High school notebook: Westmoreland players included in all-state softball, baseball selections

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, July 6, 2024 | 4:44 PM

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Westmoreland County had impressive representation on the Pennsylvania High School Softball Coaches Association All-State teams.

In Class 6A, three Hempfield girls made the first team: senior first baseman Emily Griffith (.410, 25 hits, 4 HR), junior shortstop Allie Cervola (.397, 5 HR) and senior outfielder Maggie Howard (.571, 32 hits, 17 RBIs).

Cervola committed to Ohio, Howard to Georgetown.

Senior shortstop Bailey Snowberger of Norwin (.400, 25 hits, 18 SB) also made the first team. Snowberger is a Holy Cross commit.

In Class 5A, Penn-Trafford junior third baseman Cam Ponko (.500, 32 hits, 10 doubles, 6 HR, 28 runs) and Franklin Regional junior shortstop Toryn Fulton (.673, 7 HR, 26 RBI, 31 runs) were first-team picks.

Fulton is committed to South Florida.

Second-team selections were Franklin Regional teammates outfielder Adrianna Martz (.408, 19 RBI) and utility player Ciara Camacho (.396, 5 3B, 4 HR, 21 RBI), along with Latrobe pitcher Kayla Williams (166 K’s) and Penn-Trafford senior catcher Mack Keenan (.417, 6 HR, 27 RBI).

Camacho is a Kent State recruit, and Williams is headed to Slippery Rock.

Belle Vernon senior first baseman Grace Sokol (.508, 21 RBI) and her sister and teammate, junior second baseman Katie Sokol (.485, 4 HR), made the Class 4A first team.

The Class 3A first team included Southmoreland junior catcher Makayla Etling (.538, 8 HR, 24 RBI). Ligonier Valley senior pitcher Cheyenne Piper (16-7, 1.08 ERA, 252 Ks), Southmoreland senior shortstop Amarah McCutcheon (.404, 7 HR) and Mt. Pleasant senior shortstop Danica Trainer (.560, 10 2B) made the second team in the classification.

Etling will play at UNC Pembroke, Piper at Westminster and McCutcheon at Cal (Pa.).

And in Class A, Jeannette sophomore pitcher Grace Stein (12-3, 1.02 ERA, 202 K’s) made the second team.

All-state baseball

A half-dozen players from Westmoreland County were selected to the Pennsylvania State Baseball Coaches Association All-State teams.

Hempfield senior infielder Carson Shuglie made the Class 6A first team, and junior infielder Tyler Martin of Greensburg Salem (4A) and sophomore catcher Anthony Grippo of Greensburg Central Catholic (2A) also were first-team selections.

Local second-team picks were junior infielder Darren DeRiggi of Franklin Regional (5A), senior outfielder Adam LaCarte of Belle Vernon (4A) and sophomore outfielder Nick Heakins of Valley (3A).

A Seton Hill commit, Shuglie hit .397 to lead Hempfield and hit a team-best four home runs plus six doubles, 21 RBIs and 19 runs scored.

Martin hit .524 to lead the Golden Lions and also had 20 runs, 33 hits — eight of them doubles — 16 stolen bases and 12 RBIs.

Grippo batted .562 with a 1.380 OPS and had a team-high 27 hits to go with 15 runs and 15 RBIs.

A designated hitter, DeRiggi led Franklin Regional with 25 hits. He batted .490 and had 10 runs and 19 RBIs.

LaCarte, a John Carroll football commit, hit .426 with four home runs, 16 runs and 18 RBIs, and Heakins batted over .400 for the section-winning Vikings.

WCCA schedule

The Westmoreland County Coaches Association is mapping out its schedule of events for the summer, fall and winter seasons.

The annual 7-on-7 football tournament will be July 18 at Latrobe.

The boys golf championships will be Sept. 12 at Latrobe Elks Golf Course, and the cross country championships are set for Oct. 9 at Westmoreland County Community College.

The girls’ all-star volleyball match is Nov. 19 at Ligonier Valley, the boys basketball shootout is Dec. 21 at Hempfield and Jeannette and the wrestling championships will be Jan. 10-11 at Greensburg Salem.

The only event that does not have a time, date or site yet is the girls golf tournament.

GW offers Gribble

Rising junior basketball standout Erica Gribble of Greensburg Central Catholic continues to draw Division I college attention as another school joined her expanding list of potential suitors.

George Washington is the latest program to extend a scholarship offer to the 5-foot-10 combo guard.

Gribble, who has more than 1,000 career points in two seasons, averaged 19.4 points last season as GCC won the WPIAL 2A championship.

Her other offers include Richmond, Rhode Island, Harvard, Penn, Robert Morris, Monmouth, Bucknell, Quinnipiac, Villanova, Navy, Buffalo and St. Joseph’s.

The St. Joseph’s offer came when she was in eighth grade.

Moe Classic

Game times have been announced for the 2024 Moe Rosensteel Memorial Kickoff Classic set for Aug. 24 at Ringgold’s Joe Montana Stadium.

There will be four girls soccer games. Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Regional will open the event at noon, followed by Ringgold vs. Hickory at 2 p.m., Avonworth vs. Latrobe at 4 and Elizabeth Forward vs. Ringgold at 6.

Recruiting

Burrell senior baseball player AJ McLafferty will play at Saint Vincent. McLafferty hit .371 with four doubles and 15 RBIs this season.

• Jada Ford, a senior at Yough, will play golf at Westmoreland County Community College.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Latrobe, Valley