This year’s emcee, Dave Peters, welcomed everyone to the event and expressed his gratitude at being given the opportunity to speak.

“This is a pleasure for me — I know many people in the room. I’ve gotten to play with a few people here. It truly is an honor for me,” said Peters.

At the start of the event, Peters called for a moment of silence for Justin Kline, founder of the Clinton and Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame. Though Kline passed away on Aug. 19, 2021, his memory was not forgotten. Many of the inductees shared memories of Kline and praised him for his vision of a local hall of fame.

The event kicked off with each of the past inductees and committee members in attendance being asked to stand to be recognized — for both their dedication to the sport and their presence making the whole event possible.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Mike Day, left, is pictured with Gaylord Hanley, Jr., right, after Day was inducted into the Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 2024 Keystone Most Valuable Player Award was given to Carter Miller this year.

Miller was praised by Peters for his prowess on the field.

“Carter played many positions on the field. Carter was highly recommended and regarded as the best player in the league by many coaches,” he said.

After Miller received his trophy, this year’s legendary inductees were announced. These are outstanding ball players and contributors to the game of baseball who have passed on.

The legendary inductees for this year included Fred Gundlach, Jim Eisenhower, Gordy Confer and Bobby McKivison.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Bob Conway, right, is pictured with James Gallagher, left, after Conway was inducted into the Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame.

The first of the 2025 inductees to be introduced was Mike Day.

Gaylord Hanley, Jr. introduced Day to everyone in the room. Hanley played alongside Day and had many memories to share about their time together. According to Hanley, Day was the best centerfielder he ever played with.

“I saw Mike make some plays in center field that were unbelievable. He always played shallow center field and could cover a lot of ground. One time playing against State College, CJ unloaded one in center field. Mike turned in a dead run and caught that ball over his shoulder. When Mike was coming off the field, CJ was at second base and said ‘how did you get to that?’ Mike said ‘it’s routine,'” said Hanley, earning laughs from the crowd.

Hanley claimed Day was also a great pitcher who had a curve ball he could throw on any count.

“I caught off Mike many games. I was never worried. (He) was a good hitter, and he didn’t strike out very often. He was the type of player when you needed someone to get on, he always seemed to be the one to get on. Whether it was getting hit by a pitch or getting walked, laying down a bunt or getting a base hit. He was a hustler on and off the field. I think that’s a lost art in this day and age,” said Hanley.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS James Gallagher is pictured with 2024 Keystone Most Valuable Player Award winner, Carter Miller.

He talked about how Day began playing ball with his father, Gordy, who spent many hours teaching him baseball in the yard and coaching him in Little League.

“Mike was always one of the better players on any team he played on throughout his baseball career,” Hanley finished.

Hanley also welcomed to the podium the next inductee, Fred Bechdel.

“One thing about Freddy is that he’s a little guy with a big heart. He could run, field and hit. Whenever I got behind him I always had to bunt, but sometimes I’d get the green light to hit away, too. During league ball we were in Muncy and I got the greenlight to hit away. Freddy thought they were going to catch it. I’m running to first yelling ‘go-go-go.’ He took off running. I was right on his heels rounding first. When he got to third base I just made it to second — he could run a lot faster than me. I used to love to watch him run,” said Hanley.

He finished, “He was steady Freddy at second. He was a good ball player, period.”

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Kurt Heverly, left, is pictured with James Gallagher, right, after Heverly was inducted into the Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Bechdel was emotional as he took to the podium, thanking everyone who instilled in him a passion for the game, and who were involved in his nomination and induction.

“I didn’t write anything down,” said Bechdel. “I tried. But every time I sat down to write something else came up. When you have a heart for the game the size of Mount Everest, and a passion for the game the size of the universe… To stand here is (just) unbelievable. This means more to me than any championship or any individual trophy.”

He thanked Justin Kline, and Kline’s parents, Rod and Sally, for keeping the Hall of Fame running.

“Justin and I weren’t close (but) we talked. When it was baseball season, we were probably talking wrestling. When it was wrestling season we were getting ready for baseball,” said Bechdel, earning a laugh from the audience.

Bechdel reminisced on all the good memories of baseball, many of which featured the event attendees. He thanked his parents, and his uncles, Gaylord Hanley, Sr. and Jerry Hanley, as well as his cousins.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Dan Fravel, Jr., left, is pictured with James Gallagher, right, after Fravel was inducted into the Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame.

