Jul. 25—SCHUYLKILL HAVEN — Every championship baseball team has “that guy.”
The one player who stands out above the rest, shines in the big moments and steps up when his team needs him the most.
The pitcher who shuts down the opposition in critical games, or the hitter who delivers in the clutch situations with a key hit or triggers a timely rally.
Mason Ulsh did all of the above for Schuylkill Haven this season.
The senior right-hander was by far the area’s best pitcher, compiling a 13-0 record with a 1.03 ERA and an area-best 112 strikeouts, pitching Schuylkill Haven to a clean sweep of the Schuylkill League, District 11 Class AA and PIAA Class AA championships.
He also excelled at the plate, batting .440 with 37 hits, an area-best 43 runs scored, 21 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.
Bound for NCAA Division I Quinnipiac, Ulsh is the 2021 Republican Herald All-Area Baseball Player of the Year.
He’s joined as a major award winner by Tri-Valley slugger Chase Herb as the Offensive Player of the Year, North Schuylkill freshman Jaxson Chowansky as the Rookie of the Year and Schuylkill Haven coach Scott Buffington as Coach of the Year.
Ulsh guides Haven to elusive crown
As he reflected on Schuylkill Haven’s magical run to the program’s first-ever PIAA state baseball championship, Ulsh said it took a while for it to set in.
What a run it was.
The Hurricanes won their final 15 games, blowing past North Schuylkill and Blue Mountain for their first Schuylkill League title since 1985, shutting down Shenandoah Valley and Williams Valley to win a third straight District 11 AA crown, then beating Masterman, Camp Hill, Riverside and Shenango to become the first Schuylkill League and District 11 baseball state champion since Minersville in 2007.
Ulsh was at the forefront of every key moment, stifling a potent Williams Valley lineup three times, sparking a decisive rally in the league final against Blue Mountain with a leadoff single, knocking in the game-winning run against Riverside and delivering three hits and scoring two runs in the state final.
The 5-foot-9, 175-pound 19-year-old earned the pitching victory in Schuylkill Haven’s last three state playoff games, combining to strike out 26, walk two and yield just five earned runs over 17.2 innings.
“It was a very big moment for not just me, but for everyone,” Ulsh said. “All the hard work we put in, we definitely deserved it.
“It was an amazing run. It wasn’t until a week or two after it was over that it really settled in … that we were the best team in the state. It definitely took a while to digest.
“What a fun ride. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”
Ulsh broke onto the scene as a freshman in 2018 with a stellar relief performance in the Hurricanes’ loss to Camp Hill in the PIAA Class AA semifinals.
He earned Republican Herald Rookie of the Year honors as a sophomore, pitching Haven to another district crown and a trip to the state quarterfinals.
Ulsh said losing the 2020 season to the coronavirus pandemic was tough, because “we could have easily won another state championship. We had more talent on that team last year than we did this year.”
He said he used the lost season as motivation, working hard in the offseason to get bigger, stronger and faster. In addition to his lofty strikeout totals is this amazing statistic — in 81.1 innings this season, he walked just nine hitters.
“I found my place in the weight room, worked on getting bigger and stronger,” said Ulsh, who utilizes a fastball, curveball and change-up in his repertoire. “I did everything I had to do there to increase my velocity (on my pitches).
“I worked hard on becoming a better overall player, doing everything I had to do to be there for my team.”
Ulsh has been a standout pitcher since his days in Little League, but the difference this year compared to years past was his performance at the plate.
Slotting into the No. 2 spot in the Haven order behind speedy center fielder Mike McGoey and in front of All-Area first-team picks Jack Higgins and Jake Houtz, Ulsh thrived.
He finished 37-for-84 (.440) with an on-base percentage of .580, striking out just three times all season. He collected six doubles, three triples and 21 RBIs, walked a team-best 28 times and was a disruptive force on the basepaths with 24 stolen bases.
Ulsh set the table for Higgins and Houtz, who hit .392 and .531, respectively, and combined to drive in 77 runs.
“Since we had that year off, I was able to find my place both hitting and pitching,” Ulsh said. “(Assistant) Coach (Chad) Derck is a really good hitting coach. He was the hitting coach at Kutztown before he came to us. We set up some private lessons to get myself better, taking time out of the day to work hard and get better.
“That was a huge help, and my average showed. All that hard work paid off in the end.”
Ulsh said the one thing that sticks out from Haven’s state championship run was the amount of community support the team had along the way, from dinners to send-offs to fire truck parades.
“The amount of people we had there supporting us, that was big,” Ulsh said. “Winning all three: leagues, districts and states, the moment after you win those, that will stick with me, not just now, but the rest of my life.”
Here’s a look at the other major award winners on this year’s All-Area Baseball Team:
Offensive Player of the Year Chase Herb, Tri-Valley
Herb batted .473 (35-for-74) with 31 runs scored, 27 RBIs, seven doubles and an area-best six homers for the District 11 Class A champions, despite being pitched around — or walked intentionally — by opposing pitchers.
The All-Area Rookie of the Year in 2018, Herb thrived in the playoffs, helping Tri-Valley go 17-6, win its fourth straight district title and reach the second round of states.
He had a key RBI single in Tri-Valley’s win over Nativity in the District 11 title game, hit a two-run homer and scored the winning run on a wild pitch in a 3-2 win over St. John Neumann in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs, then went 1-for-3 in the Dawgs’ loss to eventual state champion Halifax.
Rookie of the Year Jaxson Chowansky, North Schuylkill
The North Schuylkill freshman outfielder finished ninth in the area in batting average, hitting .451 (32-for-71) with 20 runs scored, four homers and a team-high 29 RBIs.
Chowansky helped the Spartans finish 14-9 overall and 9-3 in Schuylkill League Division I. North Schuylkill was the Division I wild card before losing to Schuylkill Haven in the league semifinals. In districts, North Schuylkill reached the Class 4A semifinals before falling to Bethlehem Catholic.
A brute physical specimen, Chowansky adds baseball Rookie of the Year honors to Co-Rookie of the Year honors obtained during the 2020 football season.
Coach of the Year Scott Buffington, Schuylkill Haven
As chronicled in a story that appeared in the June 17 edition, Buffington overcame a stroke in August to guide the Hurricanes to the state’s ultimate prize for the first time in his 44-year coaching career.
Buffington’s squad finished 25-3, setting a program record for wins in a season. The Hurricanes won their first Schuylkill League crown since 1985, captured their eighth District 11 title overall and fifth since 2014 and became the Schuylkill League’s third team to win a PIAA crown, joining the 1996 Tri-Valley and 2007 Minersville squads.
The 71-year-old has a career record of 666-264 (.716), with his teams reaching the District 11 playoffs every season since 1983 (38 straight times). Buffington has a career 39-30 mark in District 11 playoff games and 16-7 in PIAA playoff games.
Buffington is joined on his staff by assistant coaches Dennis Siket, Chad Derck, Mookie Miller, Ted Smith, Phill Dohner and Chip Kulp.
Contact the writer: Lboyer@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6026; @pubsportsboss on Twitter