Hall of Fame
Sometimes being in the right place at the right time means everything. That’s the case with baseball standout Mr. Eric Dinyar. Mr. Dinyar, one of the most talented right-handed pitchers coming out of the Greater Johnstown Area in the early 1990s, used a school-record 15-strikeout performance against nationally-ranked Edinboro University to catch the eye of a scout who came to the game to watch the Fighting Scots’ starting pitcher. As it turned out, Mr. Dinyar was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft.
After a standout career at Greater Johnstown High School, Mr. Dinyar brought his talents to Pitt-Johnstown in the fall of 1991 to play for Head Coach Ken Keiper. However, it was a slow start to Mr. Dinyar’s collegiate career. Due to inclement weather, the Mountain Cats’ 40-game schedule was reduced to fewer than 20 games, and Mr. Dinyar finished with a 2-2 record.
As a sophomore, weather again erased many of the scheduled games. Mr. Dinyar, who doubled as a first baseman when he wasn’t pitching, posted a 3-3 record with 37 strikeouts in 47 innings in both the fall and spring combined. Offensively, he hit over .300 with four homeruns and 12 RBI on his way to garnering the Pitt-Johnstown Underclassman Athlete of the Year Award from the Johnstown Chapter of the Pitt Golden Panthers.
It was his junior season in 1994 when Mr. Dinyar made his mark. Along with hitting .315 with four homeruns, Mr. Dinyar closed out the season on the mound with a 5-3 record and 55 strikeouts in 49 innings, including a 13-strikout effort to defeat Indiana University (PA). Mr. Dinyar’s 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings ranked among the Top-15 in the country.
However, one game stood out that season. On May 4, Mr. Dinyar faced Edinboro, which was ranked nationally in the Top-5, and Pete Nyari, one of the top pitchers in the country. Mr. Dinyar went out and struck out 15 Edinboro hitters to break fellow Hall of Famer Dave Hoff’s previous record of 13 set in 1981 on his way to guiding the Mountain Cats to a 3-2 victory and catching the eye of the scout in attendance to watch Nyari.
Following that effort, Mr. Dinyar was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 48th round of the June 1994 Major League Baseball Draft.
He began his professional career as a relief pitcher for the Class A Jamestown (NY) Jammers that summer and was 5-1 with 30 strikeouts. The next year, he was promoted to the Fayetteville (NC) Generals and finished with a 2.49 ERA and 71 strikeouts.
In 1996, Mr. Dinyar was named the Most Improved Minor League Player in spring training. He was promoted to the Tigers’ High A affiliate Lakeland (FL) Tigers of the Florida State League where he set the team record with 27 saves, before injuries ended his professional career at the end of the season.
Mr. Dinyar returned home and graduated Cum Laude from Pitt-Johnstown in 1997 with a degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry. He is employed in Johnstown by North American Hoganas, the leading manufacturer of stainless steel powders in North America, as a supervisor of 400 series stainless steel production.
Mr. Dinyar, who is still active in coaching youth baseball, soccer, and basketball, and his wife Sherri, have two children, Chase and Colin. The Dinyar’s reside in Davidsville.
“To be nominated and selected to the Pitt-Johnstown hall of fame is a great honor,” Mr. Dinyar said. “Many great athletes and coaches have been elected, and to be among them is truly a blessing. If it were not for my coach and mentor, Ken Keiper, I certainly would not have been able to excel to the level of these other great athletes and coaches. His personal guidance and the quality academics at Pitt-Johnstown have given me the abilities to be a better son, husband, and father.”
