Aug 6, 2024 By Eleanor Bailey 7 min read

Ryan Petras can have his cake and eat it too when he matriculates to Princeton University in the fall of 2025. The Bethel Park rising senior will play both of his favorite sports for the Tigers.

Because he will be afforded the opportunity to compete on the football field as well as the baseball diamond, Petras made a verbal commitment to Princeton and, in the process, declined the proposition presented by Northwestern. The Wildcats made a baseball scholarship offer which Petras accepted verbally during his sophomore year.

“It was difficult to tell (Northwestern) my decision. I was nervous calling them,” Petras admitted. “They understood that I wanted to play both sports. They were fine with that and said, ‘good luck’ and I wished them the best.

“Honestly, playing both sports for four more years changed my mind. It was truly a difficult decision but Princeton gave me the opportunity to play both at a high level.

“I just loved all that Princeton had to offer,” he added. “It’s a good fit.”

Petras is apropos for Princeton.

Aside from sports, he possesses a 4.2 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society. He plans to major in business or engineering.

“The Tigers not only get an elite athlete who’s work ethic is even more impressive, but they get a person with great character and integrity who has made big strides as a leader,” said Bethel Park baseball coach Patrick Zehnder.

“Ryan handles the highs with class. The few times that he fails, he uses that information to decrease the chances of failure in the future. He already has shown the ability to handle enrollment in high-level academics and participation in sports that ask a lot of his time. His maturity and well-roundedness will be great tools at Princeton.”

Athletically, Petras has utilized his assets to achieve much.

As a freshman, he was already a state champion, playing centerfield for the Black Hawks. He earned all-state honors two years in a row and has set the school record, twice, for stolen bases. He has batted no less than .400 throughout his career, topping out a .495 this past spring.

Petras also excels at the AAU level. This summer, he played shortstop and second base for the East Coast Ghost National Team, which traveled to tournaments in Georgia and Alabama as well as up and down the coast.

Petras also managed to attend voluntary summer football workout drills while competing in baseball. He has since traded in the mitt and bat for shoulder pads and cleats as fall training camp commenced with heat acclimatization sessions.

Expectations are for another standout season on the gridiron this autumn. As in baseball, Petras is an all-state performer in football. In fact, he has been the all-conference co-offensive player of the year for two seasons running.

In leading the Black Hawks to the WPIAL semifinals and an 11-2 record as a sophomore, he collected 1,437 all-purpose yards with 17 touchdowns. Last autumn, he caught 52 passes for 734 yards and rushed for 409 more yards on 53 carries. He scored 14 touchdowns.

“Ryan does it all,” said BP football coach Phil Peckich. “He is a tremendous player. A tremendous athlete.

“Ryan is a position-less player on offense and we move him to fit our needs on defense. He excels because of his great speed, his vocal leadership and his intelligence.”

Peckich predicts a great future for Petras.

“He has only scratched the surface,” he said. “His best years are still ahead of him.”

Petras is planning on having a big senior year in sports at Bethel Park as well as a standout career at Princeton.

In football, he hopes to lead the Black Hawks to a WPIAL championship and in the process earn all-conference and all-state acclaim as well as score 20 touchdowns. In baseball, he wants to add a WPIAL title to bookend a PIAA crown while batting .500 or better.

Collegiately, he hopes to help the Tigers capture Ivy League championships and gain All-Ivy recognition.

To accomplish all that, Petras said, that he would have to stay on top of things.

“It’s going to require time management and using (time) well,” he said. “School work will come before sports. I’m just glad that I have the opportunity to do both sports.”

While other Ivy colleges as well as Colgate, Navy, Fordham, Massachusetts and Lafayette pursued Petras for football, only Princeton and Lehigh presented the possibility for him to be a two-sport athlete.

“Ryan decided that he wanted to try and make both work and still be able to attend an historic and respected institution,” Zehnder said. “I’m happy for him.

“It is a rare opportunity to be able to play two major sports at that high of a college level. An athlete like Ryan is someone who has the work ethic, talent, and mental toughness to be successful with it. I wish him all the best and look forward to watching him make an impact on both the diamond and gridiron.”

In four years, Petras will encounter another decision, perhaps the toughest in his lifetime. Depending upon how his athletic career progresses, he knows that he will have to choose between football and baseball to realize further aspirations.

“Ever since I was little watching baseball and football games and players, my dream has been to go pro,” said Petras, whose boyhood idol was Derek Jeter. “Around middle school and high school, I began to think it could become a reality. So I have been putting in all the hard work and dedicating myself to the outcomes that could make it happen.”

When his playing days have passed, Petras will always have a degree from Princeton upon which to rely.

“There’s no better education and I will be prepared for a life-long career,” said the 17-year-old son of Dave and Nancy Petras. “Having the ability to make a good salary and be able to support a family would make me happy.”

The numbers game for Petras

Ryan Petras

For Ryan Petras, some numbers are more important than others.

He wears No. 1 on his football jersey for no other reason than it was given to him during uniform distribution his freshman year and he has stuck with it.

“I know people want (No. 1), but it’s nothing special,” he said. “I just go out there and do my thing.”

Football and baseball are his things and because he has performed both at a high level, Petras has attracted attention from major college athletic programs. He picked Princeton University, where he will continue playing both sports while studying business or engineering.

Petras is one of four area athletes committed to the process at Princeton. In addition to North Allegheny’s Jack Yatchenko, Upper St. Clair’s Nate Stohl and Michael Albert also will attend the New Jersey university in the fall of 2025. All are football linemen, but Albert is a two-sport standout as well, excelling also in wrestling

“It’s a good group going to Princeton,” Petras said. “The goal is to win Ivy League championships. It’s going to be real fun.”

It will be a battle, however, when Petras, Stohl and Albert meet on the football field this fall.

All three want to wrest the Allegheny 6 Conference title from Peters Township and compete for the WPIAL Class 5A banner. Oct. 11 is circled on the calendar as that is the date in which Bethel Park will host Upper St. Clair.

“It’s a good test for us,” Petras said. “It will be a super fun game with an added twist now.”