INDIANA, Pa. – Sophomore
Harrison Pontoli put on a show Wednesday afternoon at Dougherty Field during the team's 16th annual "Halloween Themed" 100-inning game fundraiser. Although his team fell short of ending the upperclassmen's 16-year winning streak, he recorded the most individual points (43) and home runs (7) in this year's contest. This year's game had a different ring to it due to the guidelines that have been put in place, but was still a huge success.
"With the guidelines put in place and keeping our student-athletes safe and in our current practice pods, we decided to modify our 100-inning game into a team based hitting contest," said IUP baseball head coach
Anthony Rebyanski. "I believe the modifications we had to make turned into a huge success and allowed our student-athletes to continue tradition safely, while showing their appreciating to those who continue to donate and support our baseball program."
Just as the traditional 100-inning game, the freshman and sophomore class battled the junior and senior class. The hitting contest saw each class individual points for their rounds tallied up for a final score. There were five total rounds throughout the day. Through the first two rounds of the day, the contest remained close as the underclassmen held a slight lead against the upperclassmen, 26-21. After the conclusion of round three,
Elijah Glass helped lead the charge for the underclassmen as he belted four home runs and scored 21 points as his team widened the margin and led the contest 69-43.
Round four became known as the laser show round. The upperclassman tallied 199 total points in this round and took a commanding 242-98 lead heading into the final round.
Jake Cherry,
Nick Hess and
Austin Mueller led the charge as they totaled 104 of the 199 points and accounted for 12 of the 15 home runs in the fourth round.
Heading into the final round and down 144 points, the underclassmen knew they had a lot of work to do. Freshman
Billy Perroz and Pontoli put up some impressive numbers, but their team fell short of the victory as they attempted to dethrone the 16-year champions. Perroz finished with 27 points and one home run. The upperclassmen defeated the underclassmen by a final score of 317-264.
"With all the guidelines put in place, we needed to make sure we found way to keep our annual fundraiser going. Although it wasn't our normal 100-inning game format, the hitting contest helped our student-athletes have a sense of normalcy for the day while acting like kids on the baseball field. Seeing them all dress up in Halloween costumes and have fun on this day shows how no matter what, baseball can bring joy to all," added Rebyanski.
A very special thanks goes out to all who pledged to the 100-inning game fundraiser. All proceeds go directly to the IUP baseball program. A full list of donors will be updated on our main page as pledges continue to come in.
2020 HITTING CONTEST HIGHLIGHTS
>> Most Valuable Player:
Harrison Pontoli, team leading 43 individual points and seven home runs
>> most senior individual points:
Nick Hess (35)
>> most junior individual points:
Jake Cherry (35)
>> most sophomore individual points:
Harrison Pontoli (43)
>> most freshman individual points:
Billy Perroz (27)
>> most home runs:
Harrison Pontoli (7)
>> the junior and senior classes continued their winning streak, which stands at 16 years
Below is the list of current donors who continue to support the 100-inning game
(Updated Jan. 21)
