'87 Ford City baseball team receives honor

The 1987 Ford City baseball team will be inducted into the school's hall of fame at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at the C.U. Club in Ford City.

The 1987 Sabers won the WPIAL and PIAA championships, and two of the team's members -- Denny Harriger and Gus Frerotte -- are in the Ford City Hall of Fame.

The other 19 players who were on the team's roster that year, along with coach Don Mains and assistant coach Stan Gladysiewski, will be inducted.

Bryan Gilbertson, who was one of the Sabers' top pitchers that year, said that most of the players will be in town for the event. Frerotte won't make the ceremony; he's a backup quarterback for the St. Louis Rams and has a game.

"We understand if he can't make it," Gilbertson said.

The hall of fame committee thought about inducting the whole team last year,but waited because June was the 20th anniversary of the championship season, according to committee member Dan Walters.

"It's very well deserved," Walters said of the induction. "They're not only good baseball players, but really good citizens, too."

Gilbertson said that this will mark the first time the team has met as a group since it won the PIAA championship.

"A lot of the guys are close. Some of us play golf together," he said. "There's a strong bond with this group of guys."

Gilbertson said that it has been difficult to keep in touch with everyone on the team.

Walters said the Ford City Eagles are hosting the players and their families for dinner Saturday night. A video of the state championship game will be shown after dinner.

In 1986, Ford City's baseball team placed second in the WPIAL and the PIAA.

Harriger played professional baseball, Frerotte is still playing professional football, and four other players from the '87 team went on to play collegiate sports.

"A couple of the guys went on to be principals, and there's a couple teachers," Gilbertson said. "Sometimes what gets lost is, people just think of Denny, but it was a good team. We won a lot of games 1-0, a lot of games 10-9. "We just kind of knew how to win."