Courtesy photo Greater City League members going into the Mid-Atlantic Region Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame include (from left): Shane Suter, Lucas McCoy, Jim Dunlap, C.J. McCoy, Brent Matish, Brian Farabaugh, Steve Doyle and Johnny Martinez.

The Mid-Atlantic Region’s Semi-Pro Baseball Hall of Fame will hold its 2025 induction ceremony on Sunday at noon at the Blair County Convention Center, and 30 individuals who have either currently or formerly served as players, managers and/or administrators in the Altoona Greater City Baseball League will be inducted.

This year’s induction ceremony will honor City League representatives from the decade of 2010 through 2020, and a four-person selection committee comprised of league pillars Joe Fornwalt, Brian Farabaugh, Ron Davison, and Luke McCoy worked together to select the inductees.

Criteria for induction includes distinguished service or participation of at least 10 years with the league.

One of the 30 GCBL inductees in this year’s class, Farabaugh wore several hats in his 18-year affiliation with the league. He served as the league’s president from 2012 through 2016, and was a player with both the ProActive Sports team and the East Coast Gun Sales team — on which he also served five years as a player/manager.

Other inductees include the late John Austin, who served as a long-time president and manager in the GCBL’s AAABA League, and Blair County Sports Hall of Fame inductee Don Appleman, who was both a player and a coach in the GCBL, as well as a long-time boys and girls high school basketball coach in this area.

Other current or former GCBL players who will be inducted include Andy Bagley, R.J. Barnard, Jimmy Clancy, Josh Farabaugh, Matt Hershey, Jordan Klausman, Andy Lytle, Troy Pincherri, Mark Saxman, Sean Steffy, Johnny Martinez, Steve Doyle, Josh Weyandt, Randy Hoover, Cody Gallaher, P.J. Holberg, Brent Matish, C.J. McCoy, Brock Porter, Landon Sinclair, Tyler Stiffler, Shane Suter, Derek Younker, Jim Dunlap, Ernie Peterman, Tim Fabbri, and player/manager Luke McCoy.

Players from other semi-pro leagues around the country’s Mid-Atlantic region will also be inducted into the Hall on Sunday.

“Guys who are being inducted were or have been big contributors to their teams and to their leagues,” Farabaugh said. “They didn’t all play in the Greater City Baseball League. Some of them have played in semi-pro leagues all throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. There are guys from Indiana, Pa., Maryland … State College has a league.”

Greater City Baseball League inductees have carved a special niche for themselves.

“You’ve got a lot of great players that were selected here – guys who were committed to the league,” Farabaugh said. “Players have to be in the league for at least 10 years to even be considered, and the players in the league have to be pretty good to start with, otherwise, teams wouldn’t be picking them up.”

Davison, who was one of last year’s Hall inductees, helped to start the City League’s Lilly Conrad/Chiropractic American Legion team back in 1998. Davison has served as one of the team’s long-time managers for Lilly Conrad/Chiropractic, which has won 20 league titles the past 23 seasons.

A total of 12 of this year’s GCBL Hall inductees are either current or retired players with the Lilly team. They include Luke and Chad McCoy, Fabbri, Gallaher, Porter, Younker, Holberg, Suter, Dunlap, Matish, Sinclair, and Peterman.

“Everybody who is being inducted this year is very deserving,” Davison said. “We’ve been very fortunate with the Lilly team because a lot of teams don’t get guys to stick around and play as long as many of our players have.”

Farabaugh has played organized baseball outside the state in Vermont, as well as in State College, and he said that the Altoona Greater City Baseball League, which began play back in 1939, has been a prominent and lasting element in this area’s sports landscape.

“What we have in this area is pretty special,” Farabaugh said. “I’ve lived in other areas, and you don’t see this in a whole lot of places. You’ve got an actual league here where men 30 years of age and older can play baseball, and still be competitive.

“You’re talking about a league that has included ex-minor leaguers, and most of the players in this league have played college baseball,” Farabaugh added. “This league has been around for a long time, and it wouldn’t have been around for this long if it wasn’t good. To have something this special in this area and to have guys who are committed to it has been pretty awesome.”