Norwin notebook: Baseball, softball players earn all-section honors

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, May 18, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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The Big 5/6 Conference, which covers the top two classifications in WPIAL sports, released its all-section softball and baseball teams.

Westmoreland County first-team picks from the lone Class 6A section included Norwin senior shortstop Bailey Snowberger and senior utilty player Brooklyn Kotch and Hempfield sophomore third baseman Lauren Howard, senior outfielder Maggie Howard and junior shortstop Allie Cervola.

Section 2-5A first-team selections included Penn-Trafford junior third baseman Cam Ponko, junior outfielder Giuliana Youngo, senior catcher Mack Keenan and sophomore DH Allison Pokrant, Franklin Regional junior shortstop Toryn Fulton, sophomore outfielder Adrianna Martz and junior catcher Ciara Camacho and Latrobe senior pitcher Kayla Williams.

For baseball, local first-team picks for Section 2-6A were Norwin senior infielder Keegan Carr and senior infielder Carson Shuglie, senior outfielder Ethan Minerva and sophomore pitcher Chase Sikorski of Hempfield.

The Section 1-5A first team included sophomore infielder Luke Williams, junior pitcher NJ Ramchandran, senior DH Darren DeRiggi and senior utility Max Bernadowski of Franklin Regional and junior infielder Brayden Stone, senior pitcher Brandon Roher and senior catcher Ian Temple of Penn-Trafford.

Lou Cortazzo of Penn-Trafford was the section coach of the year.

Also for Norwin, senior infielder Joey Michalski made the second team.

Junior shortstop Nate Silberman, junior pitcher Ethen Culbertson and senior utility player Nolan Ryan made the baseball second team.

Track takes second

Norwin won seven individual events, but the North Allegheny girls ultimately won a third straight WPIAL 3A track and field team title on their depth.

The NA girls won 78-72 over Norwin, with Mt. Lebanon finishing third and North Catholic fourth in the four-team championship at West Mifflin.

The Norwin boys finished 34 points behind Butler for second. North Allegheny took third and Penn-Trafford was fourth.

The girls title was the 14th for North Allegheny, tying Butler for the most in WPIAL history. The league has crowned team champions since 1984.

Norwin junior Melani Schmidt helped the Knights keep pace by sweeping the 100-, 200- and 400-meter sprints, as well as running the anchor leg in a come-from-behind win in the 1,600-meter relay.

The North Allegheny girls defeated Norwin, 78-72; Mt. Lebanon, 81-69; and North Catholic, 113-31. The Butler boys defeated Norwin, 92-58; North Allegheny, 97-53; and Penn-Trafford, 98-52.

The NA boys were the defending champions.

Volleyball gets bye

The Section 3-3A-champion Norwin volleyball team defeated Penn-Trafford, 3-2, in a thrilling regular-season finale as was awarded with the No. 4 seed and a first-round bye in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.

The Knights (15-1) were set to play No. 5 Seneca Valley on May 16 at Norwin.

Baseball, softball playoffs

The Norwin baseball and softball teams were set to open the WPIAL postseason.

The baseball team (11-9) was given the No. 6 seed and was primed to start the 12-team tournament in the quarterfinals against No. 3 North Allegheny on May 20.

Softball (8-10) earned the No. 5 seed and was scheduled to play No. 4 Pine-Richland (11-9) in the quarterfinals.

Lax playoffs

The Norwin girls and boys lacrosse teams also earned WPIAL playoff spots.

The girls (9-8) received the No. 12 seed and were set to play No. 5 Shady Side Academy (10-4) in the first round of the Class 3A tournament. The boys (7-7) were seeded 10th in Class 3A and drew No. 7 Fox Chapel (10-5) in the first round.

On campus

Updates on Norwin athletes playing in college:

Baseball

Mercyhurst: Junior pitcher Jake Bazala was named to the All-PSAC West Second Team. Bazala had 51 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings and made three starts for the Lakers (21-20).

Pitt-Johnstown: Redshirt sophomore outfielder Justin Turcovski made the second team. Ulery led the Mountain Cats in batting average (.313), runs (37), hits (52), doubles (15) and total bases (85). He also had four home runs and 38 RBI. Turcovski hit .260, had a team-high six homers, five triples and 44 RBI.

Softball

Westminster: Junior Sydney Lokay was named to the All-PAC Second Team. The outfielder, who pitched in high school, hit .330 in 31 starts with seven doubles, 17 RBIs and 13 runs. She also made the all-tournament team.

Men’s track & field

High Point: Senior Jake Tarosky won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9 minutes, 3.49 seconds to help High Point defend the Big South Conference championship.

Kent State: Sophomore Aaron Schmook won the javelin title at the Mid-American Conference Championships. His winning throw sailed 61.95 meters. Schmook defeated defending champion and teammate Scott Benco, a Waynesburg product. Schmook was fifth last year.

Men’s lacrosse

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Nate Petrarco was an All-PAC honorable mention pick. He finished the season with 14 points, 45 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers.

Chris Harlan contributed.

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

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