Top returning baseball players

OFFENSE (sorted by average)
Jeff Goyette, sr., Trinity (.493, 12 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 26 RBIs)
Jake Warner, sr., Northern (.473, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 18 RBIs)
Sam Crater, sr., Northern (.452, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 4 home runs, 18 RBIs)
Sean Beam, jr., Bible Baptist (.447, 19 RBIs)
Joe D'Agostino, sr., Cumberland Valley (.436, 7 doubles, 16 RBIs)
Bobby Kohl, jr., Susquenita (.414, 8 doubles, 4 home runs, 29 RBIs)
Kenny Baum, sr., West Perry (.400, 8 RBIs)
Joe Tuschak, jr., Northern (.390, 4 doubles, 4 triples, 2 home runs, 23 RBIs)
Max Miller, sr., East Pennsboro (.382, 3 doubles, 11 RBIs)
Justin Malehorn, jr., Susquenita (.379, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 16 RBIs)

PITCHING (sorted by ERA)
Andy Nauss, sr., Mechanicsburg (6-1 record, 1.93 ERA, 36.2 innings, 42 hits, 26 SO, 16 BB)
Sam Crater, sr., Northern (9-0 record, 2.10 ERA, 54 innings, 41 hits, 78 SO, 30 BB)
Taylor Nace, jr., Susquenita (6-1 record, 2.11 ERA, 53 innings, 36 hits, 50 SO, 23 BB)
Nick Chester, sr., Red Land (10-2 record, 2.74 ERA, 72.2 innings, 58 hits, 48 SO, 25 BB)
Eric Sawyer, jr., Cumberland Valley (3-1 record, 2.84 ERA, 35.2 innings, 25 hits, 26 SO, 22 BB)

Palaces to host high school games

Every year, a few area baseball teams schedule games for one of the many minor league facilities that dot the District 3 landscape.

In the Mid-Penn Conference, the norm is for teams to make the trek to City Island for a game at Metro Bank Park, which is being renovated for the start of the Harrisburg Senators season.

Despite the improvements to City Island, arguably the area's most fierce high school baseball rivalry has moved to another county. West Shore School District foes Red Land and Cedar Cliff will not play one of their two Mid-Penn Commonwealth Division games at Metro Bank Park this year but rather, they'll travel down I-83 South for a game at Sovereign Bank Stadium, home to the independent York Revolution of the Atlantic League, on May 7 at 6:30 p.m.

The teams will first meet April 21 at Cedar Cliff with first pitch scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

Red Land is the three-time defending Commonwealth Division champion and defeated Cedar Cliff, 5-4, at Metro Bank Park last spring. The Colts won the other game in Lewisberry, 8-2.

Below is a schedule of the area teams who will play at either Metro Bank Park or Sovereign Bank Stadium this year.

Metro Bank Park

Friday, April 23 – East Pennsboro vs. Susquenita, 6:30

Comment: A Colonial Division game between an East Penn squad hoping to build on last year and a Susquenita team that should be in the thick of the division race.

Saturday, April 24 – York Suburban vs. Northern, 6

Comment: Polar Bears are the defending Mid-Penn Colonial Division and conference tournament champion but have higher expectations than last year's 3-AAA first-round loss.

Tuesday, April 27 – Trinity vs. Boiling Springs, 7

Comment: It's the second straight year for these two on City Island. Because of rain last year, the Capital Division rivals played a Saturday doubleheader - the first game at Trinity's Wass Park in the morning; the second at Metro Bank Park in the afternoon.

Sovereign Bank Stadium

Friday, April 30 – Northern vs. Biglerville, 6

Comment: Polar Bears have another prime time game on a big stage but, unfortunately, neither opponent will offer much resistance to what should be a powerful Northern squad.

Friday, May 7 – Cedar Cliff vs. Red Land, 6:30

Comment: What else needs to be said? The only way a game between these two could be more heated and anticipated would be a 3-AAAA playoff game. Keep your fingers crossed.

Southeast Regional area pairings

Here are the area wrestlers who qualified for this weekend's Southeast Regional tournament at Wilson High School in suburban Reading and who they will face. School, district placement and record is in parenthesis. Complete brackets can be found here.

