Maples’ Denham due rest
Drew Denham will be taking it easy, athletically, when he attends Waynesburg College this fall. That is, Denham will only be participating in two sports for the Yellow Jackets.
Denham played the “big three” boys sports – football, basketball and baseball – during his senior year at Mapletown, and was a star in each season.
Of course, he started in all three sports as a junior as well … and as a sophomore.
Denham earned letters in football, basketball and baseball as a freshman also.
All that activity puts Denham on an elite plateau: He ends his high school sports career as a rare 12-letter athlete, one of the few boys in this area’s history to letter in three different sports, in three different seasons, for four different years.
No big deal, according to Denham.
“After I did it as a freshman, it didn’t seem as hard the next three years,” Denham said. “I just enjoy sports. I’m always watching it on TV, always watching (ESPN’s) SportsCenter.
“Playing all three sports like that is kind of hectic, but the good thing is it keeps you on a schedule and I think it helped me keep my concentration on my studies.”
Denham, the son of Jeff and Vicki Denham of Greensboro, had an impact in all three sports. He shattered records in football and basketball, but his favorite sport has become baseball.
“I just love baseball,” Denham said. “I was really into it this year.”
Denham was into it enough to hit .463 with only two strikeouts in 77 at bats. He also was 3-4 on the mound with an ERA under 2.00.
Certainly the 18-year-old pitcher-outfielder can’t get enough of the sport.
Even though the Maples’ baseball season is over, Denham will still be participating on the diamond as a member of Carmichaels’ American Legion team, which is the Fayette County league’s defending champion.
“We have a stacked team with guys from Carmichaels, Jefferson-Morgan and Mapletown, so I’m looking forward to the season,” said Denham, who played a key role on last year’s team.
He tossed a complete-game shutout against Colonial 3 in the opening game of the 2002 American Legion Fayette County Baseball League championship series, propelling Carmichaels to a three-game sweep.
Denham was a versatile player for coach Jay Donley’s Maples as a freshman. In fact, he played six different positions in one game during the 2000 season.
“I remember, it was second base, right field, shortstop, center field, third base, then left field,” Denham recalled. “I basically played for whoever was pitching. I was pretty much a utility man.”
Denham played mostly infield as a sophomore and junior before moving to the outfield this year, when he wasn’t on the mound.
Denham knew he wasn’t going to break any of Mapletown’s pitching records.
“Those all belong to Kevin Pincavitch,” Denham said. “I have to give him all the credit in the world. He was a great pitcher.”
Breaking a ton of passing records for coach George Messich’s Maples in football wasn’t much of a problem, however.
The Maples were always known as a tough-nosed, grind-it-out running team under Messich, a former University of Pittsburgh offensive lineman.
That was before Denham came along, and took over as starting quarterback late in his freshman season.
Four years later, Denham holds the school career record for passing yards (3,058), touchdown passes (32), passes attempted (455) and completions (231).
Messich had no problem letting his team go to the air this past season, and Denham responded spectacularly, leading the area in passing yards (1,382) and TD passes (15), both school single-season records. Denham set Mapletown single-season marks in passes attempted and completions, too. He also broke the school record for passing yards in a game (294) and longest touchdown pass (90 yards).
Denham stellar senior season earned him Herald-Standard Small School first team honors. For the second year in a row, he was named All-Tri-County South Conference and earned an all-state nomination.
Ironically, football was on the bottom of the totem pole for Denham when he began his high school career.
“When I was younger, basketball was my favorite sport and baseball was second,” Denham admitted. “I liked football the least.”
Denham’s practice habits as a freshman caught Messich’s attention, though.
“I kept working hard each day, and finally Coach decided to give me a chance to start,” Denham said. “I never missed a game after that.”
Denham was almost as durable in basketball, missing only two games in four years, and starting every game from the beginning of his sophomore season on.
“We had a pretty good team when I was a freshman, so I didn’t think I’d play much,” said Denham, who played guard. “But we had a lot of lopsided games and I got out on the court enough. I got better as the year went on, then I remember Matt Moser went down with an injury and I stepped in.”
Denham went on to be a 1,000-point scorer (1,060 total) and set Maples career records in 3-pointers made (145) and assists (608). He also set a single-season mark with 53 3-pointers.
Denham recorded three triple-doubles in a one-week span during his senior seasons, pulling the trick against Trinity, W. Va. (15 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds) on Jan. 8, West Greene (16, 11, 11) on Jan. 10, and Chartiers-Houston (10, 11, 12) on Jan. 13.
Denham was a three-time member of the Herald-Standard all-area team.
In basketball, Denham played under head coach Fred Morecraft and assistant coach John Morecraft, who happen to be his older brothers. Fred also was Denham’s quarterback coach during football season.
“He’s a pretty good kid with a good head on his shoulders,” Fred said. “He’s very good with kids and loves teaching them how to play. He umpires youth baseball games and he worked a lot of my basketball clinics. He officiates basketball games, too.
“He has a real good heart. He once stopped a baseball game he was umping because a kid started crying, and tried to calm him down.”
Denham has two sisters, Sara and Gail, but also considers another girl, three-year-old Baylie, like a sister as well.
Denham also is good at sharing credit, pointing out that he played with outstanding players in each sport he participated in.
“In football I hooked up with Gerod Buckhalter a lot, and he’s a great, great receiver,” Denham said. “Jayce Donley was an outstanding player, too. He was our tight end and he dropped only one pass his whole career.”
Actually, if it weren’t for a shoulder injury, Denham and Donley would both be sporting 12 letters.
“We always talked about that, but Jayce dislocated his shoulder during basketball season last year,” Denham said. “It would keep coming out on him and he had to have surgery on it, so he didn’t play basketball or baseball this year. He had to look at the bigger picture of maybe playing in college, so he wanted to get it taken care of now.”
Denham commended Joe Clites when he looked back on his basketball season.
“He was a heck of a basketball player,” Denham said. “He did stuff I never saw before on a basketball court. And my cousin Chris Petrick was very good, too. He was the only one on our team allowed to shoot a fade-away jumper, because he was the only one who could make it.”
Denham lauded his battery mate and fellow pitcher, Justin Corso, as well as first baseman Petrick in baseball.
“Justin’s only a junior, but he’s one of my better friends, especially on the baseball team,” Denham said. “He was my catcher and he was 7-1 as a pitcher. We’ll be together on Carmichaels’ Legion team, too.”
Finally, the question about which sport will be left out when Denham goes to Waynesburg College arises.
“I’m going to the football team as a quarterback, and I’m going to try to play baseball in the spring, too,” Denham said.
The toughest part of Denham’s freshman year in college is already evident then. He’ll have to somehow survive a winter that includes no participation in athletics.
For Drew Denham, it’s something that hasn’t happened for a very, very long time.