Strong finish helped Bethel Park baseball capture section title

By: Ray Fisher
Saturday, May 24, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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The Bethel Park baseball team was ready for the postseason.

The Black Hawks stormed into the WPIAL playoffs riding an eight-game winning streak, 16-4 record and No. 4 seeding in the Class 5A tournament.

“I’m proud of the team and the way they’ve played this year,” coach Pat Zehnder said. “We battled a lot of adversity — injuries, illnesses, and otherwise — and the guys kept working and staying together and found ways to win. Our pitching and defense have been our strengths all season, and our offense is rounding into form just in time for the playoffs.

“We do not put much stock into the seedings and potential gripes about where we end up. We were thankful to earn a postseason spot and be ranked as one of the top four teams. (Class) 5A is loaded with quality teams.”

Bethel Park defeated Moon and Chartiers Valley twice in late-April to clinch first place in Section 2-5A. The final standings were as follows: Bethel Park (9-3), Peters Township (8-4), Upper St. Clair (7-5), Trinity (6-6), South Fayette (5-7), Moon (4-8), Chartiers Valley (3-9).

“We always want to be playing our best baseball as we get into the playoff season, and this season was no different,” Zehnder said. “We were able to continue our strong defense and pitching, and our offense has been improving throughout the second half of the season.

“We are increasing our quality at-bats and being productive at the plate, even with our outs. We had some hard outs in big situations earlier in the season, and those are starting to fall in for us. We expect to continue to play a good brand of baseball and maximize our chances of success in the postseason.”

A trio of Bethel Park players finished in the .400 club during the regular season, led by senior INF Noah LeJeune with a .423 batting average and .538 on-base percentage.

“Noah has been our most consistent and clutch hitter all season,” Zehnder said. “All that while battling through a shoulder injury most of the year. He has a great demeanor and team-first attitude that is infectious to the rest of the group.”

LeJeune, who didn’t make an error all year, was complemented by senior INF Ryan Petras (.410 BA, .486 OBP) and senior C Ethan Stanhoff (.400 BA, .468 OBP).

“Ryan has continued to be our catalyst offensively,” Zehnder said. “He can do so many different things offensively, from bunting to spraying line drives all over the field, to hitting for power.

“Ethan has also been one of our most consistent hitters all season. This in addition to being an outstanding catcher and handling that important position to allow pitchers to throw freely. He is without question one of our team MVPs this year.”

Petras, who after much consideration will continue his football career at Duquesne, had another remarkable season in his stellar four-year career. He led the team in several offensive categories, including plate appearances (70), at-bats (61), hits (25), doubles (6), total bases (33), runs (20) and stolen bases (18).

“Ryan is one of the best athletes to come through Bethel Park in a long time,” Zehnder said. “He will leave a lasting legacy of how to go about your business. He is a freak athlete, but what makes him elite is his work ethic combined with his mature mindset and competitive drive. He has those qualities combined with a generous and caring personality. He is a rare breed and will be sorely missed.”

Four other hitters — senior OF Joey Levis (.385), junior INF Mike Bruckner (.380), senior OF Jack Bruckner (.327) and sophomore C/INF Eric Miehl (.310) — finished with .300 batting averages while junior INF/C/P Nick Rillo was close behind at .283. Levis added a .515 OBP.

Mike Brucker provided ample power to the Black Hawks offense with a team-leading two home runs and 17 RBIs. Bruckner, Petras, Stanhoff and Ryan Walsh had the only triples on the team.

“Anytime Mike (Bruckner) makes contact, it is going somewhere with a lot of pace on it,” Zehnder said. “The ball comes off his bat differently than your usual high school hitter. He is still far from his potential, which is scary when he’s already batting just below .400 with impressive power numbers.”

Walsh had only 20 plate appearances this season but racked up a .455 batting average and .700 on-base percentage. In 11 official at-bats, he punched out five hits was walked nine times and struck out only once. He scored eight times and knocked in six runs.

“Ryan had some arm tightness before the season started, so we did not let him pitch but he still hit in the first two weeks of the season and did very well,” Zehnder said. “The doctors eventually found a blood clot in his shoulder that was restricting blood flow to his arm. They had to remove his upper rib on the right side to ensure the clot doesn’t come back.

“He is recovering well and already starting rehab. He should be fully healthy by the fall, but he hasn’t played for us since mid-March. He has done a great job still being a leader and is now basically an extra coach for us.”

A pair of Dylans — Schumacher and Paul, both seniors — were the workhorses on the pitching staff, compiling 4-1 and 2-2 records, respectively.

Schumacher had a 1.26 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings of work. Paul posted a 2.63 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings.

“Dylan Schumacher has been our ace all season,” Zehnder said, “and has thrown like it. He has put up great numbers, but he will tell you he has not had his ‘best stuff’ in numerous outings.

“Even when that is the case, he is still able to hold other teams down, which shows how good of a pitcher he is and how tough he is. Our pitching coach, Jared King, deserves a ton of credit for what he continues to do with the pitching staff.”

Other players with at least one regular-season win in the pitching department were Mike Brucker (2-0, 0.41 ERA), sophomore Owen White (2-0, 5.69 ERA), juniors Matthew Hughes (2-0, 1.17 ERA), Mason Stewart (2-0, 0.78 ERA) and Tyler Stewart (1-0, 2.42 ERA), and Rillo (1-0, 1.70 ERA). Brucker had five saves; Rillo and Hughes were credited with one save.

“Due to injuries and illnesses, we had multiple sophomores and juniors step up into larger roles than anticipated at the beginning of the year,” Zehnder said. “Matthew Hughes, Mason Stewart, Tyler Stewart and Nick Rillo, our second baseman, had increased roles on the mound, and did great.

“Eric Miehl had starts at catcher and earned the starting left field position with his performance. Caden Stokes also had multiple starts in the outfield and did a good job. He will have a huge role in the coming years. Brayden Bruckner, Chase White and Colton Fisher have also filled in as sophomores and will be ready to contribute more in the future.”

Zehnder has coached the Black Hawks for six years, including 2020 (the covid year). Bethel Park has won four section titles in the past five seasons, and 37 in program history.

The WPIAL championship games will be held May 27-28 at EQT Park (formerly Wild Things Park) in Washington. May 29 is the rain date.

PLAYOFF NOTES: Bethel Park reached the final four in Class 5A for the fifth straight season by defeating No. 13 Franklin Regional, 11-1, and No. 5 Thomas Jefferson, 5-4 in eight innings, in the first two rounds of the district playoffs.

Levis led the Black Hawks against FR with a 3 for 4 performance that included five RBIs.

Mike Bruckner singled and walked three times, Rillo singled and was hit by a pitch twice and LeJeune had two hits in the Black Hawks’ 12-hit attack.

Schumacher retired the first nine batters he faced, striking out seven.

The victory against TJ was more dramatic, as Petras raced home from third base with the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Mike Bruckner pitched the final four frames, allowing no runs, four hits and two walks while striking out seven.

LeJeune was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles.

Tags: Bethel Park