Youngstown State University kicked off the 2010 football season with a new coach and a new attitude.  The Penguins ventured to Happy Valley under the guidance of new coach, Eric Wolford, to face the #14 Penn State Nittany Lions and coaching royalty, Joe Paterno.  The game was entertaining through the first half and a Penguin fan could grasp the nerves of a potential upset.  However, Penn State flexed some muscle in the second half and ran off 41 unanswered points in posting a 44-14 victory over YSU.

Much can be said about the positives that YSU displayed.  The one that fans should really be encouraged by was that this team fought until the final whistle and not once during this game did anyone quit or hang their head in defeat.  That attitude can be credited solely to Rookie Coach Eric Wolford.  The two touchdowns that YSU scored were a first in the sense that they had never hit paydirt against a BCS opponent, and they did it twice.  Another encouraging sign was the play of Kurt Hess.  For a kid that had never taken a snap at the college level, to complete 84% of your passes and not turn the ball over the entire game will do wonders for your confidence and the team’s faith in Hess as a leader.

The people who are veterans coming back played well.  If you have the game taped, go back and watch LG Eric Rodemoyer’s performance.  He will grade out at only a couple of negative plays and was driving Penn State lineman off of the ball the whole game.  Dominique Barnes (pictured) caught 11 passes for 134 yards and scored a touchdown.  The pitch and catch from Hess to Barnes capped a 3-play 80-yard drive that put the Penguins ahead 7-3.  YSU would hold that lead for almost a quarter.  Three Penn State field goals and a touchdown had the Nittany Lions ahead 16-7 at the half.

The second half may have exposed some things YSU has to get better at.  Chaz Powell returned the second half kickoff 100 yards to boost the lead to 23-7.  Penn State definitely outplayed YSU on special teams and the Penguins will need to improve in that area moving forward.  The other thing the Penguins need to do is eliminate penalties.  Saturday afternoon YSU had 8 penalties for 65 yards, way too much against any team.

Penn State was also quarterbacked by a freshman, Robert Bolden.  Bolden started a little sluggish but got rolling on a scoring drive before the half.  Bolden ended up 20-29 for 239 yards and two TD’s.  His favorite target was Brett Brackett, a senior co-captain, who caught 8 passes for 98 yards.  Evan Royster was pretty well kept in check by the Penguin Defense as he carried the ball 11 times for 40 yards (3.6 ypc).

Joe Paterno finished the game with career victory #395, most among major college coaches.  Eric Wolford dropped to 0-1 career with the loss, but much better days will come for this young coach.  If Wolford coaches 45 years, he might be where Paterno currently sits in the win column, I have that much faith in him and the great staff he has assembled.  One guarantee from this website, YSU will not finish any worse than fourth place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference this season.

Youngstown State has to now shift their focus to the home opener against Pioneer League 2009 Champion, Butler.  By whacking the negatives and expanding on the positives, there isn’t a team left on YSU’s 2010 schedule that should not be concerned about losing.

The Negro Leagues were honored at Eastwood Field before Friday’s  Scrappers game with Jamestown. Ted Toles, who played in the historical league was on-hand to sign autographs and share memories from his heyday.  Toles resides in nearby Warren, Ohio.  I got a chance to sneak a couple of questions his way and was amused by some of his answers.  This man can answer a question in great detail.

Toles joined Charlie Caffle’s Warren GC team right out of high school.  In 1946, Toles pitched for the Pittsburgh Crawfords of the Negro Leagues.  Toles later toured the country with the Jackie Robinson All-Stars.  While with Robinson’s All-Star group, Toles shared the fields with Larry Doby and Bill White, two guys who turned their fortunes into successful Major League Baseball careers.  Toles played in the developmental systems for Cleveland, New York (Giants), and Philadelphia and was a standout for the New Castle Minor League team.

I asked Toles how today’s players shape up and was impressed with his answer.  “They are all one-dimensional these days.  Back when I played, you were taught to learn everything, not to just be good at one thing like these guys.  People spent time throwing at a hole in a wall for hours, it helped to hit spots and control the pitches.”

