Decade’s best No. 10: Philip Prough kept Wellsboro’s baseball program successful in 2010s

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the latest in a series looking back at the top 10 baseball teams, coaches, games and players from last decade

Dawson and Dalton Prough became two of the Northern Tier League’s best players last decade. And it was easy for both finding someone who could maximize their potential and help them excel.

They did not even have to leave the house.

Their father Philip Prough not only helped his sons flourish, but also the entire Wellsboro baseball program from 2012-17. Prough guided Wellsboro the playoffs in each of his seven years there and helped it make history in 2017 when it captured the program’s first district championship and reached its first state tournament. His teams were fundamentally-sound and well-rounded and went 87-58 in those seven years, winning 60 percent of their games.

Prough faced a tough task after replacing successful previous coach Matt Perry, but he was up for the challenge. Wellsboro won at least 12 games in six of Prough’s seven seasons there, including 27 over his first two. The Green Hornets went 15-5 in 2013, battering Wyalusing, 12-1, in the opening round of districts before losing, 2-0 at Montoursville in the quarterfinals. Wellsboro ran into defending and eventual repeat state champion Loyalsock in 2014’s first round and led rival North Penn-Mansfield by four runs in the 2016 quarterfinals before the Tigers rallied for a 5-4 victory which ignited its run to both the championship and the state quarterfinals.

And if that district championship drought was going to end, it seemed like 2017 would not be the year. This was the youngest team Prough fielded, one of the youngest the program had ever fielded. Wellsboro had no seniors and Prough was replacing several starters from the previous season.

Still, Prough was confident. He was so confident that he beefed up the non-conference schedule. The NTL already was loaded that season and three teams captured district championships. One could have understood if Prough scheduled some non-conference lightweights. Instead, he had his team playing teams like Jersey Shore, Milton, Shikellamy and Coudersport. The goal was not winning a lot of games. The goal was winning enough games to qualify for districts and then be one of the most dangerous teams in that Class AA field.

"We knew we had a hard schedule and we also knew if we got to .500 we had a chance to do something," Prough said. "That sounds crazy, but we know how good the NTL was. We knew if we could get to .500 we would be the team you don’t want to play in playoffs."

There was an obvious adjustment period and some growing pains and times when it looked like the strategy might backfire. But then things suddenly started falling into place. Wellsboro defeated defending District 4 Class AAA champion North Penn-Mansfield after losing to it 13-2 early in the season. It downed eventual District 4 Class A champion Sayre and gave 4A champion Athens a scare after having been routed by it in the regular season. The team was settling in, gaining more confidence and playing well in all facets.

"This team has worked pretty hard. I pushed them quite hard and that’s needed with a young team," Prough said. "Once they knew where they could be at, you could really start fine-tuning some stuff and that’s really been the month of May for us."

Wellsboro did reach the playoffs--barely and in dramatic fashion. The Hornets needed to win their final game against Milton and were down three runs in the seventh inning. Wellsboro rallied and forced extras, but again was down two runs in the bottom of the ninth. All that hard work was for moments like this and Wellsboro shined under intense pressure, scoring three times and winning, 7-5.

Then all parts of Prough’s plan came together. The Hornets were the team nobody wanted to play and they too flight.

Wellsboro defeated Williamson, 6-3 in the semifinals, avenging an early-season defeat before heading to State College and facing top-seeded South Williamsport. The plan brilliantly had worked and Wellsboro played one of its best games of the season at the perfect time while making history. Johnny Rowland threw a six-hit complete-game, the offense collected l1 hits and Wellsboro made no errors as Wellsboro captured the Class AA championship, 5-2.

"It was just the greatest feeling ever," Rowland said. "It was amazing. Everybody worked hard and everyone deserves this. I love these guys."

"Coach has been saying all season that if we make playoffs we’re the team nobody wants to play," center fielder Cameron Tennis said after going 2 for 4 with an RBI. "I think that showed today."

Wellsboro had been building toward a moment like this since Prough took over. It came close seven years later against powerhouse Loyalsock in the Class AA final and now the journey was complete. The word was out now about how good this program was.

"There’s a sense of relief, but it’s more a sense of we belong," Prough said. "I get the sense from this team that they believe we belong here now and that was as much as anything evident today."

It was in the state tournament as well. The Hornets again utilized super pitching and defense, but the timely hit escaped them in a 1-0 loss to District 2 champion Old Forge. Eyes were open, though, now and Wellsboro has continued excelling the past two seasons. Prough’s final season in 2018 produced another district final and state tournament appearance. Ironically, Perry replaced Prough in 2019 and Wellsboro nearly shocked eventual district champion Montoursville in the quarterfinals before dropping a 2-1 heartbreaker. Wellsboro was to return a strong group from that team in 2020 before COVID-19 ended the season before it began.

It is an exciting time for Wellsboro baseball and Prough is a big reason why.