Trib HSSN baseball player of the week for April 28, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, April 28, 2024 | 9:10 PM

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Trib HSSN baseball player of the week: Jake Robinson

School: Montour

Class: Senior

Position: Pitcher, shortstop, second base

What coach says: “Jake has been doing it all year for us offensively,” Montour coach Bob Janeda said. “In my opinion, he is the best hitter in 4A and in the top five in the entire WPIAL. He rarely strikes out, has a great situational approach and hits to all fields with power. In the Blackhawk and Moon games from this past week, he came up in close ballgames and delivered clutch hits that either tied the game or put us in front. He understands the situations and stays composed and doesn’t change his approach.

“Jake understands the importance of section games and wins, especially, against one of our perennial rivals in Blackhawk. Jake’s composure in big games is unmatched and no situation is too big for him. Jake’s offseason bullpen work was impressive. He worked very hard in the winter on throwing all pitches for strikes. Against Blackhawk, his fastball was up to 89, yet he got quite a few outs with his off-speed stuff.

“Jake understands what goes into winning a championship. He was the starting shortstop on our PIAA state championship team as a sophomore. Jake understands the grind and what goes into playing championship baseball. Jake is a quiet leader who handles his business in a very professional, business-like manner. Jake doesn’t miss practice, has never missed a weight session and never takes a rep off. Jake is the consummate leader who leads by example.

“We only returned two starters this season, Jake and Maddox Tarquinio. These are two guys played key roles in our state title championship. We talked often in the off-season about our youth and what we needed to do to compete and both never doubted that we would be successful if we worked hard and our championship culture and expectations never changed. These two guys bought into the process early in their high school career and now it is their turn to show us the way.”

#Earned: Robinson had another big week at the plate and was dominant on the mound as Montour clinched at least a share of the Section 1-4A championship with a sweep of rival Blackhawk. A little history was made Monday when the Spartans picked up their first section win ever at Chippewa Park in beating the Cougars, 10-3, as Robinson contributed with two hits, a run and an RBI. On Tuesday at Burkett Park, the senior right hander was outstanding on the hill, allowing no earned runs and two hits while striking out 10 in a 12-2, complete game victory. Montour suffered its first defeat of the season Thursday in an eight-inning loss to Moon, 7-6. In that game, Robinson had two more hits with a run scored and three RBIs.

Background: Robinson will continue his baseball career at Kent State as a position player. Coming into the Spartans’ final section series against second-place Central Valley, Robinson is hitting .450 (18 for 40) with five doubles, two triples and four home runs. He has scored 12 runs and driven home 18. On the mound, he is 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA. He has allowed 15 hits and nine walks while striking out 38 in 23 1/3 innings pitched. Nicknamed J-Rob, he had four hits and five RBIs as a sophomore in the 2022 PIAA playoffs that helped lead to a state championship run for Montour. In the district postseason a year ago, Robinson had a complete game victory and a save.

2024 Trib HSSN Baseball Players of the Week

Week 3 – Gio LoNero, Seton LaSalle

Week 2 – Tommy Schafale, North Catholic

Week 1 – Ryan Petras, Bethel Park

Tags: Montour