Big bats are making noise
Laurel Highlands coach Scott DeBerry thought his team would be pretty good this season, but even he didn’t foresee the success coming so quickly, so boldly and in such dominant fashion.
The scores rung out loudly: 15-0, 14-0, 15-1, 15-3 and 15-1.
Those were the outcomes of Laurel Highlands’ first five games, all wins. And those didn’t come against any creampuffs. They were all against teams in Class 5A Section 3, one of them being defending WPIAL and PIAA champion Latrobe.
“I’m not going to lie and say I saw this coming,” DeBerry said. “I thought we’d be competitive and we’d be good. I have a lot of kids back from last year. I figured we would mature. But, no, I didn’t see this coming. I hope it continues. But to think it will, I would be a little bit naive, because it can’t happen.”
DeBerry was right. Laurel Highlands came back down to earth late last week, beating Albert Gallatin and Gateway by scores of only 72 and 6-2. Laurel Highlands won six section games all of last season. It entered Thursday with eight. The Mustangs were also 8-0 overall.
If the Mustangs’ first four wins weren’t impressive enough, their 15-1 rout of Latrobe on April 13 surely was. The Mustangs actually trailed 1-0, but used 10 hits and 15 runs in the fourth inning to blow the game open.
“I’ve never seen anything like that happen,” DeBerry said.
Laurel Highlands has never won a WPIAL title, but it has had some success over the years. Two seasons ago, DeBerry guided Laurel Highlands to a 19-2 record and a section title. The Mustangs were inconsistent last year, finishing 9-10.
This year’s team is deep and boasts 11 seniors, including the top four hitters in the lineup — center fielder-pitcher Greg Lancaster, second baseman Josh Burns, shortstop Travis Sankovich and first baseman-pitcher Mason McManus. The biggest offensive stars have been McManus (.654 average, 17 RBIs) and Sankovich (.636 average, 12 runs scored).
“What I like about it is that we’re strong one through nine,” said DeBerry. “I have the ability to put a couple of guys deep in the lineup who would typically be in the middle. If the top doesn’t do much, the bottom will.”
DeBerry said McManus and sophomore Andino Vecchiolla have been the team’s top pitchers. Vecchiolla won his first two starts without allowing an earned run and is 3-0, while McManus is 2-0.
Avonworth
In football, Turner Grau is one of the most productive wide receivers in the WPIAL. He hauled in 55 catches for 874 yards last season. In baseball, Grau doesn’t catch, he throws — and throws well. Add in his productivity at the plate and outstanding defense, and you have one of the top players in Class 3A.
Grau is a 6-foot-3 junior who is a hard-throwing right-hander on the mound and a hard-hitting lefthanded hitter at the plate. He’s a big reason why Avonworth came into Thursday with an 8-1 overall record and a 6-1 mark in Section 2.
“He’s been one of our top players,” Avonworth coach Dan Pomposelli said. “He’s clearly our ace. He’s our No. 3 hitter. When he’s not on the mound, he’s on the field at shortstop. We’re extremely strong up the middle with him. He’s a huge factor.”
In Avonworth’s first seven games, Grau was hitting .421 and was 4-0 on the mound. He was averaging nearly two strikeouts an inning — 44 strikeouts in 24 innings — and had a 0.88 ERA. He and senior Corey Dick combined to throw a no-hitter in a 11-0, five-inning win at Mohawk.
Grau is a three-sport standout. In addition to baseball and football, Grau is also a starter on the Avonworth basketball team. Pomposelli, for one, believes Grau’s future will be baseball.
This is a young Avonworth team that has only three seniors: Dick, Jacob Jaillet and Alex Osborne. The first three hitters in the lineup — center fielder Jack Reed, second baseman Timmy Stewart and Grau — are all juniors. The cleanup hitter, shortstop Jax Miller, is a sophomore.
Mars
The Mars basketball team had a terrific brother tandem with Robby and Mike Carmody, and the baseball squad has one, too, with Frank and Joey Craska. Both are Division I recruits. Frank, a senior infielder-pitcher, signed with Lafayette, while Joey, a sophomore in-fielder-pitcher, verbally committed to Virginia Tech.
A year ago, the two helped Mars reach the WPIAL final for the first time. The Planets took a 6-4 record (4-2 in Class 5A Section 1) into Thursday. The Craskas had two RBIs apiece in a 6-4 section win against Armstrong last Friday. For the season, Frank is batting .406. Joey is hitting just .242, but has a 0.95 ERA to go along with 19 strikeouts.