The Bethel Park baseball team, a regular postseason participant, advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinals in 2026.
“I look forward to seeing how the team performs in the bright lights of the playoffs,” coach Pat Zehnder said prior to his club’s first-round game against Latrobe. “You never fully know what is going to happen in a one-and-done scenario that the playoffs present, especially in the always deep and loaded 5A field.
“Every group is different, and this one has done a great job taking over for a large senior class. They have made their own impact on the way we do things that will last years and help future Hawks know expectations of how to prepare, perform and interact with each other.”
Bethel Park took a four-game winning streak into the district tournament and received the No. 11 seed. The Black Hawks defeated No. 6 Latrobe, 6-1, in the first round and lost to No. 3 Thomas Jefferson, 3-2, in the quarterfinals.
Bethel Park won its first six games this season and tied for third place in Section 2-5A with Upper St. Clair and Peters Township. It was a tight battle for playoff positioning in section play between Moon, South Fayette, USC, Peters Township, Trinity and the Black Hawks.
Football realignment
Bethel Park’s football team remains in Class 5A under the WPIAL conference realignments for 2026 and 2027.
New conference opponents are Thomas Jefferson, Trinity and West Allegheny while the Black Hawks will continue to clash with their South Hills rivals Upper St. Clair and Peters Township.
The Bethel Park gridders open the 2026 season Aug. 28 by celebrating senior night at home against Hempfield. The Black Hawks host Moon on Sept. 4 on youth night before traveling to North Hills (Sept. 11) and Penn Hills (Sept. 18). Homecoming festivities will take place Sept. 25 during their game with Chartiers Valley.
Other contests include road tests at West Allegheny (Oct. 2) and TJ (Oct. 16) and home matchups with USC (Oct. 9), Peters Township (Oct. 23) and Trinity (Oct. 30).
Heat acclimation begins Aug. 10, followed by the first official practice Aug. 17 with scrimmages set to start Aug. 22. The WPIAL playoffs begin Nov. 6.
The PIAA championships are scheduled for Dec. 10-12 at Cumberland Valley in Mechanicsburg.
On his bike
Bethel Park 2025-26 senior Tommy Bruney was named 2026 Rotary Student of the Month in April.
Bruney was recognized for balancing a 4.1 GPA, varsity lacrosse and an elite BMX racing career highlighted by a USA Cycling national championship.
Bruney trains six days a week for BMX racing, a sport he’s pursued since age 4. He won the national title in South Carolina in his race-day classification earlier this year.
A defensive specialist on the boys lacrosse team, Bruney balanced a rigorous training schedule with his responsibilities as a member of the National Honor Society while at Bethel Park. He also mentors other young BMX riders.
To fund his racing travel, Bruney operates a lawn-mowing business.
And when he’s not racing or studying, he relaxes by fishing with his younger sister, Peyton, who will be in the eighth grade in 2025-26 and is a BMX racer as well.
Bruney’s ultimate goal? Competing in the Olympics, where BMX is now an official sport.
Volleyball honors
Four members of the Bethel Park boys volleyball program were lauded as all-section selections this year, led by 5-foot-11 sophomore OH Mark Gerber, who landed on the second team.
Third-team honors were awarded to senior Ryan Burns, a 6-5 setter, sophomore Brendan Hunkele, a 6-3 middle hitter, and junior Carson Foote, a 6-1 middle hitter.
Did you know?
Did you know that Bethel Park senior pole vaulter Brady McCarthy broke a 33-year-old school record in 2026 by clearing a height of 13 feet, 10 inches?
Then, at a last chance meet, McCarthy topped his own record with a vault of 14 feet.