Neshaminy baseball looks to school record as outfielder earns special honor
Talk about a pleasant surprise.
Neshaminy senior outfielder Joel Bonner received the Shawn Fleming Memorial Scholarship that is given annually to a Bucks County-area high school baseball player in honor of the longtime baseball coach who died in 2020 at the age of 50.
It goes to "an upstanding (senior) student-athlete who they believe Shawn would have enjoyed coaching," according to the Fleming family. Fleming coached everywhere from Conwell-Egan to Bensalem, the Lower Bucks Bandits, Philly Bandits, Lower Bucks Outlaws and Penn State-Abington.
Nominated by Neshaminy head coach Dan Toner, Bonner is receiving a check for $7,500 from the annual golf tournament in Fleming's honor to use at East Stroudsburg.
"I'm excited, happy and also surprised," Bonner said.
Representing the family, Beau Fleming, one of Shawn's sons, went out to see Bonner in action and said he liked the way Bonner played the game and was impressed with Bonner's character, according to the player.
Bonner is hitting .346 with nine doubles for the Suburban One League Patriot Division champions.
"There isn't a more deserving player than Joel," Toner said. "He works as hard as any player I've ever coached. He respects the game, his teammates, coaches and opposing teams. He has really made a good name for himself."
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Coming off of its best regular season in school history (17-2) and first SOL divisional title since 2013, Bonner and Neshaminy are two victories from setting a school record for wins in a season. That would surpass the 18 victories on the way to an 18-7 mark in a 2019 campaign that included a pair of state playoff victories.
Winning its next two games would also secure Neshaminy's first Class 6A state berth in three years, which is the top priority.
"I'm so confident in everybody, one through nine," Bonner said. "I just can't wait for the playoffs to (start). I know we're going to do good."
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Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly is a sports columnist for PhillyBurbs.com. Support our journalism with a subscription.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Neshaminy's Bonner receives Shawn Fleming Scholarship
