Behind the scenes, Dave Breth made impact on thousands of baseball players

Much can be accomplished behind the scenes.

For Dave Breth, it was getting more than 100 baseball players from the Alle-Kiski Valley and other parts of Western Pennsylvania scouted and sent to colleges.

James D. (Dave) Breth, 80, of Cheswick died Tuesday in his home.

For Breth, it started with his affiliation with Jack Heimbuecher and Springdale American Legion baseball in 1970. He helped found the Springdale-based Hall of Fame baseball camp in the mid-1970s that brought up to 250 aspiring players in annually to perform before college coaches.

Soon, Breth helped establish a pipeline to places such as Indiana, Kent State and Wooster in Ohio.

Among the players he helped send to Indiana were Leechburg graduate Mickey Morandini, current Pirates broadcaster John Wehner of Carrick and former major leaguers Kevin Orie of Upper St. Clair and Chris Peters of Peters Township.

“Dave was just a great ambassador of baseball and a man with the biggest heart,” said Bob Morgan, retired Hoosiers baseball coach who had more than 1,000 victories in his career. “I attribute much of the success I had to Dave. He did so much for the kids in the area.”

Orie, who had a five-year career with the Cubs and the Marlins, credits Breth for gearing him toward baseball after being a three-sport standout at Upper St. Clair.

“Dave had those showcase camps in Springdale when there wasn’t a whole lot of those things going on. He was a tremendous liaison for (Indiana) and helped put it on the map. It never would have happened without Dave,” said Orie, an O’ Hara resident. “Dave was a tremendous force.”

While at Wooster, Morgan coached 1976 Springdale graduate Tim Basilone.

“There were at least a hundred kids who got to college because of Dave,” Basilone said. “There were a lot of kids who might not have gone to college were it not for the financial aid Dave was able to get for them.”

Breth preferred to be in the background, serving as scorekeeper and statistician for Springdale’s 1972 state Legion championship team and 1978 state runner-up.

“He wanted to see players get a chance and an opportunity,” Morgan said. “Dave was a great friend of mine. I’d get off the plane in Pittsburgh and he’d tell me we have to get to this field to see this guy, another field to see that guy.”

Tim Pettorini, who directly succeeded Morgan at Wooster, got a heads up from Wooster sports writer Ernie Infield.

“He had a column, ‘Rumbling Around the Infield,’ ” Pettorini recalled. “He met me and told me the first thing I had to do was get a hold of this Dave Breth from Pennsylvania. He sent Bob Morgan a lot of players.”

Said Basilone: “Dave was behind the scenes doing the organizational work. He just had that eye for talent and the coaches realized the talent we had in Apollo-Ridge, Freeport, West Deer and all around Western Pennsylvania.”

As for compensation for his efforts, Breth accepted none. He gladly paid for college trips and scouting forays out of his own pocket.

He also used the annual state American Legion East-West all-star game as a vehicle to get players noticed.

“Dave was a big reason for our success,” Pettorini added. “He was a good friend and I will miss him tremendously.”

Pettorini is now retired and winters in Florida.

There was no visitation. Funeral arrangements were handled by the Charles Jarvie Funeral Home of Springdale.