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By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

And then there were sixteen. The first round of the 2016 PIAA Class AAAA state tournament starts tomorrow at various sites across the state. Below is a preview of each participating team (listed in bracket order, separated by first-round match-up) with notes on players to watch and how each team's season has progressed.

Notes:
X-Y before a school name = District-Bid (e.g. 3-2 is the runner-up from District III).
If multiple districts are listed before a school name, those districts combined to form a sub-regional to determine that bid.

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1-1 Pennridge Rams (18-7)
The Rams feature two power arms in 5-foot-9, 140-pound junior RHP Andrew Mayhew (yes, he's a power arm at 140-pounds) and Monmouth-bound RHP Danny Long. Also a shortstop, Long provides speed and power at the top of an upperclass-laden line-up for a program making its second state tournament appearance in the past four years. It is predominantly a group effort on offense, as all nine starters received all-SOL Continental recognition, with Long (2nd-team) and junior catcher Joe Robinson (1st-team) receiving the highest honors. Head into state on an eight-game winning streak after notching first district crown since 1987.

3-3 Cumberland Valley Eagles (16-7)
Started the season 4-4, but finished on a 12-3 run behind a pitching staff that allowed three runs or less 13 times during that stretch. Senior LHP Joey Cuomo (65 IP, 57 H, 11 BB, 75 K) and live-armed junior RHP Mitchel Hoon (51 IP, 27 H, 26 BB, 54 K) form the rotation combo, while Grove City-bound RHP Austin Wacker (27 IP, 15 H, 4 BB, 28 K) serves as the bullpen ace. Run scoring has been a different story, as sophomore switch-hitting manchild Drew Baughman (.441 AVG, 9 XBH), who has verbally committed to Liberty, and junior Beck Way (.329 AVG) are the only regulars hitting over .273. In addition, the Eagles line-up will be indefinitely without talented sophomore third baseman Justin Williams, who injured his foot prior to their last game.

[Note: this article has been updated to more accurately reflect Williams' status]

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11-1 Easton Area Red Rovers (19-5)
Emerged from a district that could have sent a half dozen teams here without an eyebrow being raised after winning three tournament games by a total of five runs. Senior-dominated line-up is highlighted by IUP-bound Corey Webb (.467 AVG, 9 XBH, 10 BB vs 6 K), Lafayette-bound Trey Durrah (.403 AVG, 12 XBH, 10 BB vs 0 K), Drew-bound Bryan Reagle (.333 AVG, 10 BB vs 4 K), and junior Sean Boylan (.371 AVG, 11 BB vs 4 K). Senior Pete Violante (65 IP, 61 H, 17 BB, 55 K) fronts a pitching staff that has allowed less than 2.5 runs/game. Four of losses came by one run (other was by two runs). District title is the program's first since 1993.

1-3 Downingtown West Whippets (21-3)
Someone forgot to tell this youthful group that conventional wisdom says experience counts, as just three seniors play prominent roles. Offense is physical and disciplined, highlighted by athletic Bucknell-bound switch-hitting outfielder JohnPaul Bell, the easy power of freshman third baseman Eric Grintz, steady junior catcher Nick Campana, and slugging junior first baseman Reyce Curnane, a Boston College commit. The talented RHP trio of Widener-bound Joey Zettlemoyer, 6-foot-5 sophomore Drew Britt, and projectable freshman Adam Grintz has quality stuff and pounds the strike zone. Gave up more than three runs in a game just twice all season and one or less 15 times. All three losses for the Ches-Mont National champs came by a single run.

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2-1/4-1 Wyoming Valley West Spartans (15-2)
Last year's state runner-up rolled through this sub-region by a combined score of 26-5 in three games. Pitching staff led by the college-bound duo of RHP Tyler Yankosky (Millersville) and LHP Grant Powell (Lackawanna) has allowed more than three runs in a game just four times all spring. Survived injuries to its middle infielders, even moving St. John's-bound catcher Ryan Hogan (.442 AVG) to shortstop, with the luxury of having junior Maryland commit Justin Vought (.458 AVG) to take over full-time duties behind the plate. Yankosky (.392 AVG) and junior Dominck Bayo (.388 AVG) join those two in anchoring the middle of the Spartans order. Losses came by a combined three runs.

