Sep 10, 2014 4 min read

Ryan Tassone arrived at his first baseball conditioning practice for Peters Township in the spring of 2012 the only way he knew how – in full uniform.

While kids usually arrive wearing athletic shorts and a T-shirt, Tassone was ready for anything the coaches wanted done.

From that point, Indians head coach Joe Maize was not surprised by each diving play Tassone made at shortstop, each time he hustled on the basepaths and by his demeanor in the dugout.

“That really set an impression with myself and the other coaches,” Maize said. “He was so fundamentally sound with the glove. You could tell he was going to be a very special player.”

According to Maize, the senior shortstop is one of less than 10 athletes who will be a four-time letter-winner in Maize’s 30-year coaching career.

The dedication to his craft – which includes playing baseball on two club teams and training with Chris Sidick at C-Side Sports Academy – paid off last week when Tassone orally committed to play baseball for George Mason University. He is joining a program that won the Atlantic 10 Championship last spring and was eliminated in the NCAA Division I regionals by Texas A&M.

“It came down to the feel of it,” Tassone said. “Whenever I was at George Mason, the second time being there captured my attention. It made me feel like this is a place I can see myself going to college.”

A player with the potential to develop all five tools, Tassone rarely finishes a game with his jersey clean. He is constantly diving for ground balls and quickly recovering before throwing runners out at first base.

When the Indians had a need for a third baseman when Tassone was a sophomore, Maize did not hesitate to insert him into the starting lineup. One year later, the team needed a shortstop. Tassone filled in admirably – finishing with a .896 fielding percentage in 20 games.

The Patriots plan to play Tassone at either second base or shortstop. While his defense got Tassone to the Division I level, he is nowhere near a finished product. Tassone spends hours taking batting practice with his father, Bill, pitching and they travel every weekend during the fall as the younger Tassone is a member of the Allegheny Pirates. Bill Tassone credits Pirates manager Fred Albert and his summer ball coach, Mark Saghy of the Steel City Wildcats, for the attention he received from college coaches.

During his junior season with Peters Township, Tassone batted .264 with six extra-base-hits, 10 RBI and 16 runs. He wasn’t pleased with those numbers, so for the past four months Tassone has worked daily on hand placement, timing and pitch recognition – anything to help the Indians avoid a repeat of 2013 when they were eliminated in the first round of the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs by Pine Richland.

“If you ask him, he was probably disappointed with his batting average and what he did for us last year offensively,” Maize said. “We don’t have too many kids who work as hard as he does. He is always working on his game. We told him to work on the offensive part of game. Knowing what we told him and his work ethic, we’ll see a big breakout senior year for him.”

With the recruiting process at a close and Peters Township six months from opening the season, Tassone has plenty of time to polish his game and work on the finer points of his approach at the plate. He plans on heeding his coaches’ advice by translating his offseason to production on the diamond.

“We lost some of our pitching last year, but we are going to have a bunch of seniors this year,” Tassone said. “We are going to get back, have a great group of guys and try to make it even further in the playoffs.”

Waynesburg High School graduate Drew Headlee, who wrestled at Pitt and graduated in 2008, is returning to the Panthers as an assistant coach.

Headlee was a four-year letterman and three-year captain under former Pitt head coach Rande Stottlemyer. A three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time Eastern Wrestling League champion, Headlee was an All-American as a sophomore in 2005 at 133 pounds.

At Waynesburg, Headlee had a career record of 137-28. He was a three-time WPIAL champion and three-time state qualifier, winning a Class AAA state title in 2002.

Headlee spent the past two years as a volunteer assistant coach at Lehigh.