Penn-Trafford's Jakob Haynes was forced to miss his entire junior season of high school baseball this season. Haynes, a starter on the P-T football team, broke his foot attempting to make a catch in the Warriors PIAA championship game in Hershey.

Despite only taking a couple of at-bat's last spring, Seton Hill University saw enough from Haynes in showcases and AAU baseball to make him an offer which he accepted last week when he verbally committed to the Griffins.

"When I visited there it felt like a good fit for me. The academics are really good and their exercise science program is one of the top in the state," Haynes said. "The culture that Coach Maz (Marc Marizzaldi) created, the winning culture... I wanted to be a part of it."

Haynes, a catcher, is close to 100 percent healthy now as he's currently playing his regular summer baseball circuit for the Pittsburgh Spikes.

The rehab process was long for Haynes who was in a cast for about three months following the injury and couldn't walk on his foot until late March. Because of this, he decided to forego football this fall.

"It was such a tough decision but I decided to just play baseball this year," Haynes lamented. "I thought about it for a long time, just all the different possibilities that could happen, but I decided the best choice was to just stick with baseball."

To watch the entire Recruiting Thursday sit-down interview with Jakob, please click on the video.

WESTMORELAND RECRUITING NEWS

• Jakob Haynes isn't the only Westmoreland County baseball player to commit to Seton Hill. Norwin senior Chris Slatt will also be a Griffin after committing to SHU recently. Slatt is a first baseman for the Knights.

• Norwin basketball standout Adam Bilinsky was offered scholarships recently by Mercyhurst and D'Youville. Bilinsky, a guard, averaged 17.5 points per game and 10.6 rebounds per game for the Knights last season.

• Norwin kicker Joey Castle and long snapper Xander Smith received invites to play at Akron, with a chance to earn a scholarship.