Growing up: Red Land Little League champs seeking high school success

(Undated) — Jared Payne missed out on his own Red Land Little League experiences.

It’s one of the few regrets for Red Land High School’s standout junior catcher, who instead focused on travel ball when he was of the appropriate age.

But Payne and his Patriots baseball teammates are enjoying the next best thing this spring.

They’re sharing fields, locker rooms, bus rides and practice time with a majority of the 2015 U.S. championship Little League lineup.

Yep, in case you haven’t noticed, those boys who took central Pa. — heck, the entire state and a lot of the country — on a wondrous ride to Williamsport three summers ago, are (mostly) now in high school.

Cole Wagner, a freshman, and Jaden Henline, a sophomore, both suited up all season for Nate Ebbert’s varsity squad (16-3), which won the Mid-Penn Conference Commonwealth Division regular-season title and ranks among the favorites in the District 3 Class 5A tournament, which starts today with the Patriots hosting Gettysburg at 4:30.

Wagner owns a .482 batting average with 10 doubles, three homers and 26 RBIs at the plate, and he also represents a 1.18 ERA with 27 strikeouts in 23 innings on the mound.

Henline is hitting .280 with three doubles and six RBIs and boasts a 1.61 ERA with 12 whiffs in 13 innings on the bump.

The following boys starred for the junior varsity team (13-5) coached by the 2015 Little League manager Tom Peifer: sophomores Adam Cramer and Jake Cubbler, and freshmen Braden Kolmansberger, Ethan Phillips, Dylan Rodenhaber, Camden Walter and Bailey Wirt. Cramer and Cubbler have both joined the varsity roster for the postseason.

Red Land freshman Zack Sooy, whose primary sport is now hockey, took the spring off from sports but isn’t ruling out a return to baseball.

Jarrett Wisman suffered an injury in the first game of the season for the Cedar Cliff JV team but remained on the roster.

Chayton Krauss moved with his family to Texas in summer of 2016 and, as a freshman, played JV this season on one of the country’s best programs, Coppell High School. He also plays for New Zealand’s U15 baseball team.

And Kaden Peifer, the only non-high schooler in the bunch, will make the move from Crossroads Middle School to Red Land after this school year.

“We already had a very good team going in [this season],” said Payne, who grew up playing with Cole’s cousin, sophomore star Luke Wagner. “But I was thinking of my junior year, what we had coming up. We were excited about it. It was just a thrill thinking of Cole, a big lefty coming in, having that big arm, and Jaden. All those guys coming in.”

Payne, who’s verbally committed to the University of Kentucky, was among the thousands who dressed in red and cheered with unmistakable passion as Red Land’s Little League squad capped its 2015 championship season with a series of memorable triumphs at Howard J. Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport.

“Oh, it was great,” said Payne, who was entering his freshman year at Red Land that summer. “Literally the whole community came together. And all the boys were just so awesome to the kids, the younger kids and even the high schoolers. We had our Red Sea, and it pretty much brought all of us together.”

The whirlwind of 2015

The spotlight remained on Red Land’s championship 13 (and coaches) long after the wild 18-11 loss to Tokyo Kitasuna of Japan in the Aug. 30 international title game.

The boys, who’d lived together in dorms for weeks in Bristol, Connecticut, (host of the Mid-Atlantic Regional), and South Williamsport, were granted full hero treatment from the moment they returned home that night.

There were parades, parties, countless invitations. There were visits with the York Revolution, Harrisburg Senators and, of course, the Baltimore Orioles. They were guests of James Franklin and the Penn State football team, where Kolmansberger famously kicked a field goal that forced Franklin into push-ups in front of his players.

Former Red Land basketball coach Scott Slayton penned a book about the season. They were guests on radio and TV programs. There was — and, still is, according to those involved (more on that below) — hopes of turning their story of small-town community-turned-national champs into a Hollywood movie.

Some of the boys, most notably Wagner and Henline, became Internet famous, with thousands of followers on social media, as well as the seemingly unavoidable accompanying creation of fake accounts using their names and likenesses.

“It’s kind of overwhelming at some points,” Henline said. “I guess I never really dreamed of it coming true, but it was kind of like a dream come true. I never really dreamed of anyone being a superstar or anything like that, but it’s just crazy to believe that it happened.”

Added Wagner: “Everything was really tough, and experiencing that so early, it’s something I think will help me. If I do someday play professional baseball, I know that things will be similar with all the media and spotlight. Experiencing that as young as I did helped me focus.”

Despite that fame, it appears the boys have remained relatively grounded, helped in large part by coaches who’ve been involved through the various levels.

Peifer, the former Little League manager and now the head JV coach, is a nurse at the high school. Kyle Wagner, twin brother of Little League pitching coach Bret Wagner, is a varsity assistant and a Red Land teacher.

Aaron Walter, a Little League assistant, is a varsity assistant and a high school guidance counselor.

