Exiled by Daily News League, Reynolds' team finding success in NABA
Keith Reynolds has been tied to the Daily News League in some way, shape or form for the past 27 years, and freely admits that he misses being a part of the oldest semi-professional baseball league in Pennsylvania this summer.
But after an ugly incident at the end of the regular season last year, Reynolds was not welcomed back to the DNL.
The incident involved a forfeit that kept Day Toyota out of the playoffs and eventually resulted in District Justice Eugene Riazzi ruling in civil court a payment of $200 to Reynolds for “unfair treatment and unfair competitive advantage” against Reynolds' team.
“The Daily News League has been a part of my life since I got out of high school,” Reynolds said. “Do I miss the league? Sure I do. Do I like the way that it ended? Of course not.”
But Reynolds' association with summer baseball in the Mon Valley remains strong as ever.
Reynolds took his DNL team — added a couple of big-time names — and is now playing in the Pittsburgh National Adult Baseball League's 18-AA wooden bat division under the name Jefferson Hills.
“I don't wish the Daily News League any ill-will,” Reynolds said. “Whether I am part of the league or not, I want it to succeed. I believe it is a local institution, but I want it run the right way. While the DNL doesn't want us, the NABA has opened its arms to us.”
The 11-year old NABA has 11 teams in its top division spanning from Brookline to Cranberry to Monroeville.
Jefferson Hills is enjoying plenty of success in its first season, just 1½ games behind first-place Clinton with a 12-5 record.
“I am excited about the opportunity this league creates for us,” Reynolds said. “If we take first place in our league, then we qualify for national tournaments — Florida and Las Vegas. It supplies us with more opportunities.”
Reynolds has used his DNL connections to bring some big-time players over to his team, even if it is on a limited basis.
Brooks Marzka, Jim Pasquine, Jim Onder, Dalaine Ofchinik and Corey Rodgers, along with a host of former Thomas Jefferson players, including Greg Schneider, Frank Szubra, Jack Shaffer, Matt Warhola and Tyler Wehner, have helped Reynolds field a formidable lineup.
“All the who's who of the DNL, well, they are pretty much on my team,” Reynolds said. “This game we played the other day was pretty cool because I had eight kids from Thomas Jefferson. It was neat to have all those TJ kids playing a game at Beedle Park like that.”
Schneider, last year's Daily News Player of the Year, is batting .437 with 12 RBI while going 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 53 strikeouts in 35 innings pitched. Eric Drobotij (3-2, 2.20 ERA) and Scott Manko (4-0, 3.32 ERA) round out the rotation.
No matter how much success Jefferson Hills has in the NABA, Reynolds can't help but have a bad taste in his mouth of how it ended in the DNL last year.
“They want to focus on that last game of the year, but it was one of the many things that was wrong,” Reynolds said.
But the last game was the final straw.
The season finale against Harvey Wilner's Tavern — a game Day Toyota needed to win to make the playoffs — was forfeited by Reynolds the day before the game. Reynolds denied ever forfeiting the game, but the league upheld the forfeit, thus eliminating the team from contention.
“With the talent we had last year and if we were allowed to compete on a fair and even playing field, I do believe that we would've made a strong run in the playoffs,” Reynolds said. “We operated under a different set of rules, and it happened throughout the entire year. Still, whether these guys believe it or not, there is going to be a time when I will be back associated with that league again.”
Until then, Reynolds is more than happy playing in the NABA.
Mark Kaboly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. Reach him at mkaboly@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MarkKaboly_Trib.
