George Guido: Leechburg to host 1st game at renovated stadium

By: George Guido
Saturday, September 4, 2021 | 2:36 PM

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The turf is down, and Leechburg (2-0) is set to host its first game at its renovated facility Friday against Brentwood (1-1) in a nonconference game.

It’s either the 75th anniversary of Leechburg Veterans Stadium or the 75th year. Take your pick.

Here’s what happened: Leechburg Borough, which owns the property, wanted to build a stadium to supplement the field that was already there, then a simple layout with wooden bleachers. It had been known as the Welfare Grounds.

The borough hoped to have an actual stadium with a steel grandstand, lights for night games, space for locker rooms and storage underneath done by the start of the 1946 season opener against Vandergrift.

The stadium would be renamed in honor of the veterans who were returning home from World War II. The problem was a materials shortage as the U.S. was transitioning from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy.

Grass was grown to make the field playable, and lights were installed, but that was it.

A residents group designated the first week of September 1946 as Homecoming Week to honor hundreds of troops returning to the community. At the time, Leechburg High School drew students from not only the borough, West Leechburg and Gilpin, but also the Weinels area of Allegheny Township, the Kiskimere section of Parks and parts of Bethel Township near Crooked Creek.

The ceremony went on, anyway, in the makeshift field. Borough council president William Ritchie explained to the crowd further plans for the stadium, such as the steel grandstand.

Vandergrift, a much larger school, won the game 19-0. The first touchdown was scored by Blue Lancers quarterback Rudy Minarcin, who later was an MLB pitcher with the Reds and Red Sox.

On Sept. 3, 1947, the Leechburg School Board awarded a $10,000 contract to Secondo Freilino Construction for the work underneath the 2,500-seat grandstand that was being built by Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Company.

The first event there, while work was still going on, was a semipro football game Sept. 15, 1947, between the Stainless Steelers and the Leechburg Eagles, played to a 0-0 tie.

The following night, the Blue Wave, as Leechburg was nicknamed at the time, hosted Blairsville before 5,000 fans. The Bobcats won 12-0.

Leechburg won its first game at the new stadium Oct. 10, 1947, a 19-0 victory over Ford City.

This Friday against Brentwood, Leechburg will try to go 3-0 for the first time since 2000.

Procuring ‘The Pike’

Freeport won the first Pike Trophy on Friday with a 28-14 victory over Knoch.

The trophy, an actual stuffed pike fish mounted on a board with a plaque, will be awarded each year to the winner of the Freeport-Knoch football game. Freeport will have the Pike Trophy for the coming year. But if Knoch wins in 2022, Freeport has to hand it over to Knoch.

The idea came from Kenny Elliott, retired coach and educator from the area who lives near the Freeport-South Butler school district border. The Pike represents North and South Pike roads, part of Route 356 that bisects the two school districts.

Elliott said the most difficult part was getting the pike stuffed. A local woodworker provided the mounting board and B&J Sports of Harrison the plaque.

The first “Pike” was planned for last year, but the Freeport-Knoch game was called off because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Tags: Freeport, Knoch, Leechburg