Trib HSSN baseball team of the week for April 10, 2025

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, April 10, 2025 | 8:43 PM

Trib HSSN baseball team of the week – Belle Vernon Leopards

Coach: Tony Watson (fifth season)

Record: Belle Vernon is tied for first place in Section 2-4A with a 6-0 record (8-0 overall).

#Earned: Like most baseball teams in the district, whatever games Belle Vernon managed to play this past week were squeezed into a day or two thanks to Mother Nature. Teh Leopards played their section series in one day in a doubleheader against Laurel Highlands. In the opening game Wednesday, the Leopards jumped out early and led after 3-0 three innings. Belle Vernon busted the game open with nine runs in the next three innings to win big over the Mustangs, 12-4. In the second game, Belle Vernon scored four runs in the first and added five more runs in the fourth inning to beat Laurel Highlands, 9-2. Belle Vernon has now swept three Section 2-4A series with wins over Uniontown, Ringgold and Laurel Highlands. The Leopards face a tough test next week with games Monday and Tuesday against Elizabeth Forward (3-1, 6-2).

Standout performers: One of the keys to success this spring has been the strong 1-2 punch on the mound of seniors Parker Lind and Lucas Judy. In the opening game, Lind, a Kent State commit, pitched 5⅔ innings, allowing no runs on two hits with a pair of walks and eight strikeouts. In the second game, Judy went the distance with seven innings pitched, no earned runs, seven hits, one walk and six strikeouts. Offensively in the doubleheader for the Leopards, Judy was a combined 4 for 8 with two doubles and four RBIs. The Pitt-Greensburg commit is batting .667 with one homer, four doubles and 14 RBIs. Also contributing in the two games were senior Kole Doppelheuer (3 for 8 with a triple, three runs, three RBIs), senior Cole Matusik (2 for 7 with a double, triple and three runs scored), senior Seth Tomalski (3 for 5 with a double, three runs and three RBIs) and senior Alonzo Wade (2 for 6, two runs, two RBIs).

Last year: The 2024 season was a sweet regular season and a bitter postseason for Belle Vernon. Following a loss in their season opener in Florida, the Leopards won seven straight games before losing their first section game of the season by one run to Ringgold. The team then won six of its last seven games to finish 9-1 in Section 2-4A, edging Latrobe by one game to claim its first baseball section title in 12 years and win a section championship for only the fifth time in school history. The team was 13-4 overall and earned the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. However, all the excitement of a great season vanished when Belle Vernon was stunned in the opening round of the 4A playoffs as No. 16 Blackhawk upended the top-seed Leopards, 7-3.

Remember when: As mentioned, the last time prior to 2024 that Belle Vernon won its section championship in baseball was in 2012. That year, the Leopards also reached the WPIAL Class 3A championship game. In the district postseason, No. 7 seed BVA defeated Beaver in the first round, 4-3, ousted Mars in the quarterfinals, 7-1, and then eliminated Hopewell in the district semifinals, 9-8. Unfortunately for the Leopards, they were shut down in the title game by then-sophomore Brenden McKay and Blackhawk. McKay was perfect for 5⅔ innings before the Leopards’ Dean Manown singled in the sixth inning. Dylan Pietrantino was outstanding on the mound for Belle Vernon, allowing only a fourth-inning run and six hits in six innings of work. The Leopards loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh inning, but McKay induced a 1-2-3 double play to end the game and give the Cougars the victory, 1-0.

A look back at the 2024 Trib HSSN Baseball Teams of the Week

Week 9 – Avonworth Antelopes

Week 8 – Indiana Little Indians

Week 7 – South Park Eagles

Week 6 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers

Week 5 – Plum Mustangs

Week 4 – Valley Vikings

Week 3 – Pine-Richland Rams

Week 2 – Eden Christian Academy Warriors

Week 1 – Shady Side Academy Bulldogs

Tags: Belle Vernon