COACH TALK: Ellwood City Baseball & Softball Teams Look To Build On Success

Ellwood City baseball and softball teams each earned WPIAL playoffs berths last year and each program will look to continue to build on last year’s success in their respective 2022 campaigns.

WOLVERINES BASEBALL:

For second-year head coach Chris Weisz, an encouraging 2021 campaign may have laid building blocks for another successful season this spring.

“I thought we shocked a lot of people,” says Weisz. “Most people had us finishing 4th or 5th in the section.”

The Wolverines (7-3 Section 1-3A, 10-11 overall) finished second in the section and earned a playoff berth in Weisz first campaign. The second place finish was a first for the program since 2012 and the 10-win season was the first in the last decade.

“We made the playoffs and won a playoff game which was a great year to start of my career here,” says Weisz. “We want to improve on that and we want to hang a section banner this year.”

Weisz expects to see a younger, deeper team, both offensively and on the mound, that is very competitive day in and day out.

The team lost graduating senior pitcher Ryan Gibbons, but will have a much more deep pitching staff.

“I feel comfortable going 5 to 6 deep into our pitching,” says Weisz.

Offensively, the team will have speed throughout the lineup that can change the game on the offensive end and will look to improve hitting and communication.

“We also are putting a lot of effort into driving the baseball and having power and good hitting 1-9 in the lineup,” adds Weisz. “We are very young this year and trying to get our young players ready to perform for the start of the season.”

Weisz wants to see the development of our players in his second campaign.

“I expect Joey Roth, Ashton Wilson, Nick Magnifico and Isaiah Lutz to take the next step as leaders and build on the blocks we laid out last year.”

Last year, the team started off a little slow last year according to Weisz, but really put a great stretch together at the end of the regular season culminating with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Keystone Oaks in the opening round of the WPIAL Playoffs and later bowed out to South Park in the second round.

This year, fans can expect another team to rally behind this season according to Weisz.

“Its going to be a fun team to watch that will compete every day. They put work in for the last 10 months to get ready for this spring.”

Weisz points out two tough section opponents this year, Mohawk and defending WPIAL Champion Hopewell, along with rival Riverside.

“As always we circle the calendar for Riverside,” says Weisz. “It will be a battle between to very competitive teams.”

Ellwood City was defeated by Mt. Pleasant in the 2021 WPIAL Championship

WOLVERINES SOFTBALL:

The Ellwood City girls softball team returns a group of girls to a program that reached the WPIAL Class 3A Championship game last year.

A magical run of upsets for the 11-seeded Wolverines ended in the championship game at the hands of Mt. Pleasant.

For head coach Gary Rozanski, he and his coaching staff are looking forward to the 2022 campaign.

“We have a great group of girls returning, their experience is going to be important to our success and continue to build on last year’s success,” says Rozanski.

Ellwood City returns a group of upperclassmen and newcomers who all need to contribute to a role for the team to be successful.

“It will be important for the upperclassman to step up and become leaders,” says Rozanski. “We will need the underclassmen to quickly mature and become leaders as well.”

Rozanski points out the team will need to play as a team, put the ball in play offensively, and make the routine plays on defense to successful this spring. Focus will also be key.

“The girls have a great attitude and a lot of excitement coming into the season, but we will be staying focused and playing the game one pitch, one game at a time.”

Ellwood City will be seeking its fourth WPIAL title this spring. The program has won in Class 3A in 2008 and ‘17 and 2A in ‘16. The WPIAL 3A finalist lost to Punxsutawney in the 2021 PIAA First Round.

Last year, the Wolverines finished fourth (6-4 Section 2-3A, 14-5 Overall) in their competitive section behind the likes of Avonworth, Keystone Oaks, and South Park.

“The section is competitive top to bottom,” says Rozanski. “The section has quality teams and you will have to play your best everyday.”