Odachowski, Phelan unique as familiar battery
By: Justin Feil
In the spring of 1981, Ted Phelan caught a masterful one-hitter from Tony Odachowski in the Rutgers University baseball team’s 8-0 win over Penn State.
It is a memory that the two could share with their sons, but Steve Odachowski and Ryan Phelan are building their own stories together as battery mates on the West Windsor-Plainsboro American Legion team. It’s a parallel the fathers never could have anticipated.
"Because of the kids separated by four years in school," Phelan said, "we never thought of the scenario of them being on the same team. Ryan playing his freshman year and Steve being young enough, it’s kind of a unique opportunity for the kids to be playing on the same team."
Added Odachowski: "It dawned on us early in the season. There are a lot of similarities on the baseball field."
At 19, Steve is the eldest player on the WW-P Legion team and one of their top pitchers. At 15, Ryan is catching as one of the youngest on the squad that finished second in the Mercer County American Legion League and will begin the double-elimination playoff series for the second berth to the state tournament Saturday at Moody Park in Ewing.
"He’s so much younger than me," said Steve, who will be a sophomore at Mercer County Community College. "I’m four years older than him. It’s silly to have me and Ryan on the same team."
Ryan is also a member of the WW-P Babe Ruth District One championship team that opens the Southern New Jersey State Tournament 6 p.m. tonight against Pennsville at Veterans Park in Hamilton. He faces the prospect of a busy weekend between the Legion playoffs and his Babe Ruth commitment.
"Playing Legion and having success, it elevated me as a player," said Ryan, who will be a sophomore at West Windsor-Plainsboro High North. "It made me want to get better and improve my game. Now, you come back and play 15-year-olds and you’ve brought your game up more and more trying to compete with those older guys."
Odachowski was an older Rutgers senior when he was delivering pitches to Phelan, who was a sophomore in 1981. That same dynamic now exists with their sons.
"We seemed to hit it off," Phelan said. "Tony was a few years older as an upperclassmen. It helps that you have an upperclassman who has confidence in your skills and ability to call a game.
"Steve is a mature left-handed version of Tony," he added. "At this age, Steve may throw a little harder. He has the same confidence and maturity in his ability to use his different pitches and go deep in the count and use his curve or off-speed to get people out. It’s something very unique in a kid that age. You could see at his young age, he’s very mature. A lot of that comes through what he’s gotten from Tony."
Steve credits his father was helping him develop into the pitcher he is today. He is one of the talented throwers that gives the WW-P Legion team the chance to advance out a competitive playoff series this weekend. Odachowski coached Steve through Little League and Babe Ruth.
"I give my dad probably all the credit and more than he deserves," Steve said. "I’ve always pitched on the side with him. I never pitched much until I was a junior. That’s when I started becoming an everyday pitcher. I’m glad my dad worked with me. My mechanics are sound and I’ve never had an injury. I’ve been able to stay strong."
Phelan, too, has been active in Ryan’s development. He coached him at the Little League level and now is the manager of the Babe Ruth 15-year-old team.
"The biggest thing that’s helped Ryan is exposing him to people who have helped advance his game," Phelan said. "He’s worked with some of the guys up at Rutgers who have told him similar things that I have. That’s different than hearing it from your dad."
Steve has given Ryan an experienced pitcher with which to work. Steve is one of the older players that helped Ryan, who never expected to get much playing time on the Legion team, feel welcome.
"He’s encouraging me," Ryan said. "He says, you called a great game. Once you’re catching these faster guys and doing OK, your head starts catching up. I earned the respect from them and that got rid of the nerves quickly."
Steve has been impressed by Ryan’s ability to play at the higher Legion level. It didn’t take them long to work well together as teammates.
"The first couple games, I’m kind of stubborn when it comes to pitches, so I might shake him off," Steve said. "I started to trust Ryan a lot more then. I might shake him off now twice in a game. He knows what pitches I like and what’s working and he’s good at it. It’s reassuring to have a catcher like that.
"I’ve mostly been throwing to Ryan. He’s a great catcher. He’s real solid. He blocks balls. He’s got an absolute cannon of an arm and calls a good game. I was surprised how good a defensive catcher he was at such a young age."
But not totally surprised, given their similar backgrounds.
"His dad definitely helped him," Steve said. "I don’t know what he’s done training wise, but his dad definitely had some influence. Those genes, it’s got to pass down. It’s not going to skip a generation."
Both Steve and Ryan seem to have been gifted with good genes. They have taken the instruction begun with their fathers and built on it to become solid players. The sons of a pair that helped Rutgers win 16 games in 1981, they share an understanding of what makes a good team and good combination.
"When you have a catcher you’re confident with and who calls a good game and understands what you have going, that’s the type of rapport that you have to have," Odachowski said. "That’s what I remember about Ted. And he was a good hitter, like his son.
"His son is so much like him," he added. "He reminds me of him. It’s always great when a parent can pass down some knowledge of something you love. With Ted and I, it’s baseball. To end up in the same town, the same team, it’s pretty unique."
Odachowski and Phelan have enjoyed watching their sons’ steady development as they climb the ranks in baseball to follow their footsteps. This summer, the two young men are walking the path together as battery mates, making their own memories as their fathers did 26 years ago at Rutgers.
"I wasn’t that good when I was that age," Phelan said. "I would have liked to say when I was 15, I was playing against Legion guys and doing that well. And Steve is like an improved version of Tony. Both of our kids are better than we were at those ages."

