2005
J. Freeland Chryst Award
George Bechtold was a tri-captain on McCaskey’s 1959 undefeated Central Penn League football team. The team was 9-0 with six shutouts and outscored opponents 209-26. He played center on offense and linebacker on defense. He was named to the All-Conference Team and was an Honorable Mention Big 33 selection.
On the Red Tornado baseball team, he went 13-1 as a pitcher with 85 strikeouts.
After graduating from McCaskey, Bechtold signed to play baseball with the New York Yankees organization and broke in with Mel Stottlemyre, Roy White and Fritz Peterson.
He played in the Yankees’ minor-league system for nine seasons, from 1961-69, reaching the Triple-A level.