Two Youngstown sandlot baseball buddies and Youngstown State classmates are key men in the front

Two Youngstown sandlot baseball buddies and Youngstown State classmates are key men in the front offices of the teams playing for the Northern League baseball championship.

Bill Terlecky (Ursuline) and Rick Muntean (Woodrow Wilson) are vice presidents and general managers of the Gary (Ind.) Southshore RailCats and the Kansas City (Kan.) T-Bones, respectively, which will play Game 3 of their championship series tonight at 7 at the U.S. Steelyard in Gary, the RailCats’ home field.

The best-of-5 series is tied at 1-1, the first two games being played at the Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, home of the T-Bones.

The RailCats won Game 1 Tuesday, 7-6, while the T-Bones took Game 2 Wednesday with a come-from-behind 12-7 win.

The Northern League is a six-team independent professional league. Besides the RailCats and T-Bones, the other teams are the Schaumburg (Ill.) Flyers, Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada) Goldeyes, Joliet (Ill.) Jackhammers and Fargo (N.D.)-Moorhead Red Hawks.

Terlecky, a YSU graduate, and Muntean, who played baseball for YSU under coach Dom Rosselli and later graduated from Ohio University, formerly worked together in the front office of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the Class AAA International League, when the team was a Philadelphia Phillies’ affiliate.

When Terlecky was the GM at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for 10 seasons from 1988-97, he brought in Muntean as his assistant. And when Terlecky left, Muntean took over.

Terlecky was named International League Executive of the Year in 1991 while GM for Scranton/Wilkes Barre, which is now a Class AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees.

Terlecky, Muntean met at Class B League tryout

“We played Class B together. That’s really when we met at Evans Field, which at that point was the home field for YSU. We met at a Class B tryout for Fabulous Goldsteins,” recalled Terlecky, 53, about the beginning of his long friendship with Muntean.

“We met 1971. I was student at YSU. Rick still was at Wilson. We played together on the same Fabulous Goldsteins team. Later, I became a coach for Goldsteins and Rick was the MVP in the local Connie Mack Tournament. I’m maybe three years older than Rick. I was a catcher and Rick was a pitcher.”

Terlecky, from Youngstown’s West Side, is happy that he has been able to launch Muntean, from the South Side, on his front-office baseball career.

“I ended up getting him his first job with the San Jose Bees of the Class AA California League,” said Terlecky.

He said they both have been in baseball for a long time.

“I have been in baseball for 30 years and he for about 25,” said Terlecky, who also attended Western Illinois University while working toward his Master’s degree.

He has a son, Tyler, 19, who plays college baseball at the State University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz.

RailCats eye third straight league crown

Terlecky’s RailCats are two-time defending league champions who are seeking their third title in the last four years under manager Greg Tagert. They have been members of the Northern League since 2002.

Muntean’s T-Bones, who are fresh off a sweep of regular-season champion Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, have been part of the circuit since 2005.

Terlecky became the RailCats’ second general manager in franchise history on Nov. 9, 2007, bringing with him 28 years of experience in professional baseball, including 23 years as a general manager.

Prior to joining the RailCats, he served as a special advisor to the president of the Binghamton Mets in the Class AA Eastern League, an affiliate of the New York Mets.

Terlecky also spent three years as general manager in the Class AAA International League from 1982-84.

XJohn Kovach is a sports reporter for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.