Deuel takes it all in stride

By Paul Casey Gotham

Bryan Deuel faced a dilemma. His coach, Dave Brust, asked him to get ready. It was the ninth inning, and the Webster Yankees trailed in the deciding game of the New York Collegiate Baseball League’s West Division semi-finals. Brust used a pinch runner for Yankee starting catcher, Ollie Bertrand. If the home nine scored, the Yankee skipper needed Deuel behind the plate in the bottom half of the frame.

Deuel wanted to play. The reserve catcher is always game. It’s just that on this occasion, he was without some of his gear.

Earlier, Deuel loaned his cleats when a teammate discovered one of his spikes missing. When another teammate broke his belt while making a diving stop, Deuel didn’t think twice. He reached in his bag and gave without needing to be asked twice. His pants were gone from the beginning of the game when a mis-communication left a teammate with the wrong pair.

It didn’t matter. Webster stranded the tying run at third in a 3-2 loss to the Allegany County Nitros. Deuel was ready though. He reclaimed his cleats. He found a pair of pants to wear. Sure, the garment belonged to a player some seven inches taller than the Webster, New York native. He would make due with the size difference.

Just another day in the life of a student-athlete who makes it his responsibility to look out for the guys around him, and who left his college choice up to the flip of a coin.

For three years, Deuel started every game for the Webster-Thomas Titans. He earned All-County honors his junior and senior seasons. He also served as goalkeeper for the Titan soccer team. He nabbed a spot on the Section V tournament team as the Thomas squad won the sectionals and advanced to the state finals.

With all that to his credit, one could understand if Deuel expected some privileges when it came to college. Instead of feeling entitled, Deuel narrowed his college choice to two schools: the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and Rochester Institute of Technology.

“Both are great engineering schools,” said Deuel. “It didn’t matter to me whether I was staying close to home or not.”

Faced with the decision of where he would spend at least four years of his life, Deuel did the only logical thing. He flipped a coin.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he added. “I could accept going to either school.”

A month before leaving for Massachusetts, Deuel sent an email to Riverhawk head coach, Ken Harring, expressing his interest in trying out for the team. He arrived on campus without any ceremony,  earned a spot on the team and an opportunity to sit the bench.

“When I got to U-Mass Lowell, there were already two older catchers,” mentioned Deuel. “Another experienced catcher transferred to the program.”

The prospects failed to dampen his spirits. “It’s baseball. It’s always a good time. I am willing to wait my turn.” The experience prepared Deuel for life in the NYCBL.

“I got a call the first day of practice from coach Brust. I planned to play on the National Adult Baseball Association (NABA) team I played with last summer.” Deuel left behind a sure thing for a chance to play in the NYCBL. He was all but guaranteed to play every inning of every game for the summer if he stayed in the NABA. Instead, Deuel played in 11 of Webster’s 44 games for the season.

“It was an opportunity to get batting practice every day and to play with really good players,” noted Deuel. When it was done, Deuel saw 29 at bats. He had three hits and walked five times. But his contributions went beyond those numbers.

“He is a big part of our team’s success,” said Brust.  “He played outstanding defense along with working the bullpen.  He knew his role and performed well.  UMass -Lowell will be happy with his development.  His work ethic and unselfishness are a coach’s dream.”

Deuel will enjoy a couple weeks of rest before heading back to campus. He takes with him the experience of a summer in the NYCBL. He looks forward to the day when he will get his chance.

The New York Collegiate Baseball League is a summer wood bat league sanctioned by the NCAA and partially funded by MLB. Each of the players on the field in front of you have used at least one year of eligibility and have at least one year of college eligibility remaining. Major League Baseball’s 2010 amateur draft included the names of 36 players with ties to the NYCBL. In the last three drafts 112 former NYCBLers have heard their names called. Current major leaguers Brad Lidge, Dallas Braden and Hunter Pence have all spent at least one summer playing in the NYCBL.

The NYCBL – sending players to the pros since 1978!