Two years ago as a freshman, Seneca Valley's Cory Mazzoni shut out North Allegheny in the first game he pitched. It was an early sign of things to come.

Mazzoni is a junior at Seneca Valley and has become one of the hottest prospects in WPIAL baseball. He is only 6 feet, 160 pounds, and has plenty of room for more weight and muscle. But he has strong-armed the competition this season.

Mazzoni has a 4-0 record and has allowed only two runs -- one earned -- in 26 innings. He also has 40 strikeouts.

"He's starting to be looked at by colleges and I'm sure he will continue to be looked at," Seneca Valley coach Eric Semega said. "He's created some opportunities for himself with his performance."

Semega believes Mazzoni definitely has a Division I college future, but major-league scouts will probably start showing up at Seneca Valley games in the future.

"Last summer, he was throwing consistently over 90 [miles per hour]," Semega said. "What he needs to do between now and until he graduates is put on some good weight and muscle. He's not a very big kid, but he has so much whip and torque in his arm, and he's mechanically sound."

Mazzoni was an all-section pitcher as a sophomore, but he shows talent in more places than the mound. He had four home runs in Seneca Valley's first eight games. He's one of the reasons the Raiders are the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked Class AAAA team.

Scholarship winners

The WPIAL has selected its scholar-athlete award winners for the 2006-07 school year. The girls' winners are Kara Hochevar of Ambridge and Megan O'Keefe of Seton-LaSalle. The boys' winners are Paul Fleiner of Montour and Lucas Zarzeczny of Avonworth.

Each winner will receive a $5,000 stipend for college. The WPIAL selects the four winners based on athletics, academic achievement and community involvement. The four winners will be honored at a luncheon May 21.

Eight other girls and eight other boys received $500 scholarships.

Little League comes first

Little League baseball won out over a recent high school softball game.

The Mars-Indiana softball game was scoreless after eight innings Wednesday when the game was stopped. The reason for the stoppage wasn't weather or darkness (it was only 6 p.m.). The reason was Little League baseball.

Indiana plays its softball games on a Little League field and a team was scheduled to have practice there. The softball game will be resumed Thursday.

Blair makes impact

Schenley basketball player DeJuan Blair was selected MVP of the Roundball Classic last Saturday night at Geneva College in Beaver Falls. The all-star game featured many of the top players in the WPIAL and City League, and Blair finished with 28 points and eight dunks.

But how he got into the game was a story in itself. In an interview with the Post-Gazette two days before the game, Blair asked a reporter if there were any all-star games in the area. When told of the Roundball Classic, he became interested and got a phone number for game director Allen Deep. Blair, a Pitt recruit, called Deep to ask if he could play and Deep was more than happy to oblige.

"As good as the players were in that game, he was just on a completely different level," said Bethel Park coach Mike Mastroianni, who also was Blair's coach in the Roundball. "I think he could have a very successful career at Pitt. The thing about him is he just seems to enjoy playing so much and he just seemed like a great kid. He doesn't big-time anyone. He was signing autographs and shaking everyone's hand and doing like it wasn't a burden."

Youth movement

Amy Aloi graduated from Riverside High School in 2002 as the WPIAL record holder in career strikeouts with 1,073. Now, she's busy helping the Moon softball team post an impressive record.

Aloi is in her first season as Moon's coach and she has guided the team to a 7-2 record. Moon didn't win more than nine games in any of the past three seasons.

Only two years ago, Lloyd Price was playing college football at California (Pa.) University. Now he's in charge of running the athletic department at a fairly large school.

Price, 23, has been named Ringgold High School's new athletic director. He is a 2001 Ringgold graduate and played football, basketball and baseball at the school.

Price was an assistant coach at California last season and replaces Steve Campos, who resigned as Ringgold's AD and football coach.

Ringgold hired Jeff Petrucci as its football coach a few months ago.

Honoring Hanley

A dinner to honor retired WPIAL executive director Larry Hanley will be June 3 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Moon Township. The event is open to the public. For tickets, call 724-312-2625.

Basketball summit

The Western Pennsylvania Basketball Coaches Association, in conjunction with Duquesne University and the WPIAL, will hold a symposium titled the "Nature Of Basketball" May 4 at Duquesne's Palumbo Center.

Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, will be the main speaker. But there will also be an open forum to discuss basketball matters with a panel that includes Haney, Duquesne men's coach Ron Everhart, Duquesne women's coach Suzie McConnell-Serio and WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley.

The event, which starts at 6:30 p.m., is free and open to coaches of all age levels and also the public. For information, call 412-237-2528.