Westmoreland baseball playoff preview capsules: Games for May 19, 2025

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, May 18, 2025 | 8:32 PM

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WPIAL Class 6A

Quarterfinals

4-Norwin (12-8) vs. 5-Butler (12-8)

4 p.m. Monday at North Allegheny, Wexford

Winner plays: Winner of North Allegheny/Hempfield on Tuesday in the semifinals

Players to watch: Brayden Wardzinski, Norwin; Boden Lenyk, Butler.

Extra bases: Wardzinski is 5-0 for Norwin. Senior Nate Silberman is committed to play at Seton Hill. … Butler opened the season with seven consecutive wins. The Golden Tornado were swept by North Allegheny and Seneca Valley. Lenyk batted .328 with 21 hits and 17 runs scored. Owen Boring hit a team-high .396.

8-Hempfield (8-12) vs. 1-North Allegheny (14-6)

7 p.m. Monday at Boyce Mayview Park, Upper St. Clair

Winner plays: Winner of Norwin/Butler on Tuesday in the semifinals

Players to watch: Dylan Firmstone, Hempfield; Nate Surman, North Allegheny

Extra bases: Hempfield junior catcher Ian Kovalcik is batting .405. Senior pitcher Quinn Wilkins has a 1.35 ERA. … Surman has a 0.58 ERA for North Allegheny. Miles Peater has 22 hits and a .349 batting average. The Tigers dropped nonsection games to Penn-Trafford and Norwin.

WPIAL Class 5A

Quarterfinals

9-Latrobe (15-6) vs. 1-Pine-Richland (18-3)

4 p.m. Monday at Plum High School

Winner plays: 4-Bethel Park/5-Thomas Jefferson winner May 20 in the semifinals

First Round result: Greater Latrobe 2, Fox Chapel 1; Pine Richland 1, Trinity 0

Players to watch: Cole Short, Latrobe; Keegan Deihl, Pine-Richland

Extra bases: Latrobe senior shortstop Cooper Basciano is the son of coach Matt Basciano. Senior outfielder Eli Boring is one of the top hitters. Short was the winning pitcher a 2-1 victory over Fox Chapel in the first round. … Pine-Richland competed in Class 6A in 2024. Deihl has an ERA of 1.25. He blanked Trinity, 1-0, on two hits in the opening round. Sam Heckert is batting .406. Anthony Mengine, who singled, scored on a balk against Trinity.

Class 4A

Quarterfinals

5-Belle Vernon (14-6) vs. 4-Beaver (12-8)

4 p.m. Monday at Burkett Park, Robinson

Winner plays: 1-Indiana/9-Ambridge winner May 20 in the semifinals

Players to watch: Parker Lind, Belle Vernon; Ty Butler, Beaver

Extra bases: Connor Bergman and Cole Matusik each had two RBIs in a 7-0 victory over Derry in the first round. Parker Lind threw a shutout to improve to 8-1. … Butler leads Beaver with a .373 batting average. He stole eight bases, scored 17 runs and recorded 25 hits. Sophomore shortstop Derek Hughes had a team-high 18 RBIs.

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.