboring rivals, but even in defeat, the seniors – according to coach Kevin Manero – displayed their passion for the game.
“There was a little play tonight – Erik Jesberger was on second base. They threw a pickoff throw to second, he dove back in and he was safe, jumped back up and got right back into his lead with this crazy amount of intensity,” Manero said. “As soon as he did that, there was this roar from our guys.
“That is how a senior who just gets after it with all he has makes everyone around him better. I think the best teams there are – and it’s not just baseball but especially baseball, it’s when the senior group makes everybody else better.
“When you have seniors that are just kind of focused on themselves and their own stats and they don’t make each other better, you can’t win with that group. These guys make each other better. They are very, very close for the most part on and off the field.
“We talk about what it takes to play at the next level, how you stay in the game for a long time, how you have success after high school in baseball, and the number one denominator is – you have to love baseball. If you don’t love it deeply, you’re never going to be very good at it. These guys really like it a lot and they are very good at it in a lot of different ways.”
Knights Baseball will have a rematch with Indians Baseball on Wednesday (August 5) in the championship game of the Bux-Mont Baseball Classic. The game will be played at Harleysville Community Center at 5:30 p.m.
The following is a transcript of Friday’s Senior Night celebration:
Coach Kevin Manero: “Good evening everyone and welcome to historic Weaver Field at Memorial Park, here in the heart of downtown Lansdale, Pennsylvania. Tonight, as we continue this one-week Class of 2020 Bux-Mont Baseball Classic, we also take time to honor the Knights Senior Class. We will honor these 13 tremendous people on a field that has been home to many decades of some of the greatest baseball talent to come through the North Penn area. Several of our Knights Hall of Fame members had some of their greatest moments under these Weaver Field lights. While our class of 2020 did not have their season to continue the rich tradition of baseball in our community, the way they have played this week speaks volumes about how much they wanted to, and about what imprints they could have left on our North Penn baseball landscape this year.
“Thank you to the Lansdale Borough, Parks and Rec Director Karl Lukens, Borough Manager John Ernst, Police Chief Mike Trail, and The Cannoneers Club for helping us to get back on the diamond here this week. And thank you to The Extra Innings Club and the North Penn Athletic Department for helping to make tonight and 2020 so special for a group of seniors who deserve every bit of it. A special thanks to Booster Club Vice President Kristina Elmer, and President Christine McLean whose terms of service to the club ended this spring. And of course thank you to our coaching staff: Kevin Harris, Frank Yanni, Keith Clauss, Joe Drelick, Brandon Billetz, Kevin Harder, Bryan Clayton, Joe Picozzi, and Jimmy Ward. Thank you, all!”
Prasham Jobanputra, Team Manager
Prasham will attend Drexel University in the fall where he will major in Sports Business. Prasham was also the sports editor for The Knight Crier this year, and in two years as a high school journalist, he published over 200 articles.
Erik Jesberger, Shortstop, #2
Erik will attend Temple University in the fall where he will major in Communications Studies and Sports Media. He has been a leading personality on North Penn Television throughout his high school career. And he has been a proud member of our North Penn Baseball community from the time his family moved here and he started attending our camps as a young little leaguer. Erik missed his entire junior year to injury but wasted no time in Monday’s win in the opener of the Bux-Mont Classic as he collected two hits in his first two at-bats back on the diamond – not a surprise to anyone who knows him.
Chris McLean, Third Baseman, #3
Chris will attend Thomas Jefferson University in the fall where he will major in Finance and continue his baseball career for Coach Pat Horvath. Chris is this year’s North Penn Baseball recipient of the Carl Giuranna Coaches Award, reflective of his leadership on and off the field, and his dedication to making the guys around him so much better, whether it was during offseason workouts, during games, or just in life in general.
Ryan Feiser, Rightfielder, #5
Ryan will attend Montgomery County Community College in the fall where he will study Business. Ryan has been a community baseball player in the Nor-Gwyn Baseball system from Little League through American Legion and continued a tradition of athletics in his family led by his brother Kyle who played both baseball and football at North Penn.
Colby Chan, Leftfielder, #11
Colby will attend Ursinus College in the fall where he will major in Biology and continue his baseball career with the Bears for Coach Stan Exeter. Teachers cannot say enough about Colby’s kindness and respect in the classroom and the same extends onto the baseball field… even when he hits a 450-foot homerun that may or may not land to the left of the foul pole.
