Friars catcher Lubanski picks Wake Forest

Mike Lubanski, a hard-hitting catcher and third baseman for Malvern Prep, has made an oral commitment to play baseball at Wake Forest. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior plans to sign a national letter of intent with the Demon Deacons in November.

Lubanski, projected to play catcher at the next level, visited Wake Forest in February. "The school offers a great combination of academics and athletics," he said. "Its campus, which is on the smaller side, reminded me a lot of Malvern Prep."

For the Friars, 16-0 and ranked No. 1 in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, Lubanski is batting .379 (11 for 29) with a .600 on-base percentage, 16 walks, 7 runs scored and 5 RBIs. He bats fifth in the lineup.

Lubanski, of Collegeville, is ranked among the top 100 junior-class prospects by Perfect Game scouting service. Last summer, he participated in the AAU Junior Olympic National Championship Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn., and was selected to the all-tournament team.

Mike's brother, Chris, starred for Kennedy-Kenrick and was picked in the first round (No. 5 overall) of the 2003 major-league amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals. A leftfielder, he is now playing for Omaha, the club's triple-A affiliate in the Pacific League.

Duke was the runner-up for Mike Lubanski's services. He also had scholarship offers from East Carolina and North Carolina State.

Joe Lubanski, a freshman at Malvern Prep, is a strong-armed and quick-footed outfielder for the school's junior varsity team.

Back on injured reserve.

Andrew Kirk, a righthanded hurler for Penncrest, is again experiencing arm trouble. After throwing just 10 pitches in Wednesday's 15-5 home loss to Central League rival Marple Newtown, the senior told coach Steve Mescanti his arm was "locking up," and he left the game.

"He couldn't extend his arm all the way," Mescanti said. "I think it's a problem related to pitching so much as a youngster."

Kirk, who doubles as a first baseman and is a cleanup hitter, was sidelined much of last season with the same injury. "It's a shame," Mescanti said. "He worked his butt off to make it back this year."

In Kirk's absence, the Lions will need to get more innings from junior righthander Austin Barrett and sophomore lefthander Pat Smith, primarily a breaking-ball pitcher. Third baseman Andrew Abrams and centerfielder Steve Cosgrove, both righthanders, will also see fill-in duty.

Bounce-back year?

North Penn is trying to rebound from a 2007 campaign in which the squad went 7-12 overall and 6-8 in the Suburban One League National Conference.

Heading that bid for the Knights, who split their first two games, are senior righthander Kevin Christy, a La Salle recruit, and junior catcher Matt Albaugh. In addition to Albaugh, senior centerfielder Chris Edgar and junior shortstop Robbie Zinsmeister are offensive threats.

On a down note, it looks as if Pat Reilly, a hard-throwing lefthander with potential, will not play his senior season because of an arm injury.

Moon shot.

In North Penn's 14-13 win over Central Bucks East last week, Patriots junior Joe Hoy belted a grand slam over the left-field fence and onto the tennis courts. The blast was measured at 420 feet.

Quotable.

In the second inning of Tuesday's 16-1 win over Northeast, Frankford's Esteban "Shortie" Meletiche retired the first two batters on called third strikes.

After the third hitter, Hayden Underland, fanned on strike No. 2, Northeast skipper and third-base coach Sam Feldman said, "Thank you. At least we swung. That's an improvement."

Extra bases.

For No. 10-ranked Chestnut Hill Academy, Jon McAllister (.512 batting average, 14 runs, 8 stolen bases) and Mike Mattei (.500, 14 runs, 13 RBIs) have paved the way. . . . Five or six major-league scouts come out each game to watch Unionville centerfielder Pete Hissey. Problem is, pitchers aren't giving the Virginia recruit much to hit. He walked five times in the team's first four outings. . . . Andrew Sinon leads Conwell-Egan on the mound (1-0, 10 strikeouts, 3.25 ERA) and at the plate (.636 batting average). . . . For top-ranked Malvern Prep, which will host No. 3 St. Joseph's Prep today at 3:45, Chris Gosik is batting .674 with 24 RBIs and 20 runs. Teammate Chris Cowell is hitting .643 with 16 RBIs and 13 runs.