The most memorable highlight of Bruce Sutter\u2019s career resurfaces on social media on his birthday. It\u2019s a fastball, a swing and a miss and strike three.<\/p>\n
The pitch lives forever in the minds of St. Louis Cardinals fans because it was the final out of Game 7 of the 1982 World Series.<\/p>\n
In that sense, Sutter, who died in 2022 and would have turned 73 on Jan. 8, is immortal. Sports are magical in that way.<\/p>\n
Before the Donegal grad was that guy. He was our guy. A Lancaster County legend. The reality didn\u2019t sneak up on anyone when Sutter was playing on local fields more than five decades ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that Bruce was the best pitcher we would see in a high school game,\u201d former rival Ted Ansel said. \u201cEveryone knew how good Bruce was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sutter was, famously, the ace of Donegal\u2019s staff. Ansel was, less famously, the best pitcher for Garden Spot.<\/p>\n
Fate put them on opposite sides for one of Lancaster County\u2019s greatest baseball championship games in 1970.<\/p>\n
Sutter struck out 12 and allowed three hits. Ansel struck out seven and surrendered four hits. Donegal won 2-1 in nine innings and both pitchers stayed in for the entire game. Who knows how many pitches they threw? They didn\u2019t count back then.<\/p>\n
The matchup unfolded at Ephrata\u2019s War Memorial Field on May 29 and it was a must-see event within the community and beyond. Thousands attended the marquee games in those days. Some were broadcast on the radio.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time, I think there were 24 major league teams and there were 26 scouts at the game,\u201d Ansel said. \u201cIt was really something. It was electric.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garden Spot\u2019s only run against Sutter came on pinch-hitter Jim Ludwig\u2019s suicide squeeze bunt in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. It had to be the gutsiest decision of that season by legendary coach Ray Stern.<\/p>\n
Donegal won when \u201cHard-hitting\u201d Butch McCurdy, as he was called in the recap, singled home Sutter with the go-ahead run. McCurdy earned that description. The all-county second baseman batted .405 for the Indians.<\/p>\n
Ansel and Sutter couldn\u2019t escape each other that spring and summer. They squared off in the final game of the best-of-3 American Legion championship series in July. Mount Joy beat New Holland again.<\/p>\n
Known as a fireballing right-hander in newspaper accounts, Ansel was a star in his own right. He threw two no-hitters in consecutive weeks, including one against Lampeter-Strasburg to clinch Section Two.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Garden Spot’s Ted Ansel fires home a pitch during one of his no-hitters in 1970.<\/p>\n
LNP photo<\/p>\n
An interesting side note: Ansel and Sutter were the two pitchers selected all-county by the coaches. Sutter was named on 10 of a possible 14 first team ballots. He was chosen second team three times and omitted once. The vote hasn\u2019t aged well.<\/p>\n
Ansel and Sutter became friends after high school. Ansel pitched at Elizabethtown College, where his roommate was John Shrum, Donegal\u2019s center fielder.<\/p>\n
Sutter reached the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1976. Ansel went to watch the reliever\u2019s first game at Philadelphia. They attended a mutual friend\u2019s bachelor party afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cBruce would run in the outfield before the game,\u201d Ansel said. \u201cFrequently, on his way into the dugout, he\u2019d stop to say hello. Kids would be hanging over my back to get his autograph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sutter was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. Ansel was in Cooperstown for the occasion.<\/p>\n
Having Sutter on the opposite side for the biggest games of Ansel\u2019s youth seemed like bad luck. He didn\u2019t view it that way. For him, it was a badge of honor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI pitched as good a game as I could against Bruce,\u201d Ansel said. \u201cI pitched well enough to win. I was pretty darn proud. I had done right by my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ansel still recalls the 1970 all-star photo. The Garden Spot great is standing in the back row with Sutter two players away. The memories, he said, are priceless.<\/p>\n
As he talked about matching wits and fastballs with a future Hall of Famer, Ansel seemed wistful. He was asked if he wished he could revisit those glory days.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, no,\u201d Ansel said. \u201cI\u2019ve had them. I understand just how incredibly fortunate I was.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those who played in that famous game in 1970, it might as well have been the World Series.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 1970 Lancaster County baseball all-star team.<\/p>\n
LNP Photo<\/p>\n
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