And Ebbert, the high school head coach, managed most of the 2015 Little League boys to a state championship when they were in the 9-10 age bracket a few years earlier and is also a high school teacher.

“So they’ve known us a long time,” Walter said. “They know we have high standards, and they know we expect a lot out of them. And it doesn’t mean they don’t fall short sometimes, but we know them really well, and we can talk to them, and they’re willing to make adjustments. And they’re willing to continue to be people pleasers.

“They’re not little boys anymore, but they’re still growing men who are getting older [who] I think still want to be great.”

Braden Kolmansberger, whose father, J.K., helped coach the 2015 team, credits the coaches’ influence and for being “good role models.”

“They’ve definitely been the most humble about the experience because they’re the most mature, so they know what’s right and wrong.”

Burden of expectations

Win a national championship at 12 years old, and the burden of expectations hugs you like a grandmother during the holidays.

For the high school program, that goes double, as the Wagner twins (Bret and Kyle), along with Tom Peifer and some other faces still familiar around the northern York County school, helped the Patriots win a 1990 PIAA baseball championship.

“It’s definitely something to live up to,” Cole Wagner said. “State championship is the goal. At least one would be amazing. And so what our dads accomplished is something that we have to live up to, and it’s a goal that we can shoot for. So being on this field, it’s a special place with the bloodlines.”

Cramer didn’t sound the least bit cocky when he matter-of-factly added this: “I think at least one or two state championships is the expectation, honestly.”

Each class this season has a Division I baseball recruit, starting with senior Zeb Stough (High Point), junior Payne (Kentucky), sophomore Luke Wagner (Georgia) and freshman Cole Wagner (also Georgia).

So aiming for District 3 and PIAA titles isn’t exactly far-fetched.

“The kids at our school are definitely hoping our team’s going to make a run in the next few years,” Cubbler said. “Because that would just be exciting for the whole area again. But, for us, we’re just going to keep the same mantra: one game at a time.”

Peifer, whose almost alarmingly calm on-field demeanor helped the Little League team maintain a crucial element of composure during its 2015 run, said there’s automatically a level of expectation associated with the Patriots’ program, even before his boys were crowned national champs.

“The kids know when they get here, they’re going to have to work hard to step on the field,” he said. “And that just raises everybody. There’s people pushing from below, people pushing to get starting spots. I think the Little League kids in particular knew that because they did that. So bringing them [on] just adds to that and just helps this program tremendously.”

Said Phillips: “It’s just awesome to represent your school.”

Seeking another diamond thrill

Bret Wagner, the former first-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, now sits on the hill with other parents, family and fans.

His voice can still be heard, shouting encouragement or instruction, but he’s not an official coach with the high school program.

A southpaw like his son, his focus seems to be preparing Cole for adulthood, both inside and outside of baseball.

“It’s a really good situation because you’ve got some nice senior leadership,” Bret Wagner said of Red Land. “You’ve got some juniors, sophomores and freshmen. They’re going to be set for a while.”

He calls the 2015 run “a thrill of a lifetime” and still “hard to believe,” though he admits some of the coaches and parents started talking about the possibility of such a run when the boys were just 8, 9, 10 years old.

“I think we handled it pretty well, and we had fun in the moment,” Wirt said of that magical summer. “And that’s really what matters. Just have fun.

“Once it was over, we kind of wanted [the ride] to continue. But we’re just fine now. We moved on with our lives pretty much.”

Rodenhaber, another of the freshmen, needed convincing to play baseball this spring. He’s blossoming into a star in both football and wrestling at Red Land.

But the lessons from 2015 stick with him today.

“It kind of taught me to be humble, to keep your head down, mouth shut,” he said. “Don’t go out there bragging and stuff. It’s kind of not as much baseball-related but more life experience.”

Movie or not, it’s still a happy ending

The attention that came with the 2015 stardom was mostly positive, especially since the boys helped raise more than $30,000 for the Four Diamonds Foundation and others to fight childhood cancer, according to Lucy Gnazzo, who represented the team through LM Gnazzo Promotion Strategies after their championship run.

In fact, they’re still involved, with several of the team members participating in an April flag planting to kick off Child Abuse Prevention Month.

A movie, initially titled “Against the Odds,” sought crowdfunding to budget a Hollywood telling of the boys’ on-field triumphs. But, despite raising thousands of dollars and pulling in co-sponsors like Rutter’s and the Harrisburg Senators, aggressive deadlines weren’t met, and progress has stalled on the movie front.

In a recent statement signed by producers Jameson Hesse, A.J. Ferrara and Tom Abraham (Hesse and Abraham are Red Land natives), they say the search continues for the right production partners after at least two near deals fell through.

“We completely understand some of the frustrations and questions that have arisen due to the time it is taking to get the film financed and produced,” the statement said. “We share your frustration but wanted to let everyone know that we are constantly working to get the project financed and will not stop until that happens.”

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.