Franklin Regional firing on all cylinders
Perfection has never been the goal for Bobby Saddler’s teams during his time at Franklin Regional, but that hasn’t stopped the Panthers from striving for it.
It took Saddler a decade as Franklin Regional’s baseball coach before his Panthers finally made it over the hump and won a section title in 2019 after four consecutive second-place finishes. That 2019 team reached the WPIAL semifinals and qualified for the PIAA tournament for the first time in 18 years, advancing to the PIAA quarterfinals and finishing with a record of 19-3.
Although they came up just short of playing for a WPIAL championship, that team raised the bar for Franklin Regional — and this year’s team is taking it to new heights.
“I’m not surprised at how well they’re playing, just because of the amount of work they put in in the offseason,” Saddler said. “I knew in the fall these guys were ready to come back and get to work. They knew they had potential to have a season like they are having right now.
“It’s great to be able to go and coach a group of guys that love playing the game like these guys do. They have fun playing it, and they want to win.”
The Class 5A No. 1 Panthers (11-0, 8-0) entered the week as the last remaining undefeated team in the WPIAL, with a massive nonsection showdown looming Thursday at Class 6A No. 1 Norwin (10-1, 6-1). It has been 20 years since Franklin Regional last played for and won a WPIAL crown, and this looks to be its best
chance yet to make it back to the title game.
Win or lose, both teams will surely be better prepared for the postseason after facing one another, but the Panthers certainly have more to lose — specifically, the “0” in their loss column. And while some coaches may prefer to experience a loss or two during the regular season to avoid any added pressure going into the playoffs, Saddler doesn’t subscribe to that notion.
“I’m not a person that believes that you need to have a loss,” Saddler said. “Because the game starts out 0-0 and everybody is on an equal playing field, no matter what your record is. … You have to go in there and understand the score is 0-0 and go out there and execute and let the chips fall as they may, and I like our guys’ chances after seven innings are played.”
While an influx of freshmen and sophomores making their varsity-level debuts have made an impact for many teams around the WPIAL this year, senior leadership has been the key to Franklin Regional’s success. The trio of seniors Louie Kegerreis, Tim Quinn and Andrew Muraco provide a solid nucleus in the middle of the order, and it’s easy to see why the rest of the team feeds off their presence.
It all starts with Kegerreis, the sweet-swinging shortstop with a team-leading .529 batting average and 3 doubles, 3 triples, a home run, 11 RBIs and 15 runs scored. Kegerreis has reclassified for the class of 2022 and will take a gap year after graduating this spring before deciding where to play in college.
Quinn bats cleanup for the Panthers, and the 6-4, 210-pound first baseman certainly looks the part. A Mercyhurst recruit, Quinn is batting .452 with 11 runs scored, a pair of home runs and a team-leading 15 RBIs.
Muraco is the No. 3 hitter, batting .423 with 2 homers, 3 doubles, 10 RBIs and 14 runs scored. He is going to Coastal Carolina as an infielder, but he was also one of the Panthers’ top pitchers as a sophomore. Muraco has been playing second base this year while recovering from an arm injury, but Saddler hasn’t ruled out the possibility of him returning to the mound come playoff time — provided he’s cleared by doctors and feels comfortable pitching again.
“Andrew is on the shelf right now pitching, but what he brings to the table both defensively and offensively is incredible,” Saddler said. “All three of those guys are just driving the baseball. Their approach at the plate this year — it’s great to watch them execute.”
In the meantime, seniors Brian Pirone and Luke Treloar have picked up the slack and then some. Pirone is 6-0 with a 1.81 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 27 innings pitched, and Treloar is 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 31 innings.
Although the Panthers are a formidable bunch on talent alone, the scariest part about them might be this — after starting the season with a 3-2 win vs. Hempfield and a 1-0 win vs. Connellsville, Franklin Regional has won each of its past nine games by a combined score of 93-14, winning by 10 runs or more in five of those nine games.
With the Panthers playing their best ball and the playoffs fast approaching, it’s fair to wonder if anyone has what it takes to beat them if they can get past Norwin on Thursday. Saddler, though, knows all too well that one bad game or even one bad inning could undo all of his team’s hard work if they’re not careful.
“I think the boys embrace the fact that they’re ranked No. 1 in [Class] 5A,” Saddler said. “I think they like the fact that they have a target on their back. I think it lets them go out and know that they have to play at an elite level every single day.
“If they sit there and fall short of that, any team is capable of knocking us off.”