Joe Blackburn and some of his Williamsport Crosscutters teammates walked down the hallway from the Williamsport clubhouse, walked past the tunnel that he used to go down and turned left.

The wooden door to the Penn State clubhouse was closed. The punch pad sat there, staring at Blackburn. He entered a code. It was still the same code since May and the door opened. Then, he snuck his teammates into the Nittany Lions' clubhouse.

"I showed a couple of guys that and they were impressed," Blackburn said. "They've been asking me about this stadium pretty much non-stop since I got to Williamsport so they're probably experts on it by now."

It was the first time that the former Penn State catcher was back in familiar surroundings -- Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. That was about the only thing that was the same.

Gone was the No. 25, the blue and white uniform, the longish hair. Instead his hair no longer protruded from his hat and he was wearing a gray and red No. 46 uniform.

Blackburn is a Crosscutter now, but while standing between the first base line and the home dugout at Medlar Field on a sunny day last week, he was quick to point out the differences.

"I told the coach, I was like 'This is the first time I've sat in this dugout, I think. First time I've ever caught a bullpen down there,' " Blackburn said. "But it's the same field. Coming home to familiar surroundings is exciting and fun. I'm really enjoying it so far."

Williamsport's lineup that night did not include Blackburn. Yet, there were still plenty of people in the crowd there to see him.

Three of his Penn State teammates -- Mark Wyner, Rick Marlin and Mike Deese -- work at Medlar Field as ushers during Spikes games. Blackburn's parents, both Penn State graduates who have seen Blackburn play at Williamsport, came down, too.

If they would have arrived 10 minutes or so before last Wednesday's game, they would have seen Blackburn pull off a victory during the SawBuck Olympics. Playing musical chairs with State College catchers Josue Peley and Mark Carver along with one of Blackburn's teammates, Blackburn was able to push his way into each of the neon green inflatable chairs.

The contest was held in front of State College's dugout, the same dugout Blackburn entered and exited hundreds of times in the past two years.

Was he worried he would accidentally step inside the wrong dugout?

"I hope not," Blackburn said.

When the Major League Baseball draft was held on June 5 and 6, Blackburn's name was not called.

Wanting to stay in the game, he signed with an independent league team in Traverse City, Mich.

He only spent a couple of weeks there before being signed by the Philadelphia Phillies last month.

In two months he went from the Big Ten to the New York-Penn League.

"It's a different experience," Blackburn said. "I mean, it's still baseball but it's a different approach, I guess you could say, which has taken some time to adjust to. I feel I'm making the adjustments as fast I can so it's really all can I do."

When Blackburn was at Penn State, he was generally behind the plate three out of the four times during a weekend series. The only time he wasn't behind the plate would usually be during the second game of a Saturday doubleheader. Still, he was in the lineup as a designated hitter.

Now, Blackburn has only 12 at-bats and is still hitless.

"It's tough, I mean, you got to do well when you're given the opportunities. I really, offensively, haven't been doing that yet," Blackburn said. "That's part of the adjustments of the game. I'm behind Travis d'Arnaud who's a phenomenal catcher, you know, sandwich-round pick. He's a priority. I realized that coming in so I can't be upset. I'm learning from him, I'm learning from the coaches. I'm just looking forward to going to spring training with that new knowledge and that new game plan that they play in pro ball and earn a spot somewhere."

Outside the Williamsport clubhouse last Friday, d'Arnaud stood with his brother, State College shortstop, Chase.

The conversation turned to Blackburn.

"I really like Blackburn a lot," Travis said. "He's a really cool guy. He knows the game real well, too. He always teaches me. He teaches me how to call games because both games he's called were no-hitters so I just talk to him all the time."