Nicky Koch, Infielder, #13
Nicky will attend Delaware Valley University in the fall where will major in Turf Management and continue his baseball career for coach John Love. Like his alumni cousin Billy Collins, Nick has always practiced hard and played hard, never taking no for an answer – a quality that will keep him on the field for a long time to come.
Nathan Brown, Pitcher/Outfielder/First Baseman, #17
Nathan will attend Widener University in the fall where he will major in Engineering and continue his football career for Coach Michael Barainyak. Speaking if brainiacs… Nathan proudly scored a 1500 on his SATs while also being a standout football player for Coach Dick Beck and the Knights. Nate is the second of three brothers Brown to wear the Knights baseball uniform. His younger brother Dylan is a rising junior in the Knights program and his brother Colin, was also a two-sport athlete at North Penn. Nathan is joined on the field tonight by his mom Connie, his dad Craig, and his brother Colin. Ladies and Gentlemen, #17 Pitcher, Outfielder, and Firstbaseman, Nathan Brown.
Cole Egner, Pitcher, #18
Cole will attend Pennsylvania State University in the fall as an undecided Nittany Lion but may possibly choose the common, easy path of Astrophysics. Cole is the 2020 Knights recipient of the Dave Livezey Pride in the Program Award – named after one of our most supportive and proud alumni. Dave himself was a left-handed pitcher, and Cole in every way upholds his name and his honor as a proud Knight. It’s hard to imagine finding anyone more proud to wear his uniform under these lights tonight.
Charlie Marger, Pitcher, #20
Charlie will attend Montgomery County Community College for a year beginning this fall on his way to Temple University to study business. Whether he has a baseball in his hand or a rake, Chuck has embraced baseball in every facet from his days in the Hatfield-Towamencin system all the way through his days as a Knight. He never complains, and always embraces instruction – these qualities will last him well beyond baseball.
Alex Kee, First Baseman, #25
Alex will attend Millersville University in the fall where he will major in Statistics. Alex is a proud product of our community baseball system here in the North Penn area, having played in the Hatfield-Towamencin system from Little League through American Legion. His family has been dedicated to community baseball throughout his development, and his dad was a devoted coach who would undoubtedly be incredibly proud to see his son on this field tonight.
Joey Christian, Second Baseman, #26
Joey will attend Penn State University Abington in the fall to major in Finance and continue his baseball career for Coach Josh Copskey. Joey is the 2020 recipient of the Knights Heart and Hustle Award. A scrappy infielder who has overcome injury, Joe takes every practice and game rep at no less than 100 percent and is as steady and consistent a leader by example, on and off the field, as they come. He also is one of two Knights to toss up a herculean winning shot on a basketball court during this past school year, his won him a TV - the other guy won a game.
Kolby Barrow, Pitcher, #29
Kolby will attend Bloomsburg University in the fall, where he will major in Finance and continue his baseball career for Coach Mike Collins and the Huskies. Kolby is a three-sport graduate of North Penn, having excelled as the quarterback for Coach Beck’s football Knights and also for Coach John Conrad’s basketball squad. Kolby is the other Knight to hit a big shot this year, his a playoff winning buzzer beater. But tonight – it’s all about the baseball diamond.
Spencer Heilveil, Catcher/Outfielder, #52
Spencer will attend the University of Tampa in the fall, because he’s smart enough to go south where it’s warm all year round… and also to major in Sports Management. In addition to baseball, Spencer used his senior year at North Penn to the fullest, as a member of the coach Beck’s football team, as a staff writer for The Knight Crier, and as an on-air reporter for North Penn Television. In his entry for the commencement speaker contest, Spencer spoke about longtime track coach Jim Crawford. In his speech, Spencer explained how Coach Crawford missed four years of his teaching and coaching career to serve as a lieutenant in World War II, and explained that his name is on our stadium not because of time he missed at North Penn, but because of what he accomplished after that - - a message that all of our players on the field tonight should embrace.
Please join me in one more round of applause for an incredible group of young men who love this game as much as any before them, and who by precept and example, have served as a tremendous model for our underclassmen and future Knights to come…our KNIGHTS BASEBALL CLASS OF 2020!
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