WPIAL Baseball – 2011 Season Preview
By:
Monday, March 28, 2011 | 12:00 AM
The first pitch of the 2011 WPIAL baseball season is set to be tossed on Friday, March 25th. While there were no state champions from the district in 2010, Pine-Richland, Hopewell, Beaver Falls and Serra Catholic now begin defense of their WPIAL titles. Here is a rundown of the Preseason Top Ten and players to watch in each classification.
WPIAL CLASS AAAA PRESEASON TOP TEN:
1) PETERS TOWNSHIP INDIANS (15-7)
2) NORTH ALLEGHENY TIGERS (19-6)
3) PINE-RICHLAND RAMS (20-4)
4) NORWIN KNIGHTS (17-5)
5) UPPER ST. CLAIR PANTHERS (13-7)
6) PITTSBURGH CENTRAL CATHOLIC VIKINGS (12-7)
7) PLUM MUSTANGS (14-6)
8) MOUNT LEBANON BLUE DEVILS (7-12)
9) SHALER TITANS (13-8)
10) BETHEL PARK BLACK HAWKS (8-11)
WPIAL CLASS AAAA PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011:
Max McDowell – Norwin
Jason Shirley – Norwin
Johnny Leonard – Connellsville
Brian Tougher – Woodland Hills
Russell Clark – Pine-Richland
Zac LaNeve – Pine-Richland
Taylor Schmidt – North Hills
Cody Gaertner – North Allegheny
Tanner Wilt – North Allegheny
Brice Nikithser – North Allegheny
Zack Schramm – Shaler
Ian Happ – Mount Lebanon
Austin Hancock – Peters Township
Brady Sheetz – Peters Township
Justin Bianco – Peters Township
Ryan Minteer – Peters Township
————————————————————
WPIAL CLASS AAA PRESEASON TOP TEN:
1) MOON TIGERS (18-6)
2) TRINITY HILLERS (12-6)
3) HOPEWELL VIKINGS (23-2)
4) CENTRAL VALLEY WARRIORS (na)
5) ELIZABETH FORWARD WARRIORS (21-6)
6) MOUNT PLEASANT VIKINGS (16-6)
7) CHARTIERS VALLEY COLTS (7-11)
8) BLACKHAWK COUGARS (13-8)
9) HAMPTON TALBOTS (9-11)
10) GREENSBURG-SALEM GOLDEN LIONS (13-6)
WPIAL CLASS AAA PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011:
Matt Emge – Blackhawk
G.J. Senchak – New Castle
Matt Rubino – Hopewell
Logan Urtz – Central Valley
J.R. Deweese – Central Valley
Johnny Rossi – Central Valley
Christian Herstine – Beaver
Brett Hoffman – Moon
Dan Altavilla – Elizabeth Forward
Nick Riotto – Trinity
Anthony Marks – Montour
John O'Neill – Chartiers Valley
Luke Horew – Chartiers Valley
Bryan Leipold – Chartiers Valley
David Kucenic – South Park
Greg Schneider – Thomas Jefferson
Adam Rzepniak – East Allegheny
Carmen Barone – East Allegheny
————————————————————
WPIAL CLASS AA PRESEASON TOP TEN:
1) BURRELL BUCCANEERS (14-6)
2) BISHOP CANEVIN CRUSADERS (12-7)
3) SHADY SIDE ACADEMY INDIANS (18-3)
4) FREEPORT YELLOWJACKETS (15-2)
5) LAUREL SPARTANS (15-5)
6) FREEDOM BULLDOGS (13-6)
7) BEAVER FALLS TIGERS (19-4)
8) BROWNSVILLE FALCONS (11-7)
9) ELLWOOD CITY WOLVERINES (13-8)
10) WAYNESBURG RAIDERS (11-6)
WPIAL CLASS AA PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011:
Mike DelSardo – Seton-LaSalle
Matt Zerishnek – Bishop Canevin
Derek Lehocky – Freedom
Steve McCaw – Waynesburg
Alex Swauger – Waynesburg
Joe Monica – Waynesburg
Zach Hibbs – Brownsville
Gage Nichols – Brownsville
Julien Anderson – Washington
Tyler Pavan – Burgettstown
Dylan Prutz – Southmoreland
Mark Wesolek – Deer Lakes
Dylan Wolsonovich – Ford City
Danny Russo – Ford City
Dave Yakopec – Burrell
John Fetchko – Freeport
Ben Hartz – Shady Side Academy
Cayman Hoggard – Riverview
Ben Bobick – Steel Valley
Greg Lynn – Ellwood City
Kyle Bonner – New Brighton
Rick Jones – Laurel
Daniel Mioni – Mohawk
Johnny Beatty – Mohawk
Dane Gecina – Shenango
Anthony Kosciuszko – Shenango
————————————————————
WPIAL CLASS A PRESEASON TOP TEN:
1) SERRA CATHOLIC EAGLES (24-2)
2) NESHANNOCK LANCERS (17-6)
3) CALIFORNIA TROJANS (21-4)
4) BETH-CENTER BULLDOGS (11-6)
5) CARMICHAELS MIGHTY MIKES (7-13)
6) VINCENTIAN ACADEMY ROYALS (14-10)
7) NORTH CATHOLIC TROJANS (6-11)
8) ROCHESTER RAMS (5-11)
9) BENTWORTH BEARCATS (17-4)
10) CORNELL RAIDERS (10-7)
WPIAL CLASS A PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011:
Matt Sabatini – Beth-Center
Austin Smith – Beth-Center
Mike Bodnar – Beth-Center
Nick Clarke – Carmichaels
Jon Krall – Carmichaels
Dakota Conway – California
T.D. Conway – California
Brandon Kozich – Jefferson-Morgan
Chris Miller – Serra Catholic
Alain Girman – Serra Catholic
Josh Chaussinand – Monessen
Tyler Delval – Bentworth
John Sansone – Neshannock
Chris Tsangaris – Neshannock
Alex Strittmatter – Neshannock
Andre Jones – Union
Alente Johnson – Rochester
Bryan Korzen – Cornell
Zach Chinchilla – Quigley
Adam Dian – Vincentian Academy
Will Hogan – Sewickley Academy
Tags: Beaver Falls, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Bethel Park, Bishop Canevin, Blackhawk, Brownsville, Burrell, California, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Carmichaels, Central Valley, Chartiers Valley, Elizabeth Forward, Ellwood City, Freedom, Freeport, Greensburg Salem, Hampton, Hopewell, North Catholic, Vincentian Academy, Waynesburg Central
More Baseball
• Notable changes to the 2025-26 WPIAL baseball alignment• Lancaster native Andy Hoover takes reins of Gateway baseball program
• Belle Vernon pitcher wowed by Kent State baseball program
• Fox Chapel’s Blake Krushinski commits to play baseball at West Virginia
• WPIAL approves new section alignments for spring sports in 2025, ’26 seasons