Kurt Heverly was welcomed to the podium next, introduced by Peters. Peters gave the audience a brief overview of some of Heverly’s career in baseball, including 388 career hits, 1,236 career ABs, 45 career doubles, 120 career walks, 201 career runs scored, 236 RBIs and 22 career home runs.

Heverly, who has been the president of the organization since 2020, began his speech by calling attention to the success of the Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame.

“If everything goes right, at the end of this year, the Hall of Fame will have a completely payment free building. You people are awesome! They are the leaders of this — especially Sally,” said Heverly.

He told many stories about his time in baseball, beginning with a story about legendary members Gordy Confer and Sam Kunes. Heverly got the crowd fired up with jokes and memories about wooden bats and Nellie Fox — one of the best second basemen of all time in Major League Baseball history.

“I have done something with baseball every year of my life since I was six years old,” said Heverly. “I started as a bat boy… I remember being nine years old and there were 15 uniforms and 17 little fellas there trying to get them. I didn’t sleep for two days. … I wanted to play ball. I got the last uniform. That’s what it meant to us.”

He expressed his pride for the Hall of Fame, and his love for the sport.

“Thank you for the honor. I was shocked and excited,” he said.

Following Heverly, Bob Conway was introduced by Peters.

“Bob is joining the hall of fame as he has been enrolled in many aspects of baseball, but (mostly) as a volunteer and contributor to baseball through the years,” said Peters.

He told a story about Conway always being in the stands.

“One of the things you’d always hear is him yell ‘throw the heater Ricky!’ I loved it. He’s a guy you can always count on. He volunteers in many different capacities and is a great person to our community,” said Peters.

Conway graciously accepted his award and congratulated his fellow nominees.

“I know a lot of these guys — I played ball with Mike, I coached against Mike, I coached against Gay. We all turned out to be really good friends. It’s nice to see the young people back where we were coaching to be coaches. I really just do it for the game, I love it very much,” he said.

The final inductee of the afternoon was Dan Fravel, Jr.

Dan’s brother, Scott Fravel, spoke about his brother and their time playing baseball together.

“It all started in the backyard at (our) mom and dad’s house,” Scott began, reminiscing about growing up playing ball with his brother.

He made the audience laugh as he told a story about opening catcher’s gear on Christmas morning when he was seven.

“Dan needed a catcher, so I played catcher,” he joked, explaining how they didn’t get to play much together after a while with life getting in the way. “But I won the last game.”

“(Dan) turned into an unbelievable mentor and coach,” he continued, bringing up state championships and other accomplishments his brother earned through the years. “He is a super guy and a great ball player.”

Dan hugged his brother as he took to the podium.

“My resounding, overwhelming vibe here today is that this is the neatest thing. This is pretty cool. For my kids to get to feel the vibe of how I was built. I brag on Clinton County,” he said, despite having coached for different areas.

“This is super cool to be in this environment. This is the way legends live on to the younger generations. (My kids) have heard names and stories of when I was cutting my teeth. Like.. this is our old Blanchard ball team from the ’90s,” Dan said.

He talked about growing up with the game in Beech Creek, how kids would ride their bikes to the ball field.

“I don’t know about that last game (with Scott) — I’d have to see the score sheet,” he joked.”The Beech Creek ballfield was like the movie ‘The Sandlot’ — really old school stuff.”

Dan gave his ‘top ten’ moments in his baseball career, telling stories of “the blue guys” being the “cool guys” and overcoming adversity. He spoke about his time coaching, and using baseball as a vehicle to teach students about life and maturity.

“All I’ve ever wanted for myself and my kids, and my ball players, was to use the game of baseball as a vehicle to teach life lessons. It helps them to mature, and bounce back from adversity. This is a great vehicle whether someone is good or bad,” he said.

He shared his love for his family with the crowd, thanking them for their sacrifices, for always supporting him throughout the years and encouraging him to chase his dreams.

The Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame is located across from the Beech Creek Little League field, and is open to the public.

BREANNA HANLEY/THE EXPRESS Fred Bechdel, right, is pictured with Rod Kline, right, after Bechdel was inducted into the Clinton & Centre County Baseball Hall of Fame.