Kevin Welsh

Hopewell

The past week: In three Hopewell victories, Welsh went 4 for 10 to keep his average above .400.

Check this out: Welsh, a 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior first baseman, is one of the best all-around hitters in the WPIAL. He is batting .429 (21 of 49), with 6 home runs, 4 doubles, 26 RBIs and 22 runs scored. He is one of the primary reasons Hopewell is 15-1 and the Post-Gazette's No. 1-ranked WPIAL Class AAA team.

• Have you always been a power hitter? Yeah, but usually I try hitting for contact more. If the home runs come, they come.

• Can good pitching stop good hitting, or will good hitting beat good pitching? I think it can go either way.

• Is this team's success this season surprising at all? I don't think so. We struggled a little last year with leadership. This year, we've been a lot stronger and we really want it a lot more this year.

• Your coach, Joe Colella, has been around a long time. Tell me something he does that makes you laugh. He always calls us together in practice and tells us stories from 'back in the day.' That makes us laugh.

• Tell me something he does that bothers you. Maybe his practices, just because sometimes they're a little long.

• Who should buy the tickets to the prom, the boy, the girl or should they split it? I'm buying them this year, but really the boy should always buy both.

• Twitter is ...? Ahhh, it's ... well ...

• You don't know what it is, do you? No, I don't.

• People might be surprised to know that ... I used to be a black belt in karate. I quit around age 12.

-- By Mike White

Cameron Lewis

Union

The past week: At the MAC championships last Wednesday, Lewis long jumped 18 feet 61/2 inches, which is tied for the seventh-best long jump in WPIAL history. At the Tri-County championships Saturday, Lewis triple jumped 38-8, the sixth best in WPIAL history.

Check this out: Lewis, a senior, never competed in the triple jump until early April. She is a sprinter, too, and has the second-best 100 time in Class AA (12.4 seconds) and the second-best 200 time (26.2). Lewis also is a talented volleyball player and has a volleyball scholarship to West Virginia State.

• What made you try the triple jump? My coaches suggested I should do it. When I first did it, I looked stupid. Everyone on the team was laughing at me. I said, 'If you laugh at me one more time, I'm not doing this any more.' Then I got it.

• Did you know you had the sixth-best triple jump in WPIAL history? I did not. That means a lot. I kind of wish I could've been doing this last year because maybe I would've gotten recruited differently.

• How hard is it to learn the steps for the triple jump? I told you, the first time it wasn't very pretty with me. Now that I have it down, it's kind of like riding your bike. It's something you won't forget.

• How far can you go in the triple jump? I never thought I'd reach 38 feet. So maybe I can get to 39. That would be pretty good.

• What is something you'd change about the prom? I wish I could decorate again. It's up to the 11th-graders to decorate and I'm a senior.

• On beautiful spring days, you like to ... Go outside and lay out.

• People might be surprised to know that ... I eat a lot.

-- By Mike White