Penn-Trafford notebook: Warriors get needed sweep in baseball

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, April 30, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Penn-Trafford baseball team couldn’t afford a split in the two-game series against last-place Penn Hills if the Warriors hoped to qualify for the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.

The Warriors had split three previous two-game series in Section 1 and with series against Gateway and Franklin Regional ahead, the two-game sweep against Penn Hills was mandatory.

After holding on to defeat Penn Hills, 7-6, on April 24, the Warriors took advantage of a couple errors and sudden wildness of starting pitcher Edward Bowser in the fifth inning to defeat the Indians, 11-1, on April 25.

The Warriors (5-3, 9-3) moved into fourth place behind Fox Chapel (6-2), Franklin Regional (6-2) and Plum (6-2) and ahead of Armstrong (6-4), which was swept by Franklin Regional.

Seniors Tommy Kalkstein and Evan Del Signore limited Penn Hills two hits in the second game. Each threw three innings. Kalkstein struck out three, and Del Signore fanned five, including the side in the fifth inning.

Kalkstein, who hadn’t played baseball for five or six years, decided to try out this year and received his second start of the season.

“I threw pretty well. Could have done a little better,” Kalkstein said. “Getting the start means a lot. It means my coaches trust me, and allowing me to start a section games means a lot to me.

“We needed to get this sweep to give us a shot. We hit well, and now we have to keep rolling.”

Penn-Trafford jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Ty Freas doubled and scored on Brayden Stone’s single. Stone, who swiped second, scored on Dylan Grabowski’s hit past the third baseman.

“We needed this,” Penn-Trafford coach Lou Cortazzo said. “After Monday’s game, we couldn’t take them lightly. We told them to keep pushing, and our bats got rolling. Both pitchers did a great job for us.”

The Warriors broke the game open in the fifth inning by sending 11 batters to the plate.

Stone got things started with a double. He ended up on third on a throwing error and scored on an error on Grabowski’s grounder.

That’s when Bowser became unraveled. He walked Brody Hoffman and Carmen Metcalfe to load the bases and then plunked Anthony Monroe to force home a run.

Brady Lane then cracked a two-run single, and Bigler walked to load the bases again. Freas, who had three hits, smacked a two-run single to push the lead to 9-1.

Cortazzo said he hopes to get Jason Sabol back into the lineup soon. Sabol has been nursing a leg injury.

The Warriors had already lost two starters — Jakob Haynes and Jake Otto — for the season with injuries. Haynes, a Seton Hill recruit, injured his shoulder in the season opener against Hempfield. Otto was injured during football season.

Boys lacrosse wins 7th straight

Penn-Trafford boys lacrosse has been on a roll since its April 3 loss to Norwin.

The Warriors have won seven consecutive games to improve to 10-4 overall 5-1 in Section 1-2A by recently defeating Knoch (17-7) and Greensburg Central Catholic (16-6).

Penn-Trafford was to host Gateway on April 27, visit Bethel Park on May 2 and will finish a game stopped by lightning against Moon on May 8. The scored is tied 3-3.

The final game of the season is May 8 at home against Franklin Regional.

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.

Tags: Penn-Trafford