Apr 15, 2019 4 min read

It doesn’t matter how many years Joe Maize has coached or how many wins he has accumulated, the longtime Peters Township high school baseball coach is always in search of improvement.

When Maize borrowed a list of 30 ways of being a top program from Washington & Jefferson College baseball coach Jeff Mountain and saw the Indians have been doing 90% of what was on it in recent years, he was pretty pleased.

But the one thing Maize admits has hindered and undermined the usually successful program at Peters Township, especially recently, is a me-first attitude.

“We can’t have any of that creep in,” Maize said. “We’ve talked about that as a team. It’s about continuing to accept roles and only being concerned about the team and winning.”

At this point, that seems to be the only thing that could slow red-hot Peters Township.

The Indians, who have a pair of important Class 6A Section 3 games against Mt. Lebanon tonight and Canon-McMillan Thursday, are sitting atop the standings with a 4-0 section record. They are 7-3 overall.

Last week, Peters Township took control of the early section standings with a 2-1 win in 13 innings over Bethel Park. It then combined to score 40 runs in routs over Brashear and Upper St. Clair.

The early success has been triggered by resounding answers to the Indians’ biggest question marks entering the season: pitching and team offense.

The Indians’ team ERA is a minuscule 2.13 and they are batting .357 with an on-base percentage of .460.

“Pitching is a concern every year,” Maize said. “I would say nearly every high school coach in our area is concerned with that. A lot of programs, especially in our section, you have to be able to have more than an ace.”

But when the ace has been as good as senior Tom Colcombe, a Pitt recruit, it takes a lot of pressure off the rest of the staff. Colcombe is 5-1 with a 1.17 ERA, allowing only four earned runs with 38 strikeouts through 24 innings this season.

The success has transitioned to the plate for Colcombe, who is leading regular for the Indians with a .571 batting average with seven RBI. Twelve different players have an hitting at least .350. Dom Campagna is batting .531 with a team-high 17 hits and seven doubles. Mark Lehman has four doubles, two triples and a home run leading to his .393 average.

Eleven players for the Indians have at driven in at least five runs.

“Offensively, some of these kids nowadays are getting hitting coaches that are teaching them this approach of launching and lifting the ball. You have to hit the ball where it is pitched. Most of them are starting to buy into that.”

Maybe the most impressive part of it all, and why Maize had those preseason questions, is that Peters Township replaced its entire infield other than senior shortstop Dax Ploskina. The four new starters – first baseman Sam Quinn, second baseman Mathew Levy, third baseman Joe Pisarcik and Campagna behind the plate – have combined to commit only four errors and each has a double-digit hit total through 10 games.

Maize is cognizant that 4-0 could just as easily be 0-4, knowing the second half of the section will only be more difficult.

“We went into the section stressing how difficult it is,” Maize said. “It’s by far the best in the Washington, Greene and Fayette area. The fact that we’ve gotten off to a good start is a plus, but the second time through is going to be tough. Every team in the past seems to throw their ace against us. I can’t tell you how many times we saw Zach Rohaley when he was at Canon-Mac or Austin Kitchen when he was at Mt. Lebanon. I don’t know if it’s out of respect or if they just dislike me.”