PORT ALLEGANY — His love affair with baseball started via wiffle ball games in the backyard.
And from that early age of six, Howie Stuckey knew baseball was his favorite sport, so it was no wonder it also became his best. From the years of tee-ball and Little League to his prolific career at Port Allegany High School, Stuckey developed into one of the area’s top players.
Now, he’s ready to officially begin his career at the Division I level.
Stuckey committed to St. Bonaventure back in November, and on Friday moves into his college dorm to begin his academic and baseball careers just across the New York state line.
“I’M JUST looking forward to getting on campus and hopefully competing,” Stuckey said. “I’m excited to get there, and then start practicing and competing for a spot. That’s what’s most exciting to me.”
In Stuckey, the Bonnies receive a versatile player. He doubles as a shortstop and pitcher, and finished his high school career with a batting average of .524 with 65 hits and 41 RBI. On the mound, he had an ERA of 1.80 with 134 strikeouts across 70 innings pitched.
And it was that ability to produce both as a middle infielder and as a pitcher that guided Stuckey to St. Bonaventure. He was recruited by several Division I programs, including Niagara, Bucknell and Canisius, but only SBU offered him the chance to compete for a spot as both a shortstop and a pitcher.
“I went to a big showcase in New York and then one in Scranton, and there were schools that wanted me for pitching,” Stuckey explained, adding that he took visits to Canisius and Bucknell. “Pretty much all of them wanted me for pitching, but I wanted to play shortstop. So when St. Bonaventure gave me that opportunity, that’s what made my decision.”
For all that he’s accomplished so far, though, Stuckey is one of thousands of athletes who missed out on their final spring seasons in high school.
Stuckey and the Gators were primed to be among the North Tier League’s top teams this past season. But as the coronavirus pandemic began and then continued in Pennsylvania, spring sports across the state were canceled by the PIAA in April.
“It definitely sucked,” Stuckey said bluntly. “I remember the day I realized our season was done, because on Saturdays, we had separate groups come in to hit, pitch and get work in. I came in for the early group, and then I stayed after because there were rumors of the season getting canceled and about us not being allowed to practice.
“I remember our coach got a call and I saw the look on his face and said, ‘Oh crap.’ It kind of set in then. It sucks because we were looking forward to this year and we had high hopes.”
Still, Stuckey can fondly look back on one of District 9’s top athletic careers, and not just in baseball.
During the fall, Stuckey was a four-year letter winner in soccer, and also played football his senior season. On the pitch, he reached the 50-goal milestone and was a two-time Big 30 All-Star. Meanwhile, his lone season with Gator football was a strong one, as he led the team in receiving with 15 receptions for 297 yards and four touchdowns.
“WHEN I think about what stands out most, it’s probably something most people wouldn’t expect. It was the soccer teams I played on,” Stuckey said. “My first varsity sport was soccer my freshman year, and we won District 9 for the first time. That was crazy. And then my junior year we combined with Smethport, and that was an awesome experience. It was really smooth.”
Of playing football, he added, “That was really fun.”
In the winters, you could find Stuckey on the hardwood playing for Port A’s basketball program. He was a 1,000-point scorer for the Gators and frequently exploded for huge scoring nights in the NTL.
And then in the spring, Stuckey split his time between baseball and track, though baseball was always the primary focus.
Balancing between the sports was made easy, Stuckey says, because of his coaches.
“Splitting between football and soccer was definitely new because I only did that my senior year, but all the coaches were really cooperative and understanding about it,” he said. “It was really easy, and the only thing was getting to the practices, but it wasn’t too hard.
“And spring was even easier because our track coach, Aaron Clark, loved having me do track, so he was really cooperative about that. I basically only went to track for the meets, so it was easy all around.”
And now, after all of those milestones and accomplishments for his hometown teams, Stuckey is set to stay nearby to compete in the Atlantic 10 for the Bonnies.
