Doubly elite: Waynesburg graduate Fritz found stardom in both baseball, football
Submitted photo
Lee Fritz helped lead Waynesburg Central to a WPIAL baseball championship in 1999.
Submitted photo
Lee Fritz helped lead Waynesburg Central to a WPIAL championship in 1999.
Submitted photo
Waynesburg Central graduate Lee Fritz had an outstanding baseball career at West Virginia University with a .378 career batting average. He was named to the All-Big East team three times, including two first-team honors.
Waynesburg Central High School蘑菇视频 Lee Fritz was a force on the gridiron and the baseball diamond for the Raiders.
He got an early start on his way to athletic stardom.
鈥淚 started playing baseball when I was five,鈥� Fritz recalled. 鈥淚 played on my brother蘑菇视频 Tee Ball team when I was five. Football I started I believe when I was eight. Football we kind of played from eight years on with some of my Waynesburg teammates and we added some kids as we started branching out a little. Football, I feel like we were pretty talented from age eight.鈥�
Waynesburg athletics caught lightning in a bottle with some talented athletes in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
鈥淲e absolutely did,鈥� Fritz stated. 鈥淚n high school we had my brother蘑菇视频 senior class and that was a very talented group also in football and baseball. In baseball we went to the state championship in 1999 when I was a sophomore. In football we won our first conference championship in the fall of 1998. So that senior class was very talented and then the junior class had some good athletes and then our sophomore class had a lot of good athletes.
鈥淲e stacked it up and we had three great years of student-athletes and that蘑菇视频 what made those teams so good in football and baseball.鈥�
In football, Waynesburg did not lose a regular-season game from 1998-2000 and Fritz compiled a 25-2 record as a starting quarterback.
As a sophomore in 1998, he intercepted 13 passes, including a game-saving pick in the final seconds of the regular-season finale against Washington High. Both teams entered the game unbeaten. They were beaten in the playoffs by Brownsville, 26-0.
Waynesburg went on to win the WPIAL Class AA championship in 1999 in convincing fashion, a championship made sweeter by beating the Prexies again, this time at Three Rivers Stadium. The Raiders, who had last played for a WPIAL title in 1959, went into the PIAA Class AA semifinals as a heavy favorite, but a few uncharacteristic mistakes led to a stunning 17-13 loss to eventual state champion Tyrone.
In 2000 the Raiders advanced to the WPIAL Class AA championship game before losing to Aliquippa 14-6. Fritz suffered a shoulder injury in the defeat that eventually required surgery and kept him from playing baseball his senior year.
Fritz put up some astounding numbers on the football field.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Fritz was a three-year starter with 24 interceptions and a three-time All-Conference selection. He rushed for 1,191 yards as a quarterback and threw for 2,400 yards and had 61 total TDs. He was a two-time All-PIAA selection and the first player in WPIAL history to rush and pass for 1,000 yards in a season.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 funny hearing those stats looking back,鈥� Fritz said. 鈥淚鈥檒l be honest with you I don鈥檛 know them. I always took a lot of pride in the interceptions. I always enjoyed playing defense because I played center field in baseball. So that ball goes up I鈥檓 the one that蘑菇视频 going to go and get it. That蘑菇视频 the kind of mentality that I have, being able to anticipate where the quarterback was going to throw the ball. I played quarterback and that gave me a little bit of a read on what the quarterback was thinking. The interception I really took a lot of pride in.
鈥淭he offensive stats, we had a lot of offensive talent. It was kind of interesting. We had Lanfer Simpson who ran for over 1,000 yards. The offensive line was good and we had good receivers. We had good all-around talent that made it easy, honestly.鈥�
Fritz enjoyed playing football for coach Russ Moore.
鈥淚 feel like I had a really good relationship with him,鈥� Fritz said. 鈥淚 really respected the coaches who would let me know when I wasn鈥檛 doing something correctly. Coach Moore would get on me about things and that would get me closer to my potential. He had a good demeanor about him and he really made you enjoy playing the game.鈥�
Fritz played basketball up until ninth grade.
In baseball, Fritz was a part of some very talented teams.
Fritz, a two-time, all-state selection and the 2000 Observer-Reporter Offensive Player of the Year in football, might not have had an opportunity to play for a PIAA championship trophy in football, but he did in baseball.
Waynesburg won the 1999 WPIAL Class AA baseball championship beating Brownsville 7-5 鈥� the first year the PIAA expanded to three classifications for the sport 鈥� and defeated Northern Cambria, Brookville and old rival Brownsville again to reach the PIAA championship game. Waynesburg lost to Palmyra, 7-2, in the final. Fritz, a sophomore, was one of the team蘑菇视频 best players.
As a junior Fritz was easily one of the WPIAL蘑菇视频 best players and top pitchers as Waynesburg returned to the WPIAL title game behind Fritz, who went 11-1 and led the team in batting. Waynesburg lost to Canevin 1-0 in the WPIAL championship game.
Fritz in his career went 16-3 as a pitcher and had a .475 batting average. He pitched a perfect game in 2000.
Fritz loved playing baseball for Chris Haines at Waynesburg.
鈥淗e was a players鈥� coach,鈥� Fritz stated. 鈥淗e was really down to earth. We could be ourselves around him.鈥�
When Fritz graduated from Waynesburg in 2001 he had a big decision to make about college athletics.
鈥淭he decision for college was very hard for me,鈥� Fritz explained. 鈥淚 really liked both sports, but, realistically, to play both I just didn鈥檛 feel like it was going to be possible and I just couldn鈥檛 escape the feeling of wanting to play football. But I played against the highest level in baseball in high school and did well and that蘑菇视频 what ultimately switched my decision.鈥�
Penn State and Oklahoma State made offers for baseball. Several Mid-American Conference schools made offers in football. Initially, he elected to walk-on the WVU football team. After a couple days of practice, he switched directions and walked onto the Mountaineers鈥� baseball team.
鈥淚 went to Coach Greg Van Zant蘑菇视频 office and, thankfully, he let me be an invited walk-on and after my second year I got a scholarship,鈥� Fritz said.
Fritz led WVU in batting three consecutive years, including a Big East Conference-best .407 as a sophomore. That year, Fritz set WVU records for hits in a season by an outfielder (88) and multi-hit games (28). He had a .378 career batting average. Fritz was two-time All-Big East (鈥�04 & 鈥�05) and 2nd team Big East (鈥�03).
鈥淲VU turned out to be a good choice,鈥� Fritz said. 鈥淚 really enjoyed my teammates there and I got to play against some really good kids that played in the Major Leagues. I鈥檓 thankful for that experience.鈥�
In 2018 Fritz was inducted into the Washington-Greene County Sports Hall of Fame.
Now 40 years old, Fritz is a doctor of physical therapy who lives in Moon Township with his wife and high school sweetheart Sara and sons Jackson, 11, and Austin, 9.
Looking back, Fritz is proud of what he accomplished.
鈥淚 look back at the relationships I developed,鈥� Fritz stated. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 say enough about that. I see those guys and it蘑菇视频 like we never left high school. I鈥檓 happy with some of the accomplishments and statistics. It makes me feel good.
鈥淚鈥檓 big on the team approach and the teams we had. We didn鈥檛 care about stats we just wanted to win. I feel very blessed looking back on my career.鈥�
George Von Benko蘑菇视频 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 蘑菇视频. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.