The apples don鈥檛 fall far from the Altland family tree
STEWARTSTOWN, Pa. — The Altland household has long been filled with baseballs, softballs, lacrosse balls, all of the corresponding equipment and uniforms, and cleats, so many pairs of cleats, with 3 growing kids participating in sports since a young age! The Altland siblings are growing up now, and their love for sports keeps growing along with them. Brock, now 20, is off at WVU playing lacrosse, while Brady, 18, and Brooke, 16, are continuing at Dallastown High School playing baseball and softball respectively.
Parents Brenda and Scott Altland say,聽We are a family that was brought together by sports. We met as the result of Scott’s Stoverstown baseball manager, Larry Stiffler. Our journey in travel sports started with baseball in 2011. Brock played for the York Young Revs with Scott on the coaching staff. At times it has been a struggle to juggle multiple events on the same weekend. It has been a joy to watch our children grow in ability and confidence. We believe that competition in athletics has been a wonderful way for our children to develop great character, leadership, and work ethic.
The sports train left the station for this family long before the kids were around running bases and scoring goals though.聽 If you have been in the area for a while, you may recognize Scott, as he is a bit of a local celebrity in the local baseball world!聽 Scott Graduated high school in 1987, also a Dallastown alumni. In 鈥�87 they weren’t projected to be in the hunt for a championship. 鈥淏y some miracle the stars aligned, and we won the then YCIAA championship,鈥� says Scott. After that, he went on to be a 鈥渨alk on鈥� at Temple University where he spent 2.5 years. Next up would be a transfer to York College where things got interesting.
After playing as starting pitcher throughout college, he had to have elbow surgery after his junior year. It was in the hospital where Scott experienced his 15-minutes of fame, or 15-seconds in his own words.聽 His surgery was done by the Baltimore Orioles team physician. The nurse came by on her rounds, looked at his chart and saw his doctor鈥檚 name. Scott remembers, 鈥淪he looked up at me with wide eyes and asked if I’m an Oriole – hence the 15 seconds of fame!鈥�
Due to his surgery, he went from a starter to a closer for his senior year.聽 This was when his biggest accomplishment ensued.聽 鈥淚 have a record at York College that can NEVER be broken. A perfect ERA of 0.00 for my Senior year!鈥� Scott tells us. They were just one game away from the D3 College World Series in 1992. After that Scott participated in the Central League York Baseball League before hanging up cleats in 2007.聽 Scott is also a retired Springettsbury Township police officer, and we thank him for his service!
As you can see, the children were destined to be sports fans and players themselves.聽 Brock says that his passion for sports and competitive spirit 鈥減robably comes from my Dad, he was a division 1 athlete, which is what I wanted to do all through grade school.鈥澛� Brock played travel baseball with the York Young Revolution before transitioning into lacrosse in 8th grade.聽 He now attends WVU, and plays for the Mountaineers club team as an attackman.聽 Brock says that sports have always played a big role in their families鈥� life, especially with having a baseball or softball tournament nearly every weekend.聽 They also bond over backyard sports, though the occasional squabble may arise from them!聽 Brock, a business major, looks like he has a very bright future.聽 When asked what he sees for it, he says 鈥淚t looks like making six figures with a strong family unit and living in warm weather with a lovely house and a career I can excel in.鈥澛� Sounds like a plan to me! 鈥淚 feel sports have given me an out from the crazy stressful world; I can just go out and better myself physically and mentally.鈥�
Brady, in his senior year at Dallastown, the self described 鈥渞eserved and laid back鈥� one in the bunch, has played baseball all four years on the team.聽 In the past, he played for the Young Revs and Backyard University Gamers.聽 He is set to graduate this year, and is looking forward to college.聽 He currently is the lead-off hitter and starting centerfielder.聽 When talking about sports and the Altland family, he says that 鈥渟ports play a significant role because everyone always has practices or games all of the time during the season, and there isn鈥檛 much time for other things!鈥澛� When asked about his passion for sports, he also points to Scott.聽 He says it came from his Dad getting him involved at a young age, so they have always been in his life since being a young child, and that he has always loved playing.聽 When asked about overcoming a mistake in a game, he tells us about a time when in one of the last regular season games, he missed a fly ball to end the game.聽 The other team ended up scoring to tie it up, but in extra innings he hit a double to bring in a run and they won the game!聽 A perfect lesson in overcoming obstacles and not giving up!聽 鈥淪ports have shaped my character through the years by teaching me that hard work is necessary in order to be good and win.鈥�
Brooke, sophomore, is currently batting second and the starting center fielder at Dallastown.聽 She is also in her 4th year with the PA Ballhawks travel team.聽 Brook says that growing up with her brothers and going to their games was a big part of all of their childhoods, and that competing with them in all aspects of their lives definitely helped shape her competitive streak. She aspires to attend University of Pittsburgh and pursue a career as a physical therapist or something in the sports medicine field. When telling us about a mistake on the field she remembers a time where she ran into a teammate trying to catch a ball, and then dropped a ball that she could have easily caught.聽 鈥淢oving forward after that game I just told myself that it was in the past and the only thing I could do now is to learn from it and not make the same mistake again.聽 That mistake made me smarter and a better player in the end, and I didn鈥檛 make another mistake like that again.鈥澛� Given that we all make mistakes in life, this is some sound advice from this young athlete!聽 鈥淚鈥檝e learned a lot of life lessons from sports such as how to win and lose gracefully, how to focus on accomplishing a goal, the importance of working hard, and how to handle failure.鈥�
The Altland family is a fine example of how sports can bring our families and communities together, while preparing for all of the ups and downs life has to offer.聽 We wish all of them healthy and successful upcoming seasons!
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