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By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

Today marks the sixth installment of our season preview content, which will run for four weeks up to the first official PIAA competition date on March 24. Each article includes a list of top prospects from amongst the cohort of schools, as well as write-ups of a number of teams in the cohort.  The number in parenthesis after each header is the number of state tournament bids allotted to that district or sub-region. Today's grouping includes 2A schools from four districts in the central part of the state.

We received inquiries in the past regarding how we decide which teams to detail. A team profiled in the article is less an indication of what type of season we expect it to have and more a function of how much information we are able to compile. For example, if we have not recently seen a team in person (there are over 600 baseball-playing high schools in the state), stats are not available on-line, and a school district spam filter gobbled up our e-mails to the coach that contained the questionnaire, we might not have enough information to write a full paragraph on that school.

Top Prospects

1. Wyatt Beddow, 2018, RHP, Camp Hill (Penn State)
2. Quinn Buffington, 2019, OF/LHP, Camp Hill
3. Will Lozinak, 2017, RHP, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic (Morehead State)
4. Mark Conrad, 2018, RHP, Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic
5. Nate Blasick, 2020, RHP, Halifax Area

District III (1 bid)

First-year Camp Hill coach Mike Acey is faced with the task of replacing the bulk of his line-up, as well as two of last year's three co-aces on the mound. Live-armed 6-foot-3, 190-pound Beddow will front the pitching staff, while Buffington's role will increase significantly and junior RHP Josh Goodyear should get a chance to toe the varsity rubber as well. A junior-laden line-up will feature shortstop Goodyear, first baseman Noah Foster, and catcher Nick Perry, along with Buffington and Beddow (the latter two of whom are among the few position players who received regular at-bats last season).

York Catholic is coming off a season during which no senior toed the rubber and only two received regular at-bats. The college-bound infield duo of Dillon Hippensteel (Juniata) and Brenden Kennedy (Mount St. Mary's) will again set the table for an experienced offense. Two other offensive contributors -- junior Matt Knauer and senior Will Catterall -- will also rejoin the oft-used Kennedy in logging major innings.

The bulk of the roster returns for Newport, which lost in extra innings in the old 1A title game last season. The offense is paced by junior outfielder Eli Amengual and junior catcher Brady Herr, who will also manage a pitching staff that welcomes back junior RHPs Darin Zeiders and Josh Kline atop the rotation.

With projectable 6-foot-1, 175-pound freshman RHP Nate Blasick joining the experienced junior RHP duo of Luke Blasick and Sam Hoon, Halifax Area should feature a pitching staff that keeps them in most ballgames.

Former longtime coach Tim Mertz returns to dugout at Kutztown Area, where a young core is expected to develop together for the next couple of seasons. Junior RHP/IF Matt Angstadt and sophomore LHP/OF Trevor Leverington contribute on the mound and at the plate. Junior RHP Nathan Hayduk will join them in logging innings, while a pair of juniors -- shortstop Owen Fenerty and outfielder Wyatt Wolf will bolster the line-up.

Hoping to make a push toward a playoff berth, Columbia will turn to the senior RHP duo of Bailey Sollenberger and Andrew Sheckard to set the tone for an otherwise inexperienced pitching staff. Coach Jordan Higgins is growing the program, having added a JV team this spring, which will be necessary to next year replace a senior-laden line-up that includes catcher Gabe Grove, outfielders Sheckard and Sollenberger, and utility Tyreese Musser.

Antietam sports another young group looking to mature under coach Zack Williams. Sophomore RHP Payton Spiers and senior RHP Alvin Madera Lopez will trot out to the bump often, while senior outfielder Evan Cardinal joins a pair of juniors, catcher Tony Lopez and outfielder Nick Ferretti in powering the offense.

Sub-region V/VIII (1 bid)

Conemaugh Township Area welcomes back a trio of pitchers -- senior Jake Grosik, sophomore Devin Foster, and junior Cody Platt -- who combined to log nearly 70% of the team's innings and post a better than 2.5-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio last spring. Five regulars also return on offense, led by Grosik and sophomore Jordan Poznanski. Additionally, senior catcher Cameron Banjak, who was one of the leading hitters at Windber Area last season, arrived as a transfer.

