Westmoreland County high school notebook: Franklin Regional baseball standout Luke Williams reopens recruitment

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, June 7, 2025 | 8:06 PM

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Luke Williams is hitting reset on his college baseball recruiting.

The rising senior shortstop at Franklin Regional committed to Virginia when he was a freshman and has remained loyal to the Cavaliers. But a coaching change has disrupted his plans.

Williams opened his recruitment and is looking for a new Division I opportunity.

Longtime coach Brian O’Connor, who guided Virginia for 22 seasons, left to become the head coach at Mississippi State.

“It was a bummer to hear about the coaches leaving,” Williams said. “But I’m happy for them. I’m considering all my options right now.”

Williams recently had surgery on his ankle and will be sidelined for a few months. He injured the ankle in Franklin Regional’s WPIAL 5A first-round loss to Bethel Park.

“The surgery went great, and I’m trying to be back by the beginning of August,” he said.

The combination of his decommitment and the surgery has given him a different outlook on his future.

“I see it as a setback, possibly for the draft in 2026, but I see it as new motivation for sure,” he said. “I get a new opportunity with different schools, and the injury only motivates me to get healthy and work harder.”

Williams wants to commit to another program before the start of his senior year.

“I’m going to go on visits and really try to find the program that’s best for me,” he said.

Williams hit .345 with a 1.106 OPS, .506 on-base percentage, two home runs, 27 runs and 19 RBIs this season for the Panthers.

His brother, Jake, just completed his college baseball career at Yale.

Jake Williams had a career season, batting .321 with 53 hits, 11 doubles, three homers, 38 RBIs and 35 runs in 43 games for the Bulldogs.

He was a second-team All-Ivy League selection.

New venue

The annual Westmoreland County Coaches Association 7-on-7 Football Passing Championship will have a new home this summer.

The event, traditionally held at Latrobe’s Rossi and Graham-Sobota fields, will be July 17 at Hempfield.

The reason for the change is that Latrobe is getting new turf at its campus fields.

Hempfield will have four fields going for the event, two on the turf at Spartan Stadium and two on the outfield of the junior varsity baseball field, which has natural grass.

Each team will have games on both fields. The semifinals and championship will be at the stadium.

Offer for DeStefano

Rising senior Torrie DeStefano of Penn-Trafford has her first college scholarship offer.

The talented combo guard received an offer from Wheeling, an NCAA D-II program that competes in the Mountain East Conference.

DeStefano averaged 11.0 points, 4.0 assists, and 3.5 steals last season for the Warriors, who went 22-0 during the regular season and reached the WPIAL 5A quarterfinals and PIAA first round.

Braxton to Lackawanna

Southmoreland football player Jarrell Braxton will continue his playing career at Lackawanna, a junior college in Scranton.

A senior who played center, nose tackle and defensive tackle, Braxton attended Geibel but played for the Scotties as part of a co-operative.

Last season, he had 63 tackles, 10 for loss, and two fumbles.

Alesi transfers

Franklin Regional’s Anthony Alesi is transferring to play college baseball at Point Park.

Alesi spent the last two seasons at Patrick & Henry Community College, where he hit .330 with five home runs, 18 runs and 23 RBIs in 39 games.

Point Park is now an NCAA Division II program.

Sidun No. 1

Norwin’s Landon Sidun is now the No. 1-ranked 120-pound wrestler in the nation according to Mat Scouts. The rising junior did not get to defend his PIAA title last season due to an injury. Sidun was 30-0 and had won titles at the Beast of the East, Powerade and Doc Buchanan Invitational in Clovis, Calif., when he broke his right wrist in a WPIAL team consolation match.

Sidun is 72-2 heading into his junior season.

Recruiting

Norwin football player Josh Lenart picked up a D-II offer from Clarion. Lenart (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) is a rising senior linebacker for the Knights. It is his first offer.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland