Chory era of AG baseball comes to close
MASONTOWN – When spring practice begins for high school baseball this season, teams will break out the usual equipment such as bats, gloves and balls. There will be something very different at Albert Gallatin, however.
For the first time since the consolidation of German, Fairchance Georges and the old Albert Gallatin high schools in 1987-88, there won’t be a Chory running the show.
Shawn Chory, who followed his father Rob Chory as head coach of the Colonials, decided this past fall to step down after three years at the helm. Rob was the head coach for the previous 12 seasons and was an assistant the last three.
“I’m just worn out after 15 years as a player and a coach,” Shawn said. “I told (Albert Gallatin athletic director) Chuck Colburn I have no energy left. I’m kind of relaxed and relieved. The toughest thing about quitting is I’m really going to miss the kids. Most of them are great kids and a joy to coach. There are some very, very good ballplayers there and I think they’re going to be a good team this year. I can’t help but feel a little like I let some of the kids down. But if I can’t put 100 percent into it, that’s not fair to the kids either.”
Albert Gallatin just recently hired a replacement, tabbing Dan Palm as the new baseball coach at the Wednesday, Jan. 16 school board meeting. Palm was given a three-year contract.
Shawn Chory, like his father, has been involved with AG baseball since the beginning, when it was actually known as Tri-Valley High School. He played for two years under his dad before graduating at Tri-Valley and was an assistant coach the next 10 years before taking over the reins. He had a 25-24 record as head coach.
Rob Chory’s career mark was 95-120, but that included several years of building up the new program after consolidation. He was 14-55 after four years, but 81-65 over his final eight seasons.
Those might seem like modest numbers for the father-son combo, but the won-loss record doesn’t begin to define the hard work and success that took place during the Chory era.
In fact, Rob and Shawn both have accomplishments that are unmatched in Albert Gallatin’s post-consolidation sports history.
Rob’s 1994 team, which reached the WPIAL Class AAA semifinals after a 12-4 regular season, is still the only team in school history in any sport to advance that far in the playoffs and to win two WPIAL playoff games in the same season.
Shawn’s first squad in 2000 is the only boys team to win a section title in any sport. It finished first in Section 2-AAA with an 11-5 overall record and a 7-3 section mark.
Rob and Shawn also are the only father-son combo to be named Herald-Standard Coach of the Year, Rob in 1994 and Shawn in 2000. The Colonials have been consistently competitive in a rugged section, and have finished fourth or higher nine times in 15 years.
The two have built a bond over the years through baseball and through work. Both are graduates of California University of Pa. (formerly California State), and both worked at Masontown Elementary School. Shawn, who is attending graduate school at West Virginia University, also works at George Plava Elementary School. He played one season of college baseball at Cal under coach Chuck Gismondi.
“I enjoyed working and coaching with my father,” said Shawn, who is 31. “We have a very special, unique relationship. We’re not only father and son, but best friends. Coaching enhanced that relationship even more.”
While the baseball program is on solid ground now, Rob remembers the hectic first season when the three smaller schools joined together.
“It was kind of scary to tell the truth,” said Rob, who is 54 and a graduate of Kolb High School. “First, I wasn’t officially hired until three weeks before the season started. I mean, there was still talk of deconsolidating at that point. The uniforms were donated to us, and they were white mesh shirts with a number on them and that’s all, because even the name of the school was still in question. The next year we had the same jerseys, but had ‘Tri-Valley’ printed on them.”
The Colonials’ home ball field now is at Masontown-German Park, but it wasn’t always that way.
“We never had a field we could call our own in those early years,” Rob recalled. “The first year we played at what was basically a big softball field at the high school. Then one year we played at Smithfield’s American Legion field, then we played at the field next to the Masontown Fire Department, and in 1992 we played at Leckrone’s field. We finally got the Masontown-German Park field in 1994.
“The first season we were very unorganized with equipment and everything. We had a big net to put up that was just dumped in the gym, but there was nothing to hook it on to. We ended up tying it to the basketball rims.”
Rob, who was the only paid coach in that debut season, which meant he also had to guide the junior varsity team, didn’t have near as much trouble as most expected when he took over a squad of former Colonials, Runners and Uhlans of the dissolved schools.
“I had 75 kids try out that first year, and it was a bit hectic at times, but it was fun, really,” Rob said. “I enjoyed it. I never had a problem with any of the kids. I thought I was fair with everyone. I didn’t even know which school most of the kids had come from. People were telling me this kid was a good player on his Legion team and that kid was a good player in his area, but I waited until I saw them all play before I made my determination. We didn’t cut anyone that first year, which made it kind of tough. But there was a lot of interest and a lot of enthusiasm. We didn’t have a winning record, but we were actually decent that first year and we beat some good teams.
“We did struggle as far as wins and losses go those first few seasons, but once we got things established, we started getting better and became competitive on a consistent basis. After the first season or so, the board eventually gave me most of what I asked for and was very cooperative.”
Rob also had Shawn as a player the first two seasons.
“That’s always sort of a tough situation,” Rob said. “I was much harder on him than everyone else.”
Shawn certainly showed he was a worthy player. He still holds the school’s single-season stolen base record with 37.