O'Brien follows family tradition

His grandfather was a top baseball player in college and in the pros.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BOARDMAN -- It appears that Richie O'Brien Jr. is following in the early footsteps of his grandfather, Jack Mayo, in the game of baseball.
O'Brien, a 6-3, 195-pound righthanded pitcher and recent graduate of Boardman High, has earned a baseball scholarship to Bowling Green State University after achieving a two-year record of 14-4.
Mayo, 81, who played baseball for Notre Dame, went on to a six-year career from 1948-53 with the Philadelphia Phillies.
He was one of famous Whiz Kids of 1950 when the Phillies won their first National League pennant since 1915, outlasting the experienced Brooklyn Dodgers.
The Phillies were called the Whiz Kids because they were the youngest team in baseball to that point.
O'Brien enjoyed a 7-1 record and 1.31 earned run average for Boardman this past season after going 7-3 his junior year. He was named to the 2006 All-Federal League team.
Clinching game
But although O'Brien's statistics, physical size and recommendation from Boardman coach Scott Knox were big factors in winning his scholarship, he clinched it with an outstanding pitching performance in front of the Falcons' pitching coach, Todd Brown.
"The pitching coach came and watched me pitch a game this summer," said O'Brien, who also is in his second season with the Line Drive Academy traveling team in the Ohio Elite League.
O'Brien responded by pitching a four-hitter over the distance in a 10-1 win over the Astro Falcons traveling team.
"The following week, I visited Bowling Green again and they offered me a scholarship," O'Brien said.
Attended camp there
He said he always had an interest in Bowling Green and was invited to and attended a camp there last summer in July for players ages 16-18.
"They just called me [to attend]," O'Brien said. "But I wanted to go to Bowling Green for awhile, so I decided to go to camp and look at it."
He said he paid his own way to attend the three-day camp, but didn't pitch against any batters or in a scrimmage game.
"They liked my height and build. I did some warm-up pitching in the bullpen," said O'Brien of the camp.
But in the long run, "I had to rely on performance and Coach Knox whose opinion carries a lot of weight."
O'Brien will report to Bowling Green along with the other freshmen on Aug. 17. The baseball team will have a meeting Aug. 22.
In national tournament
Meanwhile, he has some unfinished business this summer because his Line Drive Academy team won the NABF Regional Tournament last Monday to advance to the NABF National Tournament in Jackson, Miss.
Line Drive Academy's opener is Thursday in pool play after which the top teams advance to single-elimination format.
Also on the team is Ryan Satterlee, a shortstop from Ursuline High, who has a baseball scholarship to attend the University of Toledo.
Since both Bowling Green and Toledo are in the Mid-American Conference and play each other regularly, O'Brien and Satterlee have a good chance of facing each other at the plate in the future.
O'Brien also has been named to the All-NABF Wooden Bat League Team.
The son of Susan (Mayo) and Richard O'Brien, Richie plans to major in the architectural field at Bowling Green.
Younger brother coming up
Meanwhile, O'Brien's younger brother, Pat, also is in baseball's developmental stage as a pitcher.
Pat pitched for the Boardman High freshman baseball team the past season and posted a 6-1 record.
Now he is playing for the Line Drive Academy team in the 14-15 Youngstown Babe Ruth League, and was selected to the league's All-Star Team that has qualified for the regional tournament in South Bend, Ind.
kovach@vindy.com