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By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

Today marks the fourth 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 we conclude our look at the smallest schools in the state with District VI and the WPIAL.

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.

District VI (2 bids)

Top Prospect: Bryce Hensor, 2017, IF, Juniata Valley (Morehead State)

Coming off back-to-back district titles, Juniata Valley welcomes back seven of nine regular starters from its line-up and its top four pitchers. A smart, instinctive, gamer with a feel for the barrel and solid across-the-board measureables, Hensor will spark the offense for the fourth straight year. Other top returners include junior first baseman River Stewart, junior utility Seth Derugen, sophomore infielder Quinn Zinobile, and senior catcher Jake Houck. Also keep an eye on freshman infielder Jacob Hensor to push coach Don Price for playing time as a rookie. On the mound junior RHP Jack Johnson will reprise his role as ace of a staff that also features 6-foot-2 Zinobile, Hensor, and Derugen.

After giving Juniata Valley its toughest game in the district tournament last spring, Ferndale Area returns the bulk of its line-up and two of its top four innings-eaters, although will be tasked with replacing its staff ace. The strike-throwing senior RHP duo of Matt Teplica and Julius Thomas both saw significant innings last year and are poised to front the staff. Junior infielders Hunter Kinsey and Nate Pudliner will team with the senior tandem of IF/OF Thomas and C/1B Marshall Kurchak to power coach Steve Clawson's offense.

Homer-Center finished one win shy of a state tournament berth last spring, and could lean on an offense that returns six starters, while a group of largely inexperienced pitchers jockey for work vacated by the Wildcats top two innings-eaters last season. Junior RHP Jesse Lee looks poised to assume the role of ace, while the sophomore duo of RHP Canyon Rankin and LHP Nate Davis will have the opportunity to grab larger shares of the pitching pie. Lee rejoins senior infielder Matt Alexander, junior infielder Corey Cavalier, and junior catcher Tim Alcorn atop coach Scott Bauer's line-up.

Coming off a district semifinal appearance, Saint Joseph's Catholic welcomes back a quartet of its most productive players in sophomore IF/OF Jack Mangene, junior two-way performer/staff ace Bryce Herman, senior outfielder Nathaniel Mellott, and sophomore RHP/IF Ben Mcafee.

District VII (3 bids)

Top Prospects:
1. Christian Fedko, 2017, IF, Vincentian Academy (Connecticut)
2. Kyler Fedko, 2018, IF, Vincentian Academy (Connecticut)
3. Jack Liberatore, 2017, RHP/IF, Greensburg Central Catholic (Ohio)
4. Derrick Littlefield, 2017, C, Sewickley Academy
5. Neal McDermott, 2017, RHP, Greensburg Central Catholic (Seton Hill)

Defending state champ Vincentian Academy graduated just two of its primary contributors from last year, although they happened to be two of the team's top four pitchers (both now on a college roster) and play prominent roles on offense as well. Nonetheless, the Royals are primed to make a run at a repeat behind a trio of sluggers in the Fedko brothers and junior first baseman Garret Barto. On the mound, the junior RHP duo of Barto and Aidan Thomson are poised to front the rotation after logging double-digit innings last season.

Greensburg Central Catholic will be gunning for its third straight state tournament appearance this spring. The college-bound RHP duo of lanky, projectable 6-foot-2, 165-pound Liberatore and 6-foot-2, 190-pound McDermott return atop the rotation after racking up 30-plus inning apiece last spring, while junior RHP James Rice will have an opportunity to assume a larger workload. On the offensive side for new head coach Dennis Reist, Liberatore and OF/1B McDermott are the only returning regulars from a line-up that will integrate transfer junior infielder Nick Ruggeri and junior third baseman Antonio Cavallo to help generate runs.

First-year Sewickley Academy coach Andrew Petruska got the job earlier this month and is still learning his team, but will be able to rely on a pair of returning all-section honorees in RHP Joey Straka and the physical Littlefield.

For Western Beaver, junior two-way players Nate Helper and Jeddy Young will front an otherwise inexperienced pitching staff, and team with senior Turner Anthony in powering the offense for coach Chad Miller.

After twice coming up one win shy of a state tournament berth in back-to-back WPIAL tournament games last spring, Union Area graduated seven line-up regulars and turned its coaching position over to new skipper Bill Sanders. Junior RHP/IF Matt Costello will set the tone for the Scotties on the mound and at the plate. Junior LHP Evan Pinkerton will see his innings increase, while junior catcher Anthony Ryan and sophomore OF/IF Seth Pinkerton should see their roles increase. A quartet of freshman -- Util/RHP Bryce Smith, IF/P Nick Jacobs, P/OF Sean Louis, and outfielder Braydon Porter -- could be called upon to fill the vacated line-up holes.

A trio of two-way players -- senior RHP/3B Billy Welsh, junior Util/RHP Stefan Blackstone, and sophomore IF/RHP Hayden Hoffman -- are poised to push Cornell to the next stage of the program's development. Junior infielder Tony Piccolo will also be a major contributor in coach Kevin Quigley's line-up.

Season Preview Content