A-K Valley’s best happy to put pen to paper during fall signing period

By: Michael Love
Friday, November 21, 2025 | 5:47 PM

When a high school athlete gives a verbal commitment to a school of his or her choice, it sets off a period of waiting until they can make it officially binding.

For several of those athletes in the Alle-Kiski Valley, that signing-day period began Nov. 12, and it signified a major commitment and the start of a Division I or Division II journey that will shape their foreseeable future.

Fox Chapel senior Blake Krushinski, who gave a verbal commitment to West Virginia baseball in August of last year, waited 15 months to make his decision final. He said there was absolutely no thought of looking elsewhere that whole time.

“Once I (verbally committed), it made me want to work that much harder,” said Krushinski, who had also garnered interest from Pitt, Penn State, Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina. “When I signed, it was a sense of relief. At the same time, it was a new chapter in my life, and I can’t slow down now. I have so much I still want to work on with the knowledge that I will be at a great school like West Virginia doing what I love, and that’s baseball. I had this mindset and dream to play at the Division I level since I was 4 years old when I was throwing Wiffle balls and swinging a bat in the backyard with my dad. The end goal for me now is to be in the major leagues.”

The period to sign with Division I and II schools remained the same despite the NCAA eliminating the national letter of intent in October of 2024. The NLI was replaced with financial aid agreements between the NCAA and student-athletes.

This change comes after the NCAA announced changes to things such as scholarship limits, the Division II recruiting calendar and the transfer portal.

But it didn’t change the excitement for area athletes to celebrate one of the biggest decisions in their lives.

Plum had one of the bigger celebrations in the region on the first day Nov. 12 as seven seniors gathered for a signing ceremony to complete their Division I and Division II decisions.

Owen Proskin, who won a national indoor championship in the pentathlon last March before embarking on a WPIAL outdoor season that led him to success at the WPIAL and PIAA levels, was energized by making final his decision to run for Cincinnati in the Big 12.

Proskin has his sights set on more indoor success this winter while also helping lead the Plum boys basketball team to a return to the WPIAL playoffs.

Starting Nov. 12, Division I athletes in basketball were able to sign for one week, through this past Wednesday, with the regular signing period starting April 15.

For those in wrestling, swimming and diving, rowing, bowling, soccer, baseball, tennis, softball, lacrosse and track and field, it depends on the college as to when the initial signing period concludes.

The early signing period for Division I football is three days, from Dec. 3-5, with the regular period for Division I and II football signees set to start Feb. 4.

Kiski Area senior wrestler Cooper Roscosky said signing with Division I Buffalo on the first day was a special feeling as he joins a long list of Cavaliers wrestlers who have competed at the NCAA’s highest level.

“It’s an honor to put my name on a list where not a lot of people have achieved,” said Roscosky, who gave a verbal commitment to the Bulls in June following a junior season that saw him finish as a PIAA Southwest Regional and WPIAL Class 3A runner-up at 215 pounds.

Roscosky takes a 113-23 career record into his senior season.

“Since I was 5, my goal was to go Division I and do the best I can, and I think I am achieving that,” he said.

Buffalo reached out to Roscosky on the first day of recruiting and began the process that led him to giving his verbal. It’s been full speed ahead for him since then.

“I went up there and loved the campus, and the coaches were great people,” Roscosky said. “It was the first college I went to where it really felt like home.”

Knoch senior Zane Pacek, one of the area’s top pitchers, followed Roscosky with a Division I verbal commitment in July.

He decided on Central Michigan, the only Division I offer he received amidst a collection of offers from Division II and III colleges.

A personal connection developed when he started talking to the Chippewa coaches and has only gotten stronger, he said, through finalizing his decision during this signing period.

“I knew that (Central Michigan) was what I wanted and what I needed,” said Pacek, a 7-foot right-hander who started seven games last year for Knoch, going 4-2 with a 1.60 ERA.

He had a 0.94 WHIP with 29 strikeouts and nine walks. Opponents hit just .192 against him.

“It was a big sense of relief knowing that I am going to a great place to play the sport I love once my senior year is over,” he said.

Pacek made the decision to not play basketball this winter while he focuses on his mechanics and his approach to his senior baseball season this spring.

“Right now, I am an all right pitcher, enough to get to the next level,” Pacek said. “To get to even a higher level, and then a higher level after that, it comes down to making sacrifices. That meant choosing to not play basketball, which is a sport I love. I am focusing on a passion which is baseball. I have to grind and fine-tune everything about my game.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.