Local Fans Can Relate To Gsell
by Mike Ashmore
June 1, 2006 - Hunterdon County Democrat

On most nights, Hunterdon County resident Dale Leubner goes to work as a senior engineering technician with T&M Associates, and then makes the drive out to Bridgewater's Commerce Bank Ballpark to watch the Somerset Patriots play.

The day of Tony Gsell has some similarities, with Gsell working in the mornings as an instructor at Flemington's Jack Cust Baseball Academy. He too will leave work to make the half-hour drive to the ballpark. But Gsell arrives well before the fans, getting to the stadium nearly four hours before the gates open.

You won't find him waiting in line at the box office though, as Leubner and the crowd of more than 6,000 people around him are there to watch the fourth year Patriot take the field with his teammates.

"We moved to Hunterdon County in 2004," said Gsell, a former Immaculata High School standout. "I grew up in Hillsborough, but where I’m at now is pretty close to downtown Flemington, so it's pretty good."

The Patriots fan friendly environment has led to friendly fans filling the majority of the seats in the stadium since 1999. For Gsell, it seems like some faces in the crowd stand out more than others.

"I'll see people I know in the stands, even when I don't know they're coming," Gsell said. "I'll look up there and I'll see someone I haven't seen in five or ten years, it's pretty cool."

The Patriots have seen more than 2.5 million fans go through the turnstiles since the park opened on June 7, 1999. Leubner has been there since the beginning, and was pleasantly surprised with the level of play he saw on the field.

"I was a little skeptical at first when I heard it was going to be an independent team," he said. "But I have to tell you that the level of ball is better than what they have in Trenton or elsewhere."

While the level of play is a big selling point for the Patriots, the unique experiences they can provide for their fan base doesn't hurt either, as season ticket holder Don Ciotta can attest to.

"He was only two and a half years old, but my grandson threw out one of the (first pitch) balls,” Ciotta said. “He rolled it out, but he did a good job."

And while countless first pitches have been thrown in Somerset, local businessmen have also relied on using the Patriots to help their pitch to prospective clients.

Chris Gacos, Vice President of the Flemington-Raritan Business Association and president of Flemington's Sneakers Plus, uses Patriots tickets to thank not only his clients, but his staff as well.

"It's a win-win situation for everyone involved," said Gacos of his involvement with the team. "I work with a lot of high school coaches in the area, and I'll usually give them tickets. I'll come to around six games a year, but I'll always offer tickets to the staff as well."

As can be expected of any organization that Patriots owner Steve Kalafer is a part of, the Somerset Patriots put people first, and that's something Leubner can certainly attest to.

He proposed to the woman he went on to marry at a game, coordinating the event with Patriots General Manager Patrick McVerry so that it would happen during one of the games that were broadcast as a part of their local TV deal.

"It was the Let's Make a Deal promotion, and they brought her down on the field," Leubner said. 

"It was either a Patriots seat cushion or what was in the box. So she opens the box, and there's nothing there. The guys played it up great, so they went into the tunnel and came back with me. I had a tux on and a dozen roses, and I came out on the field. So they gave me the microphone, and I had this whole speech planned out and I proposed to her right there on the field."

For as much as the fans enjoy watching the Patriots play, Gsell enjoys playing for them just as much.

“It‘s not like how it was in the Northwest League where you‘d look in the stands and see nobody.“ Gsell said of playing in front of what truly amounts to a hometown crowd. “You go here and you see people you know. This is my backyard.”

Contact Mike at: mashmore@patriotsbaseball.com

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