Trib HSSN baseball player of the week – Cooper Hochendoner

School – South Park

Class – Senior

Position – Pitcher

#Earned – It was a near perfect start to the postseason for Cooper Hochendoner and South Park.

The senior left-hander came within a strike of throwing a perfect game as the Eagles eliminated Keystone Oaks in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 3A baseball playoffs, 3-0.

Hochendoner was brilliant throughout the game, only getting to a three-ball count two times in the game.

He struck out the side in the first inning, struck out two more Golden Eagles in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings, then struck out the side again in the top of the sixth inning.

Through six innings, only four of the 18 Keystone Oaks batters were able to put the ball in play.

There was a ground ball to short in the second inning, a ground ball to first base in the third, a ground ball to second base in the fourth and a bouncer back to the mound in the fifth. None of those four plays were threats to being the first hit for the Golden Eagles.

In the seventh inning, Max Boehm flied out to right field and Bryce Altenbaugh struck out as KO was down to its final out.

Fellow pitcher Nate Rohe came up and battled, fouling off several two-strike pitches to eventually work the count to 3-2.

Hochendoner threw a full count four-seam fastball that was high, and Rohe became the first and only Golden Eagles baserunner.

On the very next pitch, Shane Falcone popped up to second base and while the perfect game was gone, Hochendoner had no-hit Keystone Oaks as South Park advanced to the quarterfinals with the 3-0 win.

It was the second ho-hitter of his high school career with the first coming last season against East Allegheny.

At the plate Tuesday, Hochendoner doubled to the fence in his first at-bat, then walked in his final three plate appearance, two of them intentionally.

He was at first base in the bottom of the fifth inning when teammate Ryan Spitznagel crushed a two-run homer that put the Eagles up for good.

For the season at the plate, the southpaw is batting .482 with six doubles, a triple and a home run, 23 runs scored and 19 RBIs. His on-base percentage is .608 and he has a 1.287 OPS.

On the mound, he has pitched 47⅔ innings, allowing 11 earned runs, 28 hits, 11 walks and 84 strikeouts.

He has a 6-1 record with his only loss coming in Florida in March to Don Bosco Prep. He has a 1.61 ERA and 0.818 WHIP and and opponents are batting .163 against him.

Hochendoner is a three-sport star, having finished his high school career in soccer and basketball. He helped South Park win two WPIAL championships as the Eagles’ starting goalkeeper.

Cooper will continue his academic and baseball career at Slippery Rock where he plans to study finances.

2026 Trib HSSN Baseball Players of the Week

Week 6 – Andrew Corfield, South Side

Week 5 – Carson Franc, Avonworth

Week 4 – Nico D’Orazio, Upper St. Clair

Week 3 – Cody Bungert, South Fayette

Week 2 – James “Booboo” Armstrong, Hopewell

Week 1 – Logan Plummer, Pine-Richland