Freeport baseball faces challenging slate in Class 3A

By: George Guido
Tuesday, March 12, 2019 | 5:45 PM

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Freeport baseball might be dropping from Class 4A to 3A, but the path to a WPIAL playoff spot won’t be any easier.

The Yellowjackets will be a member of Section 1 this season, along with local rivals Deer Lakes, Burrell and Valley and East Allegheny, South Allegheny and Steel Valley.

“Deer Lakes came with us, but we’ll play pretty much a whole new section,” third-year coach Ed Carr said. “Burrell should be the lead dog this year; they’ve got a lot of talent, and they’re well-coached. Deer Lakes is a strong program, along with Steel Valley, and Valley had a nice team last year.”

Freeport making the playoffs is nothing new. The Yellowjackets have qualified for the postseason eight of the last nine years, including 2018 when Freeport lost an opening-round playoff game to New Castle.

The Yellowjackets were 12-4 overall, 11-3 in their old Section 1-4A.

Carr will guide a junior-laden pitching staff, led by Jarrett Hileman, who won five games last season.

“He’s the most experienced on the mound,” Carr said of Hileman. “Zach Allen is in the mix, Braden Clark, Joseph Hotalski, Dominic Kern and Matt Grove are among the guys who’ve been throwing quite a bit.”

Since Freeport has one of the most spacious outfields in the Alle-Kiski Valley at Freeport Community Park’s Laube Field, defense is important.

Said Carr: “It’s a big field, huge. It’s defense first in the outfield, especially at home. Left field is tough with that hillside and right field is a big area.”

Senior center fielder Evan McCrea has a strong defensive pedigree and is acknowledged as one of the team leaders, as is Coulton Stewart in left. Two other seniors who will contribute are Zane Zeppuhar and Josh Tirdel.

Zeppuhar might also see time as a designated hitter.

Allen will split time at third base and in the outfield, and Matt Mitchell is a strong hitter.

Catching is an important position, too, at Laube Field with a long distance between home plate and the backstop.

Garrett Ben saw some varsity time last year, and Hileman also will be behind the plate, along with Dalton Westendorf.

After losing six starters to graduation, Carr hopes to avoid a repeat of last year when the Yellowjackets didn’t get any nonsection games in and a section encounter with Greensburg Salem served as the season’s opener.

“Having the flexibility of guys who may be a hybrid player really helps,” Carr said. “I think you always want to win the exhibition games early on, but I told the guys every year it’s important to have an identity by section play and know who you are and what your strengths and weaknesses are.”

Freeport will open the season March 22 at Armstrong and begin the section campaign against Burrell at home on April 3.

This will be the 40th anniversary of Freeport’s last WPIAL championship in 1979. It was the first year of two classifications, with Freeport winning in Class AA.

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