Trib HSSN baseball bracket breakdown

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, May 14, 2021 | 5:34 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

Class 6A

Favorite: North Allegheny owns seven WPIAL titles but hasn’t won since 2013, an eight-year wait that ranks as the team’s longest between hanging banners. So, maybe the Tigers are due. Duke recruit Cole Young, a junior shortstop, is batting .434 with six home runs. Hard-throwing right-hander Kyle Demi has struck out 53 in 30 2/3 innings.

Challengers: Hempfield and Norwin tied for the Section 2 title after splitting their regular-season series. Norwin seemed destined for the No. 1 overall seed after beating North Allegheny, 7-6, in late April. But that was before the Knights had consecutive section losses to Upper St. Clair and Hempfield in early May. But Norwin isn’t limping into the playoffs. The 2016 champions defeated Class 5A’s Franklin Regional, 18-2, on Tuesday. … Hempfield has a strong roster led by Brandon Coughlin (.414, 19 RBIs). Spartans pitcher Phil Fox has 51 strikeouts in 35 innings. … Butler junior Brady Gavula leads the Golden Tornado with a .472 batting average. … Mt. Lebanon pitchers Derrick Shields and Tyler Smith combined have struck out 70 in 62 innings.

Don’t overlook: Seneca Valley struggled down the stretch and lost six of its final eight, but the Raiders do own a regular-season win over North Allegheny. They are capable of a surprise.

Prediction: Norwin over North Allegheny

Class 5A

Favorite: Franklin Regional started its season with 14 wins in a row before losing to Norwin earlier this week. The Panthers are seeking their third WPIAL title overall and their first since 2001. They also won the WPIAL in 1997. The team has held 12 of 16 opponents to two runs or fewer. But the Panthers aren’t all pitching and defense. They scored 10 runs or more five times including a season high of 17.

Challengers: This is clearly the WPIAL’s deepest classification. Section 4 champion Bethel Park’s two losses were both to Class 6A teams, including by one run to Hempfield. … South Fayette, West Allegheny and Shaler finished as tri-champions in Section 3 with matching 8-2 section records. The three teams all split against one another in the regular season. Shaler won the 2019 title, making the Titans the reigning 5A champion. West A has a six-game streak that includes nonsection wins over Montour, Eden Christian and Avonworth twice. … Plum hung on to win Section 2 despite losing two of its final four games.

Don’t overlook: Mars has never won a WPIAL baseball title, but the Planets were runners-up in 2017 and ’18. West Virginia recruit Jon Wetherholt leads this year’s lineup with a .481 average, 19 RBIs and 23 runs.

Prediction: West Allegheny over South Fayette

Class 4A

Favorite: Montour won arguably the WPIAL’s toughest 4A section by one game over Blackhawk, earning the Spartans the section title and a No. 1 seed. Montour has three batters hitting better than .400: sophomore Nick Walker (.511), senior Gannon Kadlecik (.435) and junior Matt Luchovick (.429). Junior pitcher Dylan Mathiesen has struck out 54 batters in 33 innings. The Spartans won their only WPIAL title in 1972.

Challengers: Section 3 champion West Mifflin is one of the hottest WPIAL teams with an eight-game winning streak. The Titans are led by junior Jake Walker, who’s batting .583 with 28 runs, 15 RBIs and a .677 on-base percentage. The Titans reached double-digit runs in three of their past four games. … Former assistant Lou Wolber took over as Blackhawk coach, replacing the late Bob Amalia, and has carried on the program’s success nicely. The Cougars, who finished a game behind Montour in Section 2, have reached the WPIAL finals nine times since 2000. … North Catholic won Section 1 but was swept by last week second-place Highlands.

Don’t overlook: Laurel Highlands finished second in Section 3, but the team can score runs. The Mustangs beat West Mifflin, 11-1, in early April led by senior Nick Kumor, who’s batting .511.

