Lebanon City-County All-Stars’ 1993 state title run remembered 30 years later

The 1993 Lebanon City-County all-stars were a memorable baseball team.

It was a team and a moment in time that Denny Wagner will never forget.

“It always brings back a lot of memories,” said Wagner, the manager of the team. “These boys were just having fun. They were a special group. They came together good. They were always high-fiving each other. Each game we won; we were getting closer. It was pretty good in that way. In their minds all of the kids were all-stars.”

In the summer of 1993 – from Aug. 5 to 8 – a collection of the best players in the Lebanon City-County Teener Baseball League pooled their talents and captured a state championship at the 44^th annual Pennsylvania VFW Teener Baseball Tournament, which the league hosted at Fifth Ward Athletic Club.

“The VFW in Lebanon did a lot for us as far as money goes,” said Wagner. “The community got behind us. It was pretty neat. It was something to behold.”

The Lebanon City-County all-stars won the first three games they played in the double-elimination tournament, beating Altoona 5-1, the East Shore Americans 7-6, and Co-Del Americans 9-0. A 6-0 loss to the Co-Del Americans in the first championship game forced a winner-take-all contest with the Co-Del Americans, one that Lebanon City-County won 5-3.

In that final game, the Lebanon City-County all-stars jumped out to a 2-0 second-inning lead. But it was a three-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning that proved to be decisive.

“We made some big defensive plays and (pitcher) Jimmy Deets threw strikes,” said Wagner, a 76-year-old resident of Lebanon city. “We played good defense and got some timely hitting. They (the kids from Co-Del Americans) were fast. They were good baseball players. It was fun. It was different. I think it was just the kids being at that age where they had never done anything like this before.

“There’s a lot of diversity in sports. You get to meet different people. There was more fun in the world back then. The kids were enthusiastic to play sports. They played baseball (in the summer) and then they went to football and soccer.”

The Lebanon City-County all-stars were made up of 14- and 15-year-old boys who lived in and around the city, and during the regular season, competed for teams from Fifth Ward, Ebenezer, Optimist, the Orioles, Fava-Maria and Lebanon A.C. Players included Tom Long, Chris Battistelli, Evererett Dry, Derek Thomas, Jerry Lampkin, Bill Schott, Tim Birch, Jim Deets, Jason Blair, Jeremy Krause, Brandon Light, Brett Light, Chad Smaltz, and Bob Griffiths.

“They were a good bunch of kids,” said Wagner. “They basically knew each other and had fun. They were good ball players. They were aggressive. Everyone could hit, everyone could field and they were all knowledgeable about the game.”

During the initial games of the state tournament, the Lebanon City-County all-stars lived together and slept in the barracks at Fort Indiantown Gap. The informal sequestering served as a unique experience for the teenagers and may have brought them closer as a unit.

“I think the kids liked being away from home,” said Wagner of the training camp.

The Lebanon City-County teener all-stars’ run to a state championship received extensive coverage from the area’s hometown newspaper. It was a really big deal at the time.

The team, organized for the tournament, disbanded afterwards, with no higher competitions to pursue.

“That was it,” said Wagner. “The only thing we did after that, we went to Fifth Ward and had a steak dinner. Then the kids went their own ways.”

“These were kids who wouldn’t have met before if it wasn’t for baseball. They grew together. They won together. They lost together.”

Over the last few years, local interest in summer teener baseball has waned in Lebanon County.

“Back in those days, they were happy-go-lucky kids,” said Wagner. “There were no cellphones. Since then, kids have lost interest in everything. What gets me is how baseball has died in the city.

“When I first started coaching, we used to get hundreds of kids out for baseball everywhere. There was an abundance of kids. We had to turn kids away.”