Conestoga baseball embraces the past, but also forgets it

The Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.) baseball team couldn't wait to get ready for 2012. The glove pops vibrated in the school's gymnasium during a voluntary afternoon January workout when Pioneers coach John Vogan caught something. Someone was wearing a T-shirt, a state-championship T-shirt commemorating the Pioneers' previous season. It triggered Vogan to spring something on his senior core group.

Vogan sat them down and issued an edict: He didn't want to see any more state championship stuff being worn at workouts. No jackets. No T-shirts. No mention of the magical ride Vogan and his team took in 2011, when they won the first PIAA Class AAAA Pennsylvania state baseball championship in school history.

It's time to make a new moment in 2012 at Conestoga, the No. 25-ranked team in the country in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Baseball Rankings.

"We said in the offseason workouts in 2011 it was fine, be proud and wear your stuff. But once the new year came, last year was over and I didn't want them carrying the pressure of last year's team with them this year," Vogan said. "That team doesn't exist anymore. They'll be there in our hearts and minds forever, but we owed something to the new kids. I didn't want to hear anything other than what we have to do this year and I wanted to do it early. That was the only way to approach this season. I understand we have a big target on our backs. It's just baseball, and I like to keep things as simple as I can. We know the pressure ahead of us, why add to it? Right now, we'll focus on winning our next game, then after that, the following game. We'll leave the other stuff for later."

Vogan's approach speaks of the old-school way he deals with things. He's been at Conestoga since 1983 and you may not find a more dedicated coach or a man with a bigger commitment to a school than him. He's head coach of both the football and baseball teams, and when the school couldn't find a junior varsity girls basketball coach a few years back, there was Vogan on the sideline coaching up the girls. He's the scorekeeper during basketball season, and you can often find him at the school early in the morning until very late at night, working at his desk.

He doesn't like to talk about himself. He doesn't like to take pictures, unless his staff is included with him.

"It's never about me, I love coaching kids and it's why last year during the medal ceremony of the state championship game, it was a little hard to keep the emotion in," revealed Vogan, whose lower lip quivered as he put the state medals around his players' necks. "You think about all the great kids you coached in the past. You want to put a state title medal around them all. It was a very overwhelming feeling. It's why I never changed my coaching philosophy from taking it one day, and one game at a time. Then we'll try and get back to the district playoffs, and state brackets."

The Pioneers have a good chance to do that. They return a star-studded nucleus that includes: catcher Scott Williams, a Virginia commit who is MaxPreps' No. 1 player in the state; two top starters, right-handed Matt Cowell and lefty Adam Rusenko, and also has back second baseman Jake Carr, centerfielder Luke Mogle and sophomore shortstop Tom Richter.

Conestoga is on a seven-game winning streak, dating back to last year, and has started this season in its state title defense 3-0. To hear the seniors responsible for carrying this team, you tend to hear Vogan in their voices.

"We're a new team, but with the guys we have coming back, it's important for us to come out strong and show the younger guys what it takes to win," said Cowell, who is 2-0 this season and was the winning pitcher in last year's state championship game. "I was there the day coach Vogan told us once the new year hits, no more state championship stuff in a baseball setting. We're a new team and we have to start fresh. I think it's a good idea. We can't just expect to win, we have to put in the effort to win. We all realize we did well last year, but we did well because of the lot of the guys that graduated. We have to work for it."

Keeping it simple is the key.

"I don't think about what we did last year," said Williams, who's been slowed the first month of the season with an injury. "We can't wear the state championship stuff this year. That's in the past and we have a new year to focus on. As a team, we look to focus on hitting, fielding and pitching. Being ranked nationally never comes up. I guess every team in the state is coming after us, but it's still baseball. You have to still execute between the lines. The only thing that ever trips you up is when you start believing all the stuff around you. We just play. We block things out. We play our butts off and enjoy the game. The goal every year is to play like we're capable of playing."

Williams is a four-year starter, Carr and Mogle are three-year starters, Richter a two-year starter, and Rusenko and Cowell have pitched in big games in the state tournament. But what may set this team apart was how it won the state championship last year. The Pioneers lost by the 10-run mercy rule to Spring-Ford (Royersford, Pa.) in the District 1 championship game, then came back to win two state playoff games by the 10-run rule and avenged their district loss by beating Spring-Ford in extra innings for the state title.

Conestoga's baseball team completed a rare state championship hat trick for the school last spring, after the boys lacrosse team won its second-straight state championship (and is currently the No. 1 team in the country by MaxPreps this spring) and its boys tennis team also won a state title.

Coming from a school known for winning does invite outside pressure. From media. From parents. From surrounding schools. It's why Vogan keeps things light.

"To be honest, we know we have a target on our backs," Carr said. "It just comes down to playing baseball. That's the attitude of the team. We try to keep everything out. With social media today, you do hear a lot of stuff, how everyone wants to beat us, but we focus on what's directly ahead. It's not easy. It's an attitude that comes from the top, it comes from coach Vogan. He's a great leader. We can be down 10-0 in the bottom of the seventh and he'll never give up on us. He's always positive and dedicated. Everyone on this team has a passion for winning, and that pushed everyone even harder. We all know about being ranked nationally, sometimes we joke around about it. So bring it on, what do we have to lose?"

Mogle, who's committed to Maine for baseball, wants to protect against arrogance. It only leads to trouble.

"We do take pride in how people view us, to be ranked nationally is pretty cool, but we don't get too much into that here," he said. "We take care of the small things. It's why we have long workouts. But we all saw how those workouts paid off in the end. Coach Vogan started off this year wanting us to put the past in the past. We want to keep a normal hat size. That comes from coach Vogan. We follow his example. He doesn't want any recognition for anything."

Winning and making history, however, has a habit of shedding some light on a life-long commitment.