6th-inning rally sends Norwin past rival Hempfield into WPIAL Class 6A finals
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Tuesday, May 20, 2025 | 10:18 PM
Norwin junior Jake Kniight slides into third base as Hempfield senior Colin Polechko awaits throw in the first inning of the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals Tuesday.
Hempfield junior Chase SIkorski throws a pitch in the first inning of a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal against Norwin on Tuesday.
Hempfield first baseman Owen Shuglia slides home to score a run in the first inning as teammate Colin Polechko (11) looks on and Norwin catcher Trevor Vitsas chases the ball.
Norwin courtesy runner Derek Berger gets back to first base under the tag of Hempfield first baseman Owen Shuglia in the first inning of the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals Tuesday.
Hempfield junior Chase Sikorski rips a two-run single in the first inning of the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals Tuesday.
Norwin used a four-run sixth inning, including a bases-clearing double by senior Nathan Silberman, and rallied to defeat rival Hempfield, 7-4, in a WPIAL Class 6A baseball semifinal Tuesday at Boyce Mayview Sports Complex.
The fourth-seeded Knights will play second-seeded Seneca Valley in the championship game at EQT Park in Washington at time and date to be determined. The last time Norwin was in the final was in 2016 when the Knights were WPIAL champions.
Silberman drove in four runs on two doubles.
The Knights (14-8) never led until the sixth inning.
“Getting to the WPIAL finals, it’s great for the kids,” Norwin coach Craig Spisak said. “They did all the work. It’s been fun to watch the fruits of their labor.”
The eighth-seeded Spartans, who stunned top-seeded North Allegheny in the quarterfinals Monday, used that momentum to score three runs in the top of the first inning thanks to wildness from Knights starting pitcher Caden Sivrich.
The first run scored on a wild pitch, and two scored on a Chase Sikorski single.
“I couldn’t be prouder of this group,” Hempfield coach Tim Buzzard said. “(The North Allegheny game) was one of the best games we played, but (the season) didn’t end the way we wanted. My goodness, we had a lot of adversity this year. We had a lot of kids out. We lost a couple of key seniors.”
Norwin got a run back in the bottom of the first inning when courtesy runner Derek Berger scored on a Tristan Tavares single.
The Knights tied the score in the second inning on hits by Matt O’Neil and Silberman.
“After they scored three runs, it was important for us to rebound in the bottom of the inning and we did,” Spisak said.
The score remained tied into the fifth inning when Hempfield’s Colin Polechko reached on a single, Owen Shuglia doubled, and Quinn Wilkins delivered a sacrifice fly.
In the bottom of the sixth, Ryan Helphenstine reached on a one-out error. Trevor Vitsas, who was 3 for 3, walked before Jake Knight beat out a bunt.
That is when Silberman uncorked his double.
“I was looking dead red,” Silberman said. “He fooled me on the first pitch, but then I looked dead red again and I was on it.”
Hempfield (9-13), in the top of the seventh inning, did not answer.
Brayden Wardzinski gave up one unearned run in 3 2/3 innings to pick up the win.
“Getting to the WPIAL finals means everything to me,” Silberman said. “This is a great group. I can’t give them enough credit. We’ve been together since we were little. I knew this was a great group.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
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