The Pittston Area baseball team has built a tradition of success at shortstop and catcher, with all-star players and college recruits strengthening the team up the middle defensively and boosting the offense.
Beau Widdick and Jacoby Harnen continued that tradition this season.
Widdick became the second straight Patriots shortstop selected as a first-team Class 5A choice when the Pennsylvania State Baseball Coaches Association All-State team was announced Friday. Harnen made the Class 5A second team.
Their efforts helped Pittston Area repeat as Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and District 2 Class 5A champions, along with reaching the quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament.
Widdick’s selection follows current Lehigh University middle infielder Silvio Giardina.
“Beau was second-team, all-state last season,” Patriots coach Paul Zaffuto said. “We always knew that he could play shortstop. The plays he made at second base last season were one of the reasons why he was an all-state candidate last year and again this year.
“The best shortstop in the state that I’ve seen in a long time. We were blessed to have two in a row. The last two shortstops we’ve had were both first-team, all-state.”
Widdick, who is committed to play National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I baseball at the University of Maine, led the Patriots in batting average (.459), runs (27), hits (34), doubles (seven), triples (five), and stolen bases (15).
Harnen batted .431 while leading the team with three home runs and 25 stolen bases.
“We actually had five kids that could have started on anybody’s team at catcher,” Zaffuto said. “Zach Budzak is a tremendous catcher. Kellen Kroski, same thing.
“They were neck and neck, and when we needed that right-handed stick, Jacoby came through, and then he proved to be one of the top catchers around. I had seventh in the lineup. I was going to do part-time between him and Kellen, but toward the end of the year, he just won the job outright and became one of the better players in the league.”
Holy Redeemer sophomore Dominic Marranca, who came up through the Township Little League program, was a second-team choice in Class 2A as an infielder.
