By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
As a playmaking point guard at Thiel College back in the day, Mark Batt was as intensely combative a competitor as you could find. Now a generation later, he hopes to bring that to the bench as Greenville High’s new boys basketball coach.
“I want to establish an identity for Greenville basketball,” Batt related via telephone Thursday afternoon, a couple hours prior to meeting with his new players and their parents for the initial time.
At a special board meeting earlier this week Batt was named to succeed longtime Trojans’ taskmaster Kelly Jones, who resigned this past spring.
Batt’s “identity” for his Trojans will be 3-fold: “First, we’re going to work unbelievably hard in practice and when we play; second, I hope people who watch us play will see we’re fundamentally sound on offense and defense, and what’s really important,” he emphasized, “is that we conduct ourselves as gentlemen and sportsmen and be great representatives for Greenville School District.”
The 43-year-old Batt is a Buffalo native who matriculated at Thiel from St. Mary’s-Lancaster High. At Thiel — playing for coaches Mike Griffen, (Mercer High legend) Bob “Posey” Rhoads and finally Vince Capuano, Batt was a 4-year starter and 2-time All-Presidents’ Athletic Conference point guard.
Since his 1987 graduation he has gained 18 years cage coaching experience at various levels, including elementary (St. Michael’s), scholastic (Greenville as an assistant to Jones; Reynolds as head coach for 1 season), collegiate (4 years at Thiel, the last 2 assisting men’s coach Tim Loomis, the former Kennedy Catholic High head coach), and AAU (3 years with Custom Corner Sports).
Batt busily has scheduled an ambitious summer for his squad, including open gym through the end of July, a summer league at Slippery Rock, and two team camps.
Greenville, 14-10 in Jones’ last season at the helm, was led in scoring by Batt’s son Jordan, a 6-foot-2 rising junior who averaged 14 points per game, including 18 double-digit outings. However the elder Batt emphasized, “I’m not going to discuss wins and losses” with his new team; rather, he forecasted,
“You can expect mostly man-to-man defense — hopefully we can extend our defense and pressure — and offensively we’ll run motion and hopefully be very sound, take care of the basketball. You know, do all those things that all coaches want their teams to do: Play great defense and take care of the ball.”
Having resided in Greenville since his college career concluded, Batt recently finished his fifth year as a health and phys-ed teacher at Keystone Charter School. His family includes wife Lisa, and in addition to Jordan, children Jessica 21, Alaina 14, Joseph 8 and Amy 5.
“I applied because I live in the school district, and I have 18 years experience coaching at different levels and felt qualified that I could help the kids at Greenville,” Batt related, admitting, “I’m real excited. It’s a good time right now ... in terms of my family here. My kids are young and making their way through the Greenville system, and it’s close to home for me.”
Sports
Batt named boys basketball coach at Greenville High School
- Sports
-
-
Petty an all-around great athlete in track and gymnastics
When Mercer County’s contingent convenes at the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships this weekend, it will be well represented
Clay Allen, Matt Bell, John Yohman, Johnathan Jacoway, Jeremy Jansco, Nico Zahniser, DeShawn Coleman, Dan Jaskowak, et all, should haul home some hardware. But with all due respect, the aforementioned young men may or may not be best athletes in the area’s aggregation that will assemble this weekend at Shippensburg University. -
Lubarski, Richards, Petty, Allen shine at D-10 Track Championships; Hickory girls, WM boys team champs
Hickory High’s high-jump state champion Lauren Lubarski suffered a severe blow to open her competion at the annual District 10 Class AA Track & Field Championships Saturday at Hickory HIgh Stadium.
She failed to qualify for state in the event she had won the previous year. -
Baseball, softball D-10 playoff pairings
The District 10 pairings for the baseball and softball playoffs have been released. Five area baseball teams and four (possibly 5) softball squads have qualified.
-
Notebook: Cianci shines at St. Francis; locals at GCC
Katie Cianci, former Kennedy Catholic High multi-sport standout, recently concluded her collegiate career in fine fashion for St. Francis University.
St. Francis finished 4th at the recent Northeast Conference Track & Field Championships. Cianci secured a 5th-place finish in the1500-meter run (4:43.26), Cianci’s season best and just 3 seconds off her personal best. -
Hickory eyes dual repeat at D-10 track meet
After last spring’s success, duplicating its District 10 domination will be difficult for Mercer County’s Class AA contingent.
Difficult, but not impossible.
Defending D-10 Championships twin titlists Hickory girls and boys will look to defend their double-A dual distinction. The seeds would suggest that’s doable. -
Hickory's Dzuricsko does double duty as coach, meet director
Approximately a quarter-century ago, Barb Dzuricsko and Mark Slezak — just commencing their coaching careers — enviously eyed track and field teams from McDowell meander from their locker rooms prior to an invitational at Gus Anderson Field.
“It was so impressive,” Dzuricsko recently recalled. “We saw McDowell coming out in their matching sweatsuits. We were just growing our program at that time, and we said, ‘We would like to be as good as that ... some day.”
Inexorably, some day arrived for Dzuricsko, Slezak and their Hickory High program, which swept last spring’s District 10 Class AA championships. -
GC to be well represented in Shippensburg
A total of 13 Grove City HIgh standouts and one from George Junior Republic advanced to the PIAA Championships after their performances on Wednesday at the District 10 Class AAA Championships at Harbor Creek High.
Grove City was led by triple-event winners Lauren Decker and Eliza Lowe. -
Roundup: Sharpsville, WM baseball teams wrap up region crowns
ä Sharpsville 5, Wilmington 3 — At South Py, the host Blue Devils (9-1 region, 16-1 overall) secured the Region 2-AA title in their regular-season finale.
Starter Kevin Yarabinec, in 5 frames, yielded just 1 hit, struck out a half-dozen hitters, and walked 4. Yarabinec yielded 2 unearned runs. Taylor Lenzi lent 2 innings of 2-hit, 1 run relief, walking 1. -
District 10 AAA meet today
There will be no guarantees Grove City High athletes will advance to the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships. But based on seeds for Wednesday’s District 10 Class AAA Championships at Harbor Creek High, Mercer County could conceivably be well represented.
Led by senior standout Daniel Jaskowak, Grove City boys and girls stockpile the seeds.
Jaskowak journeys north as the man to beat in the 800- (1:55.29), 1600- (4:17.77) and 3200-meter (9:33.31) runs, and is part of the Eagles’ 2nd-seeded distance-relay quartet. Jaskowak will be joined by teammate Mason DePeal (high jump) as top seeds for the Eagles.
Grove City girls gobbled up numerous No. 1 seeds, led by hurdler Eliza Lowe (highs, intermediates), middle-distance aces Lauren Decker (400) and Abby Casalnova (800), distance standout Mary Jaskowak (1600) and pole-vaulter Kelly Baglia. In addition, all 3 Lady Eagles’ relays are top-seeded, with some combination of Lowe, Casalnova, Decker, Courtney Corbin and Jaskowak lending legs. -
Hickory's Richards eyes strong finish to great career
What you and I might reference as pressure serves only to motivate Morgan Richards. And a motivated Morgan means medals.
“By far, the most decorated distance athlete in Hickory history; maybe the county and district, as well,” related Hickory coach Mark Slezak.
Richards’ remarkable scholastic career is quickly concluding. The senior’s swan song on her home Hornet Stadium synthetic surface track will take place Saturday at the annual District 10 Class AA Championships. - More Sports Headlines
-
