Diamond Stars: Kula, Tarpley, Shields, Lawson head up H-S All-Area Baseball Team
Submitted photo
Laurel Highlands’ Frank Kula is an NCAA Division-I baseball recruit and Brownsville’s Derrick Tarpley was recently drafted by the Oakland Athletics, and both showed why during the 2023 high school season with stellar campaigns. Tarpley is the Herald-Standard All-Area Baseball Team Class 3A Player of the Year and Kula is the Class 4A/5A Player of the Year.
Rob Burchianti | Herald-Standard
California’s Ricky Lawson (20) greets Aidan Lowden at home plate after the two scored what proved to be the winning runs in the Trojans’ 9-6 upset of top-seeded Union in the WPIAL Class 1A semifinals at Ross Memorial Park this past season. Lawson is the Herald-Standard All-Area Baseball Team Class 1A Player of the Year and joined Lowden on the Top 15 team.
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Charleroi’s Ben Shields pitches in an American Legion Baseball Region 6 game against Belle Vernon at Hutchinson Field. Shields delivered the winning walk-off hit in the championship game to give Charleroi the region title, and also starred for Charleroi’s high school team. He is the Herald-Standard All-Area Baseball Team Class 2A Player of the Year.
Laurel Highlands’ Frank Kula is an NCAA Division-I baseball recruit and Brownsville’s Derrick Tarpley was recently drafted by the Oakland Athletics. Both showed why during the 2023 high school season.
Kula, a slick-fielding second baseman who is headed to Rhode Island, batted .407, including .526 in section games, with a 1.221 OPS and had seven doubles, two triples, two home runs, 21 RBIs and 15 runs in helping lead the Mustangs to the WPIAL playoffs. Even after the high school season was over Kula kept it up while playing on the west coast in California, hitting .429 for Cathedral City in the Palm Springs Collegiate League.
Tarpley, a speedster centerfielder with a rifle arm who was drafted in the 18th round of the MLB Draft by the A’s, batted .440 with six doubles, five triples, three home runs, 20 runs and 12 stolen bases. He was the one of the lone bright spots on a Falcon team that struggled to a 4-13 record.
Those two head up the 2023 Herald-Standard All-Area Baseball team. Kula is the Class 4A/5A Player of the Year while Tarpley earns the Class 3A honor.
Joining them are Class 2A Player of the Year Ben Shields, a senior catcher/pitcher for Charleroi who hit .511 while going 5-1 on the mound with 45 strikeouts, and Class 1A Player of the Year Ricky Lawson, a sophomore outfielder for California who batted .468 with 32 RBIs and 26 runs.
Coach of the Year honors go to Dan Palm of Yough and Taylor Andrisko of California. Palm guided the Cougars to a 16-6 overall record and an 11-1 mark in winning Section 4-AAA. It’s the first time Yough has finished in first place in back-to-back seasons. Andrisko got the Trojans turned around after a rocky start in his first season at the helm as they went on to finish 14-9 overall and 10-2 in Section 1-A to take first place. California upset top-seeded Union in the WPIAL playoffs before falling in the final to Rochester.
Joining Tarpley, Kula, Shields and Lawson in the Top 15 are Tyler Sankovich and CJ Gesk of Laurel Highlands, Jack Sampson and James Shoman of Yough, Lincoln Pack of Waynesburg Central, Adam LaCarte of Belle Vernon, Tate Musko and Wyatt Nehls of Uniontown, Jacob Fordyce and Patrick Holaren of Carmichaels and Aidan Lowden of California.
The complete Herald-Standard All-Area Baseball Team follows:
Players of the Year
Class 4a/5A: Frank Kula, Sr., Laurel Highlands
Class 3A: Derrick Tarpley, Sr., Brownsville
Class 2A: Ben Shields, Sr., Charleroi
Class 1A: Ricky Lawson, So., California
Top 15
Frank Kula, Laurel Highlands
Derrick Tarpley, Brownsville
Ben Shields, Charleroi
Ricky Lawson, California
Tyler Sankovich, Laurel Highlands
CJ Gesk, Laurel Highlands
Jack Sampson, Yough
James Showman, Yough
Aidan Lowden, California
Jacob Fordyce, Carmichaels
Patrick Holaren, Carmichaels
Adam LaCarte, Belle Vernon
Lincoln Pack, Waynesburg Central
Tate Musko, Uniontown
Wyatt Nehls, Uniontown
Second Team
Addison Panepinto, Caden Powell, Caden Monticelli, California; R.J. DiEugenio, Monessen; Jake Lee, Beau Bigam, Connellsville; Braeden O’Brien, Caleb Yanosky, Laurel Highlands; Bryce Barton, Albert Gallatin; Christian Thomas, Austin Grego, Uniontown; Alex VanSickle, Waynesburg Central; A.J. Vanata, Mapletown; John Woodward, Brody Ross, Jefferson-Morgan; Dominic Colarusso, Tyler Richmond, Carmichaels; Lorenzo Gardner, Hunter Mamie, Gianni Cantini, Ringgold; Nate Bell, Zander Aird, Gavin Roebuck, Yough; Jake Gedekoh, Jake Wessel, Belle Vernon; Lane Golkosky, Mount Pleasant; Ty Keffer, Southmoreland; Landon Urcho, Bentworth; Ethan Varesko, Beth-Center; Charlie Nigut, Elizabeth Forward.
Honorable Mention
Clay Dean, Mason Kuhn, Uniontown; Devan Krviosky, Noah Lion, Paxton Patronas, Laurel Highlands; Matt Firestone, Kace Shearer, Connellsville; Matt Malinsky, Geno Valenti, Evan Magee, Gavin Smith, Albert Gallatin; Tyler Morrison, Brock Alekson, Dailan McManus, Tyler Monack, Aidan Hardy, Frazier; Mason Switalski, Waynesburg Central; Austin Hoffman, Alex Nash, Colton Lee, Belle Vernon; Blake Ulander, Carson Pasinski, Bobby Etze, Matt Sanner, Yough; Brock Bayles, Drew Adams, Dayten Marion, Jefferson-Morgan; Daren Knight, West Greene; Davey Timko, Hunter Pelehac, Rylan Johnson, Trenton Wible, Brownsville.