{"id":51475,"date":"2025-05-24T16:04:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T16:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/51475\/"},"modified":"2025-05-24T16:04:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T16:04:11","slug":"strong-finish-helped-bethel-park-baseball-capture-section-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/51475\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong finish helped Bethel Park baseball capture section title"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Ray Fisher<\/a><\/p>\n

Saturday, May 24, 2025 | 11:01 AM<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Studt | SportsByPaul \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bethel Park\u2019s Joey Levis (12) plays against Trinity on April 1, 2025, at Bethel Park.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Studt | SportsByPaul \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bethel Park\u2019s Joey Levis (12) plays against Trinity on April 1, 2025, at Bethel Park.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPaul Studt | SportsByPaul \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bethel Park\u2019s Owen White plays against Trinity on April 1, 2025, at Bethel Park.<\/p>\n

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The Bethel Park baseball team was ready for the postseason.<\/p>\n

The Black Hawks stormed into the WPIAL playoffs riding an eight-game winning streak, 16-4 record and No. 4 seeding in the Class 5A tournament.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of the team and the way they\u2019ve played this year,\u201d coach Pat Zehnder said. \u201cWe battled a lot of adversity \u2014 injuries, illnesses, and otherwise \u2014 and the guys kept working and staying together and found ways to win. Our pitching and defense have been our strengths all season, and our offense is rounding into form just in time for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not put much stock into the seedings and potential gripes about where we end up. We were thankful to earn a postseason spot and be ranked as one of the top four teams. (Class) 5A is loaded with quality teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bethel Park defeated Moon and Chartiers Valley twice in late-April to clinch first place in Section 2-5A. The final standings were as follows: Bethel Park (9-3), Peters Township (8-4), Upper St. Clair (7-5), Trinity (6-6), South Fayette (5-7), Moon (4-8), Chartiers Valley (3-9).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always want to be playing our best baseball as we get into the playoff season, and this season was no different,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cWe were able to continue our strong defense and pitching, and our offense has been improving throughout the second half of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are increasing our quality at-bats and being productive at the plate, even with our outs. We had some hard outs in big situations earlier in the season, and those are starting to fall in for us. We expect to continue to play a good brand of baseball and maximize our chances of success in the postseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

A trio of Bethel Park players finished in the .400 club during the regular season, led by senior INF Noah LeJeune with a .423 batting average and .538 on-base percentage.<\/p>\n

\u201cNoah has been our most consistent and clutch hitter all season,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cAll that while battling through a shoulder injury most of the year. He has a great demeanor and team-first attitude that is infectious to the rest of the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

LeJeune, who didn\u2019t make an error all year, was complemented by senior INF Ryan Petras (.410 BA, .486 OBP) and senior C Ethan Stanhoff (.400 BA, .468 OBP).<\/p>\n

\u201cRyan has continued to be our catalyst offensively,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cHe can do so many different things offensively, from bunting to spraying line drives all over the field, to hitting for power.<\/p>\n

\u201cEthan has also been one of our most consistent hitters all season. This in addition to being an outstanding catcher and handling that important position to allow pitchers to throw freely. He is without question one of our team MVPs this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petras, who after much consideration will continue his football career at Duquesne, had another remarkable season in his stellar four-year career. He led the team in several offensive categories, including plate appearances (70), at-bats (61), hits (25), doubles (6), total bases (33), runs (20) and stolen bases (18).<\/p>\n

\u201cRyan is one of the best athletes to come through Bethel Park in a long time,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cHe will leave a lasting legacy of how to go about your business. He is a freak athlete, but what makes him elite is his work ethic combined with his mature mindset and competitive drive. He has those qualities combined with a generous and caring personality. He is a rare breed and will be sorely missed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four other hitters \u2014 senior OF Joey Levis (.385), junior INF Mike Bruckner (.380), senior OF Jack Bruckner (.327) and sophomore C\/INF Eric Miehl (.310) \u2014 finished with .300 batting averages while junior INF\/C\/P Nick Rillo was close behind at .283. Levis added a .515 OBP.<\/p>\n

