UMHS Baseball Takes Home Suburban One League American Conference Title

There are three conference games remaining for the baseball team at Upper Moreland High School. None will have title implications, but the Golden Bears aren’t complaining.

Upper Moreland took care of business Wednesday as the team wrapped up the Suburban One League American Conference championship with a win over Cheltenham.

It was sweet redemption for the Bears, who fell one game short of the title a year ago after finishing on top in 2009.

Head coach Ernie Rehr said winning the conference crown was one of his team’s top goals from the moment players gathered for their first preseason workouts two months ago.

“It was a sense of accomplishment,” said Rehr. “We certainly set out to win the
conference. That was our first goal of the season. Doing it as early as we did it this year, I guess is a blessing. It’s pretty remarkable.”

Experience often makes the difference for a championship team, and the Bears have plenty of players who know what it’s like to battle for a conference title. With senior catcher Dave McInerney leading the way, there is strong chemistry, which has developed over the past few seasons.

“I think we have a great dynamic on this team,” Rehr said. “Dave has kind of been the backbone to set an example for the team. We also have guys that play other sports who are very competitive. We have guys like Kyle Lockart who just came back to the team this year. He played football for four years. He adds an element of success and what it means to perform at a high level.”

Other veterans who have made key contributions are Mike Janas, Sean Valenza and Kyle Walder. They have all been through the conference wars and know what it takes to win.

All of the Bears were able to set their sites on the conference before turning their attention to the upcoming PIAA District One playoffs.

“It’s a good way to go about it,” said Rehr. “We kind of have a break between the
conference and districts. We can basically just hone in on the conference title. It’s pretty much all we have been thinking about.”

Having the conference title wrapped up early has extra advantages. Rehr can rest
some of his regulars and also limit the amount of innings for his top pitchers.

“We’re going to still pitch our big two pitchers,” Rehr said. “But they are probably
going to see limited action for three or four innings. I want some of that tired arm to go away. I do want to see some of the younger guys.”

With a lineup filled with upperclassmen, Rehr and the rest of his staff can rely on their players for many of the game’s elements. McInerney calls all of the pitches, so Rehr can focus on other aspects of the game.

“Having that experience there allows us to coach more of the game,” said Rehr. “We
can focus on how we approach the next inning and what our lineup changes might be.”

While some of the Bears’ top players will get a chance to rest, Rehr is getting
ready for the playoffs while focusing on the rest of the regular season. However, Rehr acknowledged this is a welcome change from the past two years when his team was involved in conference championship chases that came down to the final days of the season.

“I’ve never been in this position,” Rehr said. “In baseball, you really don’t scout.
There’s way more scheming in football and basketball. I’ll certainly be calling around about teams and finding out certain styles with pitchers or how they play.”