Scholastic Notebook – 04/29/2011

By: Bruce Markey
Friday, April 29, 2011 | 12:00 AM

Norwin baseball coach Mike Liebdzinski came into the season expecting to have a pretty good hitting team. It turns out Liebzinski didnt get what he expected.

He has gotten a lot more.

Norwin has gone way beyond "pretty good" in the hitting department and the Knights offense is the main reason they are one of only five teams in the undefeated department of the WPIAL.

Norwin is 9-0 and the No. 2 team in the MSA Sports WPIAL Class AAAA rankings. The only other undefeated teams are Elizabeth Forward, Shady Side Academy, Serra and California.

Heading into Fridays games, Norwin has scored 10 runs or more in seven of nine contests, including five in a row.

"I thought we'd be OK hitting, but I didnt expect everyone to be hitting this well," said Liebdzinski.

Overall, the Knights are averaging 11 runs a game. Max McDowell, a junior catcher, has been one of the most impressive hitters. McDowell is batting above .500 and had a recent stretch of four home runs in a week.

Some might say Norwin hasnt faced the stiffest competition. Only two of Norwins opponents have a record above .500. But still, what the Knights are doing offensively is impressive.

"At the beginning of the year, I kept saying that I thought we had a solid lineup 1 through 9," Liebdzinski said. "But our No. 7 hitter is batting .500, our No. 8 hitter is around .450 and our No. 9 hitter is around .500. We have some pretty good hitters at the top, but you get those guys at the bottom of the order hitting and turning the order over, that really helps."

Rocco Amendola is the No. 7 hitter, Jake Haubrich No. 8 and Jake Prbanic No. 9.

Norwins pitching also has been pretty good. One of Norwins pitchers is Matt Palo, the basketball standout who averaged 30 points a game this past season. Palo is 3-0.

Could this be Norwins best team in Liebdzinskis eight years as coach?

"I keep saying lineup-wise, I think it matches up pretty well with the WPIAL runner-up team [of 2006]," Liebdzinski said. "Our pitching staff is solid, but we had Tom Shirley and Paul Bugajski as pitchers that year. Shirely pitched at Xavier [and was drafted last year] and Bugajski signed with Duquesne. We have solid pitchers this year, but we dont have that dominant kid like either one of them."

Maybe Norwin can just outhit everyone.

Baseball Extension

Despite the rain and many postponed games this spring, the WPIAL has extended the regular season for baseball only one day. Teams must finish section play May 12, instead of the original May 11 deadline.

In softball, the regular-season deadline was extended from May 7 to May 11.

Oh, Brother

Two of the top 30 hitters in WPIAL baseball live in the same house. Luke Horew of Chartiers Valley is No. 16 with a .545 average in the most recent statistics. His brother, Jake, is 26th at .517.

Here is more on the brother front: Californias T.D. Conway is third in the WPIAL with a .679 average, and is fourth in RBIs with 18. His brother, Dakota, is batting .480 and also has a 3-0 pitching record.

Wilt Pitches

North Alleghenys Tanner Wilt, projected to be one of the top pitchers in the WPIAL this season, pitched the final three innings for North Allegheny in a 2-0 loss to Shaler Tuesday. Wilt had pitched only a few innings previously because of reported arm problems.

Wilt was impressive, striking out seven of the 10 batters he faced. Wilt is a Coastal Carolina recruit. He has been playing first base and designated hitter.

Going Yard Often

In a game against Mount Lebanon 11 days ago, the Upper St. Clair baseball team hit three home runs in the top of the first inning. But the Panthers outdid that performance Wednesday against Canon-McMillan when they hit four home runs in the third inning.

Only one player had home runs in both innings right fielder Erik Woistman. The others who hit home runs were Mike Wilcox, Matt Garbin, Alex Bell, Troy Schoeppner and Mike Browne.

Change in Weight Classes

There was big news in wrestling circles this week when the National Federation of High School Associations announced changes in weight classes, beginning for the 2011-12 season. The WPIAL and PIAA fall under NFHS rules.

The NFHS approved an upward shift of the weight classes, beginning with the 103-pound class moving to 106 pounds, which resulted in new weights for 10 of the 14 classes. The 14 weight classes approved for 2011-12 are as follows: 106 (pounds), 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160, 170, 182, 195, 220 and 285. Three middle weight classes 145, 152 and 160 were retained, although they are 7-8-9 in order now rather than 8-9-10. The largest weight class (285 pounds) remains unchanged as well.

"The change in weight classes resulted from a three-to-four year process utilizing data from the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Optimal Performance Calculator," said Dale Pleimann, chair of the NFHS Wrestling Rules Committee and former assistant executive director of the Missouri State High School Activities Association. "The rules committee was able to analyze data from almost 200,000 wrestlers across the country, with the goal to create weight classes that have approximately seven percent of the wrestlers in each weight class.

"Throughout the process, each state association was kept completely informed and was provided multiple opportunities for input. The results of the last survey of each state association indicated that the majority of states favored a change, and the committee listened and acted accordingly."

The last wholesale shift in weight classes occurred in 1988, when the lowest weight class was increased from 98 to 103 pounds. The only other changes since then were in 2002, when the number of classes went from 13 to 14 and the 215-pound weight class became mandatory, and in 2006, when the 275-pound class was increased to 285 pounds.

What Were Hearing

Moon had interviews for its head football coachs job this week. Second interviews will be next week. Weve heard former Center coach Larry Taddeo was one of the candidates.

We also hear Shalers Geno Thorpe, one of the best sophomore basketball players in the WPIAL, is seriously contemplating leaving Shaler and attending St. Anthonys in New Jersey next school year.

Benefit Hockey Game

A benefit all-star hockey game will played tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Beaver County Ice Arena and will include players from Central Valley, Beaver, Blackhawk and Quigley. Proceeds will benefit the families of Jackie Kearney, 18, a senior at Ambridge, and Connor Johnson, 21, a former Ambridge hockey player, who both died in a car accident April 10.

Where Are They Now?

* Ethan Mildren, a freshman from Laurel Highlands, has a 4-3 record for the Pitt baseball team. He has made eight starts for the 25-13 Panthers and has an impressive ERA of 2.68.

* Also at Pitt, Seneca Valley graduate Kevan Smith leads the team in hitting with a .416 average. He also has 39 RBIs.

* Vinny Nittoli, a redshirt freshman from Pine-Richland, leads Xavier University in wins with a 5-1 record. He has an ERA of 4.08 for the Musketeers, a Division I team in the Atlantic 10.

* Also at Xavier, Brian Muransky, a senior from Canon-McMillan, has a 3-2 record with a 3.06 ERA. He has 51 strikeouts in 50 innings.