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Southside\u2019s Shane Fillman, a Whitehall grad, makes a play Tuesday during an East Coast Collegiate Baseball League game in Bethlehem. (Amy Shortell\/The Morning Call)<\/p>\nWhen he was the manager of the Allentown Railers in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, Dylan Dando led the franchise to four titles in five seasons.<\/p>\n
The last of those titles came in 2019, the last summer before the pandemic slowed or eliminated many things.<\/p>\n
Dando is now in his second season coaching the Southside franchise in the East Coast Collegiate Baseball League and while everyone seems to use the Railers nickname to describe the team, he\u2019s reluctant to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody calls us the Southside Railers except me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a new franchise in a new league, and yet the winning has continued from Allentown\u2019s Bicentennial Park, which has been reconfigured for use by the Muhlenberg College baseball program, to the Southside Little League complex nestled off the beaten path on Hellertown Road in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
Dando said, \u201cThe Railers always won a lot, and you know, I want to keep winning a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, so good in the ECCBL\u2019s second season.<\/p>\n
Southside defeated the longtime rival Quakertown Blazers 4-2 in a well-played, nine-inning game on Tuesday night to improve to 10-0.<\/p>\n
Whitehall grad Owen Fischl had two hits and knocked in a run, and Shane Fillman, another former Zephyr, collected an RBI. Fischl, who has played in all 10 games, is batting .484 with RBIs.<\/p>\n
This is a collegiate league, so the goal is always player development.<\/p>\n
But Dando has always believed that the way you make players better is to get them to figure out how to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to make them better, but for them to do that, they have to figure out how to win, how to be a winning player,\u201d Dando said. \u201cYou have to figure out ways to help your team win and figure out how to do things that create value for yourself. That\u2019s one of the things we pride ourselves on here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s what we did with the Railers. We had guys who went on to play professional baseball, and I\u2019m in contact with all of them now, and they got back to a lot of the stuff that we talked about when they were with us. There\u2019s a lot of stuff that goes on over the course of a game that has a chance to separate you from other people when it comes to helping your team win.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, from a development standpoint, the winning is a real part of it,\u201d Dando added.<\/p>\n
Southside had a successful first season in the new league in 2024, going 22-13. The Railers lost to the Blazers in the first round of the playoffs, which are in a single-elimination format after a 34-game regular season.<\/p>\n
The league has nine teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of guys back from last year,\u201d Dando said. \u201cIt\u2019s probably 60-40 [percent] returning guys to new guys. The league is well organized. There are some people in this league who have been doing it for a long time, and some other people who haven\u2019t been doing it for a long time. Organizationally, I think it\u2019s good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some players who played in this league last year who are playing professional baseball right now. Dennis Pierce played for us last year, and now he\u2019s playing professional baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pierce, a Quakertown High product, had a huge spring in leading East Stroudsburg University to the NCAA Division II World Series. He\u2019s now playing for Evansville in an independent league.<\/p>\n
Southside\u2019s Shane Fillman, a Whitehall grad, makes a play Tuesday during an East Coast Collegiate Baseball League game in Bethlehem. (Amy Shortell\/The Morning Call)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe probably have more than 30 guys who have played for us who have played professional baseball,\u201d Dando said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud of what we\u2019ve been able to accomplish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dando likes his current team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re good,\u201d he said. \u201cI like the way we compete. We\u2019ve got some older guys that are our leaders, and we come out and do our work and do what we\u2019re supposed to do. Obviously, the goal is to get better every single day. That\u2019s my job \u2014 to make them better every day. I know my style is probably a little bit different from what they\u2019re used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am happy we\u2019re 10-0. I like the way we\u2019ve played through 10 games. But it\u2019s a long season, and 10-0 is nothing to get real excited about. But I like the guys and how they go about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brayden Rader, a Bethlehem Catholic product who is coming off his freshman season at Stonehill College in Massachusetts, is in his first year with Southside after spending last year with the Pocono Timber Rattlers in the ECCBL.