2025 WPIAL Class 4A baseball preseason breakdown

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 12:16 AM

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Last season, North Catholic won the Section 4-4A championship by two games, but only received a No. 6 seed when the Class 4A playoff brackets came out.

The Trojans went to work and showed great team balance over the next four rounds of postseason play.

The pitching and defense was on display early, as North Catholic registered back-to-back shutouts in a first-round win against Elizabeth Forward and a quarterfinal triumph over West Mifflin.

Then the Trojans offense took over as they ousted No. 2 seed Thomas Jefferson in the semifinals, 12-4, and knocked off Indiana in the district championship game, 7-5, for North Catholic’s fifth WPIAL title and first in six years.

It was a silver season for Indiana as the Little Indians reached both the district and state championship games only to come up just short in both finals.

District finalists North Catholic and Indiana return in 4A, but the class shrunk in both number of teams and number of sections for 2025 and 2026. It is also wide open in the chase for a championship.

Here is a rundown of the 2025 preseason top 5 teams, some of the players to watch and other diamond notes in WPIAL Class 4A baseball.

Preseason Top 5

1. Indiana (16-11 last season)

Indiana finished in second place in Section 4-4A behind North Catholic and ended the regular season with an 11-10 record. However, that was deceiving because the Little Indians played a tough nonsection slate and showed how good they were in the postseason. As the No. 9 seed, they defeated Central Valley, Blackhawk and Montour to reach the WPIAL 4A title game where they lost to North Catholic, 7-5. Then in the state playoffs, they ousted Bellefonte, East Pennsboro and Fleetwood by a combined score of 19-8 before falling in the state finals by one run to Holy Ghost Prep. Indiana is deep on the hill with seniors Greg Minnick (Texas Tech), Ryan Okopal (Mercyhurst) and Mark Collinger (Mercyhurst) along with the return of senior outfielder Tim Birch (Seton Hill).

2. North Catholic (17-5)

For the fifth time in program history, North Catholic won WPIAL gold a year ago and is back to defend its title. This season marks the 30th anniversary of the Trojans’ first district crown in 1995 and the 20th anniversary of their second diamond title in the spring of 2005. (Their two other titles were in 2007 and 2018.) North Catholic moves into Section 1 from now defunct Section 4 and returns two key pieces of its title puzzle from a year ago in senior pitcher Caden Williams (Allegheny) and junior infielder Owen Beatrice (St. John’s).

3. Belle Vernon (13-4)

The Belle Vernon boys basketball team ended a long, 48-year championship drought last month. Now the baseball team looks to follow suit and win diamond gold for the first time. The Leopards have some key players back, led by senior pitcher Parker Lind, a Kent State commit. Senior pitchers Lucas Judy (Pitt-Greensburg) and Zach Bird (Chatham) make the Leopards tough on the hill. Senior outfielder Cole Matusik (Washington & Jefferson) and junior infielder Connor Bergman also are back for the reigning Section 2 champions.

4. Elizabeth Forward (11-8)

Elizabeth Forward finished in fourth place in Section 3-4A last spring and lost to North Catholic in the opening round of the postseason. However, the Warriors finished 11-7 overall, which was highlighted by a six-game winning streak to end the regular season that included a victory over WPIAL and PIAA runner-up Indiana, 2-1. The Warriors have just about everybody back after losing only three seniors. Among the many returning for EF is senior pitcher, outfielder and first baseman Cy Herchelroath, an Akron commit, and senior outfielder Charlie Nigut, a Cal (Pa.) football commit. Others to watch include senior pitcher and infielder Andrew Grese, junior pitcher and outfielder Joe Crovak and sophomore pitcher and infielder Jacob Peterson.

5. West Mifflin (17-3)

West Mifflin surprised many by winning the 2022 WPIAL Class 4A championship, but while the Titans have not be able to return to the top the last two seasons, they have established themselves as a top program that will be in the hunt for gold each spring. Following a share of the Section 3-4A title and a quarterfinal loss to eventual champion North Catholic, the Titans have talent returning with three players who will help both on the mound and in the field are senior pitcher Jacob Martina (Westmoreland County CC) along with junior pitchers and infielders Caden Wills and Chase Maggio.

