Trib HSSN baseball player of the week – Denny Joseph III

School – Neshannock

Class – Senior

Position – Pitcher

#Earned – It’s great to have pitching depth, especially the way the WPIAL playoffs are formatted.

You need two strong arms, sometimes more.

So if you are a head coach with a 1A and 1B pitcher, that’s awesome. But it can also lead to some anxious moments.

Decision, decisions.

Neshannock baseball coach John Quahliero was in that very position over the holiday weekend.

His two senior aces were coming off playoff shutout wins.

Right hander Cole Hutchinson is 5-0 this season with a 1.65 ERA after blanking Apollo-Ridge, 10-0, in the quarterfinals on one hit.

Left hander Denny Joseph was 4-1 with a 2.51 ERA this season and was one out short of a complete game in shutting out South Side in the Class 2A semifinals, 1-0.

No, Coach Q didn’t get the two together and go old school with a little “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe.” He broke down his opponent in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game, a powerful offensive team in top-seeded Fort Cherry.

A lot of the Rangers’ top hitters are left handed, so Joseph got the call against the Rangers.

Color Coach Q a genius because his tough decision on who to start was a golden one.

The start was a tad bumpy for Joseph as he went to the mound with a 2-0 lead, but Fort Cherry hit the ball hard. Thanks to a lineout double play, the Rangers were limited to only one run on three hits.

Then disaster nearly struck with two outs in the bottom of the second inning when Joseph was struck in the left heel by a rocket line drive up the middle. He was able to collect himself, grab the nearby baseball and throw out the hitter to end the inning, but as he limped noticeably to the dugout, Lancers fans had to fear his day was over.

However, as Neshannock batted in the top of the third and with action in their bullpen, Joseph walked around the dugout, gave a thumbs up to his coach, put on his cape and went back to work.

Joseph, a LaRoche recruit, seemed to get stronger after that scare, limiting a Rangers team that averaged over 10 runs per game coming into the finals, to only two runs on five hits with two walks.

He left in his semifinals start through 6 2/3 innings because he hit the 105-pitch limit against the Rams.

Pitch count was not an issue for him against the Rangers, as he threw only 67 pitches, 50 for strikes.

The district championship was the seventh for Neshannock, but it was its first since 2015 and first title for Coach Q as the head man after he assisted legendary Lancers coach Mike Kirkwood.

Neshannock will host a first round PIAA playoff game Monday against District 9 runner-up Redbank Valley.

2026 Trib HSSN Baseball Players of the Week

Week 8 – Jordan Keller, Ellwood City

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