Toles also shared a Jackie Robinson story.  “Jackie was Jackie, and he had an attitude sometimes. He was under contract to play a charity game in Hollywood one year and didn’t feel as though he was getting the money he deserved to play.  Bob Feller went into the locker room and told him he was blowing his chance to get to the majors, but Jackie wouldn’t hear it.  That game was loaded with stars, I remember James Cagney and many celebrities showing up.  But Jackie just wouldn’t come out.  Years later me, Jackie, and Feller were in a room together sharing old times and the story came up.  Jackie denied the whole thing, but me and Feller let him hear it.”

Last season David Rach played in all 11 games for Youngstown State.  Not only was he a valuable component of a fast-maturing defense, but he participated in 155 snaps of special teams, second most on the team.  Rach is the typical small town success story as he prospered at North Lima South Range High School making First Team All-Ohio as a Senior under Coach Dan Yeagley. Rach seems very focused on the task at hand, the 2010 football season and disclosed some interesting viewpoints on many subjects.

Paneech: Playing in a smaller conference in high school at South Range, what obstacles did you have to overcome to mingle with all of these big program guys around you?

Rach: I feel like I was just as well prepared as anyone.  Some of the bigger schools have more numbers to choose from and maybe flashier players.  I think there is a lot of talent in the ITCL, especially since they restructured it to make things more competitive. Northeastern Ohio has a solid reputation for churning out good football players.  Coach Yeagley and his staff have a great record at South Range over the past 15 to 20 years and everyone who played there from pee wee up to varsity took great pride in representing the community and the school in such a positive fashion.

Paneech: Have you had any nightmares about tackling Evan Royster when you take the field against Penn State Saturday?

Rach: We have watched him on film, and obviously, he is an outstanding back.  The good thing is that we played Pitt last year and Ohio State the year before and they both had good backs, not taking anything away from him [Royster], because he is as good as anyone we will play against.  Playing any team, you have to line up and make tackles.  I watched Coach [Eric] Wolford’s press conference and he commented that there can be very little margin of error.  You almost have to play perfect.

Paneech: How do you feel about going to a real big stadium and facing a coaching legend in Joe Paterno?

Rach: We are playing 1-AA football here and I don’t care who you talk to, everyone here thinks they are a Division-I guy.  This is our chance to go out there and really show what we can do against a team that the entire country respects on a big stage like the Big-10 Network, it’s really exciting . Whatever we do Saturday holds a lot of merit around the country.  It’s very humbling, not taking anything away from our coaches, to look over there and see Joe Paterno. When you are a kid, you dream of playing for someone like that someday.  I now have the privilege to play against him.  The good news is that you know what you are going to get with him, they have been doing the same things for 50 years.  They are good at what they do, the record speaks for itself.  Obviously, it’s very humbling to be playing against a legend like Coach Paterno.

Paneech: You do well academically, what is it you wish to do when your studies are completed here at YSU?

Rach: I’m an Integrated Science Major in Education and I am also going to get my minor in Mathematics.  I take pride in my education like everyone else out here.  I know that football is going to end someday and that I will have to move on to something else in life, preferably teaching and coaching.

Paneech: How tough is the adjustment of going from having nothing to do a month-and-a-half ago to now having class, practice, and game preparations?

Rach: I got a week off this Summer to go to Myrtle Beach with my family.  We really haven’t had much of a break since the new coaching staff got here, we have been grinding.  Last year we were 6-5 and two years ago we were 4-8 and we realized that things needed to change.  Being picked to finish seventh in the conference is something we earned from the way we played the last couple of years.  It drives us and there is nobody here who thinks we are a seventh place team and we have to play hard week in and week out to prove that.

Paneech: Explain the differences between the Heacock and Wolford styles.

Rach: I don’t have a bad thing to say about anybody on either staff.  I think the biggest difference now is that the intensity has really picked up.  There are a lot of new faces, it took the first couple of weeks just to learn everybody’s names.  It’s a fresh start and a change that I hope transpires over to the field.

