Norwin notebook: Knights earn key section win over Hempfield

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, April 12, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Norwin baseball coach Craig Spisak is a PIAA basketball official who had one of his best seasons.

He worked seven WPIAL playoff games and two PIAA tournament games.

Spisak is aiming for a similar type of run in his third season in charge of the Knights.

Norwin (3-5, 1-2) has nine seniors, but Spisak is still trying to determine the right mix in the lineup.

“It’s a process,” he said. “The kids are still learning and it’s still so early in the year. I like the direction we’re heading.

“When we opened the season, in the first few games, the game sped up for us. We’re starting to see it slow down. We have to pitch better.”

Norwin rebounded from a 7-3 loss to rival Hempfield in the first game of their three-game Section 2-6A series with a 12-2 win in Game 2.

Brayden Wardzinski not only was the winning pitcher after a complete game, but he also doubled. Matt O’Neil also doubled and drove in a run, Jake Knight tripled, and Nate Silberman and Colton Gounder had three hits apiece for the Knights.

Last year, Norwin won the opener and Hempfield took the last two games.

Norwin trio in Roundball

A talented Norwin senior trio will play for the Class 6A girls team in the 21st Roundball Classic May 24-25 at North Allegheny.

Kendall Berger, Averi Brozeski and Bella Furno are headed to the all-star game.

There will be seven all-senior games over two days, four boys and three girls.

The schedule is as follows:

Saturday, May 24

Boys – Class 5A (South) vs. District 10, 3 p.m.

Girls – Class 6A vs. Class 5A (West), 4:30 p.m.

Boys – Class 4A vs. Class A/City League, 6 p.m.

Boys – Class 6A vs. Class 5A (North), 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 25

Girls – Class 4A/City League vs. Class 3A/A, 4:30 p.m.

Girls – Class 5A (East) vs. Class 2A/District 10, 6 p.m.

Boys – Class 3A vs. Class 2A, 7:30 p.m.

Shutouts for volleyball

Dan Thompson put down 12 kills to pace the Norwin boys volleyball team to a 3-0 win over first-year team Franklin Regional (25-17, 25-16, 25-19).

Charlie Tygielski had 24 assists, while Nate Wilson led the defense with 13 digs for the Knights (3-3, 1-1).

Franklin Regional is coached by Mike Feorene, a teacher at Norwin who started the Knights’ program in the 1990s.

Norwin followed with a 3-0 win over Plum (25-16, 26-24, 28-26) as Nick Puskaric had nine kills, Dane Thompson added eight kills and Tygielski had 24 assists.

Driscoll nominees

If Judge Michael Stewart was impressed with the 2024 Westmoreland County Scholar/Athlete nominees, then he was amazed with the 2025 class.

Stewart is the sponsoring judge of the annual banquet. This is his third year as the sponsor after replacing retired Judge John J. Driscoll in 2023. That is how he described the 2025 group of nominees for the Excellence Award.

This year’s banquet will be May 7 at Ferrante’s Lakeview in Hempfield.

Among the 36 senior nominees are Norwin’s Ryan Schiller (soccer, indoor and outdoor track and field) and Kendall Berger (basketball).

This year’s group consisted of PIAA and WPIAL individual champions and individuals who were on championship teams. They also are excellent students, many being No. 1 in their class. Numerous candidates own NCAA Division I scholarships.

The candidates had to meet certain athletic and academic requirements to be considered for the award.

Singled out

A pair of Norwin boys tennis players competed in the Section 1-3A singles tournament.

Freshman Tanner Johnson won his play-in match but lost to top-seeded and eventual champion Adam Memije, 10-0, in the first round.

Norwin senior Max Snyder defeated Alex Stahl of Connellsville in the first round, 10-0, but lost in the second round to Zidaan Hassan of Gateway, 10-1.

Norwin improved to 7-2 overall and 6-0 in Section 1-4A with a 5-0 sweep against Latrobe on senior day.

Singles wins for Norwin came from Snyder (6-2, 6-4), Johnson (6-0, 6-2) and Michael Barone (6-0, 6-1).

Winning doubles matches for the Knights were Nick Patter and Jaxson Momeyer (6-1, 6-0) and Danny Metzger and Conner Gurekovich (6-1, 6-2).

Close again

Norwin softball coach Brian Mesich always says good things happen when you put the ball in play.

The reining WPIAL 6A runner-up Knights did that in another high-level matchup with ace fire-baller Lexi Hames and No. 1 Seneca Valley, but fell just short, 3-2.

Diem Wardzinski and Madelyn Kugler each had a hit, but Hames, a Clemson commit, struck out 19.

Norwin also took the Raiders to the limit in last year’s WPIAL championship before falling, 4-3.

Hames retired 14 of the final 15 Norwin hitters at Cal (Pa.).

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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