CUMBERLAND — Zach Steckman knew he had something in Liam Hamilton when he coached the then 7-year-old’s JCP team.
Fast forward to 2025, and Hamilton capped a brilliant four-year career by leading Steckman’s Fort Hill Sentinels in goals and assists and to a 12-3 record — the program’s first double-digit victory campaign since 2019.
His opposing head coaches took notice too, awarding Hamilton the Ebbie Finzel Player of the Year.
“Liam is just an incredible kid,” Steckman said. “He’s an incredible player. It’s been an honor for four years to coach him and actually, a lot longer than that.
“It kind of came full circle, when I got the job in ‘21 and he came along in 2022. This is an incredible honor for him. He’s one of the best players in Fort Hill history. His stats prove that, his production proves that, but most importantly, he’s just a great person.”
Hamilton bested Calvary’s Sammy Scritchfield, Allegany’s Chris Manherz and Frankfort’s Liam Orndorff for the honor.
The boys soccer awards were chosen at a meeting of the area’s coaches following the season.
Hamilton rounds out the award recipients, which include Calvary’s Scritchfield (Dr. Raul Felipa Offensive Player of the Year), Allegany’s Jack Hensel (Joe Rowan Memorial Defensive Player of the Year), the Campers’ Eoin Mowbray (Dave Searles Memorial Goalkeeper of the Year) and Steckman (Coach of the Year).
The award winners, with the exception of Coach of the Year, will receive their awards at the 77th Dick Sterne Memorial Dapper Dan Sports Banquet at a date/time to be announced.
The All-Area boys soccer team will be revealed in Wednesday’s edition of the Times-News.
Hamilton is the eighth Fort Hill player to win boys soccer Player of the Year, joining Daniel Hott (2016), Austin Parker (‘13), Michael Moyer (‘10), Daniel Johnson (‘09), Eric Dudley (‘99), Adam Fletcher (‘98) and Brian Jennings (‘94).
The senior was tied for fifth in the area in goals (17) and first in assists (19) for 53 points. His 3.53 points per game ranked third locally behind Scritchfield (4.92) and Orndorff (3.73).
Hamilton’s production came a year after tallying 18 goals and 13 assists. He was co-Offensive Player of the Year locally as a sophomore.
“A player of his caliber, to have the 19 assists, that’s just incredible,” Steckman said. “Seeing him at practice every day and his leadership, especially this year, it’s just no surprise.”
Hamilton was a set-piece specialist, both on free kicks and long throw-ins.
Jacob Bone, a defensive midfielder, was a beneficiary of the latter, illustrated by his eight goals.
Bone wasn’t the only Sentinel to benefit from Hamilton’s wizardry with the ball. Three other players had at least seven goals in Sam Spencer (10), John Reinhardt (nine) and Anthony Palumbo (seven).
Hamilton had nearly four-times as many assists as his next closest teammates — Korbin McKenzie and Reinhardt had five each.
“We certainly were not a possession-based team,” Steckman said. “Our strengths were defend, counter and set pieces. I think teams knew that when we got a throw-in or corner kick or a free kick, our chances of scoring went through the roof.
“Liam was either chucking it in there because he could, he could really launch it, or he was using his 6-foot-2 height to just get up over top of people and put it in the back of the net.
“A lot of times he was able to read the ball a lot better than people in the air. He would know if it was coming down to the feet or if it was getting over somebody. He just was always a step ahead on set pieces.”
Hamilton and his senior Fort Hill teammates left quite a legacy in South Cumberland.
Fort Hill was 1-12 during their freshman year, which included an 18-0 loss to Allegany in Homecoming.
They capped their city soccer careers with a thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over the Campers on Oct. 2 in Homecoming on their way to a 12-2 regular-season finish and top seed in the region playoffs.