Some say Jack Whalen was a recruiting steal for the Seton Hill baseball program.
The Norwin alum has a record to prove it.
Whalen, a senior outfielder, is now the all-time leader in stolen bases in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, with 118.
Through 13 games this season, he had 14 steals in 15 attempts, including four in one game against Findlay. Nearly half of his steals came in his freshman season when he had 52. That season, he was an All-Atlantic region second-team pick.
He led the Griffins with 31 steals last year.
“He’s A No. 1,” Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. “He plays the game fearlessly. Jack is such a competitor.”
Marizzaldi said he remembers Whalen’s first stolen base.
“It happened in Carey (N.C.),” the coach said. “He said he hopes his last one also is in Carey.”
Carey is the site of the NCAA Division II World Series.
A recent notable win for the Griffins came against national power Minnesota State Mankato, 10-0, in seven innings.
Freshman Brady Stone (Penn-Trafford) went 3 for 4 with a triple and three RBIs, and Whalen homered.
Redshirt junior Luke Deschenes and sophomore Sean Williams (3-0) combined on a two-hit shutout.
Minnesota State Mankota was 51-8 last season, reaching the championship of the NCAA Division II Central Regional Tournament.
The Griffins (10-3) were set to open a four-game series at home against Bloomsburg.
Junior Mark Wechtenhiser was named the PSAC West Pitcher of the Week. He pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing three hits, in a 1-0 win over Bloomsburg. He struck out 13 and did not walk a batter.
Mercyhurst: Grad student Jayden Walker (Norwin) went 2 for 4 with a triple and three runs scored in a 18-14 loss to Central Michigan.
Saint Vincent: Sophomore Ryan Tierney went 3 for 4, junior Nolan Hurd belted a three-run homer and had four RBIs and senior Ben Hudson tripled as the Bearcats held off Mount Aloysius, 9-6.
Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore Keegan Carr (Norwin) had three hits and three RBIs in an 18-9 victory over Rochester Institute of Technology at the Russ Matt Invitational in Auburndale, Fla.
West Liberty: Freshman second baseman Cooper Basciano (Latrobe) went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI as the Hilltoppers bested Charleston, 12-2.
The game marked a reunion of former high school teammates. Redshirt sophomore first baseman Logan Bradish (Latrobe) had a hit for Charleston.
Bradish transferred from Davis & Elkins.
Westmoreland County Community College: The Wolfpack (9-2) put together a six-game winning streak playing in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Freshman Tyler Skaggs (Murrysville/Serra Catholic) went 3 for 5 with a triple and freshman Jake Sincak (Norwin), sophomore Owen Saiani and freshman Noah Matson had two RBIs apiece in a 14-10 win over Illinois Valley Community College.
Sincak had two hits and two runs.
Saiani went 3 for 4 with three runs, freshman Owen Dumbroski drove in three runs, and freshman Sean Franzi doubled, tripled and had two RBIs in an 11-6 victory over Northampton Community College.
Dumbroski doubled twice, sophomore Jake Gedekoh (Belle Vernon) homered and drove in two, and Franzi tripled in a 5-4 win over Cecil College before Saiani went 3 for 4 with two doubles, Franzi homered and scored three runs and freshman Darren DeRiggi had two hits, including a double, in a 13-4 win to sweep Cecil.
Women’s basketball
Evansville: Sophomore Elle Snyder (Latrobe) had nine points and nine rebounds as the 10th-seeded Aces upset No. 2 Belmont, 76-63, in the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals.
Snyder played 30 minutes to help Evansville reach the semis. The Aces beat Illinois State, 75-70, to reach the conference final for the first time since 2009 before falling to Murray State, 91-70.
The Aces finished 10-24.
Seton Hill: Junior Mia Kalich and senior Hallie Cowan were named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-Atlantic Region Second Team.
Kalich was averaging 13.9 points and 11.7 rebounds going onto the NCAA Division II Tournament, finishing the regular season with 20 double-doubles and three triple-doubles. She is a two-time PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year.
Cowan was leading the team in scoring at 18.5 points per game.
Wrestling
Johns Hopkins: Paul Bewak (Hempfield) will be inducted into the JHU Athletics Hall of Fame next month.
Bewak is part of the 12-person class. He was a three-time All-American and three-time NCAA placewinner, taking third as a senior in 2015.
Bewak holds the JHU record for career wins (135), winning 30 or more matches in a season four times.
The former 125-pounder also ranks second in program history with 55 bonus-point wins. He was an NCAA East Regional champion in 2014.
Pitt-Johnstown: Redshirt senior heavyweight Isaiah Vance (Hempfield) earned All-America honors.
After an early-round loss, the sixth-seeded Vance wrestled back to reach the third-round consolation match at the NCAA Division II Championships at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Vance, though, was forced to medically forfeit two matches and finished eighth.
Women’s bowling
Saint Vincent: The Bearcats will take the national stage for the second straight year. The team for the first time qualified for the Intercollegiate Team Championships set for April 14-18 in Green Bay, Wisc.
The Bearcats advanced after a second-place finish at the ITC sectional tournament at Mount Lebanon Lanes.
SVC averaged 190.3 for the weekend, led by sophomore Brooke Street (202.1), who went 45 consecutive clean frames without missing a pin to set a school record. Junior Skyy Nicholls (199.7) set a school record with nine straight strikes, and sophomore Mareana Pilyih (199.7) also contributed.
SVC remains in the hunt for a second straight berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Bearcats are the No. 1 seed in the AMCC Tournament.
Men’s volleyball
Grove City: Sophomore Keith Otto (Penn-Trafford) served a season-high five aces, and juniors Carson Good (Penn-Trafford) and Andrew Kessler (Penn-Trafford) had five apiece in a 3-0 victory over Hiram in PAC play.
