Latrobe looks to recapture playoff magic as Westmoreland County baseball teams learn their seeds

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, May 12, 2023 | 8:49 PM

When the Latrobe baseball team won the WPIAL and PIAA Class 5A championship in 2017, the Wildcats did it with strong pitching and timely hitting.

That team had a certain never-say-die attitude, rallying numerous times late in games.

When the 2023 playoffs begin next week, will this Wildcats nine have that same type of magic?

Latrobe (14-6) is seeded fifth in Class 4A. The Wildcats are scheduled to open the playoffs at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Kiski Area (9-9) at Norwin.

Latrobe easily won Section 2-4A by three games over Laurel Highlands and Ringgold.

“We have no control where we get seeded,” Latrobe coach Matt Basciano said. “We just have to take care of our business. We just have to worry about Kiski Area.”

Penn-Trafford and Yough were the highest seeds from the county. Both garnered third seeds.

The Warriors, who were co-champions in Section 2-5A with Plum, received a first-round bye.

First-year Lou Cortazzo had mixed feelings about the seed.

“We definitely deserved the seed because how hard we’ve worked,” Cortazzo said. “The first-round bye is good, but I’m not thrilled about the long layoff.”

Penn-Trafford will face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Peters Township and West Allegheny. It was Peters Township that ended the Warriors’ playoff run in 2022 in the quarterfinals.

“We struggled a little early,” Cortazzo said. “The first half of the season we were learning our way. We got hot. Once we got some games in, we started playing our game.

“I wasn’t surprised we got a third seed. It was between us and Plum, and I felt we had a strong strength of schedule.”

Cortazzo said his team is eager to get back into the playoffs.

“They should have a chip on their shoulder after what happened last year,” Cortazzo said. “We won’t take teams lightly.

“We play a couple scrimmages. We were a little too relaxed in Friday’s scrimmage, and we can’t let our momentum slow down.”

Yough was seeded third in Class 3A, which surprised coach Dan Palm.

“I thought we’d be fifth because of what happened to our section last year,” Palm said. “I’m happy and shocked. Last year we won the section and were seeded sixth. I was surprised and happy Greensburg Salem was seeded fifth.”

Palm said he doesn’t know much about Keystone Oaks except it has dropped 10 consecutive games.

“We set ourselves up in a good spot, but we know one slip-up ends the season,” Palm said. “The key to this season has been the mindset of focusing on one game at a time.

“The starting pitching is the No. 1 key and how hard we play. The loss to Greensburg Salem was an eye-opener for the boys. It was a great lesson heading into the playoffs.”

Greensburg Salem (13-5) will play Mohawk (12-7) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Shaler.

The playoffs for county teams begin Tuesday with a Class 3A doubleheader at Latrobe. Valley (10-10) faces section rival Burrell (7-9) at 4:30 p.m. and Mt. Pleasant (9-9) and Derry tangle at 7.

Greensburg Central Catholic (9-5) and Ligonier Valley (11-7) will begin the Class 2A playoffs Thursday.

The Centurions face Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (12-8) at Boyce Mayview Park at 6:30 p.m. and the Rams battle Chartiers-Houston (16-3) at Gateway at 6:30 p.m.

Hempfield and Norwin know who they are playing in the Class 6A playoffs; they just don’t know when.

The eighth-seeded Spartans (11-9) will face No. 1 Pine-Richland (14-6) and No. 7 Norwin (8-11) will battle No. 2 North Allegheny (14-6) on May 22, but sites and times are still to be determined.

The WPIAL finals are scheduled for May 30 and 31 at Wild Things Park in Washington.

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: Latrobe, Penn-Trafford