GREENSBURG — College has meant a whole new experience for Cory Weibel — in more ways than one.

The Freeport graduate never reached the WPIALbaseball playoffs with the Yellowjackets and never hit above .270 in high school.

Now a junior at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, he hit .333 for the Griffins this spring and will be competing in the NAIAWorld Series this weekend.

"I went to Seton Hill because I liked the idea of starting all over on the ground floor with a new program,"Weibel said. "Things have worked out well for me."

Seton Hill baseball has reached the World Series in only its third year of existence.

Weibel split time at catcher during the regular season with North Allegheny graduate Pat Trettel and collected 17 hits in 51 at bats.

Since the playoffs began, Trettel has started every game behind the plate while Weibel has been relegated to catching late innings and pinch-hitting.

"Pitching and defense have carried us all year long,"Seton Hill coach Marc Marizzaldi said. "Pat's been our best defensive catcher, so we've been going with him.

"Cory is still one of the hardest-working kids and one of the best hitters on the team. He's always ready to play and contribute. When we started this program, there was a corps of guys I wanted to bring in and build the program around. He's one of those guys."

Marizzaldi is one of the reasons Weibel decided to come to Seton Hill.

"Iattended a tryout at Duquesne when Maz was an assistant coach there,"Weibel said. "He wound up taking the Seton Hill job and called me about going there.

"I knew what he was planning to build. I'm not surprised we are where we are. The guy's an amazing recruiter."

The Griffins were 17-33 in their first season with all freshmen starting, including Weibel.

That record improved to 27-20 last year and blossomed to 45-18 this season. Seton Hill is seeded ninth out of 10 teams in the NAIAWorld Series.

The Griffins face 33-15-1 Concordia (Calif.) in the first round at 3 p.m. Friday in Lewiston, Idaho.

"Going to Idaho for a chance to win a national championship is the most exciting thing to ever happen to me,"Weibel said. "Gaining experience was all our team needed. We just matured as a team.

"Naturally, I'd love to be starting right now, but this is all about the team. Coach preaches to every one of us to always be ready. I have to stay in the game mentally because I never know when I'll be called upon to go behind the plate or pinch-hit."

Marizzaldi said he's been recruiting to contend for a national championship from Day One.

"I envisioned this,"he said. "This is why I came here. This is why I brought in such quality freshmen three years ago."

Next year, Seton Hill will move up to NCAADivision II. It will play a NAIAschedule, but won't be eligible for postseason play.

"That's why we're going for it now,"Weibel said.

Weibel is carrying a 3.5 grade point average as a communications-elementary education major and has made the dean's list each of the last two semesters.

Matt McCune, a sophomore infielder-outfielder from Butler, is also on the Griffins' roster, but has played junior varsity most of the year. Josh Pratt, a junior infielder from Grove City, redshirted this year after breaking his leg late last season.