Resilient Friends’ Central baseball squad completes special season

Wynnewood >> Friends’ Central was trailing 6-5 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning against Chagrin Falls (Ohio) during their trip to South Carolina in March when Phoenix sophomore first baseman Jack Donahue, who had just made the second out, let out a “Let’s go!” chant to try to spark a rally.
The rest of the team joined in, and the Phoenix scored two runs to win, 7-6.
When Friends’ Central head coach Jon Rubin heard Donahue’s chant, he knew something special just might be on the horizon.
“We emphasize the saying ‘Excellence is a habit’ in our baseball program and we strive for excellence in all that we do [in baseball, school and community],” Rubin said. “The underlying principle here is that if you strive to do the little things well, the big things, the outcomes, tend to take care of themselves.
“Part of this mentality is having a resilient reaction to failure. For example, we all know that in baseball you can hit the ball hard and make an out. If you brood about it, you will distract your teammates. If you can quickly move on, knowing that you did your best, your team will move on.”
Friends’ Central senior catcher and captain Ben Kollender said, “We definitely had a special and talented group. I knew if the team bought into the team philosophy Coach Rubin puts in, we knew we could have a special season. You could have all of the talent but if you don’t work hard it doesn’t really mean anything.”
What happened in South Carolina had direct correlation with the results, as the Phoenix won 10 of their next 11 games. Rubin was pleased to see how connected the team was, and, just as important, he saw a different player step up each night. While senior captains Ben Kollender, Sam Pendrak and Mark Masi helped set the tone, the Friends’ Central coaching staff caught a glimpse of the future with underclassmen stepping up under the spotlight.
Kollender led the team in home runs with six, a single-season school record, and finished with 32 RBI’s. Sophomore Justin Rubin led the team with a .492 batting average (the highest batting average in the last decade) with a team-leading 31 hits and a .634 OBP (the highest OBP since 2006), while scoring a school record 39 runs. Behind Kollender were the Burman brothers. junior Leo Burman (.322 with 26 RBIs) and freshman Sam Burman (.375 with 30 RBIs).
On the mound, freshman John Fitzpatrick threw 48 innings, accumulating a 4-1 record, one save, a 1.75 ERA and 49 strikeouts.
“This year was great,” said Fitzpatrick, who pitched on junior varsity in 2018. “We had a close-knit team and great senior leadership.”
One of the senior leaders Fitzpatrick referred to was Kollender, who played a vital role behind the dish.
“He really helped on and off the field,” said Fitzpatrick. “Every inning he would talk about pitches and pitch location.”
The Phoenix advanced to the Friends Schools League semifinals and the PAISAA quarterfinals this spring. and will return six of its nine starters next year.
“Over the course of the season the younger players really bought in, and it really looks like the start of something special,” said Kollender. “The hard work we put in really showed and it shows that, without hard work, you won’t get far.”