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Conference Preview: District 9 Class AAA

March 14, 2014

By Greg Williams
PA Director of Scouting

With the start of the high school season less than a month away we will be previewing conferences around the state leading up to opening day. In addition to a look at the top teams we will also highlight some of the top prospects in each conference.

           district 9 - class aaa

Preseason Favorite

Punxsutawney (14-8)

The Chucks lost a 4-3 decision to Upper Moreland in the Western PA semifinals last year and return more than enough of their offense to win another District 9 title. 2015 catcher Ryan Sloniger (.412, 24 RBI) will lead an offense that hit a combined .337 in 2013. Senior Michael Klingensmith returns after posting a team best 26 RBI. Additional offensive support should be provided by junior Dakota Byers (.300), as well as from sophomores John Matthews (.356) and Braxton Giavedoni (.348).

Punxsutawney returns all but six innings of pitching from last year's pitching staff that posted a 4.57 ERA. With an additional year under their belts look for that number to drop significantly in 2014.

 

Preseason Player of the Year

Ryan SlonigerRyan Sloniger, Punxsutawney HS (Class of 2015)

Sloniger is a talented catcher that hit .412 with 11 doubles, 2 home runs and 24 RBI in 2013. The junior committed to Penn State last fall and can now concentrate on his final two years of high school baseball. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound left-handed hitter has shown sub-2.0 pop times consistently and runs well.

 

Top Prospects

clearfield

Cole Kephart, SS (Class of 2014)

Punxsutawney

Michael Klingensmith, 2B/RHP (Class of 2014)
Dakotah Byers, OF (Class of 2015)
Ryan Sloniger, C (Class of 2015)
Braxton Giavedoni, OF (Class of 2016)
John Matthews, SS/RHP (Class of 2016)

St. Marys

Caleb Bennett, 3B/RHP (Class of 2014)
Alex Tyger, OF/LHP (Class of 2014)
Michael Beimel, C/3B (Class of 2017)

 

view all conference previews & preseason players of the year by conference

 

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