Penn-Trafford notebook: Matt Sarnowski, Amelia Barilla make college plans

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, April 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Penn-Trafford seniors Matt Sarnowski and Amelia Barilla have selected their future schools.

Sarnowski plans to attend Penn State on a track scholarship, and Barilla is off to Bowling Green on a track scholarship.

Sarnowski is an all-conference football player, who finished third in the PIAA in Class 3A discus in 2023. He placed sixth during indoor states in the shot put. Barilla holds the P-T record in the 800 and the mile.

Coy competes at Wrestling Classic

Penn-Trafford senior Hayden Coy was picked for the WPIAL team in the annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic.

Coy was beaten by Logan Rozynski while competing at 145 pounds.

The WPIAL team, however, defeated the all-stars from New Jersey, 27-19.

Coy was selected to the Tribune-Review first team all-stars last month.

Pepple, Freas earn first-team honors

Penn-Trafford seniors Olivia Pepple and Tyler Freas were voted as first-team Section 3-5A basketball all-stars.

Pepple made the girls’ team and Freas the boys’ team

Junior Kamryn Pieper was selected to the second team while junior Lauren Marton and senior Elle Visco were named to the honorable mention squad.

Senior Ian Temple was picked to the boys’ second team while senior Carmen Metcalfe, junior Evan Gross and junior Brayden Stone were honorable mention selections.

Four more years

Wild Things Park in Washington will host the WPIAL baseball championships through 2027.

The WPIAL and Wild Things extended their partnership for at least four more years.

The WPIAL finals have been played at Wild Things Park — formerly Falconi Field — since 2003.

Greensburg Central Catholic (2015), Norwin (2016), Jeannette (2017), Latrobe (2017), and Franklin Regional (2021) have won titles at the field.

This year’s finals are set for the week of May 27, with the Pittsburgh Pirates once again sponsoring the title games.

District 31 Legion expands

District 31 American Legion baseball doesn’t start until May 20, but the league has made offseason noise by expanding to 14 teams.

Jason Bush, who serves as the District 31 president and Region 7 director, believes the league is the largest in the state.

“We were actually in talks with three other teams,” Bush said. “So we could be even larger next season. We’ll see how things go for them in the offseason.”

District 31 has expanded to Somerset, Indiana and Armstrong counties. There are teams from Allegheny County that have also approached Bush.

“Our expansion is a testament to our coaches and it shows we are doing things right,” Bush said. “We’re providing a good brand of baseball where kids don’t have to travel all-around and can play for their communities and with their friends.”

The league had 10 teams in 2023, but with the addition of Derry, Lower Burrell, Trafford and Yough, the league expands into two divisions — east and west.

The teams in the east will be Blairsville, Derry, Homer City, Latrobe, Somerset, Unity and Young Township. The west teams are Bushy Run, Hempfield East, Lower Burrell, Mt. Pleasant, Murrysville, Trafford and Yough.

The teams will play a 19-game schedule (12 division games and one against the other seven teams in the opposite division). The regular season is scheduled to end July 7 with the playoffs beginning July 9.

Four teams will advance to the Region 7 tournament at Claysburg. Murrysville will host the state tournament, but the games will be played at North Allegheny.

Bushy Run was the 2023 champion and Latrobe finished second. Murrysville finished third.

Bushy Run fell to Beech Creek in the Region 7 finals.

Staff writer Bill Beckner Jr. contributed to this report.

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