Kikla one of the Valley’s greatest on the diamond

By WAYNE STEWART

For MVI Sports

Ed Kikla was born on January 31, 1941, and he soon became, in effect, a baseball protege.

His first brush with fame came on baseball diamonds before starring as an all-around athlete at Monongahela High School (Class of ’57) – and long before he played college and pro ball.     

In 1952, his southpaw pitching prowess helped his Monongahela team advance to the Little League World Series title game in Williamsport. Back then the prestigious event was only 6 years old.

Coached by Jim McMahon and Norm McVicker, the team went on a roll, winning 15 consecutive games before the finale. Only a tight, heartbreaking 4-3 loss to a team from Norwalk, Conn., marred an otherwise stellar season. What made the pain of losing worse was the Connecticut team rallied to score the tying and go-ahead runs in the final inning.

Jim Chacko, a star athlete for Charleroi High School, said Kikla was among the best athletes he ever saw, adding no other team from the Valley had ever advanced as far in Little League as Kikla’s team had done.

Kikla was a huge part of his team’s winning the 1954 PONY League World Series held in Washington, Pa. Kikla won often for manager Harry Sickels Sr. and assistant manager Lou Revetta.

Select Kikla highlights from that season:

• A brilliant 2-0 shutout over a team out of Camden, SC. Kikla struck out 16 while flirting with a no-hitter. 

• After fanning 16, he established a PLWS record, striking out 18 against a squad from San Antonio.

• He capped off his string of excellence by defeating a team out of Chicago, 8-2.

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