Potter Baseball Tour Stops In Ellwood City

The Potter Baseball Tour made its ninth annual stop in Ellwood City on Friday, July 13.

Led by former Ellwood City baseball standout Jeff Potter, the tour visits over 30 cities in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio and Virginia throughout July. The first tour game was played nine years ago on July 2, 2010 at Sanders Field. Since then the tour has become a staple in towns throughout the Middle Atlantic states. The tour kicked off this season in Washington, D.C. on June 30. Among the stops along the way are Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Morgantown, Gettysburg  and Baltimore before concluding the tour on July 31 in Virginia Beach.

The first stop of the day in Ellwood City area was Sheeler Field in Ellport. On the field where Jeff homed his skills, the Potter Tour visited with Mrs. Ann Sheeler, 97 years young. Mrs. Sheeler greeted the team and the players drank from her garden hose the way players did for many years at the ballfield. The next stop of the day was to the Ewing Park shelters for a “Career Day” with graduates from the Lincoln High School Class of  1972. Mary Ann Gavrile, Ed Prence, Jody Zona Stefanek, Reverend Rich Pelloni, Rich Herman, Nick Boariu and John Krestal addressed the team on their career backgrounds and provided advice to the players on their future career path.

In addition, Josh Huffman, a coach in the inagural 2010 tour, delivered a talk to the players on the influence the Potter Tour had on his career. Mary Ann Gavrile presented a $300 donation from Attorney Susan Papa to Jeff Potter for the the Pottr Tour Team. After “Career Day”, the players enjoyed lunch with Mayor Anthony Court, with the meal provided courtesy by Domino’s Pizza, Johnny’s Pizza and McDonald’s. The Potter Tour team then headed to Sanders Field to conduct a free baseball clinic for players 12 years old and under. After the clinic a ceremony was held at first base honoring former  Ellwood City High first baseman, John “Huffy” Huffman, who passed away last fall. “Huffy” played first base for the 1971 Ellwood City Wolverines WPIAL finalists. With members of  the Huffman family, his former coaches from Koppel and former teammates and friends, Potter announced the beginning of an annual “Huffy Scholarship” in John’s name. Following the ceremony, the Potter Tour Team played an exhibition game against players of the Ellwood City Pony League. While the game was being played a  walk was held in Ewing Park, coordinated with Jaime Jones of the Juvenile Arthritis Foundation, to raise funds for the family of  Noah Jones, a former player in the Ellwood City Amateur Baseball program, in his fight with the disease.

Potter led the Ellwood City Wolverines to the WPIAL Championship in 1971, the first high school game ever played at Three Rivers Stadium. Potter was the Section 5 Most Valuable Player and selected to play in the Pennsylvania American Legion East-West Game. Potter received a baseball scholarship to the University of Alabama. Potter was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the sixth round of the Major League Draft in 1972 and played for former Pirates’ manager, Jim Leyland in the minor leagues.

source: www.ellwoodcitybaseball.com