Paneech: What NFL linebacker do you admire the most?

Rach: Well, I am a Cleveland Browns fan, but my favorite NFL Linebacker is Brian Urlacher. He is relied upon to do everything and is kind of undersized.  He plays the game the right way and is a class act.

One Word Answers

Favorite Cereal: Lucky Charms.

Favorite Movie: Wedding Crashers.

Biggest Phobia: Snakes.

Best Class At YSU: Turning Points in US History II.

Toppings On a Pizza: Pizza Hut Meat Lover.

Worst Habit: Swearing.  When I get mad, I get a little mouthy.

Favorite Drink: Water with a lemon slice.

Favorite TV Show: Deadliest Catch.

Vegas or Cancun: Vegas.

Biggest Wish In Life: To coach college football somewhere down the road.

It was a familiar scenario for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The formula this season has been for a starting pitcher to throw well and then hope the bullpen can hold on.  The Scrappers starters all have respectable ERA’s.  The formula held true as Michael Goodnight (above) pitched five solid innings of scoreless baseball and struck out six Auburn Doubledays before exiting the game with a 1-0 lead.  True to the script, the offense struggled and the bullpen could not hold the lead in a 3-1 loss.

The Scrappers got the first run of the game in the second inning when DH Kevin Rucker reached base and scored on a Moises Montero ball that should have been caught.  Doubledays LF Yeico Aponte ran too far in on a routine fly ball and Rucker trotted home uncontested to give the Scrappers a 1-0 lead.

JD Goryl started the sixth inning for the Scrappers.  Jon Fernandez started the inning with a double.  Giovanny Urshela (below) had an uncharacteristic error to put men on first and second with nobody out.  Goryl was hit hard but in his defense, could have gotten out of the inning unscathed.  As the law of averages would have it, Auburn pushed a run across to tie the game.

The other JD, JD Reichenbach, came out to start the eighth for the Scrappers.  The big lefty was pumped up and threw hard, in the eighth.  The ninth inning however, was a different story as Lance Durham connected for a monstrous two-run homer to right field to put Auburn up 3-1.

The Scrappers put together a ninth inning rally showing some heart.  Rucker and Montero had back-to-back singles for Mahoning Valley.  Aaron Fields bunted to move the runners to second and third.  Trent Baker struck out to set the stage for Nick Bartolone who walked.  Enter Carlos Moncrief with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.  Moncrief was 0-4 in the game with three strikeouts coming into this key at bat.  Moncrief fouled a ball inches off of the left field line that would have, at the very least, tied the game.  On the next pitch, Moncrief whiffed and the Scrappers lost, 3-1.

Travis Fryman said the game indeed followed a pattern of predictability.  “Our lack of run production all year has forced our pitching staff to be perfect. By putting a young pitcher in those types of pressure situations, they are more likely to make mistakes.  We are just concentrating on development of the guys and we saw that with the effort from Goodnight tonight.”

The Auburn Doubledays came into Niles winners of their last four games.  Conversely, Mahoning Valley had lost their last five contests.  Baseball really is a game of momentum and streaks.  One consistent for Mahoning Valley has been the effort put forth by SP Mike Rayl.  Rayl had good stuff and struck out eight in five innings for the Scrappers.  What hasn’t happened much this season, is good relief pitching following a good start.  Julio Ramirez and Clayton Ehlert provided solid bullpen efforts as Mahoning Valley won to end both streaks, 4-2.

The Scrappers put the games first run up when Jesus Aguilar singled to start the second inning.  Aguilar moved to second on a passed ball and later advanced to third on a Tyler Cannon bunt.  With one out, Diego Seastrunk drove the ball far enough to left field to allow Aguilar to tag from third and give the Scrappers the early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Auburn responded with a series of plays that typified what kind of season the Scrappers have had.  CF Jonathan Jones was up with a man on third and nobody out.  Jones hit a ball to second to score the runner.  Kevin Fontanez pulled Carlos Moncrief off of the base with the throw.  Moncrief appeared to tag Jones before he reached first, but safe was the call. Jones stole second with the throw going wide right and into center.  While advancing to third, the throw appeared to beat Jones to the base, but again, he was called safe.  The next batter, Gustavo Pierre, singled to knock home Jones and put Auburn ahead 2-1.