3-2 Governor Mifflin Mustangs (17-8)
The Mustangs didn't separate themselves from the pack during the regular-season, starting the season 6-5 and finishing in a four-way tie for first place in BCIAA Division I, but they have won 11 of their past 14 and have given up more than three runs just three times during that stretch. Alderson Broaddus-bound catcher Earl Kochel (.308 AVG, 9 XBH, 19 BB vs 7 K; 35% CS) shepherds a pitching staff with five members who have logged double digit innings and that is fronted by pitch-to-contact junior RHP Noah Weber (71 IP, 54 H, 8 BB, 34 K). Primary run production has fallen to senior Chad Kleinsmith (.373 AVG, 8 XBH, 10 HBP), Fairleigh Dickinson-bound Hunter Reeser (.363 AVG), and junior Ajay Sczepkowski (.341 AVG, 10 XBH, 8 BB vs 4 K).

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12-1 Olney Charter Trojans (16-2)
Dominated the Philadelphia Public League with only losses on the season coming against 3A state qualifier Franklin Towne Charter and District I 4A runner-up Council Rock North. Earned this berth with a 5-4 win over Father Judge, cementing the PPL's first city title in any classification since 1975. Offense is powered by three senior all-PPL Division A 1st-team selections: outfielder Cesar Loya (.472 AVG, 7 XBH, 9 BB vs 5 K), and infielders Giovanni Ortega (.553 AVG, 10 XBH) and Bryan Maria (.500 AVG, 12 XBH). Essentially a three-man pitching staff is fronted by Loya (51.1 IP, 45 H, 24 BB, 61 K), with senior 2nd-team honoree Joeddie Gomez (37 IP, 39 H, 20 BB, 40 K) and junior closer Kenny Cruz (23.2 IP, 31 H, 10 BB, 32 K) also playing major roles.

1-4 Boyertown Bears (20-6)
PAC-10 tournament champ and regular-season co-champ returns to the state tournament for the second time in three years. Pitching-and-defense-oriented team has a habit of coming out on the positive side of close, low-scoring games. The RHP duo of senior Andrew Bauer and junior Pat Hohlfeld aren't physically imposing, but they know how to pitch. Kutztown-bound tandem of infielder Mitchell Pinder (limited to DH duty due to injury this spring) and catcher Ryan Weller highlight the line-up, along with senior 1st-team all-league infielder Ben Longacre and senior 2nd-team outfielder Ryan Jacobs. Played half of schedule against teams that qualified for 4A district play, going 7-6 in those games.

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3-1 Ephrata Area Mounts (21-5)
Have been in every game they've played, with all losses coming by three runs or less. Nyack-bound Dillon Good (61 IP, 43 H, 26 BB, 44 K) and his fellow senior RHP Matt McGillan (47.1 IP, 52 H, 11 BB, 18 K) form the 1-2 punch atop the rotation, while live-armed sophomore RHP Adam Schwartz (27.2 IP, 17 H, 19 BB, 31 K) holds down the back end of games for a staff that has allowed three runs or less in 19 games. George Washington-bound infielder Nate Fassnacht (.360 AVG, 9 XBH, 18 SB) is the only line-up regular hitting above .293 for the Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 champ, which has compensated by drawing more BB+HBP than strikeouts on the season.

1-5 Marple Newtown Tigers (17-7)
It's not unusual to see Central League bully Conestoga occupy one of these spots, but the Tigers earned a regular-season co-championship this year and knocked off 2015 state champ North Penn in round one of district play. Then logged wins against three quality teams with a combined winning percentage of .743 to earn the program's first 4A state tournament berth (last went in 3A in 2008). Widener-bound sparkplug Ricky Collings has been a standout with his bat (.457 AVG) and arm (40 IP, 40 H, 14 BB, 30 K). Junior RHP Cameron Mathes (51 IP, 39 H, 9 BB, 51 K) and senior LHP Vince Greco (29 IP, 18 H, 9 BB, 30 K) also play major roles on the mound, while freshman Alden Mathes (.476 AVG, 12 XBH, 8 BB vs 4 K, 7 SB) and junior Scott Hahn (.364 AVG, 8 XBH, 16 BB vs 6 K) help power the offense.

