The last six months for Aiden Dunlap have been exciting to say the least.

First, it was being a part of the first ever WPIAL championship appearance in Hempfield Area baseball history back in June. Then, last week, Dunlap punched his commitment to Youngstown State to continue his baseball career. Dunlap felt being a Penguin would be a great fit for him for numerous reasons including being a relatively short distance from Greensburg.

“It’s definitely relieved some stress, I don’t have to worry about the process anymore,” Dunlap said. “I plan on majoring in computer science, and what helped me make my decision was that they (Youngstown State) have a big enough program that if I want to switch majors I have the flexibility to do that. I like the size of the school and the distance from home, and not to mention the facilities were amazing.”

Not only has he excelled on the baseball diamond, but Dunlap has also been a standout hockey player for the Spartans. There are many skills in hockey that he’s been able to translate over to baseball like his hand-eye coordination and lateral speed. Despite being a standout in both sports, Dunlap found that juggling his time between hockey and baseball proved to be too much, which ultimately led to his decision to continue baseball in college.

“It’s definitely helped me work better with a team, I’ve been around a team environment pretty much my whole life,” said Dunlap. “Hockey has also helped with natural athleticism, hand-eye coordination, stuff that helps me be agile and quick on my feet.”

Last season wasn’t the smoothest for him, as he broke his hand last winter prior to the start of baseball season. He had to fight his way back onto the field, but after many hours of physical therapy he was eventually back in the lineup, and just in time for Hempfield’s historic playoff run.

“In the middle of January I broke my hand and everyone thought it was from hockey but it was training for baseball in the off-season,” he said “It kept getting worse and worse and I went to the doctors and they said I broke my hand. I missed well over half the season in baseball, but once we made it to the playoffs I was able to get back to playing. It felt amazing to be back, but it was definitely a tough season for me.”

His injury forced him to sit out for much of the regular season, which made it challenging for college coaches to scout him. It was a stressful time for him, as he was anxiously awaiting to get back on the field his teammates began to commit to schools. After his high school season was completed, he began to compete on the travel circuit for baseball, and quickly noticed schools coming to watch him play, one of them being Youngstown State.

“It (travel baseball) was very important, especially with the Covid year a lot of athletes had an extra year in college so it was really tough finding which colleges had room and which had scholarships for me. " “Summer baseball was very beneficial because a lot of college coaches were seeing me and it helped me a lot in the end.”

His Spartans team saw heights that they have never reached before as they finished with a 17-9 overall record and made their first ever appearance in the WPIAL championship, losing to North Allegheny 4-0. The 17 wins were the most since 2016.

“It was fun being around all of the boys and everyone being successful," Dunlap said about last spring. "It was great to be back with the varsity guys and people were congratulating us saying ‘wow you guys are doing really well.'" “It was really nice getting that attention which I think boosted our confidence.”

Hempfield saw the graduation of many key players from last year’s historic team, but Dunlap feels that the team they have this year can have similar success. They are aware of the pressure that will come with trying to return to the title game this season and upholding the new standard. Although they have added many new pieces to the program, Dunlap feels that if they keep things simple and have a strong defensive and pitching team, the Spartans can make their way back to a WPIAL 6A final and capture that elusive title.

“There’s definitely some pressure with the amount of returning guys and the people with more varsity experience. There are some new guys, we have some new pitchers, some guys in the outfield and the infield. We need to be good pitching wise and have depth in the infield with a good defense. If we can pound the strike zone and stay solid defensively I think that’s going to ride us a long way.”

Westmoreland Recruiting News

• One of the top sophomore football recruits in the state, Quinton Martin of Belle Vernon, picked up another Division I offer last week from Wisconsin. Martin now has offers from Pitt, Penn State, Maryland, West Virginia, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia Tech and West Virginia.

• Mount Pleasant swimmer Ashlyn Hornick signed with California University of PA.