Locals power Westmoreland East to 32-2 record, JCBL baseball titles

Westmoreland East pulled off a championship sweep in Johnstown — in dominating fashion.

Paul Carpenter Capital Advisors has a roster loaded with county players, and many of them played key roles in a tremendous summer season in the Johnstown Collegiate Baseball League.

Paul Carpenter won its first league playoff title Friday with a 5-1 victory over Laurel Auto Group at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.

Penn-Trafford alum Josh Spiegel went 4 for 4 and homered twice with three RBIs and two runs to power his team to a sweep in the best-of-five series.

Spiegel was the co-winner of the league’s Ken Horoho Award for the top rookie position player.

Also the regular season champion, Paul Carpenter did not lose in six playoff games and finished 32-2.

“It’s the first championship for this organization and I’m glad I was able to be a part of this, Spiegel told the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. “I made a little adjustment going into this game from the past two. It felt good and I just let it go.”

A former Oklahoma State catcher who is planning to transfer to a program closer to home, Spiegel hit .395 with six home runs, 23 RBIs and 36 runs during the regular season.

Two other Penn-Trafford grads pitched in relief in the win: Christian Pfrogner, who played at Pitt-Johnstown, and Clarion’s Ben Mongelluzzo.

“It was exciting all the time because our lineup is dangerous. One through nine, we didn’t have a weak spot,” Mongelluzzo said. “A lot of us went to the same high school or schools around each other. After the first game, we just played extremely well together and just kept going from there.”

Yet another former Warrior, Mario Disso, doubled and scored, and delivered a two-run single. Disso plays at Pitt-Johnstown.

Paul Carpenter, which scored 27 runs in the finals, had lost four straight finals series dating to 2016. The team will not get the chance to play in the 76th AAABA Tournament because it was postponed due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Other top hitters for Paul Carpenter include Justin Wright, a Hempfield grad who plays at St. John’s, Greensburg Salem grad Matt Wicker (WCCC), and Jordan Sabol (Penn-Trafford) and pitchers Hayden Ford (Frostburg), Tyler Horvat and Bobby Kusinski, both also out of Penn-Trafford.

Ford, a talented left-hander, picked up the JCBL’s Bill Jenkins Award as the top first-year pitcher. He took a 5-1 record and a 0.76 ERA into the playoffs.

Other locals on the team include Connor Banias (Penn-Trafford), Shane Stuchell (Hempfield), Zach Seaman (Franklin Regional) and Tyler Dancu (Hempfield).