North Star has big shoes to fill atop its rotation, with a group that includes a trio of RHP -- juniors Michael Novak and Tyler Suder, plus sophomore Luke Schrock -- all of whom are expected to assume larger roles. Novak and Suder are among a quartet of juniors, along with Case Tretter and Danny Leiford, who have been line-up regulars since their freshman season. Keep an eye on freshman outfielder Alex Supanick to follow their example and make an early-career impact.

McConnellsburg will feature a pair of senior IF/RHPs in Matt Huston and Chase Novak, while the junior trio of RHP Brice Feagley, first baseman Cale Harmon, and outfielder Jacob Miller will also be major contributors.

District VI (2 bids)

Defending district champ and 2016 state runner-up Bishop McCort Catholic is rarely short on depth, which will help coach Chris Pfeil fill some big holes on offense and on the staff. Junior shortstop Ian Fleck provides some thump in a line-up that also features a trio of seniors in utility Boston Bradley, first baseman Bryce Kramer, and outfielder Chris Miller. Junior LHP Brett Seitz appears poised to ascend to the top rung of the pitching depth chart, where he will be supported by a group that includes senior RHPs Brenden Lavely and Bradley.

The majority of the line-up and virtually the entire pitching staff returns for Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic. The twin tower tandem of 6-foot-5, 205-pound Lozinak and 6-foot-2, 165-pound Conrad return atop a rotation that also brings back three others who logged at least double-digit innings. Lozinak is also the team's leading returning hitter among those with significant at-bats, while toolsy Seton Hill-bound outfielder Frankie Montecalvo, junior third baseman John Fanelli, and senior outfielder Mark Fanelli will also help put runs on the board.

Bellwood-Antis returns all but two contributors from a squad that played McCort to its closest margin in the district tourney last spring. Seven line-up regulars are back, led by senior Sawyer Kline and junior Jack Showalter. Juniata-bound Nevin Wood will reprise his role as the ace of a staff that could feature Kline and junior Blake Johnston stepping up one rung on the depth chart.

Portage Area welcomes back three of four major contributors on the mound, although the departed one racked up nearly half of the staff's innings last year. Nonetheless, junior RHP Noah Kerch and senior RHPs Scott Petrunak and Nathan Teno all have experience for a Mustangs team that earned a state tournament berth last spring. Two-thirds of the regular line-up returns as well, led by the middle infield combo of senior shortstop Jake Swank and junior second baseman Zach Wiggins. The junior duo of outfielder Kyler Swires and C/OF Tom Randazzo will also play big roles again for coach Larry McCabe.

Another experienced group resides in Blairsville, which graduated just three contributors from last spring. Spearheading things on the mound and at the plate will be the two-way pair of junior RHP/IF Dakota Sunday and senior LHP/1B Ryan Shirley. Senior catcher Ricky Shirley and junior infielder Kyle McConnell also return as primary run producers.

Moshannon Valley coach Joe Deemer should have a cohesive unit to work with this spring after graduating just one senior who saw the field last season. Senior RHP Nick Kitko and sophomore RHP Alex Kitko should log the bulk of the innings and will again join senior catcher Jacob Fertlitch and junior outfielder Peyton Smith in anchoring the line-up.

District IX (1 bid)

Virtually the entire roster returns for Johnsonburg Area (which continues its co-op with Ridgway Area), as just one significant contributor departed via graduation. An experienced offense will be led by a pair of seniors -- outfielder Josh Raubenstrauch and third baseman Justin Kasmierski -- and the junior duo of C/IF Johnny Mitchell and OF/IF Neil MacDonald. Coach Dan Klink's pitching staff will be fronted by the RHP trio of Kasmierski, MacDonald, and senior Ben Ames.

Coudersport graduated two of its primary pitchers off a team that suffered its only four losses last spring against two schools that won their respective district titles, but does return more than a half dozen contributors from that squad.

Season Preview Content