Military veteran John Shelsy will play for the Delco League’s Team of the Decade in Tuesday’s Living Legend Game against the United States Military All-Stars. (Times staff / COLIN KERRIGANTimes staff / COLIN KERRIGAN)
RADNOR — John Shelsy has played in the Delco Baseball League for 18 years.
“We’ve won 12 championships,” the 41-year-old Wayne catcher said. “We’re tied with Tinicum A.C. for the most championships, and we’d like to get No. 13 this year.
“They won five in a row, and we won four in a row. I guess the thing that would be most impressive would be to have won more than any other team in league history.”
The Wayne franchise isn’t about to let a valuable player like Shelsy go. Tuesday night, Shelsy will be on loan as the Delco League’s Team of the Decade takes on the United States Military All-Stars in the Living Legend Game at Glen Mills Schools’ Everett Swanson Field.
Pre-game ceremonies will get under way at 5:45.
“I understand I’m the only veteran of the military playing in the Delco League,” Shelsy, a graduate of Conestoga High and Ithaca College, said. “I enlisted in the United States Army right after college and spent two years at Fort Sill (Oklahoma).
“I went to field artillery school and did advanced training. There weren’t the kinds of things going on around the world like there are today, so I didn’t see any combat. I’m sure the young men I’ll be playing with have some stories to tell about their time in the service. A lot of them don’t think they’ve done anything special, but to me they’re all heroes for the efforts they put in overseas.”
Shelsy credits Conestoga coach John Vogan, who guided the Pioneers to the PIAA Class AAAA championship last month, with helping make him a good catcher.
“He was the one who taught me about staying after practice and doing the things I needed to do to get better,” Shelsy said.Continued...
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Shelsy admits that once the Delco League playoffs are over, he will spend about six weeks winding down from the season.
“By October I’ll get the itch again,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that Chuck (Freeman, Wayne’s general manager), Jim (Fatz, the team’s player/manager), Brady (Schlack, player/coach) and I do.
“It starts at the top with Chuck. He does a lot coming up with new players, and we work with them on what’s expected of them when they put on that (Wayne) uniform.”
Shelsy, who has two young daughters, is regional supply manager for Cott Beverage Company in Concordville.
“We have a plant here and one in North Carolina that I have to help keep going,” he said.
You can expect Shelsy to keep going no matter what uniform he puts on.
Matt “Country” Smith played baseball at West Chester Henderson High.
“I graduated in 2009,” said Smith, who is the son of former Delco League catcher Steve Smith, the head baseball coach at Marple Newtown High.
“A lot of the guys who were my teammates won the state championship in 2010.”Continued...
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That was the year Smith spent attending the United States Military Academy Prep School. He recently completed his first year at the Academy in West Point, N.Y.
Last week, he and the members of Army’s Class of 2014 completed their summer training.
“The last day, we had a seven-mile run back to West Point,” Smith said. “It was a good experience. We were working in the field with artillery and mortar rounds.”
Smith, who did not play baseball at West Point in the spring, will be in uniform Tuesday and will play first base.
“When I was asked to play, I told them I’d love to take part in the game,” Smith said. “It’s a baseball game, but it will also be a chance for me to meet some special people.”
Before he heads back to West Point, Smith and his family will vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
“The last few days (at camp) we were getting up at 4 in the morning,” Smith said. “I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.
“I’m really looking forward to having this little vacation.”
Everett Swanson, the gentleman for whom the Glen Mills field was named, will be the Living Legend honored at the game.Continued...
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Swanson, a resident of a senior citizens home in Chester, celebrated his 95th birthday last month. He is a veteran of the United States Navy and a survivor of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941.
Admission is free. Additional information about the game can be obtained atherosofthediamond.comor by calling Jim Vankoski at (610) 909-4919.
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