Baseball | February 15, 2018

Playing baseball at the highest level. That was the vision for Jeff Hentz. As a high school ball player in New Brunswick, N.J., Hentz was sure he'd get a baseball scholarship. And as a standout pitcher on the La Salle baseball team, he envisioned playing professional baseball. What Hentz never could have imagined was the road that got him to where he is today.

It was the fourth week of May in Hentz's final season on the baseball team at St. Peter's High School. He assured his parents not to worry and told them he'd get a scholarship. Still no offers were on the table.

Then came the county tournament semifinals. Gene McDonnell, the winningest head coach in La Salle baseball history, made the trip to New Jersey to scout a player on the opposing team. Even though Hentz's team lost the game, 3-2, it was Hentz who stole the spotlight, and McDonnell took notice.

"For some reason, coach [McDonnell] was more enamored with my performance than the other fella," Hentz explained.

After the game, McDonnell and Hentz chatted, ultimately concluding on a scholarship offer to play for the Explorers. Naturally, Hentz was more than willing to jump at the offer. After playing in the inaugural New Jersey state all-star game, he received more offers, but Hentz had his mind made up.

"At that point, we had kind of made our commitment," he said. "And we stuck to it, we honored it. Retrospectively, it was probably one of the transformational moments in my life."

But as a native of northern New Jersey, Hentz knew nothing of the baseball program at La Salle. Growing up in New Brunswick, Rutgers was right there, and he was also aware of the programs at Seton Hall, St. John's and Long Island University, but not La Salle.

"What I knew about La Salle revolved around basketball," Hentz revealed. "I've always been a huge basketball fan."

As a kid, Hentz enjoyed tuning in to the Philadelphia-based Channel 17 on his family's television, which broadcasted Big 5 basketball games. He grew up watching the talented La Salle teams of the 1960's and 70's. That was what he knew about La Salle.

Hentz made an immediate impact for the Explorers on the diamond. As a freshman, Hentz remembers a big game against city-counterpart Villanova. He recalls throwing a three-hit shutout, leading La Salle to a 3-0 win.

Fast-forward to his junior year at La Salle, Hentz was starting to make a name for himself on the mound, finishing second in the nation in strikeouts. The hard-throwing right-hander had one thing that remained on his mind – playing professional baseball – and it finally seemed like a legitimate possibility.

That season, scouts had discussed the potential of Hentz going anywhere in rounds 5-10 of the MLB Draft. However, throwing batting practice one day, he was injured as a line drive drilled him in the shoulder blade.

"To this day, I can still feel the spot where I got hit," Hentz expressed.

The following game, with many scouts in attendance, he took the mound against rival Temple. But things weren't the same for Hentz in the aftermath of the injury, and he had a "very bad game that day," as he put it. Thus, Hentz was not drafted that year.

"Looking back, it was a very positive thing for a number of reasons," explained Hentz. "I chose that senior year to focus on my studies because I faced the very-real possibility that I was not going to play professional baseball."

With a newfound mindset, Hentz turned his focus to his schoolwork. The marketing major began to thrive in the classroom, but it didn't stop there. Hentz continued to dominate on the mound, and the Explorers were on the rise.

Mark Swiski, a teammate of Hentz and a 2014 inductee in the Hall of Athletes, praised his former teammate and shed light on his dominance.

"Jeff was exceptional," Swiski stated. "He always kept the ball down, and it was fast. Unlike other pitchers who really didn't have much movement on their pitches, his pitches always had movement."

Hentz was the ace of the pitching staff, while Swiski and fellow teammate Tom Bonk led the offense. Hentz put together a 7-3 record with a 2.80 ERA and struck out 64 batters that senior season.

With Hentz and Swiski as captains, the Explorers went 23-12 overall, setting the school record for wins at the time.

"I wanted to do my part because I knew my teammates, especially from a hitting standpoint, were going to do their share," Hentz stated.

Hentz gives much of the credit to his coaches, McDonnell and pitching coach Butch McNally, for the team's success.

"We were always well prepared," said Hentz. "When the coach asked me to take the ball, I took the ball, and I tried to go as deep into the game as I could. And when I was done, I rested until the next time I took the ball."

