Trib HSSN baseball team of the week – Ellwood City Wolverines
Coach: Christopher Weisz (fifth season)
Record: Ellwood City finished in second place in Section 1-3A with a record of 8-2, one game behind section winner Riverside. The Wolverines are 13-4 overall this season with two more nonsection games remaining.
#Earned: After missing the WPIAL playoffs the last two seasons, a young Ellwood City team showed this year was different early in the section schedule when it split with traditional power Riverside. The Wolverines began the week a game behind the Panthers, fighting for a second-place finish as they faced a Mohawk team that was only one game behind them in the Section 1-3A standings. On Monday at home, Ellwood City had a 4-1 lead after five innings before Mohawk fought back to tie the game in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, though, the Wolverines responded with a run that proved to be the game winner in a 5-4 victory that clinched second place. The next day in Bessemer, EC scored single runs in the first and second innings before Mohawk took a brief lead with three runs in the bottom of the third. The Wolverines exploded for six runs in the top of the fourth and then held on even as the Warriors continued to chip away, winning 8-7. The victory is the fifth straight for Ellwood City and the eighth triumph in the last nine games.
Standout performers: In the victory over Mohawk on Monday, sophomore Maykel Cueves and junior Aaron Lake each had two hits while Cueves, seniors William Nardone and Sam Landis and freshman Gino Biondi each drove home a run in the win. Lake started and pitched five innings, allowing an earned run on four hits with five walks and nine strikeouts. With the winning run scoring in the sixth inning, junior Nathan Kennedy picked up the win with two innings of work. On Tuesday, the Wolverines had only six hits, but two of them were off the bat of junior Jordan Keller, who also drove in two runs. Landis had a hit and two RBIs, Kennedy and junior Jacob Biskup each had a hit and an RBI and freshman Cameron Mills singled and scored a run. Mills started and pitched 4⅓ innings for the victory as he finished with eight punchouts and Nardone finished the win off with 2⅔ innings of relief. For the season, Jordan leads the team with a .396 batting average, .554 on-base percentage, .646 slugging percentage and three home runs, Biskup has a team-high eight stolen bases and 18 runs scored, Mills leads in RBI with 18 and doubles with five and Lake has a 0.62 ERA and six wins on the bump.
Last year – The 2024 season began with a similar feel to the 2023 season for Ellwood City, which won only six games all year. Last spring started with the Wolverines losing six of their first nine games, including a 0-6 start in Section 1-3A after section series sweeps by Riverside, Neshannock and Mohawk. The young EC team finished strong though, winning seven of its last nine games to end up 10-8 overall. The team just missed a return to the postseason, finishing one game behind fourth place Shenango.
Remember when – This is the 80th anniversary of Ellwood City baseball, which began in the WPIAL in 1945. Ellwood City is tied for fourth on the all-time WPIAL baseball championship list with five. The Wolverines captured two championships in the 1960s back where there was only one district championship, taking home baseball gold in 1962 by defeating McKeesport at Forbes Field, 4-1, and again six years later in 1968 by beating Waynesburg, 1-0. In this century, Lincoln High School has captured three WPIAL Class 2A championships, beating Shady Side Academy in the 2001 finals, 6-3, ousting Blackhawk in the 2003 title game at PNC Park, 3-2, and then defeating rival Riverside for the 2012 championship, 9-7. The Wolverines team that won it all 22 years ago wasn’t satisfied with just district gold. In the 2003 PIAA 2A playoffs, Ellwood City shut out Shenango, 2-0, ousted Hickory in eight innings, 3-1, then defeated Blackhawk again in a WPIAL title game rematch, this time in the state semifinals, 3-2. In the state championship game at Riverside Stadium in Harrisburg, Kevin Ricciuti scattered five hits and Aaron Lillibridge hit a tie-breaking two-run single in the sixth inning as Ellwood City defeated Tamaqua for the program’s only PIAA title, 3-1.
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