Prediction: Montour over Blackhawk

Class 3A

Favorite: Hopewell won a WPIAL baseball title in 2000 and again 10 seasons later in 2010. See a pattern? The 2020 season was wiped out by the pandemic, so the top-seeded Vikings are trying to win this spring. The team doesn’t give up many runs, holding 12 opponents to two or less. Vikings senior Roman Gill has struck out 61 batters in 42 innings, and junior Anthony LaSala has 50 Ks in 39 innings. Sophomore Lucas Arington (.440) and junior Chris Mullins (.356) lead the offense.

Challengers: Avonworth’s Jonah Sommers (.469) and Jon Bodnar (.415) helped lead the Antelopes to the Section 2 title. Now, they’re trying to win the school’s second WPIAL title and first since 1992. … Section 4 winner McGuffey has four players batting better than .400 including senior Jake Orr, who has 22 RBIs and 20 runs. … South Park is led by junior Drew Lafferty and sophomore Austin Lafferty, who both are batting better than .500. Drew, a Kentucky commit, has five home runs, but the standout hasn’t pitched since early April. … Derry won Section 3 led by senior Josh Ulery (.587, 19 RBIs).

Don’t overlook: The Ellwood City boys basketball team celebrated a Cinderella season in the winter. Could the baseball team make a similar run as a No. 6 seed?

Prediction: South Park over Hopewell

Class 2A

Favorite: How dominant was Seton LaSalle? The Rebels outscored opponents 223-28. The team averaged more than 11 runs per game while allowing less than two. They scored at least 17 runs five times and once reached 20. Combined, pitchers Sam Georgiana, Brett Wagner and Ethan Parker are 18-0 with 121 strikeouts in 91 innings. Wagner’s ERA is 0.22. The Rebels are reigning WPIAL champions, having won 2A in 2019.

Challengers: Section 2 champion Shenango has five batters with an average better than. 400. Among them, junior Tyler Kamerer is hitting .448 with 30 runs and 27 RBIs. On the mound, senior Shane Cato is 6-1 with 60 strikeouts. The Wildcats were WPIAL runners-up in 1990, their only finals appearance. … Serra Catholic was the 2A runner-up in 2018 and ’19 after winning Class A in 2009, ’10 and ‘16. … Carmichaels’ only blemish was a one-run nonsection loss to Chartiers-Houston in mid-April. Like Serra, Carmichaels reached the WPIAL Class A finals six times since 2000 and won three titles but now competes in 2A.

Don’t overlook: Neshannock owns six WPIAL titles, the most recent from 2015, so the Lancers know how to win in the postseason. Plus, they have regular season wins over Shenango and Serra Catholic.

Prediction: Seton LaSalle over Shenango

Class A

Favorite: Eden Christian has never reached the WPIAL finals, but the small school in Ohio Township might have some big days ahead. Eden won Section 3 behind a batting order that reached double digits in runs 11 times. Five players have scored more than 20 runs apiece led by Brian Feldman (31), Luke Vittone (29), Raymond Stierer (23), David Kelly (21) and Jared Bees (21). Starting pitchers Logan McNelis and Jacob Fisher are each 6-0 with 90 combined strikeouts.

Challengers: Greensburg Central Catholic owned a 12-game winning streak before losing its final three. GCC pitcher Zach David is 5-0 with a 1.26 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 33 innings. The Centurions were WPIAL champions in 2015 and runners-up in 2016 and ’17. … Rochester, OLSH and Union finished atop the Section 1 standing with two losses apiece. All three are searching for their first WPIAL title. Union was the runner-up in 2018 and ’19. Rochester has reached the finals three times and OLSH once. Union pitcher Jake Vitale has 66 strikeouts and OLSH’s L.J. Evans has 64.

Don’t overlook: Jefferson-Morgan finished second in Section 2 but did grab a late-season win over Greensburg Central Catholic, 6-3, on May 6.

Prediction: Eden Christian over Rochester

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.