Boys athlete of the week
// The Post-Gazette’s top male performer from the past seven days
Recently: In a five-game stretch over 12 days, Lambert had 12 hits, 3 home runs and 16 RBIs.
Check this out: Lambert is a 5foot-8, 180-pound senior who is one of the best catchers in the WPIAL. He is among the WPIAL leaders in several offensive categories and came into this week hitting .487 with 2 triples, 5 home runs and 22 RBIs. His slugging percentage was 1.000 and he had helped West Allegheny to a 9-3 record. Lambert has signed to play next season at Pitt. He is the son of two teachers in the West Allegheny School District. His mother, Suzanne, teaches anatomy, physiology and biology at the high school and his father, Brian, teaches special education math at the middle school.
Before this year, wasn’t your reputation more as a top defensive catcher? For the most part. Do you think that reputation has changed this season? I definitely have made myself more of a dual threat. The defense is still there, but the offense is, as well.
What has been the reason for the offensive improvement? One of the main things is I went to new hitting coaches — the Fennell brothers (Mick and Ryan) — out in Wexford. Plus, I’ve always been big in lifting weights. With everything shut down (because of COVID-19), I went to the gym to lift even more. I went from maybe 180 to 195 pounds. That’s where a lot of my power came from. I always hit home runs, but this year I’m more consistent.
Your baseball coach (Bryan Cornell) is an assistant coach in football. Did he ever try to get you to play? Oh yeah. The whole baseball coaching staff tried to talk me into it. But my mom wasn’t budging (laugh).
You originally made a verbal commitment to Ohio University, correct? Yes, my sophomore year.
Why the change to Pitt? I was young and didn’t know exactly what I wanted academically and athletically. As I grew, I wanted to see myself in a different spot in the future. I just felt Pitt was the right fit for me, especially with the new coaching staff and what they’re doing.
Are you a pretty good student?
Well, my parents are both teachers, so I kind of have to be a good student. My mom is one of my teachers for anatomy and physiology.
Geez, what’s that like, having your mom as a teacher? It definitely took some getting used to. She likes to tell stories to get her point across and I always seem to be one of the main characters in those stories.
Has your mom ever sent you to the principal’s office? No, but I think I would be better off sometimes being sent to the office (laugh) than having to sit in her class and having to hear what she says when I have something wrong.