C-H grad Kesneck has breakout year for IUP
Indiana University of Pennsylvania softball outfielder Kassie Kesneck, a Chartiers-Houston graduate, was named the 2016-17 IUP Women’s Breakthrough Athlete of the Year.
The award is part of the Crimson & Gray Awards, which were announced June 8 and recognize the top athletes, coaches, teams and performances of the IUP athletics season.
Kesneck didn’t enter her freshman year at IUP with high expectations, earning a walk-on spot with the Crimson Hawks in the fall. She failed to see any playing time through the first five games of the season, but flashed potential at The Spring Games in Clermont, Fla., hitting .455 with two doubles, a home run and three runs batted in seven games.
Those spring break numbers helped Kesneck turn into IUP’s starting left fielder, and she finished third on the team with a .294 batting average and .424 slugging percentage. She also stole nine bases in 10 attempts and drove in 15 runs despite missing time with an injury.
Kesneck had the longest hitting streak of any Crimson Hawks player, covering 12 games from April 10-28. She had a .417 batting average with five extra-base hits and 11 RBI during that span as IUP went 10-2.
Westminster assistant track and field coach Bradi Rhoades, a Waynesburg native, was named the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Mideast Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Rhoades has helped four Westminster pole vaulters, including senior Marissa Kalsey, who also is a Waynesburg native, qualify for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Kalsey became Westminster’s first women’s national champion when she won the pole vault by clearing 13-7 ¼, then set an NCAA Championships record by clearing 13-10. Kalsey became only the second Division III pole vaulter, male or female, to be a four-time All-American.
Under Rhoades’ direction, Westminster pole vaulters swept the top three spots at the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Championships.
Rhoades was the 2016 NCAA Division III Indoor Track & Field Mideast Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year.
Mitch Kendra of Washington set Waynesburg’s school record in the pole vault last month during Ohio Wesleyan’s Great Lakes Final Qualifying Meet.
A Trinity graduate, Kendra cleared 14-6 ¼, breaking his own school record.
Washington & Jefferson junior right-hander Matt Heslin, a McDonald native and Fort Cherry graduate, was the final Presidents’ Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week for the 2017 season for the period May 1-7.
Heslin had a 2-0 week for the Presidents in a pair of appearances, tossing 12 innings and scattering six hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He held opponents to a .146 batting average.
He began the week by helping W&J salvage a doubleheader split against Mount Union, pitching his first career complete-game shutout, a four-hitter with five strikeouts. Heslin also picked up a win in relief at Thiel, throwing five innings and allowing only a pair of hits and no runs as the Presidents rallied to defeat the Tomcats.
Heslin’s most important outing of the season came in Game 1 of the NCAA Division III College World Series championship round when he pitched a nine-inning complete game as the Presidents defeated California Lutheran 12-2. Heslin scattered nine hits and did not issue a walk.
For the season, Heslin had a 5-0 record with one save and 3.29 ERA. He struck out 30 and issued only four walks in 63 innings.
Rochester junior shortstop Tyler Schmidt of Venetia and a Peters Township graduate was named All-Liberty league by a vote of the conference’s coaches.
Schmidt had a strong season at the plate and in the field after missing all of 2016 because of an injury. He batted a team-high .324 with 35 hits, 15 runs and 13 RBI. Schmidt hit an inside-the-park home run against Skidmore. Schmidt also had a .953 fielding percentage as Rochester’s shortstop.
Robert Morris sophomore Abby McCartney was named to the All-Northeast Conference first team. It is the first postseason honor for the sophomore from McDonald and Canon-McMillan graduate.
McCartney earned the first team spot at designated player, where she played the majority of her games this season. She was second on the team and 10th in the NEC and has the best mark among the league’s designated players in batting average at .336 during the regular season. She finished the year with 23 RBI and a .434 slugging percentage. McCartney, who has seen action as an outfielder, was second on the team with six stolen bases.
McCartney had a 10-game hitting streaking, going 13-for-34 (.382) during her team-high streak. Had 11 multi-hit contests, including a 3-for-4 performance with two RBI against Chattanooga in March.
Olivia Lorusso, a junior third baseman for Robert Morris, led the Colonials in several hitting categories, including home runs. An Eighty Four native and the 2014 Observer-Reporter Player of the Year, Lorusso batted .322 and led the Colonials with 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 36 RBI. She also drew a team-high 27 walks and had a .421 on-base percentage, which led the Colonials, who had a 19-33 record including a 9-7 mark in the NEC.
O-R Player of the Year in 2012, had a team-high .295 batting average for the Panthers, who were 24-23 overall and 7-17 in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Zeremenko also led Pitt with 10 doubles, 11 home runs, 35 RBI and 84 total bases.
Teammate O-R Player of the Year in 2015, was second to Zeremenko in batting average, hitting .290. Gray led Pitt with 34 runs, 42 hits and 24 walks and a .405 on-base percentage. She committed only five errors and had a .974 fielding percentage.
Drexel freshman shortstop Linda Rush, a Canon-McMillan graduate, was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie team for her record-setting season.
Rush broke six of Drexel’s single-season records (batting average, doubles, home runs, RBI, total bases and slugging percentage) in a standout first season. She finished her rookie year also leading the Dragons in hits and runs. Her 14 home runs tied for fifth place all-time and she is already halfway to breaking Drexel’s career home run record. Rush also finished the regular season leading the CAA in batting average (.414), home runs, and total bases (113) and was second in both RBI (50) and doubles (16).
California University’s Kirby Manown, a senior from Belle Vernon, received All-PSAC status for a second consecutive year. He was named to the second team after finishing second on the team with a scoring average of 76 strokes while playing all 11 of Cal’s events. Manown had five top-10 finishes and shot a career-best round of 68 at Mercyhurst during the spring.