May 21, 2007 By Rob Burchianti 4 min read

Albert Gallatin’s Gene Franks III and Connellsville’s Joe Leonard would’ve liked to have led their respective teams into the WPIAL baseball playoffs. They came up short of that goal, but both had seasons that were worthy of postseason accolades. Leonard and Franks were named to the 2007 All-Section 2-AAAA first team at shortstop and first base, respectively.

The Colonials also put two players on the second team in Elmer Engle and Jon Angel, both seniors. Falcons junior Rob Egan also was named to the second team.

Franks and Leonard also were chosen to play in the WPIAL Class AAAA-AAA All-Star game to be played 6 p.m. Saturday, June 16 at Ross Memorial Park in Washington.

Leonard, a senior headed to the University of Pittsburgh on a baseball scholarship, batted .500 (32 for 64) with 14 doubles and three home runs while playing outstanding defense at shortstop.

“Joe started off a little slow, but came on real strong in the second half of the year and ended up having a fantastic season for us,” Falcons coach Brian Shipley said. “As always, at shortstop he rarely made an error. He pretty much catches whatever comes his way.

“On offense, he only struck out once all year. He always put the ball in play.”

Having a constant like Leonard on the field will be missed, according to Shipley.

“You know what you’re getting from him, day in and day out,” Shipley said. “He’s a real consistent player. I’m sad to see him go.”

Franks was second in the WPIAL in hitting with a .619 batting average to go along with four home runs, 18 RBIs and 1.000 slugging percentage. Like Leonard, Franks struck out just once all season while drawing 15 walks and one hit by pitch.

“Gene was the most dominant hitter in the section,” Albert Gallatin coach Shawn Chory said. “Even his outs were hit hard. Teams didn’t want to pitch to him. Gene had a remarkable season considering he was supposed to be out the whole high school season due to his knee injury.”

Franks had knee surgery in the fall of 2006 and was told it was unlikely he would be able to play in the spring. He not only played the full season, but performed well enough to draw a baseball scholarship from West Virginia Wesleyan, an NCAA Division II school.

Other first-team members were senior Ryan Zamiske (P), sophomore Mike Cima (3B), junior Chris Rasky (OF) and senior Erik Rasky (OF) of Penn-Trafford; senior Tom Shirley (P) and junior Matt Griffith (OF) of Norwin; senior Steve Bills (C), senior Danny Norris (2B-tie) and junior Andrew Zieglar (DH) of Hempfield; senior Brent Heckle (2B-tie) of Latrobe; and junior Seve Franceshelli (OF) of Franklin Regional.

Shirley was chosen as the section MVP.

Egan, who was 5-2 with 46 strikeouts in 42 innings, was one of two pitchers chosen for the second team. Engle and Angel made it at third base and outfield, respectively.

“Rob was our ace,” Shipley said of Egan.

“You can’t ask for anything more from him. He goes out there an battles it out every game. He’s has a lot of enthusiasm and the players rally around him. I’m looking forward to having him back next year.”

The other pitcher was Latrobe senior Rob Weber.

Engle hit .379 with four home runs and 25 RBIs.

“Elmer worked very, very hard all preseason and it showed with his performance this season,” Chory said. “His hard work and dedication was a great example to our younger players.”

Angel played well enough to make the team despite being hampered by a hamstring injury late in the season.

“Jon hit .323 in section games and had seven doubles, one triple and one home run. I’m sure his numbers would’ve been even better if not for the injury,” said Chory, who lauded Angel’s defense. “Jon is an excellent defensive outfielder with great range and a strong arm.”

Other members of the second team were seniors Eric Anderson (C) and Tim Cortazzo (OF) of Penn-Trafford; juniors Mike Pelekanos (1B), Joe Fornataro (2B) and Alex Buccilli (OF) of Franklin Regional; and senior Casey Teagarden (SS) and junior Joe Costello (OF) of Hempfield.