Westmoreland high school notebook: County softball players sign with Division I schools

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 | 5:57 PM

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Softball popularity and talent in the county has risen in recent years. It might be at an all-time high.

College recruiting is a reflection of it.

A number of area softball players made their verbal commitments official to Division I schools Wednesday during the opening of the NCAA's early-signing period.

Derry shortstop Chelsea Bisi and pitcher Bailey Parshall of Belle Vernon, both all-state players, will be future teammates and roommates at Penn State after signing with the Nittany Lions.

Yough's Hannah Bach signed with Pitt, and Emma Nedley of Penn-Trafford penned with Penn.

In addition, Mt. Pleasant's Chloe Poulich signed with Towson, Ligonier Valley's Lexi Petrof with Akron and Monessen's Dana Vatakis with Robert Morris.

Bisi batted .706 with 20 extra-base hits and 21 RBIs last season. Parshall, who led the WPIAL in strikeouts the past two seasons, fanned 246 and had a 0.51 ERA and 10 shutouts for the WPIAL Class 4A champion Leopards.

Bach hit .403 and scored 31 runs, Nedley hit .509 and scored 22 runs, Petrof hit over .400 and Vatakis, another all-state pick, went 16-7 with 211 strikeouts.

Mt. Pleasant won the PIAA Class 4A title, Yough was the WPIAL 4A runner-up and Monessen was second in Class A.

A trio of local baseball stars also inked Division I letters: Hempfield's Justin Wright (St. John's) and Josh Spiegel (Oklahoma State) and Zach Mancz (Pitt) of Penn-Trafford.

Spiegel had a .429 average last season with eight doubles, five home runs and 23 RBIs.

Athletes could sign in all sports except football, soccer and men's water polo.

Other Division I signings in the district:

• Latrobe basketball standout Laura Graytok signed with American. She will be the county's top returning scorer this season after averaging 21.6 points as a junior.

• Penn-Trafford wrestler Job Chisko made it official with Bucknell and runner Matt Busche of Franklin Regional did the same with Duquesne.

• Norwin tennis player Maria Santilli, the WPIAL champion, inked with Cincinnati.

• Latrobe diver Taylor Miller signed with Ohio.

Soccer sites

Quarterfinal game sites were announced for the PIAA girls soccer playoffs.

In Class AAAA, Norwin (18-2-1) will play North Allegheny (14-7) at noon Saturday at Fox Chapel.

Greensburg Central Catholic (16-3), takes on Windber (21-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Somerset High School.

The semifinals are set for Tuesday.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Yough