Players to watch

Adam Fernandez, Sr., P-INF, Ambridge

Ty Butler, Sr., P-OF, Beaver

Tyler Kisling, Sr., P-C-OF, Beaver

Brady Mayo, Sr., INF, Beaver

Stephen Knally, Sr., OF, Blackhawk

Dylan Smith, Sr., P-OF, Blackhawk

Logan Elich, Jr., P-OF, Blackhawk

Grant Lansberry, Jr., C, Blackhawk

Blake White, Sr., C, Central Valley

Jake Hunter, Jr., OF, Central Valley

Nate Angelo, Jr., INF, Central Valley

Justin Dubee, Sr., C, Hampton

Kingston Krotec, Jr., INF, Hopewell

David Medich, Sr., P, Hopewell

Owen Beatrice, Jr., INF, North Catholic

Caden Williams, Sr., P, North Catholic

Parker Lind, Sr., P, Belle Vernon

Connor Bergman, Jr., INF, Belle Vernon

Cole Matusik, Sr., OF, Belle Vernon

Lucas Judy, Sr., P-INF, Belle Vernon

Zach Bird, Sr., P, Belle Vernon

Charlie Nigut, Sr., OF, Elizabeth Forward

Cy Herchelroath, Sr., P, Elizabeth Forward

Andrew Grese, Sr., P-INF, Elizabeth Forward

Noah Lion, Jr., P-INF-OF, Laurel Highlands

Alex Kolano, Sr., INF, Ringgold

Sam Allen, Sr., C, Ringgold

Jacob Martina, Sr., P, West Mifflin

Caden Wills, Jr., P-INF, West Mifflin

Chase Maggio, Jr., P-INF, West Mifflin

Payton Chismar, Sr., INF, Greensburg Salem

Kristian Kocon, Sr., P-OF-INF, Highlands

Sal Barbarino, Sr., P-INF-OF, Highlands

Carson McGraw, Sr., C-INF-OF, Highlands

Greg Minnick, Sr., P-OF, Indiana

Ryan Okopal, Sr., P, Indiana

Mark Collinger, Sr., P, Indiana

Tim Birch, Sr., OF, Indiana

Cody Stull, Sr., P-INF, Knoch

Zane Pacek, Jr., P, Knoch

Julian Danko, Soph., INF, Valley

Nikolas Heakins, Jr., OF, Valley

Diamond notes

• This is the 20th season of Class 4A baseball and if history means anything, the odds are not in favor of North Catholic repeating as WPIAL champions. In the 19 previous seasons, only two teams have been able to win back-to-back district crowns in 4A: Peters Township in 2007 and 2008 and Seneca Valley in 2011 and 2012.

• Last spring, Indiana came close to giving the WPIAL a third state champion in Class 4A in four years this decade. The Little Indians reached the 2024 PIAA 4A title game but lost a heartbreaker to Holy Ghost Prep, 6-5. There was no season is 2020, New Castle won PIAA gold in 2021 and Montour won a state championship in 2022. The other three 4A PIAA winners from District 7 were Seneca Valley in 2007, Canon-McMillan in 2008 and Ringgold in 2018.

• Realignment has led to many changes in Class 4A, with three teams coming up from 3A and seven schools moving up to 5A and 6A. The welcome mat is out for Derry, Greensburg Salem and Valley, while the exit signs were lit up for Chartiers Valley, Kiski Area, Latrobe, McKeesport, Montour, Thomas Jefferson and Woodland Hills. Montour and TJ won or shared a section championship in 4A a year ago and five of the seven were playoff teams. The move from 24 to 20 teams also led to the WPIAL shrinking from four sections in 4A down to three with Sections 1 and 2 having seven teams and Section 3 with six teams. With the top four in each section making the district playoffs, barring ties, the postseason field will go from 16 down to 12 teams.

• Class 4A has been a picture of balance when it comes to WPIAL championships. In the seven years since expansion to six classifications in 2017, the WPIAL has had seven different teams win Class 4A district crowns: two former 4A teams that have since moved up to 5A in South Fayette (2018) and New Castle (2021), along with five current 4A teams in Blackhawk (2017), Beaver (2019), West Mifflin (2022), Hopewell (2023) and North Catholic (2024).

• Some WPIAL Class 4A championship anniversaries being celebrated this season include:

North Allegheny defeated Upper St. Clair in the finals 20 years ago to win the first WPIAL “Quad-A” championship in 2005.

Pine-Richland moved up from 3A to 4A and won it all 15 years ago, defeating rival North Allegheny in the 2010 title game, 5-2.

Central Catholic won its first and only district crown 10 years ago when it blanked defending champion Norwin in 2015 4A championship game, 2-0.

Sadly, this is the fifth year anniversary of the 2020 high school baseball season and all spring high school sports around the country being canceled following the outbreak of the covid-19 virus.

2025 Alignment

Section 1: Ambridge, Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Hampton, Hopewell, North Catholic

Section 2: Albert Gallatin, Belle Vernon, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold, Uniontown, West Mifflin

Section 3: Derry, Greensburg Salem, Highlands, Indiana, Knoch, Valley