TY MARBURGER

SCHOOL: Blackhawk

WHO IS HE? A 6-foot, 185-pound senior standout outfielder-pitcher on the Blackhawk baseball team.

LAST WEEK: Marburger hit a record-breaking home run against Beaver and also was the winning pitcher.

ABOUT THE RECORD: The home run gave Marburger a school-record 12 for his career. He broke the mark set by 1988 graduate Tom Dickinson, who played at Pitt.

FAST START: Blackhawk has a 3-1 record this season and Marburger has been an offensive catalyst. He is batting .500 (6 for 12), with 3 home runs, 6 runs scored and 8 RBIs. A year ago, he batted .455 with nine home runs and 33 RBIs.

POWER PLAY: Marburger is a power hitter but also a good contact hitter.

"He's one of the top two power hitters we've ever had here," said Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia. "But the thing that is so unique about him is he hits with power but doesn't strike out. He probably had about 70 at-bats last year and struck out 10 times. He has 15 plate appearances this season and hasn't struck out yet."

Besides hitting and playing solid defense, Marburger has added pitching to his repertoire this season. He didn't pitch at all last year.

"I really enjoyed pitching when I was younger," he said. "It used to be my favorite thing to do. Now I love hitting. But this is probably my last season I'll ever get to pitch. If that's what my team needs me to do, I'll do it."

COLLEGE CORN-ER: Marburger signed last November with Northern Iowa, an NCAA Division I school in the Missouri Valley Conference. How does a kid from Blackhawk (in Beaver County) get hooked up with Northern Iowa?

"They got my name off a recruiting list and started showing interest," Marburger said. "I just decided to check it out and visit there."

It was an eye-opening visit. Marburger knew Iowa was known for corn fields and he got a wrong first impression.

"When we landed at the airport, it was kind of in the middle of a corn field," he said. "I just said, 'Oh, my gosh.' But the schools is not in corn fields or on farms. The school kind of reminded me of suburban life back home."

NAME ASSOCIATION: Marburger Dairy Farm is in Evans City. When asked if his family was part of the dairy, Ty Marburger laughed and said, "We have Marburger milk and iced tea in our cafeteria at school, so you're not the first person to ask that. From what I understand, we're real distant cousins."

WHAT'S IN A NAME: When asked if he prefers to be called Tyler or Ty, Marburger said, "It doesn't matter. Why don't you just use Ty. That would use less ink."

Marburger's father, Robert, named his son "because one of his favorite players was Ty Cobb."

-- By Mike White

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CHRIS SCHROEDER

SCHOOL: Baldwin.

WHO IS SHE? One of the top softball catchers in the WPIAL. She has helped the Highlanders (6-0, 1-0 Section 4-AAAA) outscore the opposition, 61-1.

Baldwin has section games against Peters Township today and at Upper St. Clair tomorrow.

THE PAST WEEK: Known as "The Shredder," Schroeder helped the Highlanders dissect Mt. Lebanon, 12-0, in a section opener Tuesday. She doubled, was hit by a pitch, scored two runs and drove in two in a game halted after five innings because of the 10-run rule.

SEASON: A left-handed batter, Schroeder is hitting .650 (13 for 20) with 4 triples, 3 doubles, 12 RBIs and 8 runs.

"She is a very tough out," said Baldwin coach Vince Sortino.

Schroeder cannot explain the extra-base pop she has displayed this season, other than she has a new, higher-quality bat, a Rocket-Tech model. "I'm used to being a singles hitter," she said.

CAREER: A senior, Schroeder has started at catcher since the opening game of her freshman season. She made first-team all-section the past two seasons.

A GLOVE STORY: Sortino said Schroeder "has great defensive skills. People won't steal on her." Two have tried this season; both have failed.

She also is an ideal complement to the Highlanders' high-profile pitcher, junior Beth Doring.

"You can have best pitcher going, but if you don't have a catcher who can work with her, the pitcher can't be as good as she can be," Sortino said.

"[The coaches] call all the pitches, which means the catcher has to have good communication with the pitcher. Those two do."

TRUE HEADLINE-MAKER: The diamond isn't the only place where Schroeder is in the middle of things. She is the editor of her school's newspaper, "The Purbalite."

"I'd definitely like to get into journalism in some way," said Schroeder, who is considering electronic as well as print media for a career. "I want to explore everything."

FUTURE: Schroeder, a North Baldwin resident, is an honor student. She will attend Point Park University on a Presidential Scholarship, and plans to major in communications and play for the Pioneers, an NAIA program.

-- By Rick Shrum

As selected by the Post-Gazette scholastic sports staff