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Normally, when a team loses a state-tournament game 8-0, there aren’t too many happy faces in the clubhouse.
But Prep Charter senior George Whitleigh, a First Team All-Public selection, was upbeat following his squad’s June 4 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class AA opening-round loss to District 11 school Pine Grove at La Salle University. After all, this was his baseball team’s state-tournament debut.
"It felt really good," Whitleigh said. "It was a really big accomplishment. Our baseball team could never get over the hump, but this year I tried to be the leader of these guys and they followed behind me and we had a pretty good season."
It included winning the Division B regular-season title, as well as the District 12 Class AA crown. They also advanced to last month’s Public League quarterfinals for the first time in school history, where they fell 9-0 to Central. In 2006, Prep Charter made it to the District 12 AA semifinals, but lost to GAMP.
"This year, I knew going out that I wanted to have a good finish," the shortstop said.
The upside is Whitleigh is only one of two seniors on the roster, with outfielder Steve Sampurna being the other.
The newly installed AstroTurf field at La Salle wasn’t too friendly to any of the city teams Monday afternoon, as Public League champ and District 12 AAAA representative Frankford opened the action with a 14-0 loss to West Chester East. In two games, the host city schools were outscored 22-0.
"Fielding the ball wasn’t too bad, but running was a little tricky," Whitleigh said. "I kept slipping. It was kind of like running on a rug.
"Public League fields are pretty messed up, so this was nice."
Whitleigh is just happy to be on the field again, as he didn’t play his freshman and sophomore seasons at Central High School because of academic status. Upon enrolling at Prep Charter, everything fell into place. It also brought the infielder back to his roots, since he previously played Catholic Youth Organization baseball for St. Monica.
Other than winning a championship, the athlete has no complaints about the way his high school baseball career closed out.
"[Winning the Division B title] was really big for my last year of high school because last year was the first time I had played since eighth grade," he said.
His baseball career isn’t over just yet. June 11, he’ll join his fellow Public League all-stars in the Carpenter Cup Classic (for details, see story below). Opening-round and quarterfinal contests will be at University of Pennsylvania’s Meiklejohn Stadium and the Public League will face Chester County at 12:30 p.m. The semifinals and final will be at Citizens Bank Park.
"It’s exciting," Whitleigh said of playing in the Carpenter Cup. "I played in it last year, but I didn’t get to play my position, so I am pretty excited to play shortstop."
He doesn’t have to worry about impressing coaches, as Whitleigh has decided to attend Neumann College.
"It’s not too far from home and they have a good business school," he said.
Baseball-wise, the athlete knows he’ll have to earn his spot.
"I feel like next year I have to prove myself all over again," he said. "That helps me to work harder mentally and stuff. I am definitely excited.
"I talked to the [Neumann baseball] coach, and I am pretty confident that I am going to make the team."
In other state-tournament action, the High School for Creative and Performing Arts softball team lost 10-0 to Southern Lehigh in the June 4 PIAA Class AAA opening-round game.
