June 12 has a special meaning to a group of grown men who made Catasauqua baseball and District 11 history.

n 1997, Catasauqua’s baseball team won a Class 2A baseball title with a 10-5 win over Canevin Catholic at Harrisburg’s Riverside Stadium.

It is a frozen piece in time in the annals of Catty athletics, and it should be. This was for the team, players, program, and the town that celebrated its first state title since the girls’ basketball team won it nine years earlier, and the heyday of Larry Miller in the early 60s.

Little did they know it would be the last Lehigh Valley and District 11 team to win a state title. That’s a long 29 years. And it’s actually pretty incredible that no team has won a title, considering all the talent in the Lehigh Valley and a little beyond.

Still, you can’t take anything away from a Catty team that posted a 25-4 record and even lost to Southern Lehigh in the Colonial league semifinals. But, from there, they mowed over Pius X (11-4), defending state champions Tri-Valley (4-1), Northwestern (7-3), and Minersville (9-0) to the state path.

On their state road, they disposed of Bishop Shanahan, Daniel Boone, and Annville-Cleone before meeting Canevin Catholic.

It was a year that hasn’t been duplicated on many fronts, and it likely won’t be.

They hit .361 as a team, and averaged 9.92 runs per contest. Their pitching recorded 190 strikeouts to help support a 1.92 team ERA.

Tim Superka led the team in hitting (.458). home runs (8), and RBIs (35). He also posted a 12-2 mark on the mound with a 1.13 ERA, 99 strikeouts, and three saves. Superka also was named the Colonial League Most Valuable Player.

However, this wasn’t a one-man show. There were six seasoned seniors, nine juniors and one sophomore under head coach Scott Brosky.

Instead, it was a senior-laced effort, many of whom took their lumps starting as a freshman. Those same youngsters blossomed over the next three years that saw the Roughies’ progress go from 4-14 and 10-11 to 18-7.

Ye, it still resonates with the players, as their milestone reaches another year without a challenger in reach.

Dan Lopez, who hit .396 with a team-high 37 hits, 24 RBIs, and was one of the wunderkinds, recently reminisced with his teammates. Since 2020, the team has planned to have a reunion every five years to recount the memories and the accomplishments.

“We were just talking about it last week when states were starting,” stated Lopez, who is a current assistant coach on the Roughies’ squad. “I start getting messages from all my friends that are out of town checking in on seeing how everybody’s doing.”

Lopez also had another reality check.

“After seeing the years pass, it really made us realize how great of an achievement it really was for us,” beamed Lopez. “Then when June comes around Matt Andrews usually will send out a Tweet if we end up still being the only team to ever win a state championship from the Lehigh Valley.

“We still talk about everything that happened that day. We were talking about the whole season just recently and it was an awesome time. The fans in the town supported us so much. It was such a great feeling and experience.”

In Catty, good or bad memories usually don’t get stored on a shelf. They tend to linger, especially the good ones, and they are never short on celebrations.

“Still to this day I have people that tell me they were at that game and remember what happened,” recalled Lopez. “It just brought everyone together. It was similar to the last year or two with the basketball team doing really well and bringing the community together. Having everyone come out and support was an awesome feeling.”

Andrews, who also played as a freshman, hit .337 with 19 RBIs and went 8-1 with a .230 ERA and 55 strikeouts. He has June 12 circled on his calendar.

“We usually start texting in early May, checking on who’s alive and what not,” said Andrews. “Coach Brosky texted me on the morning, saying ‘29 years, crazy, State Champs!!’ “

“So, it never gets old. It never will.”

For the group of 16, June 12, 1997, lives another year without being tarnished.