Mike Brucker provided ample power to the Black Hawks offense with a team-leading two home runs and 17 RBIs. Bruckner, Petras, Stanhoff and Ryan Walsh had the only triples on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime Mike (Bruckner) makes contact, it is going somewhere with a lot of pace on it,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cThe ball comes off his bat differently than your usual high school hitter. He is still far from his potential, which is scary when he\u2019s already batting just below .400 with impressive power numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Walsh had only 20 plate appearances this season but racked up a .455 batting average and .700 on-base percentage. In 11 official at-bats, he punched out five hits was walked nine times and struck out only once. He scored eight times and knocked in six runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cRyan had some arm tightness before the season started, so we did not let him pitch but he still hit in the first two weeks of the season and did very well,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cThe doctors eventually found a blood clot in his shoulder that was restricting blood flow to his arm. They had to remove his upper rib on the right side to ensure the clot doesn\u2019t come back.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is recovering well and already starting rehab. He should be fully healthy by the fall, but he hasn\u2019t played for us since mid-March. He has done a great job still being a leader and is now basically an extra coach for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pair of Dylans \u2014 Schumacher and Paul, both seniors \u2014 were the workhorses on the pitching staff, compiling 4-1 and 2-2 records, respectively.<\/p>\n

Schumacher had a 1.26 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 33 1\/3 innings of work. Paul posted a 2.63 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 21 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

\u201cDylan Schumacher has been our ace all season,\u201d Zehnder said, \u201cand has thrown like it. He has put up great numbers, but he will tell you he has not had his \u2018best stuff\u2019 in numerous outings.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven when that is the case, he is still able to hold other teams down, which shows how good of a pitcher he is and how tough he is. Our pitching coach, Jared King, deserves a ton of credit for what he continues to do with the pitching staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other players with at least one regular-season win in the pitching department were Mike Brucker (2-0, 0.41 ERA), sophomore Owen White (2-0, 5.69 ERA), juniors Matthew Hughes (2-0, 1.17 ERA), Mason Stewart (2-0, 0.78 ERA) and Tyler Stewart (1-0, 2.42 ERA), and Rillo (1-0, 1.70 ERA). Brucker had five saves; Rillo and Hughes were credited with one save.<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to injuries and illnesses, we had multiple sophomores and juniors step up into larger roles than anticipated at the beginning of the year,\u201d Zehnder said. \u201cMatthew Hughes, Mason Stewart, Tyler Stewart and Nick Rillo, our second baseman, had increased roles on the mound, and did great.<\/p>\n

\u201cEric Miehl had starts at catcher and earned the starting left field position with his performance. Caden Stokes also had multiple starts in the outfield and did a good job. He will have a huge role in the coming years. Brayden Bruckner, Chase White and Colton Fisher have also filled in as sophomores and will be ready to contribute more in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zehnder has coached the Black Hawks for six years, including 2020 (the covid year). Bethel Park has won four section titles in the past five seasons, and 37 in program history.<\/p>\n

The WPIAL championship games will be held May 27-28 at EQT Park (formerly Wild Things Park) in Washington. May 29 is the rain date.<\/p>\n

PLAYOFF NOTES: Bethel Park reached the final four in Class 5A for the fifth straight season by defeating No. 13 Franklin Regional, 11-1, and No. 5 Thomas Jefferson, 5-4 in eight innings, in the first two rounds of the district playoffs.<\/p>\n

Levis led the Jaguars against FR with a 3 for 4 performance that included five RBIs.<\/p>\n

Mike Bruckner singled and walked three times, Rillo singled and was hit by a pitch twice and LeJeune had two hits in the Black Hawks\u2019 12-hit attack.<\/p>\n

Schumacher retired the first nine batters he faced, striking out seven.<\/p>\n

The victory against TJ was more dramatic, as Petras raced home from third base with the winning run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.<\/p>\n

Mike Bruckner pitched the final four frames, allowing no runs, four hits and two walks while striking out seven.<\/p>\n

LeJeune was 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles.<\/p>\n

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