Trib HSSN baseball team of the week for April 24, 2025
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Friday, April 25, 2025 | 12:17 AM
Trib HSSN baseball team of the week – Bethel Park Black Hawks
Coach: Pat Zehnder (fifth season)
Record: Bethel Park is alone in first place in Section 2-5A with a record of 7-3, 11-4 overall. The Black Hawks are one section win away from clinching at least a share of the section championship.
#Earned: In the 15 Section 2-5A series played through this week, there have been five series sweeps and two of them have been by Bethel Park. The Black Hawks are now alone in first place and can clinch at least a share of the section championship with one more section win and can win it outright if they sweep their final section series next week against Chartiers Valley. The second series sweep came this past week against Moon. On Tuesday in the series opener at Moon, Bethel Park scored two runs in the third and fifth innings and another in the sixth inning, then held on to win 5-3. The next day at Bethel Park, the Tigers struck first with two runs in top of the first inning before the Black Hawks answered with two in the bottom of the first to tie the game. Bethel Park scored a run in the second that Moon answered with a run in the third inning. The deadlock was broken for the final time when the Black Hawks scored in the bottom of the fourth inning and then held on to win another close game, 4-3.
Standout performers: Bethel Park senior pitcher Dylan Schumacher wasn’t at his best on Tuesday health wise, but he gutted it out to pick up the win and increase his record this season to 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA. Junior Mike Bruckner registered his first save. Offensively in the first game against Moon, senior Owen White had two hits and an RBI for BP while fellow seniors Ethan Stanhoff and Noah LeJeune each had run-producing hits. On Wednesday, junior Tyler Stewart got the win in relief of the starter White while sophomore Matthew Hughes came in for the final two innings for his first save of the season. On offense, senior Ryan Petras had a single and two runs scored and LeJeune and Stanhoff each had two hits and two RBIs. Stanhoff also teamed with senior centerfielder Jack Bruckner on a defensive gem for a 8-2 inning-ending double play in the fifth inning to keep the Tigers from tying the game.
Last year: Bethel Park is no stranger to playing in tight sections. A year ago, the Black Hawks won the section with only two games separating the top four playoff teams. There were four different times BP won three consecutive games over the course of the 2024 regular season. In the district postseason, the Black Hawks crushed Trinity in the quarterfinals and edged West Allegheny in the semifinals to reach the WPIAL Class 5A championship game for the second straight year and the third time in the last four seasons. Unfortunately, Bethel Park had to settle for silver all three times, losing to Franklin Regional in 2021, Shaler in 2023 and Penn-Trafford last year, 4-3. Following a PIAA first-round victory over Mechanicsburg, the season ended for Bethel Park with a loss to Monsignor Bonner/Archbishop Prendergast to finish 16-8.
Remember when: In a special tradition, Bethel Park celebrates its long, storied history with Alumni Day as the Black Hawks welcome back former players and coaches from 10, 20, 30 , 40 and even 50 years ago this past Wednesday. It was a particuarly special event this season, marking the 40th anniversary of the team’s first WPIAL championship earned with a victory over Latrobe in the 1985 3A finals. Bethel Park is one of the few teams that has won more PIAA baseball championships than WPIAL diamond titles. The Black Hawks captured state gold in 1988 (beating West Lawn Wilson in the finals), 2021 (Red Land) and 2022 (Selinsgrove) while the district championships came in 1985 (Latrobe) and 1987 (North Allegheny). Bethel Park is one of only three WPIAL teams to capture back-to-back PIAA championships. Moon did it in 2001 and 2002 and Riverside accomplished that rare feat in 2005 and 2006.
2025 Trib HSSN Baseball Teams of the Week
Week 2 – Waynesburg Central Raiders
Week 1 – Belle Vernon Leopards
Tags: Bethel Park
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