The Liberty High baseball program has established itself as one of the top programs in all of Lehigh Valley scholastic sports with success through the years and most recently a run to the state finals in 2022 and winning Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and District 11 championships last spring.
One of the trademarks of Hurricanes baseball has been playing the game with an motivational edge.
A lot of that edge was supplied by assistant coach Mark Benetsky, who had a knack for keeping players on their toes and playing with passion.
Sadly, when Liberty begins official practice sessions for the start of the 2024 season on March 4, the familiar voice of Benetsky won’t be heard. The Northampton native and Vietnam War veteran died early Monday morning in Arlington, Virginia, at the age of 75 after a lengthy health battle.
It’s a big loss for Liberty baseball and also the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation where Benetsky had served as a board member for more than 20 years.
“Mark was one of those guys who liked being around the kids and helping them in any way he could,” said Allentown Central Catholic football coach Rob Melosky, who knew Benetsky from growing up in Northampton and from being on the National Football Foundation board. “He was a good guy who would do whatever he could to help kids, help an organization. He was a good friend of [longtime board member] Keith Newhard and he helped out at our scholar-athlete banquet and back when we were running bus trips to the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands. He was always willing to lend a helping hand and organized things. We need more guys like him around. We’re losing too many like him who just want to be involved and help.”
No one will miss him more than Liberty head coach Andy Pitsilos and his father, George, a Liberty assistant. Benetsky had been on the Hurricanes staff since 2007.
The players and fellow coaches loved his spirit, his dedication to the team and his straight-forward style.
“He was kind of like our team disciplinarian,” George Pitsilos said. “Andy and I went out to Hershey to see the Liberty football team play in the state championship game when Tim Moncman was the coach. He introduced himself to us there. I didn’t know him until then. I knew his daughter, Megan, because she was an honors student in my pre-calculus class. Mark came up to us and said he was done coaching softball at Northwest Little League and he’d like to help out Liberty baseball because Megan loved Liberty. Mark thought Megan got a great education at Liberty, and he was right. She is now working for the Census Bureau in Washington, D.C.
“So, Mark gave me his number and I thought he’d be good for our staff and good for me because we’re about the same age. He could sit by me. He knew his baseball and we could relate to each other well and we became great friends over the next 15 years or so. He was good on the computer and would print out the lineup cards and do anything to help. He became an invaluable member of the staff.”
George Pitsilos said that Benetsky even started a scholarship fund in honor of his late wife, Roxanne, to be given to a deserving Liberty High baseball or softball player.
Andy Pitsilos said Benetsky was a big part of the team.
“He lived for Liberty baseball,” he said. “He was a great advocate for our program and believed in what we were doing and always had good things to say. He handled a lot of the statistics, the roster stuff, the organizational stuff. Our kids loved him. Being an ex-Marine, he didn’t mind speaking whatever was on his mind and he’d get your attention. Down deep, people liked that. He always had jokes for the kids and he’d bring the kids corn nuts and ice cream from Penn State. Some of our coaches would also coach the Bath Legion baseball team in the summer and he became one of the assistants there, too. He loved baseball.”
Pitsilos said his kids took it hard when learning of Benetsky’s passing.
“He had been battling his health issue for about three months, but with him, you always expected him to come out of it and he told me he was going to be back for the start of the season,” Pitsilos said. “I went to see him and the first thing out of his mouth was that he’d be back for opening day. And then one other time, he said he wasn’t sure he was going to make it back. But I reminded him that he was a Marine and Marines are tough guys. He said ‘You’re right Coach.’ So, this is a blow for all of us.”
Athletic director Fred Harris is also taking it hard. He describes the Liberty baseball team as a family that spanned several generations and Benetsky was a big part of the old-school generation.
“Mark was one of a kind,” he said. “I inherited him when I got here from Freedom in 2011 and for the most part he served as a volunteer. He was the bench coach, but he was so much more. He taught our kids levity, gravity and that there are more important things in life than baseball. He used his life experience to teach them life lessons. He gave our kids some tough love, but they loved him often through some colorful dialogue. But at his core, he was all about the kids. He loved them and they loved him. We’re all going to miss him.”
Liberty will find a way to honor Benetsky with a patch or something on their uniforms during the 2024 season. As of Tuesday afternoon, no funeral arrangements had been announced.