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a good mix of guys with some guys who were here last year and carried the winning culture over to this year, and some guys we brought in this year and we\u2019ve always clicked super fast,\u201d Rader said. \u201cThat has allowed us to grind out wins like tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cDylan expects us to play hard and the right way. For all of us guys who are coming here from a college program, a coach like Dylan keeps us on the right track and doesn\u2019t let us get lax. He keeps the guys ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fischl, who graduated from Whitehall in 2021 and is a DeSales product, is a returnee who loves playing for Southside.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the most talented group of kids I\u2019ve ever played with from hitting-wise to pitching-wise; I know I have never been 10-0 in my life after 10 games,\u201d Fischl said. \u201cIt\u2019s very nice. I\u2019ve got one more year left at DeSales and I can\u2019t wait. We\u2019ve got a bright future with some of the new freshmen coming in and I am excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fillman graduated from Whitehall in 2020. He played at Penn State-Abington, but is in the transfer portal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love playing here for Dylan,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great coach, and we\u2019ve played for Dylan forever with the Prospects [travel team]. We knew about the Railers. We have a lot of fun. We\u2019d like to think we can go undefeated this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even on a night when most people would have preferred to be at the beach, in a pool, or sipping cool drinks on a patio, they were happy to be playing baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, playing in the heat is better than not playing when it\u2019s raining out,\u201d Fillman said.<\/p>\n
Blue Mountain\/Perky League All-Star Game<\/p>\n
For the first time in many years, the Blue Mountain League and the Perkiomen Valley Twilight League are getting together for an all-star game. It\u2019s set for 7 p.m. Friday at Weaver Field in Lansdale.<\/p>\n
For those who can\u2019t make the game, you can listen online at Penn Sports Radio: https:\/\/pennsportsradio.com.<\/p>\n
The BML roster will feature:<\/p>\n
Catchers: Brock Bollinger (Northern Yankees); Dan Blugis (Royals); Aaron Schneider (Dodgers)<\/p>\n
1B: Logan Castellano (Falcons); Nate Kester (Creekers)<\/p>\n
2B: Ian Csencsits (Orioles); David Martinez (Northern Yankees)<\/p>\n
3B: Jack Rothenhausler (Bulls); Tyler LePage (Avengers)<\/p>\n
Shortstops: Matt Rosace (Creekers); Ryan Stubblefield (Giants)<\/p>\n
Outfielders: Zach Day (Braves); Sebastian Williamson (Northern Yankees); Carson Freeman (Creekers); Jacen Nalesnik (Northern Yankees); Lincoln Hower (Royals)<\/p>\n
DH: Cole Serfass (Braves); Zach Delp (Orioles)<\/p>\n
Pitchers: Evan McAndrew (Orioles); Adam Maini (Bulls); Rod Berger (Orioles); Hayden O\u2019Neill (Royals); Adam Michaelesko, (Falcons);(Falcons); Carter Welch (Northern Yankees)<\/p>\n
The Perkiomen Valley roster will feature:<\/p>\n
Collegeville: Cody Clarke; Mike Kerns; Mark McCouch; Kyle Feaster; Mike Hutchinkson; Roman Reed.<\/p>\n
Conshohocken: Mike Hutchinson; Roman Reed; Cole Kriger; Ian Diaz; Austin Kreyenhagen; Chase Fiske; Frank Pollock.<\/p>\n
Lansdale: Anthony Bruno; Dylan Tice; Rob Zinsmeister; Tyler Leonard; Jason Mills; Jeff Murtha; DJ Briscoe; Joey Santoro.<\/p>\n
Towamencin: Austin Frank; West Champlin; Greg Delgado.<\/p>\n
Trooper: Cesar Rodriguez.<\/p>\n
Valley Forge: Sam Plaugher; John Catchmark; Zach Smiley; Colin Kennedy; David Clay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When he was the manager of the Allentown Railers in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, Dylan Dando led…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2289],"tags":[5,648,1703,1694,2341,185,4802],"class_list":{"0":"post-131035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-college-baseball","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-college-baseball","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-baseball","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-top-stories-tmc"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114746480817355620","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}