One of the WPIAL's smallest schools stood tall 75 years ago this week.

On June 8, 1943, Bell Township High School defeated Charleroi, 10-0, at Forbes Field to win the WPIAL baseball championship.

The Lions also became the first Westmoreland County school to win the WPIAL baseball crown.

Bell had a 10-1 record coming into the game, and Charleroi was 12-0. Because of travel restrictions during World War II, schedules were reduced and many schools temporarily gave up the sport.

Pitcher Lou Palmisiano was the driving force behind Bell's rise to the top, starting with the 1942 season. The Lions, under coach Dom Rich, won the Section 6 title.

There were no enrollment classifications, and only section winners made the playoffs. Bell, with less than 100 boys in the top three grades, had to get by much larger schools for the most part.

Palmisiano threw a no-hitter against Springdale in a 4-0 playoff opener at Tarentum's West Field. The Lions defeated Aliquippa, 11-8, to earn a semifinals berth. But eventual WPIAL champion Redstone defeated Bell, 7-1, at Crafton Field.

In 1943's first playoff game against Freeport, Bell scored two runs in the fourth inning to take a 2-1 lead. Palmisiano drove in a third run in the sixth inning.

In the seventh, Freeport had Ken Gaiser and Billy Shuster in scoring position, but Palmisiano induced a fly ball to right by Oland “Dodo” Canterna to end the game. Canterna later was the longtime athletic director at Saint Vincent and mayor of Latrobe.

Palmisiano tossed a two-hitter to defeat Aliquippa, 2-0, in the semifinals, setting up a showdown with Charleroi.

“People were surprised to see us in so many different uniforms,” Palmisiano said. “We were a small school and couldn't afford one team uniform. Our first baseman wore tennis shoes. Charleroi came in with nice, new uniforms, and we looked like a bunch of bums.”

The uniforms didn't matter as Bell chased Charleroi starter Billy Lutes with four runs in the first inning. Palmisiano took it from there, striking out seven and limiting the Cougars to three hits. He helped himself with three RBIs and three runs scored.

“It's hard to imagine it's been 75 years,” Palmisiano, 94, said from his home in Deerfield Beach, Fla., earlier this week. “We were a bunch of guys that seemed to work hard and play good together.”

Palmisiano tried out for the Cleveland Indians three weeks later and went on to play nine seasons of minor league baseball — six in the Indians chain — both as a pitcher and an outfielder.

In 1945, he went 16-3 pitching for Batavia in the PONY (Pennsylvania-Ohio-New York) League. In 1950, he batted .304 for Quebec in the old Can-Am (Canadian-American) League.

“My arm was shot after a while,” Palmisiano said. “Maybe because I threw so much in high school. My brother put rubbing alcohol on my arm after the games.”

Bell Township gained national prominence later in 1943.

Because all of the school's male teachers were away fighting in the war, a female teacher, Pauline Rugh Smith, coached the football team.

Look Magazine, a national news weekly, did a story on the woman from a small town coaching high school football.

From 1948-51, Bell won 28 consecutive football games, an Alle-Kiski Valley record that still stands.

The team featured future Philadelphia Eagles back Kenny Keller.

What was the secret behind such a small town producing great sports teams?

“We were a little school. We had nothing else to do,” Palmisiano explained.

Palmisiano continued playing softball until age 91 in a Florida league for senior citizens.

“I had a stroke, but I was back on the field three days later,” Palmisiano said.

Bell Township High School lasted until 1953, when it merged with Avonmore to become Bell-Avon High School.

In 1962, Bell-Avon was absorbed into the Kiski Area School District and the building became an elementary school.

In 2014, Bell-Avon Elementary closed and school assets later were auctioned off to the public.

But the memories of a great 1943 championship remain.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.

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