Shenango looking for another deep run
Coming off a one-of-a-kind season that seemed straight out of a Hollywood movie script, Shenango had a lot to live up to for its second act under second-year coach Larry Kelly.
Last year, with the 68-yearold Kelly making his high school head coaching debut, the Wildcats won their first WPIAL baseball title in school history and made it all the way to the PIAA Class 2A championship game. Along the way, they won 21 games in a row and made countless memories that Kelly and his players will surely never forget. But now it’s a new year and new season, and Shenango isn’t satisfied with just a one-and-done trip to the top of the mountain.
“This is about winning the WPIAL championship,” Kelly said. “If we win the section tomorrow, we’ll celebrate. We appreciate it, but that’s not the goal. Every year, the goal is to win a WPIAL championship, and to do that, you have to face stiff competition along the way. The goal is not to play our best baseball in March, because we certainly weren’t.
“The goal is to play your best baseball in the second week of May, and that’s where we are right now, playing our best baseball.”
After starting the season 0-2 with back-to-back losses vs. section-rival Neshannock — giving the team three consecutive losses dating back to last year’s state title game — the Wildcats (13-4, 9-3) have been on an absolute tear lately. They’ve won 13 of their past 15 games to claw their way back to a share of the section title with Riverside.
It’s a long way from where they found themselves early in the season, but for Kelly, it
comes as no surprise.
“The one thing I’ll say about this team — they are mentally tough,” Kelly said. “It’s the mental toughness that separates good baseball teams from average baseball teams. Our guys are mentally tough, and there’s no circumstance they can’t overcome.”
Shenango picked up perhaps its most important win of the season with a walk-off 2-1 win vs. Riverside in nine innings on Monday night — that is, until the Wildcats clinched a share of the section title with a 2-1 win at Riverside on Tuesday. In Monday’s win to keep Shenango’s section title hopes alive, Kelly dialed up a suicide squeeze with the bases loaded and one out, and Braden Ziegler executed it to perfection as Tyler Kamerer came home from third base to score standing up.
After losing 2021 Post-Gazette All-Area selection Shane Cato to graduation, many wondered if the Wildcats would have enough firepower to make up for Cato’s considerable absence this year. Although they have six starters back from last year’s team, Cato went 10-2 as a pitcher and hit .492 as a senior — numbers that are nearly impossible to replace.
Kamerer isn’t a two-way player like Cato, but he has done everything he can at the plate and in the field to fill his former teammate’s shoes. As of Monday night, the senior shortstop is batting .612 and leads the team with 10 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs, 26 RBIs and 24 runs scored.
“Tyler Kamerer, from my point of view, is the best hitter in the WPIAL,” Kelly said. “You can’t get him out. He’s just one of those guys who has Division I talent.”
As for the team’s new ace, Kelly said senior right-hander Tino Campoli would have actually been the Wildcats’ No. 1 pitcher last year ahead of Cato, but he missed the entire season while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Now, the Mercyhurst recruit is back to full strength and better than ever, boasting a 4-0 record with a 1.75 ERA and 48 strikeouts to 17 walks in 28 innings pitched.
“He throws [90 mph] fastballs in good locations,” Kelly said. “He moves it around and people have a hard time catching up.”
Shenango’s other starting pitchers, juniors Zach Herb and Braeden D’Angelo, have both enjoyed great seasons as well. As of Monday night, Herb is 1-1 with an 0.63 ERA and 40 strikeouts to only 9 walks in 22⅓ innings, while D’Angelo is 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA and 26 strikeouts to 7 walks in 26⅔ innings.
The trio of pitchers are no slouches at the plate, either. Herb is batting .441 with 17 RBIs and 16 runs scored, D’Angelo is hitting .356 with 18 RBIs and 14 runs, and Campoli is batting .375 with a home run, 15 RBIs and 17 runs.
“Braeden D’Angelo got the win [Monday night]. He’s been outstanding all year and shut down a really good Riverside team,” Kelly said. “Zach Herb has been tremendous on the mound and in the field, as well as at the plate.”
Although the team appears to be getting hot at the right time, Kelly knows just how hard it is to remain hot come playoff time, when every team is giving you its best shot. Last year, the Wildcats surprised some people when they defeated top-ranked Seton LaSalle, 2-1, in the WPIAL championship game. But they won’t be sneaking up on anyone this time around.
Still, Shenango finds itself unranked in Class 2A going into the last week of the season, so maybe it’s time for Kelly and his players to remind everyone they’re still the defending champs until proven otherwise. To do so, he’ll need some players he can count on —
“Our guys are mentally tough, and there’s no circumstance they can’t overcome.”
— Larry Kelly
Shenango baseball coach
and he asks his team before every game who those players are. The response, in unison, is always the same — “Count on me.”
“This isn’t about me,” Kelly said. “It’s about my guys and how tough they are. They’re smart
baseball players, they’re good baseball players, and that’s why we win.”