No title, but Joe Breitweiser
is still a champ

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Joe Breitweiser had a lot of reasons to be sad.
He also had a lot of reasons to be happy.
Breitweiser, a senior at Northeast High School, has been a fixture on the Vikings baseball team for the past four springs.
The hard-throwing right-hander took the ball in most of the Vikings’ key games over the past three years. He also has provided a big bat in the team’s lineup since he was a freshman.
But moments after Northeast fell to Central, 2-1, in the semifinals of the Public League playoffs, Breitweiser knew that his days in the red and black uniform were over.
That’s what made him a little misty-eyed.
Then his thoughts turned to those four years. He started to smile, just a little.
"I really wanted to win a championship here, I really wanted to do that," said Breitweiser, who guided the Vikings to the finals during his freshman year and the semifinals in each of the following three years. "That’s tough, because I never got to bring a championship."
But . . .
"I can’t tell you how much fun I had here . . . a whole lot, more than I can put into words," Breitweiser continued. "From freshman year, when I was the kid trying to not make a mistake, to now, when I was one of the main guys, it’s been great. I’ve played with great coaches, great guys — everything about my time here has been perfect."
Breitweiser wasn’t one of the guys this year. He was the guy.
Coach Sam Feldman started an all-sophomore infield, a sophomore catcher and a sophomore rightfielder. The future is bright for Northeast, but the immediate past was Breitweiser.
"He’s been the guy for us," said Feldman, who has guided Northeast to the semifinals in each of his seven years as coach. "He’s been everything for us the past few years, and boy, are we going to miss him."
Breitweiser leaves a legacy, but he’s also leaving behind a lot of baseball knowledge.
"I guess I was kind of lucky because I knew exactly how these guys felt," Breitweiser said. "When I was a freshman, I worked with people like Andrew Lihotz and Brandon O’Malley. If they didn’t help me, I never would have gotten any better.
"I guess that’s why I wanted to help the younger guys this year," Breitweiser said. "I mean, I did it for selfish reasons too . . . I wanted them to do well so I’d do well. But a lot of these guys didn’t need any help from me. They knew what they were doing. I just tried to be there if they needed anything."
Breitweiser knows all about helping out in tough times.
The Olney resident has gone through some tough times in the past two years, ever since his mother, Delores, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Though she’s been strong, there are times when the disease takes its toll on the entire family. And that’s when Breitweiser forces himself to be at his best.
"It’s scary, because her mom and sister both died from multiple sclerosis," Breitweiser said. "Sometimes she has to take a lot of medicine and she’s always hurting, always in pain. But she’s tough, and we’re doing everything we can to help her get through it."
The illness could have an effect on Breitweiser’s next move.
He’d love to go to college to continue his baseball career and study engineering, but that might not be in the cards. Although he has received interest from Penn State Abington and a few other state schools, Breitweiser might have to earn a few bucks before he makes that costly move to higher learning.
"My dad has a really good job, but I’m not going to ask him for money, that’s not fair, especially when he’s doing everything for my mom," Breitweiser said. "I’ll pitch at the Carpenter Cup, and if I get an offer and it’s enough money, I’ll take it. If not, I’ll have to do something else.
"Right now everything’s up in the air, but I have time to see what happens," Breitweiser continued. "I’ll keep my eye out for something, but if I just work, that’s fine. I hope to eventually go to school."
Even though Breitweiser won’t be there when the Vikings start another season in April, he’ll certainly have an impact on what takes place.
"I’d like to think that, but these kids are players," Breitweiser said. "I mean, we made it to the semifinals and played a really good team, last year’s champs. We split with them during the regular season and they beat us by the same 2-1 score in last year’s semifinal.
"This was fun, this was probably the greatest game I’ve ever pitched, and it’s going to help the younger guys out a lot," Breitweiser said. "I remember how fun it was for me to play in big games as a freshman and sophomore. Hopefully these guys had as much fun and gained as much from it as I did three years ago." ••
Joe Mason can be reached at joemason70@hotmail.com