Fox Chapel Area baseball has had a streak that it probably wouldn’t mind seeing come to an end.
Each of the last three seasons, the Foxes have lost in the WPIAL playoffs to the team that went on to win the championship. Last year, that loss came at the hands of Penn-Trafford by a score of 2-0 in the Class 5A quarterfinal round.
“Hopefully, this year we’re the one to win the WPIAL,” said coach Jimmy Hastings, who is entering his eighth year as the Fox Chapel Area High School baseball coach.
Last year’s team won 14 games and finished in a four-way tie for the section title, the first time a Fox Chapel Area baseball team grabbed a piece of a section crown in nine years.
“It was a positive year,” coach Hastings said. “We won more games than we did the previous year.”
It was a team with many young players getting their first taste of varsity experience. Now that those players have some varsity games under their belt, coach Hastings feels that can only help in the oncoming season for a team that returns six or seven starters and three pitchers who tossed a lot of innings in 2024.
“We have a couple newcomers who can throw as well,” coach Hastings said. “If we’re returning players with a track record, hopefully, we can build from that, or at least sustain it so that we can be successful. We do have a lot of arms. We’ve been building that for years, trying to get more kids pitching. We’re starting to see it at the varsity level.”
One returning player set to earn his fourth letter in the program is senior pitcher/outfielder/first baseman Jeremy Haigh, a Wagner College recruit.
“He’ll be in the middle of our lineup and one of our starting pitchers,” coach Hastings said. “He’s been tremendous over the last three years. He does everything well – his schoolwork, the way he talks to people. He leads by example. He’s the type of kid that’s cleaning up the dugout when everyone else is gone. He’s the kid that is in the weight room after the game working out by himself. He does all the little things right. He’s just a great kid.”
Another all-section player returning is senior shortstop Antonio LeDonne, who has committed to play at Washington & Jefferson College.
Junior Blake Krushinski will be looked upon to contribute on the mound and with his bat. Blake already has committed to West Virginia University as a pitcher.
“He’ll be in the middle of our lineup, as well,” coach Hastings said. “Blake has tremendous ability. He’s a really athletic kid who has a lot of potential. He works really hard.”
Senior Kris Bandurski brings a lot of athleticism to the team. In fact, he plans to attend PennWest California to play football.
Other returnees include junior outfielder/pitcher Joey Geller; senior Everett Clanton, who is in the mix as a third baseman and designated hitter; junior middle infielder Tyler Golembiewski; and senior outfielder/pitcher Franco Pistella, an Oberlin College baseball recruit.
Newcomers who may contribute include sophomores Drew Moyer, Nick Seifried, and Tristan Blum, who made headlines in his preteen years for his hitting prowess.
The Foxes want to take that next step – get past the quarterfinal round, not lose to the eventual champion, and become the champions themselves.
“The kids just need to bring energy and focus everyday,” coach Hastings said. “They work tremendously hard everyday. I think they just need to be together. We just need to do the little things right, game in, game out, throw strikes, make very few errors and get timely hits. That’s always the key.”
The Foxes are in Class 5A Section 3 this season, a section coach Hastings thinks will be quite competitive.
“It’s probably the toughest section in 5A,” coach Hastings said. “There’s no doubt in my mind. We have teams with great programs. There won’t be many easy games at all. There will be dogfights, but we’ll take our chances.”
One of those teams is Shaler Area, which won a state championship in 2023 in dramatic fashion, erasing a 5-run deficit. Other teams in the section include perennial power West Allegheny; Pine-Richland, which dropped from Class 6A; and Mars, which always fields a strong team. Allderdice and New Castle round out the section.