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Decade’s best No. 1: Jeremy Eck kept Loyalsock and Montoursville’s baseball programs surging in 2010s

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

It wasn’t just that Jeremy Eck inherited a program which captured the Class AA state championship two years earlier and reached the 2009 state semifinals the following season

It also was Eck replacing the coach who fueled this emerging dynasty. Coach Casey Waller had worked wonders at Loyalsock and was universally respected throughout the district and state. It was a pressure moment for anyone, let alone a 25-year old first-time coach.

And Eck owned it.

He kept the program surging, put his own mark on it and helped a new group of Lancers win state championships in 2013 and 2014. Loyalsock also became the closest team in Pennsylvania history to 3-peating as state champions, reaching the state semifinals in 2015. Loyalsock reached the state’s Final 4 in Eck’s rookie season and four times during his seven-year tenure at Loyalsock, one which included four district championships and six league titles. Eck has carved out his own legacy and kept enhancing it after returning to coach his alma mater Montoursville in 2018.

There, Eck led the Warriors to consecutive district championships. Again his first year included a state semifinal appearance after Montoursville won its first district title in eight years. Eck combined astute baseball knowledge, passion, determination and the ability to motivate to build a remarkable coaching resume. Yes, Eck coached some of the decade’s best players, but he also brought out the best in those players and always had his teams giving all they could, creating a blend that was unbeatable at times.

No District 4 coach won more games or a higher percentage of games than Eck did last decade. His teams went 178-35, winning 83.6 percent of the time. Five times in his nine years, Eck has guided teams to 20 or more wins and eight times those groups have won at least 18 games. Along the way, Loyalsock and Montoursville produced eight league championships, appeared in seven district finals and won six district titles. They also played in the state semifinals five times.

Eck wasted no time showing he was the right man for the Loyalsock job in 2010, leading the Lancers to 20 wins and a third straight District 4 championship. They nearly made it back to the state final, dropping a heartbreaker to eventual champion champion Bermudian Springs, 8-6. Most of those starters graduated that June, but Loyalsock put together another excellent season in 2011, going 13-5 and 3-peating as HAC-II champion.

Up next was one of the greatest four-year runs in area history. A group of sensational freshmen led by Kyle Datres, Jimmy Webb, Luke Glavin and Tommy Baggett, among others, arrived in 2012 and Eck helped them mesh well with the veterans as Loyalsock went 21-3 and captured another district title. Loyalsock might have made a deep run in states, but Eck removed Datres after he reached 90 pitches in a 1-1 game in the fifth inning against Philipsburg-Osceola. Eck made it clear all year his players’ futures came before winning and he never hesitated lifting Datres when he reached that coach-imposed 90-pitch limit. Eck has handled pitchers well throughout his coaching career, keeping their innings down throughout the regular season, building them up and unleashing them come playoff time.

Following that 2012 success, expectations were high for 2013 even though Loyalsock featured just one senior starter. The Lancers went 16-2 during the regular season, earned the district’s top seed and were tournament favorites. Hughesville, however, upset Loyalsock, 7-5 in he district final.

It was a potentially devastating loss, but Eck brilliantly handled the situation, quickly refocused his team in just three days and Loyalsock started its march toward the biggest prize out there. The Lancers defeated three straight district champion, including 20-win Salisbury, outscoring them 23-6 while reaching the state final. By itself it was an incredible achievement, but it had some extra meaning for Eck and his coaches since this was the first season in which the entire roster featured nothing but players coached by them.

“As a head coach, after four years you want to re-evaluate and see where you stand and where your program is. I think where we need to be,” Eck said following the 8-1 Eastern Final win against Salisbury. “It’s exciting, but we’re not satisfied. As (Montoursville) coach Jim Bergen always told us in football, ‘be happy, not satisfied,’ and I’ve carried that with me my entire life and we’ll tell our boys that.”