The Scrappers loaded the bases in the fourth on a single and a pair of walks.  Cannon got an RBI on a fielders choice pushing Giovanny Urshela home with the tying run.  Seastrunk drew a walk with one out to reload the bases.  Aguilar scored on a wild pitch to give the Scrappers a 3-2 lead.  Fontanez walked off of new pitcher Zach Anderson.  Trent Baker then popped out to first.  Nick Bartolone had a good at-bat before drawing a walk forcing home another run for a 4-2 Scrapper lead.  Moncrief got robbed by Doubledays LF Marcus Brisker who made a beautiful diving catch to end the inning.  One hit, three runs, 4-2 Scrappers.

The score stayed 4-2 in favor of Mahoning Valley behind three solid innings of relief from Julio Ramirez.  Clayton Ehlert pitched the ninth for the save.  Afterwards, Manager Travis Fryman praised the good pitching.  “This is the best outing that Ramirez has had.  We tried to stretch him to three innings once before and the results were not real good.  We were apprehensive to leave him in there but he was working easy tonight.  It was an ugly ball game and they gave us plenty of opportunities to win. They [Auburn] might be the hottest team in our division over the past couple of weeks, so we’ll take it.”

Stephen Meadows is one of the Youngstown State Football players that carried over and made the successful transition between a new coach and an old one.  In the interview with Meadows, he touches on the differences between Coaches Heacock (2009) and Wolford (2010).  We also discussed everything from tattoos to Brett Favre to what I was chewing.  Meadows can come off as a little wild, but said that he has never felt as confident going into a season as he does with this years YSU team.

Paneech: You played linebacker when you were in high school and now you are a defensive end in college.  With today’s terminologically happy defenses, is there much difference?

Meadows: In high school I was free to pretty much roam around the field and find the action.  At the college level it is very different.  In college you have a gap you have to hold down and if you can’t do the job, you are not going to be playing.  Everybody on defense has a job, and if everyone does their job, we are going to win games.

Paneech: You are one of the carryover guys from last year playing under Coach Heacock to this year playing for Coach Wolford.  What is the difference between the two styles and was there a rough transition?

Meadows: I was recruited by Heacock and I fell in love with this place.  Heacock was a great coach and I respect him to the fullest. When he left here, it was a sad time until Wolford came in and stepped the intensity up.  There were some serious changes that he made when he got here and all of the slackers are gone now.  We knew that if you were not going to play football the Penguin way then you needed to get out.  The biggest changes were the intensity and the overall atmosphere.

Paneech: How big of a thrill is it going to be to play at Happy Valley against #14 Penn State?

Meadows: It’s going to be a heck of a thrill.  I’m not one to look in the stands when I’m on the field and I heard it gets loud over there, I’m ready to shut ’em up.

Paneech: What are you majoring in and how is school going?

Meadows: I am majoring in business management, and it is going great.  I’m in the new Williamson School of Business and I’m trying hard to keep my eyes open.

Paneech: How did you feel when you heard that YSU was picked to finish seventh this season?

Meadows: Mad!  Ever since I got here we have been at the bottom of the food chain.  I would rather let our actions speak for themselves this season. I am pretty confident in this team, in fact, I am more confident in this team than I have been on any other team that I have ever been on.  This is a tight group, I don’t feel like I have guys that I play football with, I feel like I have brothers.

Paneech: What player in the NFL do you try to imitate, or take after, when you are on the field?

Meadows: My favorite team is the Green Bay Packers, but I am a Brett Favre guy.  No matter what is going on around him, he is going to play every snap that he can whether it be the cold or the pain, he is out there giving his all.  As far as playing style, I like the way Jarred Allen and Simeon Rice, Warren Sapp, AJ Hawk – all tbose guys.

