Joe Colella is approaching 1,500 wins in his baseball coaching career, but the 43-year veteran would prefer to stay out of the spotlight.

"I've been very fortunate to have so many talented kids to work with over the years," said Colella.

"Add to that the various coaches who have assisted me during that time. That's the reason we've been so successful."

Colella recently completed his 43rd year as head coach at Hopewell High School and needs only two wins to reach 600.

"We've won a state title, a couple WPIAL titles, and 16 or 17 section titles," said Colella, who is also Hopewell's American Legion coach.

"The Legion team has won 15 Beaver County League titles and seven Region 6 titles."

Colella is in his 42nd season with the Hopewell legion team and they've qualified for the postseason playoffs every year. Hopewell has a 5-1 record this season, which includes the 900th win of his Legion coaching career.

"The two programs certainly feed off of each other," said Colella.

"The big difference is that you never know what you're going to get with the Legion team. Summer jobs and vacations make it tough to predict anything.

"There is much more consistency with the high school team, because you know they will be there."

Colella also has to compete with Hopewell's Colt League team.

"I have three kids who are playing Colt League ball at the same time," said Colella. "I have to give them a lot of credit, because playing for two teams at the same time isn't easy."

The three are outfielders Ty George, Brad Kubis, and Kevin Welsh.

George and Kubis recently completed their sophomore seasons at Hopewell; Welsh was a freshman.

"The bulk of our players are from Hopewell," said Colella.

The other seven from Hopewell are catcher Adam Zimmerman, third/second baseman Elliot Riley, outfielder/pitcher Max Vogel, first baseman Nate Harmotto, shortstop/second baseman Drew Ference, third baseman Pat Currie and pitcher Zach Durinsky.

"Zimmerman, Riley, and Vogel were three of the ten players chosen to represent the Beaver County League in the All-Star Showcase," said Colella.

"Adam will be playing at Grove City College next year, and Elliot will be at Penn State Behrend."

The four players from Aliquippa are third baseman Joe Placida, pitcher Steve Flati, and outfielders Dan Sonsini and Mike Ribar. The two from South Side Beaver are pitcher/shortstop Anthony Lamont, and outfielder Brandon Alexander.

Lamont and Vogel are Hopewell's top two pitchers, as each has a 2-0 record. Ference leads the team with a .444 average. Lamont, Zimmerman, and Vogel are also batting .400 or more.

"Our goal is to make it back to the Region 6 playoffs and, hopefully, earn one of the eight state berths," said Colella.

"The closest we've come to a state Legion title is a third-place finish in 1994."