A foot. That's about all that separated Peters Township baseball player Jordan Jankowski and a spot in the national high school record book.

Jankowski, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior, had one of the most impressive hitting performances in WPIAL history Monday when he belted four home runs in a 15-8 victory against Mt. Lebanon.

According to the national high school record book, only six players in the country have hit five home runs in a game.

"He almost hit a fifth one," Peters Township coach Joe Maize said. "He hit another one that went over the fence but was about a foot foul down the right-field line. Then he singled."

The WPIAL does not keep records, but judging from the national record book, Jankowski's performance would at least tie a WPIAL record. No WPIAL player is among the six who hit five homers in a game.

But one Eastern Pennsylvania player is among the six. Minersville's Keith Witkowski hit five in 1998.

"I've been coaching 21 years and the only time I can remember a performance as special as this one was when Brian Simmons played for me," Maize said. "Brian had two home runs in one inning, and he did it switch-hitting."

Simmons went on to play at the University of Michigan and made it to the major leagues.

Jankowski's home run onslaught is another indication of why he is considered one of the WPIAL's best players, regardless of class. A pitcher/catcher, Jankowski is doing an Alex Rodriguez imitation this April. In 12 games, Jankowski has 18 hits in 34 at-bats (.529 average), and 10 of the hits have been home runs. Jankowski also has 32 RBIs and his slugging percentage is 1.412.

"But we've been trying to emphasize to him that the RBI singles are just as important as the home run ball," Maize said. "We're afraid that he might keep thinking 'home run, home run.' "

Jankowski batted better than .500 as a sophomore. He also is a talented pitcher, going 6-1 as a sophomore. He is 2-2 this season.

"Of all the kids I've had, and I've had some pretty good ones, I have never had to fill out a questionnaire for every SEC and every ACC college like I have for him," Maize said. "A lot of people are interested in him.

Record talk

Just in case you wanted to know, Jankowski has a long way to go to reach the national record for most home runs in a season. That was set in 2000 when Wade Miller, of Skipperville, Ala., hit 30. Jankowski would have to hit 23 home runs this season to get into the top 10.

The record for most home runs in a career is 75, by Jeff Clement, of Marshalltown, Iowa, from 1999-2002. Second is Drew Henson, of Brighton, Mich., who hit 70 in 1995-98. Yes, it's the same Drew Henson who played quarterback at the University of Michigan and the Dallas Cowboys.

It's a Challenge

The Central Catholic and Gateway football teams will play in the third annual Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge Sept. 1 at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, Ohio, site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Matchups for the event were announced this week.

Gateway will play Youngstown Cardinal Mooney and Central Catholic will play Grove City (Ohio).

The 10-game event matches top teams in Ohio against top teams around the country. Other participating schools are from states including California, Oklahoma and Alabama. Four games will be played at Fawcett while six games will be played at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium (four Sept. 1 and two Sept. 2).

Worth mentioning

This column is usually reserved for notes about high school athletes, teams and coaches. But a recent performance by a junior varsity baseball player is definitely worth mentioning.

Tyler Schrader, a sophomore at Trinity, pitched a no-hitter against Steel Valley. But that's not the impressive part. All 21 outs were by strikeout. He walked two.

Man for two seasons

Bryan Cornell has been successful as West Allegheny's football team's defensive coordinator the past few seasons. Now he's enjoying success as the school's baseball coach.

Under Cornell, West Allegheny is 11-0 and took over the No. 1 spot this week in the Post-Gazette WPIAL Class AAA rankings.

To the track

The annual Baldwin Invitational track and field meet is Friday at Baldwin High School. It is one of the largest invitationals in the eastern part of the country.

The meet begins at 12:30 p.m. and the running finals usually begin between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m.

Check this out

After 75 seasons of coaching boys' and girls' high school tennis, Frank Rohm will retire after the boys' season.

Rohm has been Fort Cherry's boys coach since 1967 and the Rangers' girls coach since the early 1970s. On top of that, he has been Fort Cherry's athletic director since the late 1980s. He also will retire as AD.

Schenley basketball player D.J. Kennedy made an official visit to St. John's last week. He has been to Xavier and Georgia, and is looking at Wisconsin.

The Western Pennsylvania Basketball Coaches Association symposium titled "The Nature of Basketball" is Thursday at Duquesne University's Palumbo Center. An incorrect date was given in this column last week.

Jim Haney, executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, will be the main speaker. But there also will be an open forum for the public and coaches 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.