New Ligonier Valley baseball coach has high expectations

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, March 18, 2022 | 4:14 PM

Ligonier Valley has a new man coaching the baseball team, and he brings a lot of experience.

Jason Bush, who is the coach of the Latrobe American Legion team and was an assistant at Chatham, takes over after Brett Marabito resigned to become an assistant principal at Ligonier Valley.

Bush inherits an experienced squad that finished the 2021 season 7-12 overall and 4-6 in Section 3-3A. The Rams qualified for the WPIAL playoffs but dropped a 10-2 decision to Avonworth.

Ligonier Valley finished behind Derry Area, Deer Lakes and Valley in the section. Mt. Pleasant and East Allegheny are the other teams in the section.

Though new to high school baseball, Bush said he is familiar with the players from Derry and Mt. Pleasant. Some of the Ligonier Valley players played for Bush in Legion ball.

“I got to see a couple of their games last year,” Bush said. “So I know a little bit about the team.”

One of Bush’s biggest jobs is identifying what players will make up the pitching staff with the graduation of Jacob Bleehash and Mason Seftas.

Bush expects seniors Nick Beitel, George Golden, Grant Dowden and Connor Tunstall and juniors Roger Schreyer, Haden Sierocky and Noah Lawton and freshman Adam Moreland to eat up a lot of the innings.

“We’ll work around things.” Bush said. “We have quantity returning on the mound. We just need a couple to step up.

“With the WPIAL rules of playing two-game series, hopefully, we’ll be able to identify some main guys and use the rest by committee. I’m used to the three-game playoff series we had in the American Legion playoffs.”

Bush said Beitel, a four-year starter, also will be used at catcher or in the infield.

“Nick can play anywhere,” Bush said. “He’s a hard worker and a leader. He does everything. He’ll throw a bullpen session, catch a bullpen session and jump in and take ground balls.

“We have some athletes. We just lack some depth. This group is tight knit and has really nice chemistry. They’re not afraid to work. Many played football and are part of a winning attitude.”

Bush said Golden and Tunstall will play first base. Senior Lucas Mills, Sierocky and Dowden will be in the outfield, and senior Tyler Anderson, Lawton and Schreyer will be in the infield.

Beitel will be at catcher or the infield when he’s not pitching, and Moreland will catch when Beitel is on the mound.

“We have a chance to be good,” Bush said. “I feel we’ll be able to run and hit with power. We’ll be able to do a lot of things.”

Ligonier Valley opens the regular season March 25 against Greensburg Salem.

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.

Tags: Ligonier Valley