If it’s true that there’s no crying in baseball, then Anthony Paneto may have found the only time tears are fitting — standing on the diamond after his high school baseball career had come to an end.
“It was very, very difficult. (Lake Catholic) got up 3-0 from mental mistakes and not being able to come back, it was very sad. At the end of the game it hit me, it was my last high school game I was going to play,” the Jefferson catcher said. “I went up to my pitcher, Andy Saksa, and he started crying, I started crying.”
Those tears, though, were enough to confirm what Paneto’s coach, Scott Barber, was already thinking — the catcher still had more outs to go before his career was truly over.
“The reason I know he’s going to be successful in college was by his reaction to his last game in high school,” Barber said. “You could see his passion for the game, that he didn’t want it to be over.”
If everything goes according to plan, Paneto will have at least four more years.
The son of Lori Zebransky and Felix Paneto will pack up his gear and head to Alliance as one of the newest members of the Mount Union baseball team.
“I’m excited to move down and play college ball. But I’m nervous about how I’m going to do in school,” said Paneto, who will room with fellow Purple Raider and former Geneva pitcher Matt Freeman. “It’s both nervous and excitement.”
After a breakout offensive year that saw Paneto hit .338 with six doubles and one home run for Jefferson, the catcher had options for his baseball future. He looked at Marietta College, Ohio Wesleyan University and Thiel College.
But it was Mount Union that proved to be just what he was looking for.
“They look like a very good school, mostly just for my education, and they have above a .500 winning average,” Paneto, who is looking to double major in physical education and health, said. “It’s a good place for me to go, a good baseball atmosphere and good education also.
“I don’t want to go to like the No. 1 best baseball school. That’s not where my goal was. My goal was to get a good education and have a good time playing baseball. Mount gave me what I wanted.”
The Purple Raiders went 20-18 in their 2008 campaign, including an 11-7 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
But if Paneto’s history shows one thing, it’s that he’ll do everything in his power to help Mount Union improve upon this mark.
“He’s a kid that will stay there and take extra repetitions in the cage. He always wants to work on his throwing and his defensive skills beyond what’s regularly called for,” Barber said. “That’s what it takes to play at the college level.”
It was that extra time in the cages, and a little mental shift, that led to Paneto’s offensive renaissance.
“Anthony, he really progressed as a hitter this year. Earlier in his career, he was more of a pull hitter and now he’s been able to hit to all fields,” Barber said. “That shows in his average going up.
“Along with him putting the extra time in the cage, he’s bought into the philosophy of not being a pull hitter, and learning the game more and what’s going to be best for him.”
That ability to spray balls all over the field should prove useful in Mount Union’s promised open competition for playing time.
“Coach (Paul) Hesse doesn’t determine how much playing time (you get); you determine your own playing time,” Paneto said. “He said he’s going to play whoever is the best and works the hardest. It’s going to be up to me how much time I get on the field.”
And Paneto’s never been one for staying off the field.
“Because I want to go as far as I can with my baseball, I go to Kent State University catcher’s camp every winter to refresh on my catching. I go to the batting cages all through winter. I’m always doing something,” Paneto said. “I can’t stop doing baseball.”
Sports
A new beginning
Former Falcon Paneto to continue education, baseball careers at Mount Union
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Riverside sneaks past Edgewood
Riverside wrestling coach Scott Blank learned a good deal of what he knows from Edgewood coach Greg Stolfer as a former Warrior great. Thursday, he used a bit of that knowledge to get the better of his old coach as the Beavers bested the Warriors, 31-28, at Edgewood.
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Madison rolls past Geneva
Madison recovered from coming out on the short end of a pin in the first match of the night by taking six of the next seven matches against Geneva and capped the night with pins from their last pair of grapplers in dismantling the Eagles, 49-17.
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Boys tourney returning to county
On Feb. 27, for the first time in 20 years, postseason boys basketball will return to Ashtabula County when the Division II sectional-district tournament comes to Lakeside high school.
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Dragons dump Lakers in drink
Despite the fact his girls have been through a tough season, Lakeside coach Rob Livingston spoke as though he had sensed that better things might be around the corner.
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Mustangs dominate Heralds
In their last home game of the season, the Grand Valley Mustangs rose to the occasion on Senior Night, defeating the SS. John and Paul Heralds, 59-28.
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Clark, Francis help give Falcons Liberty
Paige Clark led an attack that saw three Jefferson players reach double figures and Rachel Francis had a triple-double as the Falcons blasted visiting Liberty, 59-17, in an All-American Conference game Thursday night in Falcon Gym.
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Scholastic Statistics:
WRESTLING
NON-CONFERENCE
Riverside 31, Edgewood 28
at Edgewood -
Scholastic Schedule:
FRIDAY, FEB. 10
Boys Basketball
n Lakeside at Madison
n Conneaut at Edgewood
n Liberty at Jefferson (WFUN)
n South at Geneva
n PV at Bloomfield
n Grand Valley at Southington
n Riverside at North
n Harvey at Perry -
PV prevails
Cody Miller and Zach Campbell knew what they had to do in order for the Pymatuning Valley wrestling team to complete a come-from-behind victory over Jefferson on Wednesday at triangular match at PV.
The pair delivered exactly that and the Lakers pulled off the win, 37-36. -
Eagles bounce back
The Geneva girls didn’t have much time to regroup. But just one day after a heartbreaking defeat, they were able to knock off a strong Perry team on the road, 39-33.
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