Mike Kramer Field dedicated at Mill Hall Community Park
MILL HALL, PA – “A good coach can change a game; a great coach can change a life.” That quote, from legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, was used Friday at Mill Hall Community Park. The occasion was the dedication of the playing field at the park as Mike Kramer Field. The speaker was Tyler Barth as he emceed the program designating the field in honor of the longtime Central Mountain baseball coach Mike Kramer. Emcee Barth talked of the lives that the honored coach had helped shape in his teaching and coaching career.
Coach Kramer was caught by surprise with the dedication program before the Wildcats played their final home game, a 2-1 win over visiting Mifflin County. But Friday was first and foremost Mike Kramer’s day, the ceremony organized by two of his former players, Barth at Central Mountain High School and Chipp McCann at Bald Eagle-Nittany High School. Multiple former players and coaches were present for the dedication.
Barth, presently principal at Robb Elementary School, credited coach Kramer for helping to shape the future for hundreds of his former players. He said the coach is synonymous with Wildcat baseball where he has been the head coach since its first year in 2001. Coach Kramer also logged nine years as head coach at the former Bald Eagle-Nittany High School. Between the two programs the coach has amassed 347 wins over 32 years, sending better than 55 players on to play college baseball.
Kramer teams have won multiple league and district titles, including four of the last five District 6 championships plus a collective nine league crowns in the Mountain League, Central Penn League and, most recently, the Heartland Conference. The 17-1 Wildcats have already clinched at least a tie for another title in the Heartland Conference
Coach Kramer, caught off guard by the ceremony, said he was at a loss for words but made a point to thank his assistant coaches and program supporters over the decades. Later he told The Record he was “completely surprised; totally unexpected.” He said, “You go to work every day, do what you’re doing and before you know it, you’re 32 years into it. Where did it all go?” He said, “There guys make it fun to be part of the game; I’m truly blessed to have a strong support cast, a strong support system with my family and my wife.”
And now Mike Kramer has a field where he played and continues to coach named in his honor. Hundreds of people at the game on Friday were present to join in the surprise celebration.