125
Ean Starner (Boiling Springs, 3-4, 30-11) vs. Richard Cruz (Bethlehem Catholic, 11-3, 34-11)
Winner faces Tyler Small (Delone Catholic, 3-1, 33-4) in quarterfinals

130
Joe Spisak (Boiling Springs, 3-1, 40-1) has a bye into the quarterfinals
Spisak meets winner of Dakota Davis (Schuylkill Valley, 33-4, 30-8) vs. Ryan Todora (Bethlehem Catholic, 11-3, 24-8)

135
Tyler Thumma (Boiling Springs, 3-3, 22-4) vs. Devon Vorhees (New Hope-Solebury, 1-3, 25-7)
Winner faces John Lynch (Saucon Valley, 11-1, 34-3) in quarterfinals

145
Trent Bond (Boiling Springs, 3-4, 24-16) vs. Dillon Smith (Jim Thorpe, 11-3, 30-8)
Winner faces Noah Horst (Schuylkill Valley, 3-1, 37-10) in quarterfinals

152
John Riddle (Boiling Springs, 3-5, 29-15) vs. Craemer Hedash (Northern Lehigh, 11-2, 26-6)
Winner faces Conor Myers (St. Pius X, 1-1, 25-3) in quarterfinals

171
Derec Sauve (Susquenita, 3-2, 5-1) has a bye into the quarterfinals
Sauve meets winner of Garrett VanDeMark (North Schuylkill, 11-4, 29-5) vs. Justin Peyton (Springfield Twp., 1-2, 9-9) in quarterfinals

285
Tyler Unger (Boiling Springs, 3-4, 29-14) vs. Kenny Zurbano (Saucon Valley, 11-3, 24-12)
Winner faces Cris Ramirez (Milton Hershey, 3-1, 21-6) in quarterfinals

Wrestlers moving on

The area will be well-represented in Wilson next weekend and at Giant Center in two weeks as the District 3 Individual Wrestling Championships have started to shake out. Here's an updated look at who has clinched a spot in the next tournament. Class AA qualifiers head to the Southeast Regional at Wilson; Class AAA's next stop is the PIAA Championships on March 11.

Class AAA
First Place
Big Spring: Dereck Enders (112)
Carlisle: Jayshon Wilson (152)
Cumberland Valley: Shawn Greevy (135)
East Pennsboro: Zach Nye (215)

Second Place
Cumberland Valley: Jon Brigham (112), Tristan Warner (171), Travis Friend (215)
Mechanicsburg: Zach Thomson (152)

Third Place
Big Spring: Luke Etter (160)
Cedar Cliff: Chris Vassar (103), Clint Morrison (171)
Mechanicsburg: Rustin Barrick (145)
Northern: Jared Ross (140)

Class AA
First Place
Boiling Springs: Joe Spisak (130)

Second Place
Susquenita: Derec Sauve (171)

Third Place
Boiling Springs: Tyler Thumma (135)

Fourth Place
Boiling Springs: Ean Starner (125), Trent Bond (145), Tyler Unger (285)

Fifth Place
Boiling Springs: John Riddle (152)

District 3 Wrestling: The Finalists

Below is a look at the area wrestlers who have secured a spot the district finals and have thus guaranteed themselves at least one more weekend of wrestling. The respective opponent in tonight's 7 p.m. championship round is also listed.

Class AAA
Finalists
Big Spring: Dereck Enders (103, 29-4) vs. Jon Brigham (Cumberland Valley, 28-4)
Carlisle: Jayshon Wilson (152, 31-1) vs. Zach Thomson (Mechanicsburg, 28-5)
Cumberland Valley: Jon Brigham (103, 28-4) vs. Dereck Enders (Big Spring, 29-4); Shawn Greevy (135, 19-2) vs. Tim Ravel (Wilson, 38-8), Tristan Warner (171, 35-1) vs. Kenny Courts (Central Dauphin, 37-0), Travis Friend (215, 22-0) vs. Zach Nye (East Pennsboro, 35-0)
East Pennsboro: Zach Nye (215, 35-0) vs. Travis Friend (Cumberland Valley, 35-0)
Mechanicsbug: Zach Thomson (152, 28-5) vs. Jayshon Wilson (Carlisle, 31-1)

Class AA
Finalists
Boiling Springs: Joe Spisak (130, 39-1) vs. Derek Goodwin (Hamburg, 38-4)
Susquenita: Derec Sauve (171, 5-0) vs. Glenn Miller (Hamburg, 38-0)

District 3 Wrestling: Saturday's Elimination List

Below is a look at the wrestlers who were eliminted during consolation action Saturday at Hersheypark Arena. Wrestlers are listed under the round they were eliminted in with their respective weight classes in parenthesis.

Class AAA
Consolation Semifinals
Big Spring: Colten Keck (119)
Carlisle: Matt Blessing (171), Gavin Nickel (285)
Cedar Cliff: Grant Dickey (152)
East Pennsboro: Sean Bise (130)
Northern: Zach Ross (119), Kyle Hejmanowski (125)
West Perry: Bobby Manning (135), Chaz Sheaffer (189)

Fourth Place
Big Spring: Dustin Rook (103)
Northern: Adam Geiger (171)

Class AA
Consolation Quarterfinals
Boiling Springs: Andrew Fabo (103), Mark Lentz (112), Sam Rhoads (140), Logan Murphy (160), Jake Grove (171), Sam Matter (215)
Susquenita: Chase Carroll (119)

Sixth Place
Susquenita: Cody Albright (112), Harley Mabius (145)