On Saint Patrick's Day, 1982, Hentz threw a no-hitter, which he described as one of the most memorable moments of his time at La Salle.

"It was a 38 degree day," he explained. "I remember after five innings my arm did not feel great. I told [coach] McNally and coach McDonnell that I didn't know how much further I could go, that I was having some discomfort. All they did was take out some atom balm that they put on my arm. I got through all nine innings. I think I struck out 11 guys. I think I walked five, so I probably threw about 150 pitches."

Swiski also shared a memory of Hentz shutting down one of the best hitting teams they faced, Delaware as he recalled, leading them to a 3-2 victory over a team they had never beaten before.

"Jeff was this tall, athletic, hard-throwing pitcher who you could always count on," said Swiski. "You always knew you had a chance with Jeff on the mound. He was so competitive."

Anything Hentz did, that competitiveness came out, as Swiski put it. Swiski saw that competitiveness firsthand whenever he would take batting practice with Hentz pitching. He even saw it as an opponent when the two played against each other in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, which featured the best college players in the Northeast.

"He was really competitive, and [you] always knew he wasn't going to give you anything as a hitter," Swiski continued. "In practice, he would never give me a pitch to hit. That's how competitive he was. Anything he did, you knew that you had to give it your best against him because he wasn't going to let down."

To this day, Hentz still has his name written all over the La Salle baseball record book, most notably sitting tied for second in program history in career wins. Hentz is also tied for fifth in single season wins (7), tied for sixth in career strikeouts (183) and is ninth in career innings pitched (208.1), all three of which were school records at the time of his departure.

When asked about his mindset whenever he took the mound, Hentz humbly said, "I went out there thinking I was better than the opposing team." And as the numbers reflect, most days he was.

But when Hentz looks back on his time at La Salle, it's much more than just his baseball accomplishments that has influenced his life. Looking back now, he appreciates the LaSallian values of stewardship and community service that were taught, and he is very much involved with his parish and within his community to this day.

Today, having worked in sales for the last 34 years, Hentz recalls economics professors Dr. Flubacher and Brother Ratkus, who made lasting impressions on him. He also remembers Connie Newman, a 2017 Hall of Athletes inductee, who taught a sales course. Hentz explained that Newman's class truly resonated in him.

Yet what Hentz remembers most of all from being at La Salle were the life-long bonds that he made with the people around him.

"It's the friendships that I made and the teammates that I played with then who are still very good friends to this day, and they'll be life-long friends. That's the most important thing."

When asked about his friend and former teammate being inducted into the Hall of Athletes, Swiski said that it was an absolute pleasure to see.

"We had a really strong team of great players," recalled Swiski. "I remember it being the start of something really great at La Salle. To have a fellow teammate be recognized, I'm humbled to be in, and I know Jeff is as well."

Three seasons later, the 1985 Explorers would go on to break the 1982 team's record for wins in a season, earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament and finished one win away from the College World Series. Swiski reiterated that it was their teams of the early 80's that laid the foundation for future teams, such as the 1985 squad.

"We had amazing teams, and I think we propelled the teams that came after us," Swiski expressed. "The fact that we came in with a lot of great players, a lot of other great players decided to come. Jeff was from North Jersey, and we started to recruit up there more, some great players because of Jeff."

In the end, the vision Hentz saw so vividly became reality. He was chosen in the 17th round of the 1982 MLB Amateur Draft by the Atlanta Braves.

Still, it was La Salle that shaped him, and when talking about the scholarship La Salle gave him, he declared, "I don't think I could put a price tag on the value."

Hentz ended with a message to current and future Explorers.

"Keep your dreams alive in terms of professional aspirations, but don't take your eye off the ball in terms of your academics," he advised. "Because when you blow out your arm, or you can no longer hit the curveball, or hit a three-point shot in basketball, you can fall back on a degree from a wonderful institution where there are a tremendous amount of successful alumni out in various walks of life."

Jeff Hentz '82 will be inducted into the Hall of Athletes on Saturday, Feb. 17 following the men's basketball game against George Mason. This feature is the fourth of five that will be posted on GoExplorers.com this week, leading up to the induction ceremony.