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1-2 Council Rock North Indians (20-4)
Four-headed hydra pitching staff throws strikes and misses bats (135 IP, 96 H, 38 BB, 162 K), led by Lehigh-bound RHP Matt Hand and also featuring Philadelphia U-bound RHP C.J. Kilgarriff, 6-foot-3 sophomore RHP Gavin Ferrandino, and physical junior RHP Joe Preciado. Bloomsburg-bound catcher Jared Schram (.405 AVG) and senior on-base machine Seth Leuz (.385 AVG, 15 BB vs 3 K) anchor a deep and balanced offense for the Suburban One League National Division champs. The Indians repeat run to state is all the more impressive given that they are without Brandon McIlwain (previously ranked as the third best 2016 prospect in the state), who chose to graduate early in order to enroll at South Carolina, where he is playing baseball and participating in spring football practice.

12-2 Father Judge Crusaders (16-6)
To say the Philadelphia Catholic League regular-season champs lean heavily on Pittsburgh-bound RHP Dan Hammer is a bit of an understatement. The Crusaders are 11-2 in games Hammer (50.2 IP, 22 H, 17 BB, 68 K) has toed the rubber, but just 5-4 in games he has not. An upperclass-laden offense gets its spark from senior Tom Penko (.368 AVG, 15 SB), while junior Christian Lutz (.462 AVG, 10 XBH) provides some thump. Come limping in a bit, having lost three of their last four, but Hammer is more than capable of reversing that trend.

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7-1 Norwin Knights (16-7)
Captured the program's first WPIAL title since 1960 while handing previously unbeaten Plum their only loss of the season in the WPIAL championship. Choppy start to the season had the Knights sitting at 9-7 through the month of April, but they haven't lost since the calendar flipped to May and have only given up more than three runs in a game once during that stretch. Junior Chad Coles was the bellcow of the post-season run, authoring a complete-game four-hitter in the quarterfinal, notching the win in relief in semifinal, and stifling Plum in the title game. A senior-dominated line-up is highlighted by 3- and 4-hold hitters Reno Rainey and Nick Amendola.

7-3 Hempfield Area Spartans (17-7)
WPIAL Section 2 champs rebounded from an 0-3 start to the season to win 14 of their next 15 games, including a regular-season sweep over Norwin. Fordham-bound infielder Matt Tarabek was a workhorse on the mound during the season and especially the WPIAL playoffs, during which he started three of the Spartans four games and logged 19.2 of the team's 27 innings, racking up 17 strikeouts against no walks. Offensive output has slowed of late, but a young line-up that featured only three seniors in the Spartans last game has the potential to do damage up and down, including by toolsy junior outfielder Jordan Fiedor, Tarabek, and junior infielder Charlie Varriano.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6-1/8-1/9-1/10-1 McDowell Trojans (14-8)
The Trojans land here after two cardiac comebacks in the sub-region. Overcame a three-run deficit with a six-run bottom of the sixth inning in one game and tied the title game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh before winning it in eleven. Offense is powered by Lafayette-bound Jake Sniegocki (.441 AVG, 10 XBH, 12 SB), Mercyhurst-bound Matt Silay (.403 AVG, 8 XBH), and junior Michael Ruf (.397 AVG). Five pitchers have logged at least 15 innings, led by junior Chase Barricklow (36 IP, 36 H, 9 BB, 33 K) and senior Landon Oddono (33.2 IP, 31 H, 13 BB, 25 K).

7-2 Plum Mustangs (22-1)
A toe stub in the WPIAL title game against a team it beat during the regular-season doesn't diminish what this team has already accomplished this spring. Offense has been lethal, powered by potential first-round draft pick Alex Kirilloff (.545 AVG, 21 XBH, 11 SB, 17 BB vs 1 K), Patrick Henry CC-bound Ethan Winesburgh (.429 AVG, 10 XBH, 9 SB), junior Alex Terrell (.400 AVG, 12 XBH), and Georgetown football commit Zach Nolan (.393 AVG, 13 BB vs 8 K). A balanced pitching staff that goes four deep with swing-and-miss stuff -- LHPs Kirilloff (41 IP, 12 H, 28 BB, 64 K) and loose-armed sophomore Ryan Kircher (25 IP, 9 H, 15 BB, 38 K), plus RHPs Nolan (34.1 IP, 30 H, 11 BB, 36 K) and Winesburgh (24.2 IP, 21 H, 8 BB, 28 K) -- gave up more than two runs in a game just six times all season.

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