Norwin baseball team short on experience
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Tuesday, March 20, 2018 | 6:06 PM
Norwin has made the WPIAL baseball playoffs eight consecutive times and has a record of 119-37 in that span with a WPIAL championship (2016) and a runner-up finish ('15) on its resume.
Quite a record for a reputable program, but coach Mike Liebdzinski isn't making any allusions to the past. This year's unit does not have the experience of its predecessors.
“You start to see some success, which is nice, but you don't want the (current) kids to just expect things to come,” Liebdzinski said. “They have to put in the work. You can expect to be good, but you have to go out and prove it.”
Shortstop Nick Zona returns and joins senior center fielder Brady Sigut as another experienced letterman, and only one letter separates their college choices: Sigut is a Seton Hall commit, and Zona is headed to Seton Hill.
Zona batted .478.
A third returning starter is senior Tanner Mahofski, who saw time at designated hitter last year and could play first base for the Knights, who went 14-4 and won their first section title since 2012 (Section 2-6A). They dropped a 9-1 decision to WPIAL runner-up North Allegheny in the quarterfinals after a first-round bye.
“Defensively, I think we'll be fine, like last year,” said Liebdzinski, the coach of the Knights for 14 years. “But we only bring back two regular position players. We have some spots to fill.”
Junior Owen Sabol should be a regular at third base, and sophomore Aidan Shephard shows potential in left field.
Pitching will be the greatest question mark for the Knights. Senior Chris Wallace, a James Madison recruit, went 2-1 last season but is not pitching for Norwin this year after having Tommy John surgery last year.
“Our staff is young, basically zero experience,” Liebdzinski said. “Zona and my son, Logan, saw some time in a nonsection game late in the season against Moon. That's it. Pitching is our biggest concern.”
Norwin lost a head-turning number of seniors: 14. But there is some promise in freshman Jaden Walker, a 6-foot-3 left-hander who throws around 82-84 mph.
“He has some potential,” Liebdzinski said. “He throws strikes.”
Shephard also could pitch.
“We need to get out and compete and see what we what need to do,” Libdzinski said of his lineup. “I have a good feel for what we have in the kids, but we're still playing it by ear.”
Four juniors — Logan Liebdzinski (2B), Kristian Kubacka (C), Kyle Chismar (1B/DH) and Derek Turkowski (P) — also should contribute.
Coach Liebdzinski said Hempfield, Penn-Trafford and Plum are the teams to beat in Section 2.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.
Tags: Norwin
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