SELINSGROVE — If Ryan Keiser’s career in football doesn’t work out, he definitely has a fallback position.

Keiser was a star wide receiver and safety on Selinsgrove’s PIAA Class AAA championship football team in 2009, the Seals’ first state football title. He’ll be walking onto Joe Paterno’s Penn State squad as a safety, where he was a first-team all-state performer the past two seasons.

Football is Keiser’s first love, but baseball isn’t far behind.

After a magnificent season in which the Seals shared the Heartland Athletic Conference Division I championship and reached the District 4 Class AAA championship game, Keiser is The Daily Item Player of the Year.

Selinsgrove’s speedy center fielder overcame a slow start at the plate to become the area’s most feared hitter the second half of the season. After a 2-for-19 start, Keiser batted a spectacular .600 (24-for-40) over the last 13 games of the season to finish with a .471 average, with eight home runs over that stretch. He finished the season with an area-high 10 home runs and 34 runs batted in as the Seals exceeded expectations.

“He just really tore it up at the end. His pitch selection was fantastic,” said Brent Beiler, the HAC-I Coach of the Year.

“I was definitely swinging at a lot of bad pitches. I wasn’t going up there (to the plate) with a lot of confidence,” said Keiser, the son of Ben and Cathy Keiser of Selinsgrove, of his early struggles.

Keiser credits a chat with assistant coach Jim Messner with helping him to turn his season around.

“Coach Messner told me to relax, to go up there like you’re a great hitter,” Keiser recalled. “He said I was going to hit .500 the rest of the season. I exceeded even his expectations, I think.”

Beiler expounded on Messner’s influence, which didn’t involve any changes in Keiser’s stance or swing. It was all about the mental aspect of hitting.

“There were three things,” Beiler said. “Jim took him aside and helped him to visualize the baseball coming in. Two, his pitch selection became much better. And three, it was just his natural ability. It was crazy (over the last half of the season). He was doing it in batting practice, he was doing it in the cage, and he was doing it in games.

“At the end, it came down to pitch selection.”

Selinsgrove finished with a 14-6 record in the regular season and 10-4 in the highly competitive HAC-I — good for a co-championship with Jersey Shore — for the 2009 District 4 Class AAA champions. It was a roller-coaster season for the Seals, who had to endure the loss of starting third baseman and No. 2 pitcher Seth Lauver — who batted behind Keiser in the lineup —  after an auto accident May 22. Selinsgrove went on to win two games in the District 4 tournament before a 7-1 loss to Montoursville in the championship game ended the Seals’ season.

“The league title was definitely cool, and we wanted to defend districts, but it just didn’t happen that day,” Keiser said. “It was a year of ups and downs. We tried to have fun every day, but after losing Seth it was definitely tough.”

Keiser was as valuable in center field as he was at the plate. He ran down every ball within reach, and made several spectacular catches that helped win games, comparing that position to his role on the gridiron.

“I love playing center field. It’s just like being a safety in football,” Keiser said. “Every time a batter comes up I want him to hit it to me. I want to make a play on it.”

Beiler is appreciative of the asset he had up the middle.

“He catches everything. He had one error all season, and even that one was questionable,” Beiler said. “He’s got speed, a great bat, a powerful arm, he’s got everything.”

An example came in a late-season victory over Montoursville, when Keiser chased down a massive drive to left center by the Warriors’ Tyler Albert. After a sprint to his right, he leaped high to make a fantastic diving, back-handed catch and save a run.

“That was amazing ... maybe the best catch I’ve ever seen,” Beiler said at the time.

While football will be his focus in the fall, Keiser hasn’t ruled out the diamond sport in the spring.

“I think he could go places in baseball. The kid loves the game, and I know if (Penn State baseball coach Robbie Wine) said ‘we’d like you to play,’ Ryan would do it,” Beiler said. “His potential is yet to be reached. He’s that good.”

Keiser admits it’s in the back of his mind.

“My goal is to play football at Penn State, but if that doesn’t work out, baseball would definitely be in my future,” Keiser said. “We’ll see what happens.”