Trib HSSN baseball player of the week – Jordan Keller

School – Ellwood City

Class – Senior

Position – Catcher

#Earned – Many times, the journey to a title game consists of beating unfamiliar teams from different sections.

There are times when teams do see a familiar face, an opponent from a nonsection game or even a section foe.

Then there are playoff games against bitter rivals, which is what happened last week in the WPIAL Class 3A semifinals when defending district and state champion Riverside battled neighboring Ellwood City.

“It’s a different environment,” Ellwood City senior catcher Jordan Keller simply said. “No matter where you play, it’s insanely loud. There were students on both sides along with adults yelling and screaming.”

Keller has witnessed up close Riverside getting the better of Ellwood City in recent years, leading to WPIAL and PIAA championship runs in both his freshman and juniors seasons.

The teams split their regular season meetings this season and were playing for a berth in the 3A baseball finals in the rubber game.

The Wolverines fell behind, but Keller helped his team come back late for a second straight postseason game as Ellwood City ended the Panthers reign with a 6-5 win.

Ellwood City also erased a late deficit in a 5-4 quarterfinal victory over Burrell.

The two playoff wins last week for the Wolverines were fueled by a perfect week at the plate by Keller, who was 3 for 3 with an RBI in the win over the Buccaneers and 2 for 2 in the triumph over the Panthers.

The victories advance Ellwood City to the WPIAL Class 3A baseball championship game for the first time in 14 years.

The last time the Wolverines played for district gold, they defeated Riverside in the 2012 Class 2A title game, 9-7.

For the season, Keller leads the Wolverines in batting average, hits, doubles, triples, RBIs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.

Jordan is batting .527 (29 for 55) with four home runs and 22 RBIs.

He has an on-base percentage of .634 and a slugging percentage of .964 for a 1.598 OPS.

Keller played basketball as a freshman and has been a golfer all four years in high school.

In the fall, Keller finished in third place in the Section 5-2A qualifiers by shooting a 73 at the Sylvan Heights Golf Club to advance to the WPIAL Class 2A championships.

In the first round of the 2026 WPIAL Class 2A finals at the Hill Crest Country Club in Lower Burrell, Keller shot an 86, then he shot an 83 in the second round at the Valley Brook Country Club in McMurray and finished 26th.

Jordan will continue his academic and baseball career at Fairmont State where he plans to study business management and accounting.

2026 Trib HSSN Baseball Players of the Week

Week 7 – Cooper Hochendoner, South Park

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