Penn-Trafford baseball coming to grips with disappointing finish to strong season
By:
Sunday, May 25, 2025 | 11:01 AM
Penn-Trafford’s Brayden Stone scores past Franklin Regional catcher Ryan Catello on May 5.
Penn-Trafford’s Ethan Septak scores against Franklin Regional on May 5.
Penn-Trafford catcher Colton Tyburski celebrates with pitcher Hunter Brown after defeating Latrobe on March 24.
When a team reaches the second round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs in consecutive seasons and is the reigning WPIAL champion, losing in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs is not acceptable.
But the 2025 Penn-Trafford baseball team has to live with it, and the returning members of the roster must soon start working to erase that disappointment.
The Warriors were seeded in the Class 5A playoffs and had their chances against underdog Connellsville, but the Falcons scored two runs in the first inning and held off a late Penn-Trafford for a 2-1 win May 15.
Penn-Trafford did a lot of things right except get a clutch hit during its playoff game. They had their opportunities, but could not cash in. Connellsville made key defensive plays to protect the lead.
The Warriors (14-7, 10-2) finished a game behind Plum in the tough Section 1-5A race.
“We came up short of our expectations,” Penn-Trafford coach Lou Cortazzo said. “The players were disappointed on how things turned out. It still was a good season; we just did not hit when we needed to.”
The loss to Connellsville was frustrating, according to Cortazzo.
“Now we have to regroup and rebuild for next year,” Cortazzo said. “We have a good nucleus returning, and I expect us to be in the mix again.”
Cortazzo will say goodbye to nine seniors: shortstop Brayden Stone, pitcher Jonny Lovre, first baseman Ethan Septak, pitcher Hunter Brown, outfielder Braden Kane, designated hitter Jason Malamisuro, outfielder Rob Andrews and first baseman Matt Stewart.
Malamisuro batted .577, Matrisch .373 and Delio .364.
Cortazzo said all the graduating seniors are going to college. Brown will pitch for Pitt-Johnstown, Septak will play baseball and Lovre will play football at Washington & Jefferson and Lang and Andrews are going to Westmoreland County Community College.
Stone, Brown and Malamisuro along with junior center fielder Logan Matrisch and junior catcher Colton Tyburski made first-team all-section. Junior pitcher Dom Delio, who missed the playoff game with an injury, was named to the second team.
Despite losing some key players, the Warriors return their two top pitchers in Delio and Zach Feldman, catcher Tyburski, center fielder Matrisch, sophomore right fielder Aiden Drotos and junior left fielder Nico Casciato.
Others Cortazzo will be counting on to step in are sophomore infielder Connor Korinko, junior outfielder Evan Lawson, junior first baseman Bryce Ruby and junior pitcher Anthony Marrow.
“We will start with our throwing program after summer ball is over,” Cortazzo said. “I have the players in two fall leagues where we will get to play around 30 games.
“We will need to find some middle infielders. I have some younger players coming up that will fight for playing time.”
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: Penn-Trafford
More Baseball
• Indiana works out of 1 last jam, beats Montoursville for PIAA title• Faith Christian stops Freedom’s surprise playoff run in state title game
• Upper Dublin too much for Shaler in PIAA Class 5A final
• Unbeaten in state title games, Riverside tops Mount Carmel for program’s 6th PIAA crown
• PIAA Class 4A baseball championship preview: Indiana vs. Montoursville
