There is no substitute for experience. But neither is there a substitute for hustle.

Cameron Hoch combines both. And when he does the Annville legion baseball team benefits, through Hoch’s leadership by example.

This week, Hoch continued to lead Annville’s charge to the Lebanon County American Legion baseball league’s postseason. The veteran catcher played a direct role in A-ville’s dramatic 8-7 extra-inning triumph over Fifth Ward, Thursday at A-C High School.

Hoch provided the winning hit in Annville’s walk-off victory, capping a furious five-run, eighth-inning rally from a four-run deficit. An at-bat earlier, it was Hoch who had forced ‘bonus baseball’ with a run-producing double that knotted the score at three.

Hoch was also became the winning pitcher in the game, as Annville closed its regular season at 8-7.

Hoch plays a key role for Annville as its catcher, lead-off hitter and pitcher. Because of his style of play and demeanor, he is constantly hustling, diving for balls and leaving it all on the field.

Also a one-time football star for Annville-Cleona High School, Hoch was the 2017 recepient of the Central Chapter of the Pennsylvania State Hall of Fame’s Pop Kelchner award for excellence in scholastic athletics and the class room.

– Jeff Falk