Barli living link to area’s glorious baseball past
Submitted photo
California Community High School graduate Roy Barli mans first base for the Lima Phillies during the 1950 season.
Submitted photo
California Community High School graduate Roy Barli played for the Lima Phillies in 1950.
At age 89, Roy Barli is a living link to western Pennsylvania’s glorious baseball history.
Barli was a two-sport athlete at California Community High School in the late 1940s where he excelled in baseball and basketball.
“I was in eighth grade at California and I was on the baseball team, but I didn’t get to play,” said Barli. “John Konek and myself were both on the team in eighth grade. He played third base and I played first base, but we weren’t eligible to play.”
California captured section baseball titles in 1947 and 1949.
California was eliminated from the WPIAL playoffs in 1947 by Section 18 champs South Union, 3-1.
The Trojans beat Charleroi in a playoff game, 3-1, to win the Section 19 title in 1949. Barli tossed a six-hitter to give California the championship.
After beating Munhall, 3-2, and Jefferson, 2-0, the Trojans committed seven errors in a semifinal game against Vandergrift and lost a tough 5-4 decision. Barli collected two hits in the loss.
“The first two years I played baseball in high school Ray Barker was coach,” Barli said. “When East Pike and California combined schools, Don Cornell was the baseball coach. The first year of the merger was 1948.
“We won two section championships in the four years I played there in baseball. In basketball, we finished second a couple of times in the section and we were always in the running in basketball.”
Barli finished sixth in Section 7 scoring and was named second-team All-Section 7 in 1949-50.
“When I played basketball at California my coach was Bill Watkins,” Barli said. “I played three years of varsity basketball. When I played basketball I played forward and center.
“John Konek was my best friend in high school and he was a great athlete. He made All-American in football in 1949.”
California tied Charleroi for the Section 7 basketball title in 1948-49. The Trojans lost a bruising contest to the Cougars at the pavilion at Pitt Stadium, 47-40.
“We got beat by Charleroi in a playoff game down in Pittsburgh,” Barli recalled. “We got beat at the Pitt Stadium in a close ball game. They outscored us 19-10 in the fourth quarter to win the game.”
Barli played American Legion Junior baseball for California and was part of District 25 championship teams in 1948 and 1949.
“I played three years for the California Junior American Legion baseball team,” explained Barli. “Two years I went to Forbes Field to play in the Legion East-West All Star game. I was picked two years in a row and I wasn’t eligible to go in 1950. I was going out of school and I didn’t get to play that year.
“In 1948, Ed Roebuck and I went to the All-Star game at Forbes Field and he started the game. Two other players you might know from that period were Steve Korcheck and Mike Korcheck. Steve played for the Washington Senators and Mike played in the minor leagues in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system.”
Barli decided to take a shot at professional baseball after his senior year at California Community High School in 1950.
“When I was a senior in high school I signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies,” Barli stated. “They sent me to play in Lima, Ohio. I played first base and I was released. Mike McCormick was my manager.”
Barli played 14 games with the Lima Phillies and batted .212 with one double and one triple.
“Mainly due to the efforts of a great name in Mon Valley baseball, John “Scissors” McIlvain, I had a scout from Cleveland come to see me after I was released,” Barli said. “He gave me an offer, but I didn’t want to go and I didn’t go. I just didn’t feel like I want to play baseball anymore.”
Barli went to work in the steel mill and became a standout in the Mon Valley Sandlot Baseball League.
“I first started playing with Long Branch and then Monessen for two years,” Barli said. “Then, I played for the Charleroi Merchants.
“Charleroi Merchants were a great team. We had Fred Uhlman, George Zuraw, Larry Papini and about five other guys who all signed Major League contracts. The Merchants were managed by Angelo DeFrancisco. One year we won 30 games and only lost about seven.”
Barli’s memory is very good because he was on the mound when the Merchants notched their 30th win.
A left-handed hitting first baseman and a leftie pitcher, Barli had some tremendous seasons on the mound in the Mon Valley League.
“I batted third or fourth in the lineup all the time,” said Barli. “I hit the ball pretty good. My brother-in-law was a player and a scout, Tony Segzda. He always said I should have been a pitcher instead of a first baseman. I pitched one no-hitter in the Mon Valley Sandlot League.”
Eventually, Barli stopped playing baseball.
“I quit playing sandlot baseball in 1960,” Barli said. “Even though I had a chance, I had no desire to play pro ball again.”
Barli bounced around several steel mills.
“I worked at four different places in the steel mill,” said Barli. “I ended up working at a high rise in Charleroi for the Redevelopment Authority. I worked there for 18 years and I retired in 2013.”
Barli, who will turn 90 in December, resides in Dunlevy, Pa., with his wife of 69 years, Linda. They have no children.