| Abbi Wise |
| Airy Pines Boarding Kennel, Inc. |
| Amy & William Perroz, Jr. |
| Andrea & Kurt Cooke |
| Ann Marie & Stephen Super |
| Armond Pools, Inc. |
| Berks Plant Design & Maintenance, Inc. |
| Bill Kaveney |
| Brian Shoplik |
| C. Ann Margroum |
| Carleen & Robert Zedreck |
| Carol & Michael Torrance |
| Carolyn & Dan Davis |
| Charles Burd Construction |
| Cheryl & Vincent Bianco |
| Christine & Shawn Ebeling |
| Cindy & Francis Intrieri |
| Cindy & Robert McCombie |
| Cynthia & William Kopchick |
| Darlene Preston |
| David Hess, Hess Landscaping |
| Debbie & George Belles |
| Debbie & Richard Figaski |
| Deborah & Richard Stumpf |
| Deborah Furlong |
| Debra & Gordon Bass |
| Debra & John Simmers |
| Debra & Robert Field |
| Denise & Andrew Friedland |
| Denise & Charles Edeburn |
| Diane Decker |
| Dianne & Michael Williams |
| Dinette and Barstool Village of PA |
| Donna & David Dellecker |
| Doug Shuff |
| East American Incorporated |
| Environmental Pest Management, Inc. |
| George Galo, Jr. |
| Geraldine & John Decker |
| Glezen's Sawmill Inc. (Scott Glezen) |
| Heather & Chad Burd |
| Heather & Joseph Pontoli |
| Heidi & Jason Stacy |
| Herbert Long |
| Industrial Battery of Pittsburgh, Inc. |
| Irene & Jack Cooke |
| Irene & William Wilt |
| J. Deron Gabriel, Attorney at Law |
| J.J. McGuire General Contractors |
| James Panichella, Jr. |
| Jamie & James DiAndreth |
| Jeff Wright |
| Jessica & Lance Mueller |
| Jessica & Michael Sapsara |
| Joanne & Frederick Paganelli |
| Jodi & Eric Kabler |
| Joe Dolansky Sr. |
| John J. Dolansky |
| John Wiggers |
| Judith & James Moellenbrock |
| Judith & James Richards |
| Judith & Patrick Mastrain |
| Judith & Ronald Decker |
| Justin Roach |
| Karen Cassidy |
| Katherine & Gary Meyers |
| Katherine & James Panichella |
| Kathy & John Eisel |
| Kathy & George McCombie |
| Kelly & Tom Heffner, All About Floors |
| Kuhn Co LLC |
| Lamolinare Family |
| Law Offices of John E. Gabriel |
| Lea & William Ravotti |
| Lillian & Ralph Bigenho |
| Linda & Robert Chiostri |
| Lindsay & Ryan Cherry |
| Lisa & Sean Furlong |
| Lisa & Tom Kaveney |
| Lisa and Mike Cherry |
| Lori & Stephen Baker |
| LouAnne & Steve Funk |
| LV Revolution Baseball |
| Lynette & Keith Kelly |
| Madeline Jaglowski & Joshua Brown |
| Margaret & Leonard Diehl |
| Margaret Ann Ola |
| Margaret Gardner |
| Marilyn and Robert Sproule |
| Marjorie Patterson |
| Martin Hrivnak |
| Mechanical Engineering Systems Association, Inc. |
| Meli Plastering, LLC, Jim Meli |
| Melissa & Scott Weglarz |
| Michelle & Justin DeCroo |
| Michelle Kimble |
| Mirella & Ronald Berger |
| Nancy & Kevin Davis |
| Nicole & Justin Wells |
| Pam Yokom |
| Patricia Ferreira |
| Paula & Jim Andrei |
| Peter Kurtz |
| Rachel & Chris Vigliotti |
| Rebecca Stumpf & Loyd Baumfield |
| Regina & Deron Gabriel |
| Rhonda & Edward Goldsmith |
| Robert Hudock |
| Robert Young |
| Ron & Kyle Eiben |
| Ron McCombie |
| Rose and Mark Cestra |
| Rosemarie Kornheiser |
| Sandy & Chris Hudock |
| Sandy & Donald Ament |
| Sarah Thompson |
| Shannon & Kevin Edeburn |
| Sharon & Tom Motyl |
| Sheetz Inc. |
| Shirley and David Eisel |
| Stephanie Cooper |
| Susan & James Mueller |
| Susie & Richard Patterson |
| Tammy & Chuck Epler |
| Tammy & Stephen Cook |
| Teresa & Terry McCutcheon |
| Thermo Twin Industries |
| Thompson Machine Co., Inc., Tim Drenning |
| Tina & Kevin Ford |
| Tina Logue |
| Vigliotti Landscape & Construction, Inc. |
| Zachary Stoner |
