Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Week for week of April 28, 2019

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, April 28, 2019 | 9:44 PM

John Malagise

School: Blackhawk

Class: Senior

The Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Week is Blackhawk senior John Malagise, who was a combined 4 for 4 with three walks in seven plate appearances in wins over Central Valley and Ambridge last week.

“He works extremely hard at hitting and is always putting in extra work in the cage,” Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia said. “He has an excellent approach at the plate and never takes an at-bat off. He’s very serious about hitting, even in practice.”

Malagise scored two runs and drove in four with a double and a home run in a 3-2 win over the Warriors and a 10-0 rout of the Bridgers.

“He came up big in the clutch vs. Central Valley with a two-run double in the top seventh to give us a 3-2 lead,” Amalia said. “He started the Ambridge game off with a two-run homer to give us a 2-0 lead.”

The Ambridge victory was No. 300 for Amalia, who is not surprised by the success Malagise has enjoyed this season.

“He always was an excellent player who I thought would have an outstanding year,” Amalia said. “He would have started last year if he didn’t get hurt.”

The Cougars improved to 7-1 in Section 2-4A, a game up on New Castle and a game and a half ahead of Beaver. Blackhawk will travel to New Castle on Friday for a key game that can be heard on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

Honorable mention

Troy Caggiano, Gateway

Senior Troy Caggiano was a combined 5 for 6 at the plate with three runs scored and three runs batted in as Gateway rolled past Woodland Hills and edged Penn Hills. The two Section 1-5A wins kept the Gators a half-game behind Franklin Regional in the battle for first place.

Noah Gillette, Highlands

Senior Noah Gillette continues to shine in the batter’s box and on the mound for Highlands. In two games, Gillette was 3 for 6 with two runs scored, five RBIs, a double and a home run. He also pitched a one-hitter and struck out seven in the Golden Rams’ 2-0 win over Mt. Pleasant.

Destin Weiser, Chartiers-Houston

Senior Destin Weiser was a combined 2 for 6 in a pair of Chartiers-Houston games last week, with two doubles and four RBIs. He also threw a complete-game one-hitter with eight strikeouts in a section win over Burgettstown.

Previous Trib HSSN Baseball Players of the Week:

Joe Olsavsky, Central Catholic

Jake McGovern, Hopewell

Jacob Schmidt, Elizabeth Forward

Christian Johnson, Quaker Valley

This Week’s Trib HSSN Team of the Week — Upper St. Clair Panthers

Tags: Blackhawk, Chartiers-Houston, Gateway, Highlands