Paneech: What is the biggest factor you would attribute your success to?

Meadows: I had a long road to get here.  My high school and Pop Warner coaches taught me the fundamentals and got my head right to get to this level.

Paneech: What do you do when you have some free time?

Meadows: I enjoy cranking up the heavy metal and shooting some pool with my boys, that’s what I like to do.

Paneech: You have quite the collection of tattoos.  How did that start and how many are there?

Meadows: I got my first tattoo when I was 16.  I was playing inside linebacker in a 4-4 defense, the buddy I had that played to my right was Russell Isaac Powell and he shot himself so I went and got a RIP tattoo on my right arm.  Then to make my mom happy, I got an ‘In God We Trust‘ tattoo on the inside of my arm.  The rest have accumulated over the years, my most recent is the big lion’s head (pointing) with a cross going through it which symbolizes that through God’s strength you can kill anything.  I have probably made at least 30 trips to the shops.  Everything is connected, so it all counts as one.

One Word Answers

Favorite Cereal: Sugar Smacks.

Favorite TV Show: Trailer Park Boys.

Biggest Phobia: Spiders.

Best Movie Ever Made: Braveheart.

The Animal You Most Resemble: Great White Shark.

Best Class Offered At YSU: Home Economics.

Worst Habit: No sleeves in the Winter.

Favorite Drink: Grape Gatorade.

2011 Super Bowl Prediction: Minnesota Vikings versus Indianapolis Colts.

Vegas or Cancun: Vegas!

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers have had a disastrous season statistically.  The team batting average heading into Thursday’s game with State College was barely above the Mendoza line at .233.  Offense has been the issue all season.  How fitting that on reality TV night, that the Scrappers got voted off their own island (lost), got gonged, and couldn’t dance (5 errors) to save their lives.

State College tallied a run in the opening half of inning one when Adalberto Santos hit into a double play allowing Drew Maggi to score from third.  Maggi reached base on a Scrappers error.  Mahoning Valley responded in the bottom of the first when Carlos Moncrief walked and moved to third on Jesus Aguilar’s double.  Diego Seastrunk then hit a one-out sac fly plating Moncrief to tie things up.

Taking a 2-1 lead into the fifth, State College scored again.  Maggi walked, advanced to second on a groundout, stole third, and scored when Scrapper catcher Diego Seastrunk’s throw got by 3B Tyler Cannon and scooted into left.  Santos kept hurting the Scrappers as he homered to left-center to jack the lead up to 4-1.

Kyle Smith started the eighth inning and mixed walks with hit batters to load the bases and allow State College a couple of freebies. Without recording an out, Smith was yanked.  Clayton Ehlert inherited the bases loaded, nobody out situation and one grand slam later, there was nobody on base and the Scrappers tailed 10-1.  Six runs on two hits in the inning.

Giovanny Urshela should be returning to the Scrapper lineup soon which would definitely give the starved offense a much needed boost.  Manager Travis Fryman talked about Urshela’s progress.  “He looked good today and was cleared a couple of days ago to resume full workouts.  If he is symptom-free he will start playing again the first game in Auburn.”  Urshela has been sidelined since August 13 when he was plucked on the knuckle by a pitch.  Despite missing so many games, Urshela still leads the team in batting average and RBI.

Fryman also said that Jordan Casas would be out the rest of the season.

With Youngstown State and Penn State preparing to open their respective football seasons next weekend, it would only be fitting that a Youngstown area team played a Penn State area team in another sport.  With neither the Scrappers or Spikes in the playoff hunt, the game would be played for pride.  The Scrappers entered the contest winning three of their last four,  but could not muster enough offensive firepower to win this one, falling 3-1 at home.

State College drew first blood in the top of the first inning.  Adalberto Santos tripled into the left-centerfield gap.  Scrappers starter Michael Goodnight (pictured) should have gotten out of the inning unscathed, but a Kevin Fontanez error allowed Santos to scamper home with the opening run.  In the second inning, Santos walked and made his way around to score again on a clean single off the bat of Matt Curry.

