Jeff Peters
SCHOOL: Carrick.
WHO IS HE? A senior catcher who helped the Raiders win the City League baseball championship for the second year in a row.
THE PAST WEEK: In three playoff games, Peters was 3 for 8 with three RBIs and was intentionally walked twice. In the championship game against Langley Tuesday, he was 1 for 3.
SEASON: Peters (6 feet,185 pounds) bats cleanup for Carrick and has a .446 average (25 for 56). He also has been a standout defensively.
FOURMAN ON THE JOB: Peters is a four-year starter at catcher, winning the position the second game of his freshman year.
"We had a catcher that struggled the first game of that year," said Carrick Coach Dave Aromatorio, who was an assistant in 1998. "We put Jeff in the next game because of his arm and his defense. After his first game, we just couldn't take him out."
Although it is unusual for a freshman to start on the varsity, it is even more unusual for a freshman to start at catcher.
"I've never seen it at catcher," Aromatorio said. "Even a lot of the WPIAL schools we've played have remarked about that."
IT'S HIS CALL: Peters calls all of Carrick's pitches. "When he was a freshman, I called all the pitches," Aromatorio said. "Ever since he's been a sophomore I've let him call the pitches and I've never looked back."
MORE OFFENSE: When Peters was a freshman, Carrick used a designated hitter for him. He has hit the past three seasons.
"His arm has always been there and his defense has always been strong," Aromatorio said. "Although his hitting has always been good, it's gotten even better the past few years."
ICE CREAM KING: Peters had to leave practice early recently. He has a job at a Dairy Queen.
THE FUTURE: Peters has not decided on a college yet, but is considering IUP and California, Pa. He will lead Carrick into the PIAA Class AAA playoffs, which begin Monday.
-- By Mike White
Becky Mezyk
SCHOOL: Baldwin.
WHO IS SHE? A 5-6 junior pitcher for the Highlanders' softball team, which plays Hempfield today in the WPIAL Class AAA championship game.
THE PAST WEEK: Mezyk has thrown a shutout in each of Baldwin's three playoff games. The Highlanders beat Indiana, 7-0, Montour, 1-0, and Connellsville, 2-0. She also has allowed only five hits in the three games.
SEASON: Mezyk is 14-3 with nine shutouts and 139 strikeouts. She has thrown five one-hitters and a no-hitter.
CAREER: Mezyk has started every game of her three-year career. She is 31-19 with 348 strikeouts and has a career batting average of .400.
ONE OF THE BOYS: Mezyk played baseball until seventh grade. A pitcher, she was an all-star in the fifth and sixth grades. But her success wasn't always well received.
"I loved playing baseball and competing against the boys," she said. "It was so cute. If I struck them out they'd cry because they couldn't take losing to a girl. I guess it's one of those guy things I wouldn't understand."
HARD TRANSITION: In seventh grade, Mezyk went from pitching overhand in baseball to pitching underhand in softball. She didn't have immediate success and said it changed the way she throws.
"It is a much more natural motion underhand, but it is harder to get the hang of," she said. "So when I started throwing underhand, it took me a while to have any kind of control. Then, after I'd go back and try to throw overhand, my shoulder would start to hurt because I wasn't throwing it right. That was a tough year, but once I caught on things went smoothly."
FINEST IN FOOTWEAR: Mezyk can often be spotted wearing the latest in athletic shoes. That's because she works as a sales associate at the Finish Line, a shoe store in the South Hills.
COACH'S COMMENT: Baldwin Coach Karl Geisler said: "I knew she'd be a good one when I saw her throwing in eighth grade. She has a good arm, but the thing that amazes me is that she is one of the most tremendous competitors I have ever been around. She just doesn't ever want to lose and will battle tooth and nail with every batter."
-- By Paul Zeise
Jeff Peters, Carrick / Becky Mezyk, Baldwin 
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