With the college and professional football seasons building to a championship crescendo and Christmas just around the corner, baseball has entered its ‘hot stove season.’ While the sport has taken a back seat for many, November was a busy time for Penn College baseball coach Chris Howard, who was inducted into the West Branch Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and was the featured speaker at the local SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) gathering.
“It is a huge honor, and I was really surprised when I was told about it,” Howard told Webb Weekly. Williamsport and this area mean so much to me. Williamsport has always been a part of my life. My Dad played here for the Williamsport Mets back in 1967. I was one year old, and the family had a film of me running around the outfield chasing baseballs. Then, twenty years later, I came back here to play for the Williamsport Bills.
“Eventually, I came back here and raised our family, and then became head baseball coach at Penn College. My entire life has revolved around Williamsport, so the recognition and honor to be selected to the West Branch Valley Sports Hall of Fame was a thrill for me, and I was excited, happy, and proud I was able to get in.”
The Midwest native has been an adopted Williamsporter ever since.
“I grew up in Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, went to school in Oklahoma for three years, and then on to the University of Louisiana for a year. I played football and baseball, had the opportunity to play in the Major Leagues for a few years, then ended up marrying a local girl before laying down roots here. I’ve often said if there was anyone more destined to be in Williamsport, I think it probably is me. It seems like everything that has happened to me has had Williamsport in the background.
“I’m a baseball guy. There was nothing that interested me more than playing ball. When the Penn College job came open in 2007, it was really an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. As much as I enjoyed playing baseball, the most rewarding thing professionally that ever happened to me is becoming a coach. The chance to mentor young men has made more of an impact than anything I ever did on the baseball field as a player.
“The Penn College baseball program has evolved so much since I got here. Back then, we weren’t an NCAA school and played in an organization called the USCAA, made up of colleges that, for one reason or another, chose not to belong to the NCAA. Not only for baseball, but it has been great to see how the entire Penn College athletic program has morphed into what it is now. To be a part of the athletic growth Penn College has achieved in the past 20 years is something I take great pride in being a part of.
“I hate to say it, but I think we are one of the best kept secrets in town in what we have here athletically. It has been good to have been on the ground level. Our programs are getting better and winning championships, and it is a testament to how hard everybody has worked here to achieve the results we are experiencing.
Howard expressed excitement on the eve of this spring’s opening of the Lumber Yards.
“The fact that we will have a turf facility next to us, a place we can call our own where we can actually practice, is very much appreciated. Bowman Field was fantastic for us, and, like I said before, it seems like half of my life has been spent there. But once MLB took it over, we were limited in its availability. It was a wonderful facility, beautiful, and a great experience for our players, but we were never really able to conduct business as we needed to as an NCAA program.
“The fact that the Lumber Yard is finally built, we have a place to call our own, a place to practice, a place to conduct our business like a real baseball program, I think it is only going to help us. There is no way possible that we are not going to be a better baseball program thanks to this facility.
“I used to talk with other coaches explaining our situation, how we would practice on the soccer field, and conduct most of our batting practice inside in the cages. They would look at me like I had a tin head, asking how in the world we did that. We’ve been pretty successful over the years, but this is opening an exciting new chapter for Penn College baseball.”
Asked why high school baseball players should come to Penn College, Howard was quick to respond.
“Well, first and foremost, they are going to get a great education. The degrees students get here are going to enable them to walk out of here and have the ability to get a great job. That’s #1, but #2, they will have the opportunity to continue their baseball career at a school that really cares about their athletics and athletes. I tell people all the time, I promise you, when they look back at their time here, they are going to say they had a fantastic time.
“I want guys to come here, enjoy the time they have, love, playing the game; but I always tell our recruits if all you learn from me is how to be a better baseball player, then I failed you. I want them to learn so many things other than how they can become a better baseball player.”
Chris Howard, Penn College, and Williamsport have forged an impressive team.
