Westmoreland County baseball notebook: Belle Vernon’s Parker Lind shines in opener

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, March 25, 2025 | 5:16 PM

An opening day starting pitcher wants quality and control, but he will gladly accept excellence.

Take Belle Vernon senior Parker Lind. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound left-hander was dominant in his first start of the season as the Leopards (2-0) blanked McGuffey, 14-0, on opening day.

Lind struck out 11 and walked three in a five-inning no-hitter.

“Parker was dialed in and had command of all of his pitches,” Belle Vernon coach Tony Watson said. “It was nice to see the guys get him some run support so he could pitch with the lead for the entire game.”

Lind said the no-hitter was a group effort.

A Kent State commit, Lind is one of the top arms in the WPIAL.

Last year, he helped lead Belle Vernon to the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL 4A playoffs. Lind was 2-1 with a 2.80 ERA, and he struck out 49 and walked 16 in 30 innings.

“The sky is the limit for Parker this season,” Watson said. “We expect to compete for another section crown and will rely heavily on our starting pitching.”

Said Lind: “I didn’t go into the game thinking I would throw a no-hitter. I just wanted to take it pitch by pitch, inning by inning, and see how it would play out. I really couldn’t have did it without the rest of my team. I got good run support with 14 hits and 14 runs and couldn’t have done it without my fielders.”

Lind said Kole Doppelheuer made a highlight catch in the outfield to end an inning, and Jack Edwards called for a pick-off at second base for another key out.

Connor Bergman also made a key play at second.

“Jaden Johnson, my catcher, had a great day behind the plate and helped me with some calls, too,” Lind said.

Belle Vernon began the season at No. 3 in the TribLive HSSN 4A rankings.

P-T’s pitching depth

Penn-Trafford had a deep pitching rotation last year when it won the WPIAL 5A championship, the program’s first title.

But coach Lou Cortazzo thinks this year’s staff might be deeper and, maybe, faster.

Some of the team’s top arms have hit high 80s/low 90s on the radar gun.

“We like our pitching depth,” Cortazzo said. “And the thing is, we have guys who can do more than pitch. They are also position guys. Last year, we had pitcher-only guys.”

Juniors Dom Delio and Zach Feldman are key starters. But seniors Jonny Lovre and Braden Kane and junior Nico Casiato and Bryce Ruby, as well as senior Rob Andrews, figure into the mix.

Hard-throwing senior Hunter Brown is an effective closer. He had four saves last year and already has two this season for the Warriors (3-1).

“Hunter gets stronger as the game goes on,” Cortazzo said. “We might try to get him a few more innings, rather than just one.”

When he’s not pitching, the 6-foot-4 Feldman is a spectacle when he plays second base. He’s like the Warriors’ Oneil Cruz.

“We have the world’s tallest second baseman,” Cortazzo said.

Norwin rallies

Norwin trailed 5-0 heading into the home half of the third inning, fell behind 7-5 after four innings and lugged an 8-5 deficit to the bottom of the seventh.

Then, all of the momentum shifted to the Knights as they posted their first win of the season.

The Knights (1-3) erupted for four runs to earn a walk-off victory, 9-8, against visiting North Allegheny.

Brayden Wardzinski ripped the go-ahead single to cap the comeback on a windy Monday afternoon when the baseball was flying out of the park.

Nate Silberman homered for the Knights, and Mason Smith and JJ Mancuso homered for the Tigers.

Geissler had two hits, and he and Tristyn Tavares doubled.

6A series

Norwin and Hempfield will play their three-game series next week in Section 2.

The opener will be Monday at Norwin, Game 2 is Tuesday at Hempfield and the third game is Thursday at Norwin.

New name

Wild Things Park, the site of the WPIAL baseball championships, has a new name.

The venue is now EQT Park.

Naming rights with the natural gas company are in place for three years.

This will be the park’s fourth name since it opened in 2002. It also was known as Falconi Field and Consol Energy Park. The complex had been Wild Things Park since 2017.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Norwin, Penn-Trafford