The score stayed 2-0 in favor of State College until the top of the seventh.  The Spikes added a run to their lead on Matt Curry’s RBI single.  In the bottom of the seventh, Fontanez tripled to drive home Brian Heere to get the Scrappers on the scoreboard and cut the State College lead to 3-1.

For the Scrappers, it was another rough night on offense.  The run scored gives them a grand total of two in the last 18 innings.  With the loss, the Scrappers fell to 28-37.  The Spikes improved to 31-33 and inched closer to a .500 mark of respectability.  These two teams will play the rubber match of the three game series on Thursday.

The argument rages on and on about whether Pete Rose should be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.  For years, I have argued that he should be based on his hitting merits alone, not what he did wrong as a manager.  A recent trip to the gambling capitol of the world, Las Vegas, has made me reconsider my stance.

Walking through the Forum Shops at Caesers Palace on Saturday, I spotted a “signing autographs today, Pete Rose” sign outside of The Field of Dreams store.  Heading in, I saw Pete sitting behind a table and yacking on his cell phone.  He was also writing, but not his name.  Making my way farther around the table where he signs, I was able to snap this shot that had a monitor showing horse races.  Pete was scribbling his perfectas and trifectas on a big pad while he talked on his phone.

A customer paid the asking fee of $69.00 for an autographed baseball.  Rose never got off of the phone, continued to worry about the races and stopped concentrating for a split second to scribble his name on a keepsake I would not pay a dime for, not now.

Maybe Pete should check into rehab instead of Caesers Palace for a week.

YSU Football Coach Eric Wolford seemed concerned with the weather.  “I hope it doesn’t get real hot again, not when it is this cool.”  The weather is probably the last thing on the first-year leader’s mind these days.  Wolford and staff are trying to tie up all of the loose ends on both sides of the ball in preparation of the 2010 season. 

“I am at my dream job.  If you have to interview for a job, one you have really wanted, in the morning, you are not going to sleep real well.  You should always keep a paper and pencil next to your bed so when you wake up you can write stuff down and then hope you can go back to sleep “, declared Wolford after practice Tuesday.  Wolford’s Penguins are working very hard to get ready for their opening game, a September 4 trip to Happy Valley to face #14 ranked Penn State.

Kurt Hess has been named the starting QB for the Penguins.  Hess has no previous game experience.  Consequently, he is taking a majority of the snaps with the first unit through practices.  Marc Kanetsky and Najee Tyler will start the season as backups.  Quarterback Coach and Offensive Coordinator, Shane Montgomery, explained the unique situation of inexperience at the most important position on offense.  “I don’t want him [Hess] out there thinking if he makes a mistake that he is going to come out of the game.  Kurt knows that we put a lot of responsibility in the quarterback and he has to step up.  In all fairness, we have to work to take some of the pressure off of him too.  We have to be able to run the football to open up the passing game and take that pressure away from Kurt.”

Receivers Coach Phil Longo said the process takes time.  “It’s not really ‘polish’ time yet.  We are sharpening up everything that has been installed and now we are taking steps to get better at executing what we will be doing on offense.  The expectation here is to play every game hard enough to go win the thing.”  Longo also praised one of the new guys when asked if there were any surprises on the team. ” I have been surprised by Andre Barboza, a transfer from Erie.  He catches the ball well, runs well, and has really worked hard.”

Wolford has seen some turnover since taking over.  In March, the plan was to ‘weed out’ the guys who would not fit into the system.  Wolford commented on how that process has gone.  “The dead weight weeded itself out, we didn’t have to do anything.  Some guys just hang themselves.   We have got to lay a foundation here for a future.  If you are trying to do a quick fix, you are bringing in renegades and guys that got into trouble with other programs.”

With September 4 fast approaching, the Penguins are pretty much injury-free and are taking the approach of intensity to new levels.  Wolford is a perfectionist in many ways and declared that his team did not do enough in practice on Tuesday to win.  Thursday was to be an off day, but that may change based on the premise of sharpening things up.