Westmoreland high school baseball notebook: Area teams set for WPIAL playoffs
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Thursday, May 13, 2021 | 7:01 PM
Derry players celebrate after defeating Deer Lakes, 2-1, on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
Derry players celebrate after defeating Deer Lakes, 2-1, on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, at Deer Lakes High School.
The WPIAL will convene Friday to draw up playoff brackets. The pairings will be announced around 3 p.m. on the Trib High School Sports Network.
At least 10 Westmoreland teams are headed to the postseason, which could begin Monday.
Local qualifiers are Hempfield and Norwin (Class 6A); Franklin Regional, Latrobe and Penn-Trafford (5A); Derry, Ligonier Valley, Valley and Yough (3A); and Greensburg Central Catholic (A).
Greensburg Salem and Belle Vernon in 4A, and Jeannette in 2A, were still alive heading into Thursday’s action.
The WPIAL plans to use neutral sites for all playoff games. The WPIAL baseball finals are set for June 1-2 at Wild Things Park in Washington.
Teams that don’t qualify for the playoffs, the WPIAL said, can continue to play games until the state championship as long as they don’t surpass the PIAA limit for games in a season.
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Twice as nice
Derry captured its first section championship since 1992 with a sweep of Deer Lakes, and that gave several players two section titles for the school year.
Ryan Bushey, Nick Thomas, Will Hugus, John Hugus, Antonio Hauser and Ashton Beighley also were a part of the Trojans’ golf team that won a title in the fall and returned to the WPIAL Class AA playoffs.
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Local tryout
Tryouts will begin soon for the Big 26 Baseball Classic, which will feature all-star juniors and seniors from Pennsylvania and Maryland in an event similar to the Big 33 Classic in football.
Last year’s event was canceled because of the pandemic.
The eighth baseball all-star all-star weekend will be July 22-24 a FNB Field in Harrisburg and feature a scouting combine and three games.
A local tryout for Team Pennsylvania will be noon June 6 at Seton Hill. Registration ends May 30. Players can register online at big26.com for a $149 fee.
There also is an east tryout May 23 at In the Net in Palmyra.
The tryouts will include a 60-yard dash, infield and outfield reps, catcher pop-time and pitcher velocity measurements and hitting.
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Recruiting
Greensburg Salem senior Zach O’Bryan will continue his baseball career at Barton College, a Division II school in Wilson, N.C. O’Bryan plays third base for the Golden Lions.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Valley, Yough
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