Palmerton to induct new members into Hall of Fame

Four athletes, a coach, and two teams will be inducted during the sixth annual Palmerton Area High School Hall of Fame Ceremony to be held between the Northen Lehigh-Palmerton boys and girls varsity games at Palmerton on Tuesday, Feb. 4.

The inductees are Steve Mistretta, Steve Barilla, Conrad A “Smokey” Everett, Donna Horn Serfass, Coach Jan Sosik and the 1982-83 Boys and Girls Cross Country teams.

Below are capsules of each inductee:

Steve Mazepa

Although born in Northampton, Steve spent most of his young years in Palmerton and graduated from the former Steven S. Palmerton High School in 1933. Mazepa lettered in three sports – basketball, baseball and track and field. He also competed on th school’s gymnastics team

In baseball, Steve played third base all four years. In track and field, he specialized in the pole vault and 220-yard dash. He also ran the 100-yard dash and took part in the long and high jumps and the hurdles when needed. At districts in 1932, he was the pole vault champion.

It was on the baskeball court where Steve was at his very best, playing three years under the coaching of the late Bill Braucher. He led the team in scoring during his senior year with 133 points, which was considered high in the days of defense and low scores. His teams compiled three Lehigh Valley League Championships and a District 11 title.

Mazepa passed away in 1978. He was married to the late Ruth Roberts. They were the proud parents of a son, Steve and daughter, Jenny Malouin.

Steve Barilla

Steve graduated from Palmerton High School in 1960. He was a standout tackle on the Blue Bomber football team and is regarded as one of the all-time greats in the history of the program.

At the conclusion of his senior season, he was invited to play in the Unico All-Star Game in Hazleton. It was there that his aggressive play caught the eye of coaches from Wichita State, and he was offered a four-year scholarship.

Steve played on the 1961 and 1963 Missouri Conference Championship teams and was also a member of the 1961 Sun Bowl team that played Villanova.

Barilla was drafted by the Detroit Lions and made it to the final cut, playing alongside Alex Karras, who was one of the most feared players in the league at the time.

Steve was also a close friend of former NFL coach Bill Parcells, and was best man at his wedding.

After his playing career ended, he went on to coach in Wichita, Kansas and the Lehighton Area.

Barilla, who passed away on Nov. 19, 2004, was inducted posthumously into the Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 2005.

He is survived by his wife Barbara, and children Terri Ann, Richard, Robert and Steve.

Conrad A. “Smokey” Everett

Conrad graduated from Palmerton Area High School in 1975, where he completed a storybook career in baseball.

He led the Carbon County Area in strikeouts in 1974, received the Outstanding Senior Award for Blue Bomber Baseball in 1975 and was named to the Lehigh Valley Legion All-Star team in 1975.

Everett pitched for the Bethlehem Red Sox in the Blue Mountain League and tossed a no-hitter in 1977. He also threw a perfect game for the Bethlehem A’s in 1978, the first one thrown in the first 34 years of the league.

“Smokey” was a four-year starter at West Chester State College, was named WCSC Player of the Year, East Coast Conference Player of the Week twice in 1979, and was First Team All ECC pitcher in 1978 and 1979. In 1990, he was inducted into the West Chester Baseball Hall of Fame.

Everett signed a professional baseball contract with the Minnesota Twins in 1979, made the 40-man roster in 1981 and won the team’s minor league Rolaids Relief Man Award that year.

After his career he became a member of the United States Secret Service.

Conrad is married and has three children.

Donna Horn Serfass

Donna graduated from Palmerton Area High School in 1978 ending outstanding careers in basketball and softball.

On the hardwood, she finished her career with 1,247 points, and at the time trailed only Bob and Bill Mlkvy in the school’s history. She was named to the All-District 11 team in her junior and senior seasons.

As a junior, she averaged 20.9 points per game and led the Centennial League in scoring with 418 points in 20 games as she led the team into districts. As a senior, she was a big part in leading her team to a 22-4 record, and led the Centennial League once again with 533 points for a 21.2 ppg. average. Despite only being 5-9, she also averaged nine rebounds a game for Coach Bill Piper’s team that finished second in districts behind eventual state champion Tamaqua.

As a softball player, she earned All-State honors, batting .521 in 1978 and .514 in 1977. In 1977, she had 25 hits and 20 RBI’s.

Donna is the mother of sons Brandon and Stephen.

Coach Jan Sosik

Graduating from Palmerton Area High School in 1965, Jan made his impression both as an athlete and coach. He participated in basketball and tennis as a Blue Bomber.

Jan returned to his Alma Mater in 1970 after graduating form Rutgers University and teaching one year in Wayne, New Jersey.

He took over the tennis team in 1970, and coached the freshman basketball team from 1971 to 1977.

In 1978, Sosik took over the reigns of the boys cross country team and guided it to many successful seasons. In his second year as coach, Sosik started a girls program and eventually won league titles in the sport. His record with the boys was 77-21 overall and 60-12 in the Centennial League, while his girls’ teams went 46-10 overall and 43-5 in the league. His boys teams won three league championships, two league meet championships and two District 11 Class AA titles. His girls teams didn’t lose a league meet in their first four seasons in the Centennial League. Sosik is currently the winningest boys cross country coach at Palmerton with 77 wins.

In 1995, Sosik and Bill Rosado coached the first-ever soccer team in the history of the school. He continued to teach at Palmerton before retiring in 2006.

He and his wife Karen have two children, Kelly and Michael.

1982-83 Palmerton Cross Country Teams

The Palmerton boy and girls cross country teams won their respective league and league meet titles. It was the first time in the history of the Centennial League that the boys and girls champs were from the same school.

The boys posted a perfect 16-0 record. Steve Mistretta, Ed Cyr and Pat Papay all qualified individually for states.

The girl finished 12-0 in the league and 12-1 overall, winning their fourth straight Centennial League title. The team was led by Georgianna Messinger, who won every dual meet and set a course record on every course the team ran on.

At the league meet, Messinger finished first, Shari Barbosa Solt was third and Lori Moyer Nemeth eighth.

The girls won the District 11 AA title, with Messinger finishing first in the meet. As District 11 champs, the team qualified for states and finished 10th in Class AA.