Scholastic Notebook – 05/11/2012

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 11, 2012 | 2:31 PM

The way the WPIAL baseball playoffs are set up, a team that makes it to a championship game could use its No. 1 pitcher in three of four contests. That is extremely good news for Thomas Jefferson.

Thomas Jefferson pitcher Greg Schneider hasn’t just been unbeatable this season. It has been almost impossible to score on him. Schneider had one of the most dominating regular seasons of any pitcher in recent WPIAL history.
Schneider, a Thomas Jefferson senior and a Pitt recruit, led Thomas Jefferson to the Class AAA Section 3 title. His statistics were remarkable.

Schneider finished the regular season with an 8-0 record and a surreal 0.19 ERA. He pitched 48 1/3 innings and allowed only two runs. One of those runs was unearned. He averaged almost two strikeouts an inning, whiffing 88. He also displayed pretty good control, walking only 15.

With Schneider on the mound, Thomas Jefferson will be tough to beat in the playoffs. But if the Jaguars are to make it to the title game, someone else will also have to pitch. After Schneider, no other pitcher on the staff had an ERA below 4.97. That was the ERA of Joe Shaffer, who had a 2-0 record.

So, how well Thomas Jefferson’s other pitchers perform might determine how far Thomas Jefferson goes in the playoffs.
And don’t forget about Schneider’s hitting, either. He finished with a .583 average and seven doubles, four triples, four home runs and 25 RBIs.

Championship Double Play

The WPIAL team track championships were held Thursday at Baldwin, and both the Hempfield boys and girls were calling themselves champions.

Hempfield swept the Class AAA team titles to become the first school to win both since North Allegheny in 2004. Since the WPIAL started team playoffs in 1984, Hempfield is one of only six schools to win the boys and girls championships in the same year.
North Allegheny won both titles four times – 1993, ’94, ’95 and 2004. Butler also did it four times – 1988, ’97, 98 and ’99. Wilmington did it in 1992, Thomas Jefferson in 1991 and Mohawk 1988.

The Champ Returns

Trenton Coles had a bad wheel, but he still might roll to another WPIAL track title.

Coles’ story is one of the most interesting in WPIAL track this spring. As a sophomore and junior at Clairton, he won WPIAL Class AA championships in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and also won both races at the PIAA level last year as a junior.

But in Clairton’s final football game in December, Coles suffered an injured knee while kicking an extra point, tearing the MCL and PCL ligaments. But rather than have surgery, Coles decided to rehabilitate the knee. However, he still didn’t think he would be able to run track this spring and defend his titles.

Coles decided to join the Clairton baseball team and had some success in that sport. He trained a little in track and ran in two meets. However, it was still questionable if he would run in the WPIAL championship qualifier this past Tuesday. But not only did Coles run, he excelled, running the 100 in 10.97 seconds, one of the fastest times in the WPIAL this spring.

The time qualified Coles for the WPIAL championship meet next Thursday at Baldwin.

“We always had him on the roster and he’s always been a part of the team,” said Clairton track coach Cassidy Yeager. “We just had to make sure everything was clear and that he was medically sound. It’s kind of always been up to Trenton, but I think this is something that is so important to him and what it means to him and his family.”

Coles did not run the 200 at the qualifier and thus will not participate in that event at the championships.

“We were kind of afraid to put him on the curve in the 200,” Yeager said. “That’s a lot more on the knee, with the leaning.”

Lancers Uprising

It was a big deal for the Deer Lakes Lancers baseball team a year ago when it won a section title for the first time since 1997. The Lancers duplicated the feat this season.

Deer Lakes came on strong in the final few weeks and tied Freeport and Burrell for the section title. All three teams get section championship plaques.

A second consecutive section title seemed highly unlikely for the Lancers after they were 3-3 in section play at one point. They started the season 0-3 overall. But Deer Lakes just might be one of the hottest teams in Class AA, winning  their final six section games, including wins against Burrell and Freeport. Deer Lakes is 10-8 overall.

Half a Pitchers Duel

Rain and PIAA baseball rules ruined a darn good pitchers duel earlier this week.

Bentworth and Serra, two of the top teams in WPIAL Class A, started their game Wednesday afternoon and Serra’s Alain Girman and Bentworth’s Tyler Delval were both dominating. But rain stopped the game before Delval pitched in the bottom of the fourth. It was resumed Thursday.

Girman had pitched the top of the fourth and had 11 strikeouts in four innings. But under PIAA rules, a pitcher who works four innings needs two days off before he can pitch again. However, because Delval didn’t pitch in the fourth, he did not need any rest, under PIAA rules.

So when the game resumed Delval continued to pitch well and Bentworth went on to a 4-0 victory.

Football Recruiting

Pitt football coach Paul Chryst picked up another WPIAL football recruit this week when Gateway junior fullback Jaymar Parrish made a verbal commitment to the Panthers. He is the second WPIAL player to choose Pitt in the class of 2013. The other is Seton-LaSalle tight end Scott Orndoff.

Parrish plays tight end for Gateway, but was recruited to play fullback.

“He had a [scholarship] offer from Akron, too, but Penn State had been in to see him, and Wisconsin and Purdue were showing some interest, too,” said Gateway coach Terry Smith.

When asked if any colleges recruited the 6-foot, 235-pound Parrish as a tight end, Smith said, “His height was a factor. But Pitt is going to line him up as a traditional fullback. They’re a pro-style offense team. They’re going to use a lot of tight ends, fullbacks and H-backs. Jaymar is an extremely physical blocker.”

Where Are They Now?

* The Robert Morris softball team is having the best season in school history and the team’s roster is loaded with WPIAL players. Freshman pitcher Nicole Sleith of Yough was named the Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Year, and also Rookie of the Year. She set a school record in the first round of the NEC tournament Thursday with her 25th win of the season. Also, freshman Samantha Santillo of Ellwood City was given the NEC’s Golden Glove award, signifying the top defensive player in the conference.

* Butler graduate Logan Renwick, a track and field athlete at Notre Dame, recently won the Big East Conference championship in the triple jump.

Tags: Bentworth, Burrell, Butler, Clairton, Deer Lakes, Ellwood City, Freeport, Gateway, Hempfield, Yough