PUP baseball notebook: Serra Catholic’s large collection of basketball players make a speedy transition to the diamond following long playoff run

With nearly half of Serra Catholic’s baseball roster also on the school’s basketball team whose season ended with a loss in the PIAA playoffs last Tuesday — just days before the start of the baseball regular season — one might assume that it would take a while before the baseball-playing Eagles would be at full strength.

But, as it turns out, those multi-sport athletes didn’t need much rest or extra swings in the batting cages.

They actually competed in a baseball scrimmage the very next day and played in the season opener three days later.

The transition for athletes going from basketball to baseball following long playoff runs might not be as challenging as it is for football players converting to basketball, but the quick turn at Serra is still impressive, especially when you consider it includes nine players, seven of whom are starters on the diamond for a team that reached the WPIAL Class 2A final the past three seasons.

“It’s impressive, but keep in mind that even though they’re basketball players, their primary sport is baseball,” Serra baseball coach Brian Dzurenda said. “It’s not like they stop training. They had been working out and doing private lessons.”

That includes standout senior pitcher-shortstop Owen Dumbroski, the school’s all-time leading scorer in basketball who played a big role in the Eagles reaching the WPIAL Class 1A final last month. After scoring 21 points in a season-ending loss in the second round of the PIAA playoffs, Dumbroski combined with sophomore Jake Anderson on a no-hitter in Serra’s 9-0 season-opening win against Bishop Carroll at Pullman Park in Butler last Saturday. Dumbroski struck out six in four innings of work, while also going 3 for 3 with two doubles and three RBIs.

“I actually feel pretty good,” Dumbroski said. “I thought Saturday went really well for me.”

The Eagles followed up that win with another later that day when they defeated Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 9-4. Senior Tyler Skaggs got the win on the mound in that one, while senior Jake Holmes knocked in two runs and junior Bodi Rieger had three hits.

Dumbroski, Skaggs, Holmes and Rieger are all baseball starters who also play basketball. The other three are junior Matt McNeal and sophomores Mark Johnson and Jake Jellison. Johnson was the second-leading scorer on the basketball team. Senior Xavier Miller and junior Tyler Sapida also play both sports.

Serra, the runner-up to Seton LaSalle in each of the past two WPIAL Class 2A championships, dropped to Class 1A this season, but its road didn’t get much easier considering the Eagles compete in a section that includes two-time defending WPIAL champion Bishop Canevin and Eden Christian, last year’s PIAA runner-up.

Dumbroski and Skaggs give Serra a terrific 1-2 punch atop its starting rotation. Last season, Dumbroski was 7-2 with a 2.33 ERA and Skaggs 5-2 with a 2.62 ERA.

“Both of them have pitched in the biggest settings, so you know you’re going to be in every game they pitch,” Dzurenda said.

Another of Serra’s top players does not play basketball. That would be junior Max Black, who batted .316 and drove in 17 runs a season ago. Black is batting .500 in the early going.

While Serra has reached the WPIAL final three years in a row, it has come home with silver medals the past two seasons, making winning the title a huge goal for these Eagles.

“It’s the biggest goal that we have right now,” Dumbroski said. “We lost the last two years and we lost in basketball. We’re not trying to lose again. Not just WPIAL, but states, too.”

Aces high at Riverside

Longtime Riverside coach Dan Oliastro has the luxury of having not one, but two aces on his pitching staff this season.

And those aces are really dealing thus far.

Riverside’s outstanding duo of seniors Zach Hare and Christian Lucarelli has been dominant, with both hurlers spinning tremendous season debuts. Hare allowed one run and two hits while striking out 14 over six innings in a 10-1 win against Shenango, while Lucarelli gave up just one hit and fanned nine across five innings in a 14-0 triumph at Hopewell.

The two have been big hits at the plate, as well, with Hare driving in three runs against Shenango and Lucarelli knocking in a pair versus Hopewell.

Both Hare and Lucarelli were outstanding a season ago in leading Riverside to the WPIAL Class 3A final. Hare went 9-1 with a 0.95 ERA and had 86 strikeouts in 44 innings, while Lucarelli was 4-0 with a 0.88 ERA and struck out 49 in 24 innings. Hare is a Slippery Rock recruit and Lucarelli a Duke recruit.

Allderdice slugger a three-sport star

There might not be a better athlete in the City League than Allderdice’s Lukas Stead, who has followed up excellent football and basketball seasons by getting off to a strong start to the baseball season.

Stead is a 6-foot-3 junior first baseman who went 3 for 4 and launched a two-run home run to lead Allderdice to an 8-0 season-opening win against Deer Lakes last Friday. Allderdice competes in the WPIAL in baseball, and Stead is trying to lead the Dragons to a big bounce-back season after not winning a section game a season ago.

While he plays baseball this spring, Stead will also be playing AAU basketball. He’s coming off a junior season that saw him average 16.5 points and 9.4 rebounds per game for a Dragons team that won their fourth consecutive City League title. Stead scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the championship game.

Stead is a football standout, as well, and last season helped Allderdice reach the City League title game. His athletic future beyond high school might lie in that sport. Stead is a talented tight end and linebacker who received an FBS offer from Akron in January.

Penn-Trafford’s player’s power surge

When the lights of the 2025 season turned on last Friday, it was a Penn-Trafford slugger providing the power.

Logan Matrisch had a powerful season debut, clubbing two home runs and driving in five runs to lead Penn-Trafford to a 9-3 win against Norwin.

Matrisch is a junior center fielder and one of the few returning starters back for Penn-Trafford, last year’s WPIAL Class 5A champion that also advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals. Matrisch, who is also a wrestler, batted .316 with nine RBIs a season ago.

The two home runs last week actually doubled Matrisch’s career total. His only previous home run came during his freshman season. Matrisch followed up his opening act by going 3 for 4 with a double and RBI in Tuesday’s 13-8 loss to Brighton, Colo.