WHEELING – Living in the past. That is exactly what Wheeling Legion Post 1 did Sunday afternoon.

The post held its annual Alumni Day activities in between a pair of games. It was done up in class fashion in front of a large and appreciative crowd.

Club President Donald Tennant served as emcee for the proceedings, assisted by managers Mark Delbrugge and Doug Costain. Players from all eras were in attendance, dating back to 1949 – that being George Gongola.

Gongola was a member of the Post 1 team that not only won the state championship but also advanced all the way to the national Final Four in Omaha. Post 1 eventually finished third in the nation.

“It was a memorable season. We had some really talented players on that team,” Gongola, now 85, remarked. “There are not many of us left from that group.

After his high school days, Gongola signed with the Cleveland Indians and played in their farm system for a few years. He still resides in Wheeling.

The 1949 team is just one of 15 state champion teams in Post 1 history, the most recent coming last year under Delbrugge’s tutelage. Amazingly, the Wheeling-based team ran off seven straight state titles, spanning the years 1982-1988.

If you needed to tag someone as patriarch of the program that title would fall on the passionate shoulders of Chuck Koehler. He has been affiliated with the Post 1 baseball team for 40 years in various capacities, including manager. Koehler, the team’s unofficial historian and current board member, can be found in the press box at every Post 1 home game.

Some 80 years young, Koehler recites decades-old Post 1 baseball achievements like they were yesterday. He recalls when Post 1 played its home games on Wheeling Island before moving to Linsly School, Wheeling Park and West Liberty before landing at I-470.

Koehler tells about Post 1 hosting the state tournament for years at Patterson Field in Elm Grove because no other city wanted to host the Legion finale. He talks passionately about some of the great managers that have led Post 1 such as Bill Walters.

Ask him about some of the standout players in Wheeling Legion history and he is quick to rattle off a dozen or so names. Players such as Jim Lemasters, Joe Blaha, Ron Stephens, Kevin Tater, Steve Novotney, Rick Mount and Corey Walter to name just a handful.

Koehler’s love for Post 1 baseball has been a stabilizing force over the years. He is now seeing an aggressive leadership corp moving the program forward, reflected by last year’s state championship, after a quarter of a century title drought.

Tennant was elected club president in February of 2012. He is committed and driven to advance the program to the highest level possible. The Wheeling attorney is tireless in promoting his product.

His efforts are buoyed by a group of managers who boast on-field baseball knowledge and off-field ambassadorship.

Delbrugge is the 19U boss. He is a diamond junkie, combining vast coaching experience with adept camaraderie with his players.

The Post 1 Board of Trustees made a prudent decision in February of 2014, one that will go along way in enhancing the 19U squad. The board approved expanding the baseball program by adding a junior varsity team and a 15U team.

Costain is the ideal fit to run the 15U team while former Linsly and West Liberty standout Jon Michael Brunner brings unabashed enthusiam and credibility to the JV team.

Those two teams are serving as a fruitful farm system for the 19U team.

Some of the former players coming back Sunday to take part in the festivities, in addition to Gongola, were Bo McConnaughy, Steve Wojcik, Scot Goodnight, Dave Koehler, Jack Scheutz, Dick Moore and Patrick Biega.

The Wheeling Post 1 baseball future is a bright one, thanks to its commitment to the past along with its vision to implement essential change.

Kapral can be reached via email at bkapral@timesleaderonline.com or at Twitter.com/BKOVAC13