By Andy Walter

SMYRNA — For some reason, James Tassone actually wanted to be a catcher.

Back when he was playing Little League in New Jersey, though, he had this one coach who told him he was too small for the position.

At the same time, the coach said he’d work with the youngster.

“He said that, if I wanted to be a catcher, that I’d have to work for it,” said Tassone. “He’d always stay after practice with me and help me become a catcher.”

When that coach died from cancer, the youngster wanted to work even harder to become a catcher.

“Catching is almost like a tribute to him,” said Tassone.

Now a recent Smyrna High grad, Tassone is still not particularly big but he’s also still a catcher. A second-team All-Henlopen North pick, the 5-foot-9, 160-pounder is going to continue his baseball career at Virginia Wesleyan.

Somewhere around sixth grade, after Tassone moved to Smyrna, he met Nate Donahue, who would eventually become a pitcher. By high school, the two friends had become battery-mates, with Donahue on the mound and Tassone behind the plate.

On Wednesday, the two are hoping to work together one last time in the 46th annual Bob Colburn Blue-Gold High School Senior All-Star Baseball Classic. The game is being played at Wilmington’s Frawley Stadium starting at 6 p.m. with the All-State team honored before it.

It hasn’t always been easy for Donahue and Tassone — the Eagles went only 6-12 this spring. But they were almost always competitive against a tough schedule.

The two seniors got to finish their Smyrna careers with a 1-0 win over DIAA state-tournament-bound St. Georges. Donahue pitched a four-hitter with six strikeouts to earn the shutout.

Tassone said it was a nice way to go out.

“We both walked off the mound and we looked at each other and we knew that it was pretty much over for me and him together,” said Tassone. “At the same time, we were able to recognize everything that we’ve also done together.

“I know we gave each other a big hug at the end of the game and that meant a lot to both of us.”

“We enjoyed our time together,” said Donahue.

“I always liked having him catch. He was always very reliable for me. Just having a catcher you can trust to give the right calls ... they’ll always back you up.”

Nate Donahue, a senior pitcher, picked up five of Smyrna’s six victories in baseball this spring. DAILY STATE NEWS FILE PHOTO.

Donahue also made second-team All-Henlopen North this season. He’s going to keep playing in college at Delaware Tech.

As a senior, the right-hander went 5-5 — picking up five of the Eagles’ six wins — with an ERA of just 1.81. Smyrna coach Vince Clemons said Donahue pitched well enough to have a better record but the Eagles were just a young team.

Smyrna lost to the two state finalists, Caesar Rodney and Salesianum, 2-0 and 3-2 in back-to-back games. The Eagles also lost to Henlopen North champion Sussex Tech only 2-0.

One of Smyrna’s victories was an 11-0 win over Caravel at Frawley Stadium in which Donahue threw a five-inning two-hitter to earn the shutout.

Asked what kept him going despite the tough results, Donahue said, “honestly, just having fun.”

“I love going out there and pitching,” he said. “Whether we win or lose, I still just love doing it.

“Everybody depends on you to see how the game goes,” Donahue added. “I can always keep the game close with my pitching.”

“We knew from the beginning that we could hang with any team,” said Tassone. “That’s really how it’s been all four years at Smyrna — being a tough, defensive-minded team. It was just getting over that hump to win the game.”

While the Eagles scored only 59 runs this season, they allowed just 81 — not a bad total for a team with a sub-.500 record. Tassone and Donahue were a big part of that.

Clemons said teams didn’t try to steal on the veteran catcher very often over the last couple seasons. Tassone threw out 53 percent of attempted base-stealers and is good at blocking the ball.

In 364 career innings, Tassone allowed only eight passed balls.

Tassone would never say that playing catcher is easy.
“It’s definitely a love-hate relationship sometimes,” he said. “But it’s one of those things I wouldn’t trade for the world.

“The worst part is probably sitting back there in the heat, on the days when the sun is beating on you. But, at the same time, it’s still fun to be in a game. Everything kind of goes away.”

Tassone figures that he and Donahue will probably always be friends.

Before they go their separate ways in college, both players would like the chance to play again together in Wednesday’s Blue-Gold game.

“I hope they set it up so me and him can throw to each other again,” said Donahue. “It would be nice.”

“Catching him one last time would definitely be the highlight of my day,” said Tassone.

Extra innings

•Delaware-South plays its Carpenter Cup opener on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Philadelphia’s FDR Park. The underclassmen all-star squad faces Delaware County, Pa.

If it wins, Delaware-South will play again on Thursday at 2 p.m.

•Delaware-North also plays on Tuesday, facing Philadelphia Public at 12:30 p.m.

•Cape Henlopen had six players named to this year’s coaches’ All-State squad, including four who were named to the first team.

•Sussex Tech’s G.L. Jefferson was named the state Coach of the Year after leading the Ravens to an 18-4 record, the Henlopen North title and a trip to the DIAA state semifinals. He’s just the second Henlopen Conference coach to earn the honor since 2010. Cape Henlopen’s Ben Evick won it in 2022.

•Sussex Central’s first-team All-State outfielder Noah Burroughs hit .641 in the regular season (25-of-39) with just one strikeout. The senior also had five homers and 24 RBI.

•Cape Henlopen’s Isaac Terhune was 17-of-18 on stolen-base attempts while teammate Lex Wescott was 16-of-18.

•Sanford first-team All-State pitcher Brady Fox struck out 98 batters in just 48 innings.

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