Upper Dublin Baseball Honors Seniors with a Drive-By

Upper Dublin baseball celebrated the team’s seniors with a surprise drive-by last Friday. To have your team’s senior recognition included, please send photos/info to SuburbanOneSports@comcast.net. (Photos provided by Upper Dublin baseball. Senior group shot taken at the team's final practice on March 12.)

Last Friday night, Upper Dublin baseball held its Senior Night with a drive-by that included stops to recognize the team’s four seniors players – Adam Overton, Jacob Womelsdorf, Sam Frezel and Sean Curran – as well as player manager Dom Perri and manager Juliet Lodewick.

Coach Ed Wall not only saw his senior players lose their final high school season but his son, Conlan Wall, also lost his final season at Souderton. Conlan has signed a letter of intent to continue his baseball career at St. Joseph’s University. Only one of Wall’s four players – Sean Curran – will be playing at the collegiate level.

Coach Ed Wall said:  “It’s been a pretty unique opportunity to see this from both sides of the spectrum. Living with a kid whose going through the disappointment of losing his senior year – losing any year of baseball is tragic, let alone your senior year. It’s a tremendous learning experience. You really learn a lot about yourself and how to overcome some real adversity. On a player’s perspective – witnessing that had its moments and some challenges, but in the end, there’s nothing you can do about it. You have to move on and look for the next challenge. Conlan has his good days and his bad days, and fortunately, he has baseball to come.

“I miss our guys. I was really looking forward to our seniors getting out there and leading the way they were in the offseason. I saw some guys really step up. Sean Curran, Adam Overton, Jake Womelsdorf and Sam Frezel were seniors that did everything I could ever ask for in an offseason. I was so excited to see how the season was going to unfold. It’s tough. Everybody’s going through it, but everybody’s in a different boat. Sean is going on to play at Widener. My other three guys aren’t playing baseball, and I feel for those guys – this is their year. Maybe they played jayvee their whole life, and now it’s their moment, and it’s taken. It’s painful to watch and to even think about.

“Sam Frezel was primarily a jayvee pitcher last year, and this year he had an opportunity to get some varsity innings for us. He’s a kid that only plays high school baseball. He’s one of those rare kids – he trains, he throws bullpens and he works hard, but he’s busy with a lot of other responsibilities and doesn’t have the opportunities. This was his season, this was it. He and all the other kids that are in that same situation – my heart just breaks.

“We got the call on March 12 that we weren’t going in the next day, so we just scrimmaged out on the field because I didn’t know if we’d ever get to play an actual game. At the end, we brought Dom Perri – a player/manager out to pitch. It was one of his most memorable moments.

“On our team, from a coach’s perspective – we’re all preparing 365 days a year and so are the guys. In our program like a lot of others, you’re doing all the weight training stuff and the speed conditioning and the arm prep for two week’s worth of activity and not even competing. To have that much work squandered almost is tough because the excitement of everything and the anticipation - the senior guys getting out there and having fun and doing all the things they’ve worked so long and hard for. To not have the opportunity is tough, it’s really hard to see.”

Senior Adam Overton said:  “If I had to pick between having this (Senior Night drive-by) and an actual senior day, I honestly would pick this because for senior day you just walk with your parents and get your picture taken. This – everybody’s honking as they’re driving by. It was pretty special, it was awesome.

“I played football in the fall, and I tore my left labrum, so I wouldn’t have been able to play. I found out I wouldn’t have a senior baseball season around November or December, so I kind of got used to the feeling. If I was able to play and the season would have been cancelled, it would have hurt a lot. It was still disappointing because it’s always fun to chill with my boys right after school. Last season was really fun as a junior, and I feel bad for all the guys that would have been able to play. It hurt me to see that.”

Senior Sam Frezel said:  “I expected (the drive-by) to be underwhelming, but it was actually very nice. It will never compare to the actual season and playing, but I was very realistic early on, so this was satisfying. I don’t know if that’s the best word to describe it, but it was good. It was a nice way to reconcile the season.

“I think early on in the quarantine, I was definitely more hopeful for the season to start. I figured we might as well play half the season. As it went forward, it was definitely hard to realize you’re not going to have that. The bottom line was – I’m going to miss playing with the team. I wasn’t as sad to miss out on baseball, but it’s fun to lead, it’s fun to be around that environment.”

Senior Jacob Womelsdorf said:  “I had an idea that something was happening for Senior Night, but I didn’t know what, and I was still surprised. It was great. I’ve been missing my friends. I had a lot of close bonds with the kids on the baseball team, and it was just great to see them. I haven’t been out of the house in two months, and I was really happy to see everyone, especially the coaches.

“It’s not the end of the world to not have a senior season, but it’s not ideal. I’ve been waiting four years for this season. I’ve seen all the joy on the previous seniors’ faces when they’re playing. I know they really loved it, and I was waiting for my turn. I’m happy that I had the opportunity to play varsity in the past, so that’s better than nothing.”

Senior Sean Curran said:  “The drive-by was awesome. It meant a lot just to see everyone back together again one last time before we leave for college.

“At first when they stopped the season, I always thought it was going to come back, but then it was taken away. We’re just grateful for the opportunity we had to play and be around the people on our team, but it was definitely a bummer. It was crazy this happened our senior year when we were getting ready to go and finally have an actual senior year. I’m going to play in college. It was always my dream to play in college, and I wanted to play this season to get ready for it, make improvements.”