Ralph Snyder, architect of West Point youth softball program, dies at age 80
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Ralph Snyder had just moved his family from Norvelt to West Point in 1977 and signed up his oldest daughter, Renee, in the West Point Little League.
His daughter made the West Point fast-pitch all-star team in 1978 and competed in the state tournament in Williamsport.
West Point was overmatched. Snyder started complaining about the coaching, according to his daughter, Susan Snyder-Blatt.
But his wife of 57 years, Ethel, put a stop to his complaining and said, “Shut your mouth. If you can do better, then volunteer,” according to Snyder-Blatt.
Snyder did just that. He joined the West Point coaching ranks and made a lasting impression on hundreds of players’ lives.
Snyder died Wednesday from pulmonary fibrosis, an untreatable lung disease. He was 80.
“He had a vision,” friend and longtime West Point coach Ray Mello said. “He said when he came back from the state tournament that if we wanted to compete at the state level, we had to develop pitching.”
Snyder and Mello began holding pitching and batting clinics for Hempfield students at the West Point Little League complex and St. Joseph’s on Route 30. Those clinics later moved to Wendover Middle School and Hempfield Area High School.
Improvement showed soon after the clinics began.
The West Point Seniors, managed by Kevin McCarthy and assisted by Snyder, reached the 1983 World Series.
Those clinics helped West Point become one of the most dominant leagues in Pennsylvania. West Point has won 37 state titles and captured the World Series title in 2014 in the Junior Division.
“He brought fast-pitch softball to Westmoreland County,” Mello said.
“He’s certainly the father of what happened at West Point,” said West Point official and district director Don Thomas. “He sold us on what needed to be done.”
Snyder was an avid softball player himself, playing seven days a week, before hanging up his bat and glove to focus on coaching.
His pitching and batting clinics quickly expanded. He had players coming from Brookville, DuBois, Leechburg, Punxsutawney, Morgantown, W.Va., and Carmichaels.
“Ralph treated me and my daughter (Jennifer) like we were one of theirs,” said Dennis Wolfe of Leechburg. “I heard West Point had a pitching guru, and I called and quickly became friends. I have nothing but praise about Ralph and Ray.
“Ralph was great. I feel all the success Jennifer was able to obtain was because of the work ethic Ralph demanded. I enjoyed our trips to the clinics maybe even more than she did.”
Snyder also began one of the top travel teams in Western Pennsylvania, the Westmoreland Gems. Snyder-Blatt played for and coached with her father with the Gems.
“We had our disagreements, but in the end he was my hero,” she said.
When Snyder-Blatt became the head coach at IUP, her dad was one of her assistants.
“He was a selfless man,” Snyder-Blatt said. “He had a deep desire to treat every player the same and to be better. He pushed you and motivated you. He demanded a lot from each and every player. They’d run through a wall for him.”
Thomas added: “Some girls may not have liked him, but they knew they had to play for him if they wanted to be successful. He had a subtle way to get his message through.”
Hempfield varsity softball coach Bob Kalp gets a lot of credit for the success of the high school program. The Spartans have won seven WPIAL titles and four PIAA titles.
Kalp said he learned a lot from Snyder. When Kalp was hired at Hempfield in 1997, Snyder served as the team’s pitching coach.
“Ralph was my mentor,” Kalp said. “When Jaci (Kalp’s daughter) played for the Gems and I was an assistant, I quickly learned who was in charge.
“He was a man of principles. He touched so many lives. He was the founder of fast-pitch softball at West Point.”
Snyder was one of 10 children. He was preceded in death by his parents Edgar F. and Henrietta (Finlay) Snyder; brothers, Ernie, Robert (Shark), Ray and Alan; and sister, Jean Stevenson.
He is survived by his wife Ethel, daughters Renee Greene (Jeff) of Unity and Susan Snyder-Blatt (Jerry) of Homer City; brothers Kenny (Charleroi) and Wilbur (Beaver Falls) and sisters Janice Richter (Perryopolis) and Laura LaRose (Butler); and grandsons T.J. Greene (Aberdeen, Md.) and Jacob (Unity).
He was a 1959 graduate of Rostraver High School, where he played football. He was a Korean War veteran and played baseball for the Army in Korea.
There will be a viewing at Kepple-Graft Funeral Home, Greensburg, from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday. A private military service will be Monday.