2024 WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship preview: Penn-Trafford vs. Bethel Park

By: Paul Schofield
Monday, May 27, 2024 | 2:41 PM

Purchase Photo Options

2024 WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship

No. 7 Penn-Trafford (18-3) vs. No. 4 Bethel Park (15-6)

7 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park, Washington

On the air: Trib HSSN

How they got here: Penn-Trafford defeated Moon, 8-2, in the first round; Fox Chapel, 2-0, in the quarterfinals; and Franklin Regional, 10-3, in the semifinals; Bethel Park beat Trinity, 11-1, in the quarterfinals; and West Allegheny, 7-6, in the semifinals.

WPIAL titles: Penn-Trafford 0; Bethel Park 2 (1987, ‘85)

Coaches: Lou Cortazzo, Penn-Trafford; Pat Zehnder, Bethel Park

Players to watch: Brandon Roher, Penn-Trafford; Ethan Stanhoff, Bethel Park

Extra bases: Bethel Park defeated Penn-Trafford, 8-5, in the 2023 semifinals. Bethel Park lost to Shaler, 10-1, in the 2023 final. The Black Hawks were Class 3A champions in 1987 and 1985. Class 3A was the largest classification before 2005. In the semifinals, Stanhoff went 2 for 3 with a double, Michael Bruckner went 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs and Ryan Walsh also doubled and drove in a pair. … Noah LeJeune is batting .293 with four, doubles, four home runs and 19 RBIs. … Ryan Petras is hitting .469 with 30 hits — which includes five doubles — 23 runs scored and 18 stolen bases. … Santino Diulus is 6-1 with a 1.31 ERA. … Both teams are section champions. … Three Warriors have 12 or more RBIs. Ethan Septak leads with 23 and Jason Sabol has 21. Septak has four home runs and and Ian Temple three. Chuck Fontana leads with 28 hits. He has seven doubles and is hitting .410. … Brayden Stone is hitting .396 with seven doubles and three triples, and Sabol is hitting .320 with five doubles and two home runs. … Pitchers Brandon Rohrer, Dom Delio and Zach Feldman have three wins each. … The Warriors played in the 2019 final. Penn-Trafford won the Fall League Championship and defeated Bethel Park, 5-2, in the quarterfinals. … Both teams will play in the PIAA postseason. The winner plays the District 3 fifth-place team, and the loser faces the District 3 champion. The state tournament begins June 3 at sites and times to be determined.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Bethel Park, Penn-Trafford