Rise of Key Freshmen, Leadership of Tate Minich Has Helped Redbank Valley Shine Again This Season

NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Tate Minich has a secret.

The Redbank Valley senior catcher has said in the past that pitching isn’t his favorite thing to do. Crouching behind the plate is. Dealing with the pitching staff is. Throwing out runners is.

That isn’t exactly true.

(Pictured above, Tate Minich crouches on the mound)

“I secretly like pitching,” he said. “I like to get out from behind the plate and go out to the mound and show off my arm a little bit. I tell people I don’t like it, but I secretly have a smile when I get the ball.”

Minich rarely pitched last season for the Bulldogs, who pulled off an upset of Serra Catholic in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A playoffs.

His innings were reserved for crunch time, called upon in tight situations to get key outs — usually with a strikeout.

Because of a trio of freshmen who have emerged this season for Redbank Valley, Minich’s place has again been mostly behind the plate.

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“Tate is definitely a guy we rely on a lot,” said Redbank Valley coach Craig Hibell. “The one thing about Tate is he has the ability to get strikeouts. We always wanted to manage his workload because he’s going to be catching at the next level (at Seton Hill). We don’t want to abuse his arm, so we are careful with how we treated Tate as a pitcher. We use him in high-leverage situations and limit the amount of throws he has to make on the mound.”

That has been made easier because of freshmen Braylon Wagner, Jaxon Huffman and Brock George.

All three have logged big innings this season for the Bulldogs and have been effective.

With Bryson Bain pitching at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Cam Wagner focusing on throwing for the track and field team, there were some big shoes to fill.

And those freshmen were going to have to fill them.

“We worked with them all winter,” Minich said. “Going from junior league to varsity baseball is a big difference. Losing Bryson and having three good freshmen arms come in, we knew we were going to have to work with them to get them ready. They’re all really good athletes. I knew they had a lot of potential to help us this year, and it has showed.”

Despite inexperience on the mound, Redbank Valley is 14-3 overall and 7-0 in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference. The Bulldogs are currently on a nine-game winning streak.

With junior Ty Carrier anchoring the staff, Redbank Valley has a 2.18 team ERA this season.

“Ty is definitely a great role model for the young guys. They all look up to Ty,” Minich said. “Ty is a great kid and he works hard every single day.”

Minich has seen first-hand the maturation of the freshmen pitchers.

He has a unique point of view.

“They all have their different styles,” Minich said. “They’re definitely not the same. But the results have been. If you asked me at the beginning of the season if I thought we’d be 14-3, I would have probably told you no. But just seeing how we’ve come from week one and how we’ve gotten better at every single aspect of the game has been great.”

Minich is one of three seniors on the roster this season. The Bulldogs are very much a young team.

“Braylon and Jaxon have definitely been big for us,” Hibell said. “We didn’t know how much we’d be able to get out of them, but they’ve turned into being two of our top four guys for sure.”

Jaxon missed all of football season because of a back injury. But he’s been able to manage it without a problem this spring.

“He had a lower back issue that limited him throughout the school year, but interestingly enough, one of the things that doesn’t bother him is pitching,” Hibell said. “We get daily reports on how his back is feeling just to make sure that we’re never overdoing it. He’s been feeling pretty good all year.”

“I was bummed out I didn’t get to play football with him,” Minich added about Huffman. “But seeing him healthy in baseball season and just to get to spend an entire season with him has been pretty cool.”

Wagner showed off his athletic chops in the fall when he took over the quarterback position for the Bulldogs’ football team in October and shined as a freshman.

“He’s one of the most athletic kids all-around that I’ve ever seen as a freshman,” Minich said. “And I think he had a chip on his shoulder to walk in and play well from day one. That’s a big part of his success, just his confidence on the mound and just his ability to know that he can blow a fastball by a guy. He also has a very good curveball to go with it.”

Redbank Valley has two games left, including a key one against Clarion-Limestone this afternoon.

Then the District 9 playoffs begin, which figure to be very competitive in Class 2A.

“We’re at a point now where two months ago we would have hoped to have been,” Hibell said. “We were cautiously optimistic. One thing about the double-A bracket this year is that no matter how many teams go to the playoffs, anybody can beat anybody on any given day. If eight teams go, the eighth team in the bracket is going to be a good team in that bracket. We’re gonna have to maintain a high level of focus, work hard and not take anything for granted.”

Redbank Valley, Keystone, and Union/A-C Valley sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Heeter Lumber.