Saint Vincent: Senior Shawn McSwiggen had 12 kills, hit .321 and added three aces and seven digs, senior Zebadiah Wyant had 10 kills and six aces and freshman Jack Ryan had 27 assists as SVC ran its winning streak to 11 with a 3-0 win over Chatham.
Sophomore Jackson Genicola anchored the back line with 13 digs.
McSwiggen was named the PAC Offensive Player of the Week.
Softball
Geneva: Senior McKenzie Rapp (Penn-Trafford) was named the PAC Pitcher of the Week. Rapp was 3-0 in the circle, compiling a 1.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 21 innings. She had two complete games and a shutout against Saint Joseph’s.
IUP: Junior Bri Pusateri (Penn-Trafford) went 3 for 3 with two runs in a 10-2 victory over Shippensburg.
Sophomore Erin Drotos (Penn-Trafford) doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice in the win.
Mercyhurst: Junior Brynna King (Latrobe) doubled, but the Lakers fell to Robert Morris, 11-2.
Pitt-Johnstown: Senior pitcher Mia Smith (Penn-Trafford) struck out 12 and hit a two-run homer to lift UPJ to a 4-1 victory over Bluefield State.
Smith allowed just one hit and one earned run.
Smith followed that performance with an eight-inning, two-hit shutout with six Ks in a 2-0 win over Wheeling. She also homered in that win.
Junior designated player Isabella DePalma (Derry) went 3 for 4 with a homer and two RBIs for UPJ.
Point Park: Sophomore Corrine Wright (Latrobe) went 3 for 3 with an RBI, and junior Emma Henry (Greensburg Central Catholic) had a hit as the Pioneers edged past Edinboro, 7-6.
Both local players are transfers. Wright came to Point Park from Gannon, Henry from Central Connecticut State.
Robert Morris: Redshirt senior Courtney Poulich (Mt. Pleasant) was named the Horizon League Player of the Week. Poulich went 9 for 20 with three home runs and 10 RBIs over five games. She had a six-RBI game against Pitt.
She was leading the Colonials with eight homers, 25 RBIs and 28 runs scored.
Poulich followed up her award-winning week by reaching 100 career RBIs. She went 3 for 3 with a home run, three runs and three RBIs in an 11-2 win over Mercyhurst.
Sophomore Maddie Brown (Southmoreland) pitched a complete game in a 2-0 win over Mercyhurst. She scattered six hits and struck out three.
Saint Francis: Junior Olivia Kolowitz (Belle Vernon) went 3 for 3 with two home runs and four RBIs, but the Red Flash fell to New Haven, 9-5, to remain winless for the season at 0-22.
Seton Hill: Redshirt junior Kassidy Wittig went 3 for 3 with an RBI, and sophomore Shelby Telegdy homered and drove in three as the Griffins (5-10) edged Mansfield, 4-3.
South Florida: Freshman Toryn Fulton (Franklin Regional) was leading the Bulls with a .359 batting average through 27 games.
Fulton, who is playing right field, was 23 of 64 with three triples, four home runs and 18 RBIs.
Waynesburg: Freshman Morgan Walt (Hempfield) went 2 for 2 with a run scored as the Yellow Jackets beat Mount Aloysius, 9-1.
Waynesburg (11-3) is coached by former Mt. Pleasant WPIAL and PIAA champion coach Chris Brunson.
Westminster: Sophomore Cheyenne Piper (Ligonier Valley) struck out five and allowed three hits in a 3-2 complete-game victory over Ohio Northern at The Spring Games in Clermont, Fla.
Freshman Kylie Anthony (Penn-Trafford) stole home for the Titans.
Piper tossed another complete-game win as the Titans rallied past Carthage, 7-6. She struck out six.
Anthony delivered a two-out, run-scoring hit in the seventh for the go-ahead run.
Anthony was 3 for 3 with two doubles and two RBIs. She was named the PAC Newcomer of the Week.
Men’s swimming
IUP: Senior Nick Roddy (Ligonier Valley) finished 28th in the 1-meter dive and 36th in the 3-meter dive at the NCAA Division II Championships in Evansville, Ind.
Women’s swimming
North Carolina State: Freshman Lily King (Mt. Pleasant) qualified for the NCAA Division I Championships in relays. The championships are Wednesday-Saturday at McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.
Women’s track & field
Michigan: Junior Liz Tapper (Hempfield) finished eighth in the shot put, earning All-America honors with a throw of 17.46 meters at the NCAA Championships.
It was her second appearance at nationals. She took 12th last year in the shot (16.90).
This year, she was fourth in the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
Saint Vincent: Sophomore Grace Neubert was named to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association’s All-Mid-Atlantic Region team in the mile-run and 3,000-meter run.
She finished second in the mile (4 minutes, 59.48 seconds) and 3,000 (10:31.22) at the PAC Championships.
Last year, she earned all-region honors in the 5,000.
Westminster: Sophomore Grace Iwig (Hempfield) was named to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Mid-Atlantic Region team in the pole vault.
Men’s lacrosse
Saint Vincent: Senior Garrett Ritts recorded his 400th career save.
Washington & Jefferson: Senior captain Braden Petrarco (Norwin) produced his second hat trick of the season as the Presidents fell to Hanover, 20-6.
Women’s lacrosse
Grove City: Junior Gwen Shilling (Franklin Regional) had two goals in a 9-7 victory over Buffalo State.
Men’s tennis
Saint Vincent: Junior Braden Yokopenic was named the PAC Player of the Week. He went 4-0 in wins over Immaculata and Pitt-Greensburg.