By Tim Shoemaker
Once he decided to put together a team in the Lehigh Valley Baseball League this season, Tyler Kline knew where to find players. Kline, 24 years old, had several contacts from his playing days at Whitehall High School, Lehigh Carbon Community College and previous league teams.
Coming up with a team name? That was a little more difficult.
A few of his first choices were taken. He was then shown some uniform options, and let the players take a vote.
The black uniforms with the light blue letters and orange trim won, so Kline’s team became the Marlins and settled in to play in the AA South Division.
Things have been occasionally bumpy, but overall very good. The Marlins (8-7-1) have clinched a playoff berth and will play either the Angels or Bandits in the first round of playoffs next weekend. First up, however, are two regular season-ending games Sunday, first with the Angels, then with the Bandits.
In fact, all eight playoff spots in AA have been clinched. The Blue Jays, Landsharks Otters and Pilots will battle for the North championship, while the Bandits, Angels, Pink Sox and Marlins will compete for the South title.
The Marlins began the season 1-3, then went on a 7-1-1 stretch in which the only loss was 2-1 to the Padres. Following a stretch of 19 days without a game, the Marlins have gone 0-3 versus the Angels, Sharks and Bandits.
No matter how it plays out from this point, Kline, who learned quite a bit about coaching from his father, Kris, and has his brother Noah as an assistant, said that he is proud of having made something from scratch in less than a year.
“Going onto the league’s website and seeing the Marlins in third or fourth place, it’s a proud moment that this idea that started at work one day is now unfolding,” he said. “We have a chance to go into the playoffs and hopefully go at it for a championship.”
Kline plays center field, pitches and fills in elsewhere when needed. He is among his team’s batting leaders with a .480 average and 16 RBIs. Alex Bruneio, a former Whitehall and King’s College player, is hitting .423.
Kline pitches, too, but the staff is led by Ethan Naftzinger, who leads the team in wins with three, and Matt Hassick is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA.
Managing and playing is not the easiest thing to do, especially from center field, where Kline usually plays.
“That’s one of the more challenging things when you form a team with your friends,” he said. “You don’t want to be that guy who tells people what to do. But at the same time, we have a great chemistry and I want to do what’s best for this team.”
