Westmoreland baseball playoff capsules: Games for Wednesday, May 15, 2024

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 | 3:54 PM

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Class 5A

10-Moon (10-7) vs. 7-Penn-Trafford (16-3)

2 p.m. Wednesday at Gateway, Monroeville.

Winner plays: No. 2 Fox Chapel, which drew a bye, on May 20 at a site and time to be determined.

Players to watch: Coleman Fletcher, Moon; Jason Sabol, Penn-Trafford;

Extra bases: The Warriors finished third in the 2023 playoffs, defeating Plum in the third-place game. … Penn-Trafford then posted its first PIAA win against Central Mountain. … Penn-Trafford senior Chuck Fontana is batting .420 with 26 hits, seven doubles and 15 RBIs. … Sabol is hitting .321 and Ian Temple .310 for the Warriors. … Brandon Roher has a 1.20 ERA and Dom Delio a 1.75 ERA. … Fletcher is hitting .405 with 15 hits and 11 RBIs to lead Moon. He is 4-2 with an ERA of 2.39. … Tigers’ Joey Marasco is 3-1. … Moon has won seven consecutive games.

11-Connellsville (11-9) vs. 6-Franklin Regional (12-7)

4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gateway, Monroeville.

Winner plays: No.3 North Hills, which drew a bye, on May 20 at a site and time to be determined.

Players to watch: Grayden Gillott, Connellsville; Max Bernadowski, Franklin Regional

Extra bases: The Falcons are led by Gillott, a junior. He’s hitting .324 with 22 hits, 19 runs, seven stolen bases and 10 RBIs. … Kace Shearer is hitting .328 with 19 hits, six doubles and 15 RBIs. … Franklin Regional has seven batters hitting better than .300 in the starting lineup. … Bernadowski is batting .321 with 18 hits and 13 RBIs. He is 5-1 with an ERA of 3.33. … Darren Deriggi leads the Panthers with a .514 batting average. He has 19 hits and 15 RBIs. … Seven of Cole Brinker’s 14 hits are doubles.

Class 4A

12-Hopewell (9-9) vs. 5-Latrobe (16-4)

4 p.m. Wednesday at Plum

Winner plays: The winner of the 4-Montour/13-Uniontown on May 20 at a site and time to be determined.

Players to watch: Kingston Krotec, Hopewell; Luke Nipar-Smith, Latrobe.

Extra bases: Hopewell defeated Latrobe, 4-3, in the WPIAL championship game in 2023. … Hopewell has won five WPIAL titles, and Latrobe won 5A PIAA and WPIAL titles in 2017. … Nipar-Smith is 4-1, and Riley Smith is 4-0 for the Wildcats. … Mason Leonard and Jake Cramer lead Latrobe with a .348 batting average. … Krotec, a sophomore, is batting .383, and John Vescio is hitting .370. … Shortstop Zach Gigliotti drove in two runs in the championship game. … David Medich is 2-1 with an ERA of 1.34.

16-Blackhawk (7-10) vs. 1-Belle Vernon Area (13-3)

4:30 p.m., Wednesday at Boyce-Mayview Park, Upper St. Clair.

Winner plays: The winner of the 8-Central Valley/9-Indiana on May 20 at a site and time to be determined.

Players to watch: Owen Keister, Blackhawk; Adam LaCarte, Belle Vernon Area.

Extra bases: Keister leads the Cougars with a .370 batting average. He has 17 hits, including five doubles. … Sophomore Carter Davis has a team-high 11 RBIs. … Junior Dylan Smith is 3-0 for Blackhawk, which has lost 4 of its past five games. … LaCarte is batting .431 with four home runs, 15 runs, seven stole bases and 18 RBIs. … Cole Matusik is hitting .404 with eight stolen bases and 18 runs scored. … Colton Lee is 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA, and Lucas Judy is 3-0 with 0.97 ERA. … Many players from the Leopards’ WPIAL and PIAA championship football team play on the baseball team including LaCarte, Lee and Kole Doppelheuer.

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: Belle Vernon, Blackhawk, Connellsville, Franklin Regional, Hopewell, Latrobe, Moon, Penn-Trafford