They received that message and completed the journey three days later when Bailey Young’s walk-off single lifted Loyalsock to a 5-4 state championship win against one-loss Beaver. Waller had built something special at Loyalsock and now Eck had as well.

“I don’t think we caught a break all year. We had injuries everywhere. We had some losses from the team, but we pulled through and came together as one,” Baggett said. “Everyone steps up at the right time. Whoever is up there, they step up and get the job done.”

What Loyalsock did in 2013 was amazing, but what it did in 2014 was ripped right from a Hollywood script. Two weeks into the season, Eck’s mother Brenda, battling cancer, was told she had two weeks to live. Valiantly she fought on and defied the odds, telling her son she wanted to see Loyalsock win another state title.

The journey was filled with pot holes as injuries ravaged the roster at times and Loyalsock started 8-5. Dealing with what he was personally, nobody would have faulted Eck if he and the team lost focus. Instead, he inspired them every day and Loyalsock embraced Brenda’s spirit as it played fantastic baseball and won its final 15 games. The Lancers were not only playing for Brenda but for the coach who loved them like they were his own children.

“Baseball is just a game, but what he is going through is real life. He’s definitely a passionate guy and for him to be here is remarkable,” Baggett said. “He puts so much effort into our team and we’re really thankful to have him here.”

“He’s almost like a father to us,” catcher Evan Moore said. “He’s always there for us and we’re always going to be here for him.”

Coach and team carried each other and it resulted in history. Loyalsock became just third Class AA team to ever repeat as state champions, edging Neumann-Goretti in the semifinals before downing undefeated Central, 5-1 and capturing a second straight state title. The Lancers won a program-record 23 games and Brenda lived long enough to listen to them win that state championship in her honor.

“To overcome the adversity that we did and come out on top is unbelievable,” third baseman Joey Balawajder said. “That was the goal at the beginning of the season. I knew this team wasn’t going to give up until we reached that goal.”

Loyalsock was not just recognized as a state power now, but also one of the country’s elite programs. It was invited to play in the National High School Invitational the following March and competed against some of the nation’s top teams, going 2-2. Loyalsock then won 21 straight games, taking both the HAC-II and district championships again before advancing to another Final 4. Neumann-Goretti ended Loyalsock’s quest for three straight state titles, but the Lancers tied the program record for wins and its seniors graduated with 89 victories. A year later, Eck helped a completely new-look Loyalsock team go 18-3, run its HAC-II winning streak to 37 games and win another league title. He resigned following that season and said there was only one job for which he would return.

And that job offer came in 2018 when Montoursville was looking for a new coach. Eck answered the call and one of the state’s premier programs grew even stronger. The Warriors lost most of their 2017 starters and many thought they would take a step back.

Eck never believed that and he convinced his players to not believe it either. Good was not good enough and the Eck helped Montoursville enjoy its best season since 2006. The Warriors won 14 straight games after a 5-2 start, won their first league title since 2011 and ended Loyalsock’s district title stronghold in an epic District 4 Class AAA championship, winning 3-2 in 10 innings. It was Montoursville’s first district title since 2010 and the second time Eck had led his team to a championship in his debut season.

“I really think it’s Coach Eck. He got us more prepared for the season,” Ryan Kessler said that season. “Practices got harder and the expectations were high to begin with, but we wanted to meet them and build on them. Coach Eck coming in and changing the culture has really helped us.”

Montoursville won two state tournament games, its first state playoff victories since 2006 and came within seven outs from reaching the state final. The Warriors followed that up by repeating as district champions for the first time since 1999-2000. Nothing came easy and Montoursville scored the winning run in the sixth inning or beyond in all three district games, winning each by a run, including the last two in extra innings. The hard-earned victories reflected the determined energy their coach possesses each year.

“I’m so proud of these guys. We had four backs up against the wall a couple times in the district playoffs,” Eck said following a 1-0, nine-inning district title win against Central Columbia. “To be able to win it and go back to back is huge or our program.”

So is Eck.

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