Hoenstine Family Athletic Legacy

Since the 1950s, the Hoenstine family of Claysburg and East Freedom has produced a line of outstanding athletes who have enriched the playing fields of our area with sterling performances. And it all started with patriarch Dick Hoenstine at Claysburg.

Dick and I were teammates on the Roaring Spring Blair League baseball team in 1953. He normally played for his hometown team at Claysburg, but that team folded after the previous year and, still wanting to compete in the Saturday afternoon games of the Blair League, he joined us in Roaring Spring.

He was a welcome addition to our squad because he brought superior skills as a clutch-hitting, smooth fielding second baseman. During that 1953 season he batted .316 and was remembered as rising to the occasion when a key hit was needed in crucial situations.

Dick Hoenstine is the father to Dave Hoenstine, grandfather to AJ and Alex Hoenstine and great-grandfather to current Central High School standout quarterback Jeff Hoenstine. Dick and his offspring have provided Morrisons Cove with 80 years, four generations, of athletic excellence.

Dick, the pioneer, graduated from Lock Haven University in 1950 and had a distinguished career in Claysburg as a teacher, coach, athlete and community leader. He retired in 1990 after 40 years of service. He was head varsity basketball coach for 28 years and assistant baseball coach for 20 years. He passed away in 2000.

His son, Dave, set basketball scoring records at Claysburg-Kimmel High School, but his best sport was baseball. He was a speedy runner, had a strong throwing arm and was a dependable contact hitter. He signed a professional baseball contract in 1977 with the Cincinnati Reds for $500 per month and $6.50 per day road meal money.

A high point of Dave’s career came in 1978 when he was added to the Reds’ major league roster and, with 55,000 fans looking on, had his MVP year in the minor leagues recognized on the stadium scoreboard.

Dave’s baseball career stalled after that and he eventually earned his college degree and began a long teaching and coaching career at Central. There he coached his elder son AJ, who in turn, coached his (AJ’s) younger brother Alex. Alex joined the Penn State football team as a preferred walk-on, but succumbed to concussion protocols.

It is now the turn of AJ’s son, junior quarterback Jeff, to carry the standard of the Hoenstine family, which he is doing with spectacular success.

Great-grandfather Dick would be proud.