Norwin notebook: Volleyball team takes tournament title

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, April 1, 2023 | 11:01 AM

The Norwin boys volleyball team won its 16-team tournament on March 25, holding back Butler in the final for the title.

The top-seeded Knights beat Central Catholic in the quarterfinals and Latrobe in the semis.

Norwin won a couple of matches leading up to the tournament, defeating Baldwin, 3-0, and Erie McDowell, 3-1.

Against Baldwin, Mike Mihalov and Jackson Genicola had 10 kills apiece and Lucas Churchfield passed at a 92% clip.

Against Erie McDowell, Jackson Genicola had nine kills and four aces and Mihalov added four blocks.

Norwin was ranked No. 5 in the Western PA Volleyball Coaches Association Class 3A rankings.

Softball on track

With its full lineup back, and its home field back in shape, the Norwin softball team opened with two wins in its first three games. After a 9-8 loss at Latrobe in eight innings, the Lady Knights defeated Mt. Pleasant, 8-3, and Penn-Trafford, 12-1. Both games were played at Norwin.

In the Mt. Pleasant game, Emma Novotnak went 3 for 4 with three RBIs and Josey Michalski had two hits and two RBIs.

The Penn-Trafford win was settled in four innings as Alyssa McCormick was the winning pitcher and hit a grand slam, while Michalski and Isabella Deering homered and Bailey Snowberger went 3 for 3.

Sabol shines

Senior Norwin alum Owen Sabol played a key role in the Seton Hill baseball team’s four-game sweep of Cal (Pa.).

The Griffins won in dramatic fashion in Game 2 as Sabol ripped a one-out, walk-off single for a 5-4 victory.

It gets better.

Seton Hill played its 1,000th game (Game 3) and won, 13-6 win, behind Sabol’s career day. He went 4 for 5 with two doubles, a grand slam, and seven RBIs.

Long day

A few local players took part in the longest baseball game of their lives.

Mercyhurst outlasted Slippery Rock, 2-1, in 20 innings, in the first game of a doubleheader that went so long, they had to postpone the second.

Four Norwin grads endured the marathon with Mercyhurst.

Eric Chorba, Landon DiBeradin and Jayden Walker each had a hit, and Jake Bazala started and tossed six innings, allowing a run in the top of the sixth.

The teams combined to use 13 pitchers and 106 at-bats, and left 33 on base.

Lax season

The Norwin girls’ lacrosse team returns with more experience and a hunger to return to the WPIAL 3A playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Players to watch include seniors Aubrey Stoken, Sophia Alvarez and Kayla Cessna, and Chloe Lorenc, juniors Ray Mamas, Alana Samek, Ava Wilson and Ava Kessler, and freshman goalie Sydney Valenta.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Norwin