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By Jacob Gill
Pennsylvania Assistant Director of Scouting

We move on to the newly-created class 5A in 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 article includes Districts II, XI, and XII from the eastern side 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.

District II (1 bid)

Top Prospects:
1. Justin Vought, 2017, C, Wyoming Valley West (Maryland)
2. Chase Nowak, 2017, RHP, James M. Coughlin (East Stroudsburg)
3. Colin Macko, 2018, 1B/RHP, Crestwood
4. Aaron Husson, 2017, RHP, Wallenpaupack Area (UMBC)
5. Ryan Deom, 2019, RHP, North Pocono

Wallenpaupack Area welcomes back seven position player starters and three college-bound pitchers. The RHP trio of Lock Haven-bound Austin Gilpin, Husson, and Goldey-Beacom-bound Mitch Guerrieri each logged more than twenty innings last spring while combing for a nearly 2.5-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and more than one strikeout per inning. Two more college-bound players -- first baseman Chris Brindle (Penn State Harrisburg) and outfielder Morgan Theobald (Marywood) -- help power coach Todd Schmalzle's offense, which should also get significant contributions from junior catcher Max Alessi and junior infielder Tyler Kirsten.

Coming off a district title and state semifinal appearance, North Pocono must replace two-thirds of its line-up and one primary member of its rotation. As a rookie, 6-foot-2 Deom logged the most innings on a staff that also welcomes back the junior RHP pair of Cory Wall, who served as the closer last year, and Tony Donato. While a group of inexperienced position players, including sophomore catcher Jake Mastillo, acclimate to more prominent roles, coach Brian Jardine will lean on St. John Fisher-bound infielder Pat Kravitz, senior outfielder Pat Noon, and senior first baseman Gary Woloszyn for primary run production duties.

Abington Heights will feature a senior-laden roster one year after having its string of three straight district titles in the old 3A snapped. Monmouth-bound RHP Colin McCreary and 6-foot-2 junior RHP Nick Termini return to front the pitching staff. Leading returning hitters include outfielders Anthony Duboski and Luke Fayocavitz, while IF/RHPs Ryan Harvey and Jake Swank could make their own two-way impact.

Roster overhaul time for Wyoming Valley West, which must find a way to replace nearly a dozen graduates from a team that has won four of the last five large-school titles in the district. Vought, an advanced defender with pop in his bat, Wilkes-bound outfielder Dominick Bayo, and senior outfielder Zach Sott are the only line-up holdovers. A completely revamped pitching staff could feature sophomore Nate Baranski, juniors Pat Adamski and Zach Kobusky, and senior Damian Davies all assuming larger roles.

Virtually every significant contributor is back for Pittston Area, including eight of nine line-up regulars and two rotation cogs. Penn State Harrisburg-bound OF/RHP Tyler Jackson and Scranton-bound OF/RHP Joe DeLucca will contribute with the bat and anchor a pitching staff that will also feature senior RHP Chris Merithew. Powering the virtually intact offense for coach Paul Zafutto will be Bloomsburg-bound shortstop Kyle O'Fier, senior first baseman C.J. Pisack, junior second baseman Kevin Krawczyk, and sophomore third baseman Joe Stella.

Crestwood coach Tony Caladie is faced with replacing his starting shortstop and entire outfield, along with one of his top two pitchers. Senior RHP James Graves is poised to step into the ace role, while two other senior RHPs -- Matt Trimmer and Curtis Tokach -- will assume larger workloads. On the offensive side, 6-foot-4, 190-pound Macko has a smooth stroke and projectable left-handed power. He will be joined in powering the line-up by C/IF Graves, C/IF Tokach, and junior infielder Justin Darden.

