May 8—Whether it has been smacking one over the fence or hitting a rope to the outfield, leaping over a bar or taking the baton on a track, it has been a busy spring for Matt Sieg.
Sieg is a sophomore at Fort Cherry known mostly for his impressive feats in football the past two seasons. A quarterback/defensive back, he already has 4,372 career yards rushing and 2,892 passing and has scholarship offers from major colleges.
But this 10th-grader has also put his Sieg-nature on two sports this spring.
Sieg is adding to his reputation as a supreme multi-sport athlete. He is playing baseball and also competing in track and field — and has been highly successful in both sports, especially baseball. He is adding intrigue to what might be his best sport in the future.
In 15 baseball games, Sieg, a shortstop, is batting .529 with seven doubles, four home runs and 24 RBIs. He has an OPS of 1.509.
In track and field, Sieg has cleared 6 feet, 1 inch in the high jump and also runs a leg on Fort Cherry's 400-meter relay team that has a school-record time of 42.79 seconds, which also is the best in the state in Class 2A. Sieg will compete at the WPIAL track championships next Wednesday at Slippery Rock University. He's hoping the WPIAL doesn't schedule the Fort Cherry baseball team for its first playoff game the same day. Fort Cherry is 11-3 and won the WPIAL Class 1A Section 1 championship. The WPIAL will decide playoff pairings and seedings Friday and the playoffs will begin Monday.
This spring has seen its share of dreary days because of the weather, but Sieg has been shining brightly.
"I'm really close to a lot of track kids and I always have a good time with them," Sieg said. "I loved our baseball team last year. But this year's freshman class, I've been playing with them my whole life and I'm super, super close with them. Obviously, it's a good time when you're winning. But I'm just having a really good time. It's been a good year overall for Fort Cherry."
It can be taxing for a high school athlete to play two sports in one season. But Sieg did it last year when he competed in baseball and track and field. But this year is different, mainly because Sieg is healthy. A hamstring injury bothered him for much of the baseball and track seasons in 2023. Last year, he was running the 100 and 200 in track, but he is competing only in the high jump and the relay team this year.
"It's less on my legs this year," Sieg said. "Last year was bad because I missed a lot of baseball games with the hamstring. I kept tweaking my hamstring last year and I was tired of it. I tweaked it a little bit this year and took a few weeks off. Running [sprinting events] in track wasn't worth risking hurting it every time. The lighter load helps."
Many days, Sieg practices for an hour with the baseball team and an hour with the track team. Sieg qualified for the WPIAL Class 2A track championships last year in the 100 and 200 but couldn't compete because of the injury. He believes he can possibly clear 6-3 or 6-4 in the high jump this year. Last season, a height of 6-1 won the WPIAL Class 2A high jump.
Other members of the relay team are Tegan Henke, Shane Cornali and Dylan Wudkwych. Cornali also was a standout football player and is playing baseball this spring, too. Both Cornali and Sieg were players on Fort Cherry's basketball team that went to the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA semifinals.
As for the future, Sieg says he still doesn't know what sport might be his best. It will be either football or baseball. He has nine scholarship offers in football, including ones from Pitt, Penn State, Wisconsin and Maryland. But he is also considered a top prospect in baseball.
"I can't talk to college coaches for baseball until Aug. 1," Sieg said. "But Penn State came to one of my baseball games and gave my coach positive feedback. I'm still open to both sports."
When asked if there was a possibility he would play both sports in college, Sieg said, "I've talked to some people about it and some schools have said they would let me do both. But I really don't know. It's still early."
Gio LoNeroSeton LaSalle's Gio LoNero is hitting .644 and was intentionally walked with the bases loaded Tuesday against OLSH. (J.J. LaBella/For the Post-Gazette)
Fearing Gio
It's not often you see a team at any level intentionally walk a player with the bases loaded. But that's what Our Lady of the Sacred Heart did against Seton LaSalle's Gio LoNero in a big game Tuesday.
OLSH was playing Seton LaSalle for the WPIAL Class 2A Section 2 title. OLSH won, 12-4, but at one point in the game, OLSH intentionally walked LoNero with the bases jammed, letting a run score.
With one non-section game left, LoNero has a chance to become only the third WPIAL player since 1983 to hit better than .600 in consecutive regular seasons. He could also become the first WPIAL player in at least 40 years — and possibly ever — to hit .595 in three consecutive regular seasons. LoNero hit .595 as a sophomore, .607 last year and is batting .644 (29 of 45) this year with eight doubles, three triples, three home runs and 24 RBIs. He has walked 17 times.
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson coach Tim Vickers talks to pitcher Jason Siemon in between innings in a game earlier this season. Thomas Jefferson is one of the teams that could get the No. 1 seed for the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. (Sebastian Foltz/Post-Gazette)
Who's No. 1 seed?
The WPIAL baseball committee meets Friday to determine playoff seedings and pairings. The committee might have a tough time deciding on No. 1 seeds in some of the six classifications, especially in 5A and 4A.
In Class 5A, North Hills and West Allegheny tied for a section title and split two meetings. Penn-Trafford might have been in line for the No. 1 seed but lost two to Franklin Regional Monday and Tuesday. Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional, Fox Chapel and Plum all tied for a section championship. Bethel Park also is a section champ.
In Class 4A, Montour and Belle Vernon won section titles outright, while Thomas Jefferson and West Mifflin tied for a section title. All four teams have similar overall records. Will Belle Vernon's 13-5 non-section win against Thomas Jefferson on April 24 mean anything?
WVU and the WPIAL
The West Virginia University baseball team struck it rich when it signed Mars High School infielder J.J. Wetherholt a few years ago. Wetherholt has turned into a star at WVU and is projected to be a top-10 pick in this year's Major League Baseball draft.
West Virginia continues to mine the WPIAL for players and the Mountaineers certainly aren't coming up empty handed. West Virginia is known to have signed or have verbal commitments from seven WPIAL players in various classes.
The two seniors who have signed with WVU are Central Catholic catcher Gavin Kelly and North Allegheny pitcher J.D. Costanzo.
Two juniors at Trinity have committed to WVU — infielder-pitcher Matt Robaugh and third baseman-pitcher Kaden Hathaway. Two other juniors committed to WVU are Freeport pitcher Michael Hanz and North Allegheny pitcher Nico Varlotta. West Virginia even has a commitment from a freshman — infielder Josh Burkholder of Seton LaSalle.
Mike White: mwhite@post-gazette.com and @mwhiteburgh on X
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