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Patchogue-Medford’s varsity baseball team will wear caps this season honoring the late George Ulrich, who coached the team for over three decades and is their all-time winningest coach.
The baseball hats will feature Ulrich’s initials stitched on the side, flanked on either side by the number of years he coached and his total wins, current Pat-Med baseball coach Anthony Frascogna said.
Ulrich died in February, four years after his induction into the school district’s Hall of Fame. A gym teacher and coach for 34 years in Pat-Med schools, Ulrich recorded 352 victories during his 31 years as head baseball coach. He remains the district’s winningest varsity baseball coach.
From 1960 to 1991, Ulrich’s teams won nine league titles. The 1974 Raiders won the Long Island Championship, and Ulrich earned Suffolk County’s Coach of the Year honors. Many of Ulrich’s players enjoyed successful baseball careers in college and the pros.
Jeff Schaefer from the Class of 1978 played five seasons in the MLB with the White Sox, Mariners and Athletics. Joe Ortiz, who graduated in 1985, played five seasons of minor league ball. John Thoden, a 1986 graduate, also played five seasons for minor league teams.
Frascogna was a teammate of Ortiz and Thoden and for many years looked up to Ulrich as a mentor.
“He had such a positive influence over generations of Pat-Med baseball players,” said Frascogna, who has been Pat-Med’s coach for 24 years, and has 299 career wins. “He had a deep knowledge of the game. His teams were always prepared.”
Frascogna, 55, of Medford said Ulrich stressed pitching, defense and advancing runners.
“I was fortunate to be able to play for and coach with Coach Ulrich. I still use many of the things he taught me back in the day,” said Frascogna, who was inducted into Pat-Med’s Hall of Fame with Ulrich in 2019.
Recalling Wiffle Ball and ‘Glory Days’ with Pat-Med baseball Coach Anthony Frascogna
Ulrich also coached football, initially as the freshman coach at South Ocean Junior High, and then as chief assistant and defensive coach of the Pat-Med’s varsity team.
Pat-Med opens the 2024 season on Tuesday, March 26, at Central Islip. Frascogna will be looking to record his 300th victory.
The Raiders were 18-8 last year and lost in the Suffolk County championship game.
