By Dan Wright

In its storied history the Elder Panthers’ baseball program has had just about everything a school could want. State titles ─ an Ohio record 12 of them, including at least one in each of the last seven decades.  Great players ─ several including eventual major leaguers Gordon Massa, Jim Brosnan, and Chris Nichting. A home field ─ well, not quite yet.

The Panthers have never had a home field they could truly call their own, having moved around various fields throughout the West Side for 83 years.  The most recent home for the Panthers for over a decade has been Hille Field in South Cumminsville, over six miles away from the school. That will all change next year when the Panthers are scheduled to move into a new baseball facility being built as part of the $3-million dollar, 50-acre Panther Athletic Complex (PAC) on Quebec Avenue, less than a mile from campus.  The facility, which head coach Mark Thompson says is modeled after Miami University’s Hayden Park, will feature a brick facade, a state-of-the-art lighting system, and indoor batting cages and pitching mounds.

“Hille’s been a great field for us,” Elder Athletic Director Dave Dabbelt says.  “It’s been a great addition, but I think the PAC will take us to the next level.”

Dabbelt says that the new field will help lift Elder’s already large profile on the West Side, giving Elder the chance to host summer league teams and other community functions.

“It will be a tremendous asset.  It will be a lot closer to us,” Thompson adds.  “It will be the nicest high school facility in the area.”

Before the Panthers trade in Hille’s wooden benches for the 1,000-plus stadium-style seats at the PAC, they have one more post-season in which to build on the tradition they have built at the Cincinnati Recreation Commission-run Hille Field.

The defending Ohio Division I state champion Panthers (23-3) begin sectional tournament play today against Mount Healthy at 3 p.m. at Oak Hills High School.  Elder is ranked No. 1 in Ohio Division I and enters tournament play as the top seed in the Cincinnati 3 section.

“We have one goal each year,” coach Thompson says.  “That is to win our last game of the year.  If we do that, we’re state champions.”  

The Panthers are cranking out close to eight runs a game while yielding under two with no players in the lineup signed to play in Division I.

“This year we don’t have anybody that’s going to knock the ball out of the park every time or any big hitters or anybody that’s going to throw a shutout on a normal basis like we did last year.  We’ve got to basically do anything we can to get runs across and do the little things,” senior center fielder Robb Thompson says.

Senior captains Chris Fishburn, Tim Tepe, and Thompson have made the top of the Panthers’ lineup a nightmare for opposing pitchers.   Fishburn is batting .429 followed by Thompson (.392) and Tepe (.302).  Pat Williams is hitting at a .357 clip. 

As captains, Fishburn, Tepe, and Thompson also lead the team off the field.  The trio organized weight-lifting sessions that began in August as well as year-round batting practice sessions for their teammates. “There’s probably not a team that works harder than us,” Tepe says.

That hard work also shows itself in the pitching staff where seniors Matt Klausing, Jeremy Brinck, and Bryan Early as well as sophomore Mike Nastold have combined for an ERA that hovers around 1.00 led by Nastold's 0.26 ERA.  Thompson serves as the teams’ closer when needed, which isn’t often.