Norwin baseball team surges into WPIAL championship game against Seneca Valley
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Monday, May 26, 2025 | 4:49 PM
Norwin’s Trevor Vitsas (22) is mobbed by teammates after the Knights defeated Butler in nine innings in their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal May 19, 2025.
Norwin’s Jake Sincak celebrates as he scores the winning run in the ninth inning against Butler during their WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal May 19.
Norwin’s Jake Knight scores behind Hempfield catcher Ian Kovalcik on March 31.
The Norwin baseball team did not start the season well.
The Knights dropped their first three games and were 3-6 after the section-opening series against Hempfield.
But Norwin coach Craig Spisak and his team were undeterred.
The Knights won their next nine games, finished a game behind Canon-McMillan in the Section 2-6A race and ended the regular season 12-8.
Now the Knights find themselves in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game against Seneca Valley at 1 p.m. Tuesday at EQT Park in Washington. Norwin is going after its third WPIAL title and first since 2016. Seneca Valley is seeking its fifth title and first since 2014.
“Even though we started out slow, we knew what we had and what we were capable of,” Spisak said. “It was a matter of us doing the fundamentals: getting solid pitching, playing good defense and getting timely hitting. Our defense could have been better.”
The Knights, who dropped the three-game series against Hempfield during the season (1-2), fell behind 3-0 in the first inning of the WPIAL semifinals because of wildness from junior starter Caden Sivrich.
But junior Jayden Marcius pitched well before leaving in third inning with arm discomfort, and senior Brayden Wardzinski allowed one run over the final four innings to earn his sixth win.
Nate Silberman drove in four runs, including the winning three-run double in the sixth inning.
“Getting to the WPIAL finals means everything,” Silberman said. “This is a great group, and I cannot give them enough credit. We have been with each other since we were little.”
Seneca Valley’s Andrew Malichky tossed a complete-game five-hit shutout against No. 2 Canon-McMillan in a 4-0 win in the semifinals.
Owen Voelp had a two-run single, junior Micah Olayer homered and sophomore outfielder Mason Durst singled home the fourth run.
“They are well-coached,” Spisak said. “(Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega) has a solid program, and they have good hitters and solid pitching.
“We must stay focused because every pitch is important. We have to focus on the fundamentals.”
Norwin is led offensively by leadoff hitter Trevor Vitsas, who is hitting .426, and Silberman, who is hitting .414 with 19 RBIs.
On the hill, Ethen Culbertson is 5-3 with an ERA of 1.66 and Wardzinski is 6-0.
So what turned the season around?
“We had to trust in ourselves,” Silberman said. “We knew we were good, and we knew we could do everything. We knew we could get to this point, and look where we are at.”
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: Norwin, Seneca Valley
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