District XI (1 bid)

Top Prospects:
1. Nate Nabholz, 2019, RHP, Blue Mountain
2. Drew Grace, 2019, IF, Blue Mountain
3. Connor Murtaugh, 2017, RHP, Southern Lehigh
4. Niko Amory, 2018, C, Southern Lehigh
5. Matt Ziminsky, 2018, RHP/IF, Whitehall
6. Zachary Gilbert, 2017, LHP, Whitehall

Whitehall welcomes back four pitchers -- the athletic Ziminsky who exhibits strong pitchability with his four-pitch mix, plus the senior LHP trio of 6-foot-4 Gilbert, Misericordia-bound Alex Bruneio, and Cabrini-bound Matt Dobeck -- all of whom logged at least 29 innings last spring. Outfielders Bruneio and Dobeck, plus third baseman Ziminsky and senior shortstop Zach Hamscher (who also logged double-digit innings on the mound as a junior) return to power coach Shaun O'Boyle's offense.

Southern Lehigh coahch Todd Miller could roll out a line-up this spring featuring five underclassmen, who would join the physical Amory, plus the senior tandem of outfielder Timmy Walter and first baseman Michael Miller. 6-foot-3, 170-pound senior RHP Connor Murtaugh will front a young Spartans pitching staff that will also feature the sophomore RHP pair of Jacob Stanten and Dalton Musselman.

Most of the roster is back for Blue Mountain, which suffered some bad luck when its starting catcher and one of its top starting pitchers both transferred out. The pitching staff will be fronted by 6-foot-4, 170-pound senior RHP Brett Caulfield, while 6-foot-3, 205-pound Nabholz and Grace will have expanded roles. Senior outfielder Dan Greenawalt and the left side of the infield tandem of junior third baseman Jack McKivigan and shortstop Grace, who will participate for Team PA at the 2017 PBR Future Games, will power a line-up that likely needs to boost its production in order for the Eagles to return to contender status.

District XII (2 bids)

Top Prospects:
1. Tyler Kehoe, 2019, OF, Archbishop John Carroll (Louisville)
2. Jack Colyar, 2019, RHP, Archbishop Wood
3. Max Hitman, 2020, IF, Archbishop John Carroll
4. Cole Chesnet, 2018, C, Archbishop John Carroll (Penn State)
5. Kamal Gray, 2020, RHP/IF, Archbishop John Carroll
6. Drew Butera, 2020, C, Archbishop John Carroll
7. Mike Ferrara, 2018, 1B, Archbishop Wood
8. Kody Cracknell, 2017, RHP, Archbishop Wood (Kutztown)
9. Sean Hughes, 2017, RHP, Archbishop Wood (Florence-Darlington Tech)
10. Sam Reynolds, 2019, IF, Archbishop Wood

Archbishop Wood will be pushing for its fourth straight state tournament appearance this spring. Cracknell and Hughes form an experienced one-two punch atop the rotation, while physical, multi-sport (football QB), transfer Colyar exhibited mid-80s arm strength as a freshman. Ferrara has big power potential from the right side of the plate, while junior outfielder Dylan Slowinski, junior catcher John Gifford, and Reynolds will be asked to take a step forward by coach Jim DiGuiseppe, Jr.

Major talent infusion for coach Mike Costanzo at Archbishop John Carroll, which not only added a highly-regarded group of freshmen, but also the sweet-swinging Kehoe and leadership ability of rock-solid Chesnet via transfer. Bucknell-bound outfielder Nick Argentieri will help spark the offense, while senior RHP James Kelly will reprise his role of ace on a pitching staff that will also feature Kehoe and Neumann-bound RHP Jack Houser.

First-year Archbishop Ryan coach Nick Chichilitti will spend the next few weeks, and possibly the early part of the season, figuring out roles for his new charges. Senior catcher Matt Romano will handle the staff, which could see a more than a half dozen pitchers get opportunities early on, and provide offensive production, along with a group of younger players that includes sophomore utilitymen Adam Estrada and Pat Kajder.

Historically the strongest Philadelphia Public League program among those in the new 5A classification, Franklin Towne Charter will lean on the two-way abilities of junior IF/RHP Edgardo Correa and senior IF/RHP Rob Henry, who returns after suffering through an injury-plagued junior campaign. Coach Chris Lauber will also look for a full season of production from Valley Forge Military Academy-bound outfielder John Hitchins, who performed well after entering the line-up three weeks into the start of last season.

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