PIAA Class 6A baseball championship preview: North Allegheny vs. La Salle College

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, June 17, 2021 | 8:37 PM

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History is being made in Happy Valley this week as the WPIAL sends 10 baseball and softball teams to Penn State University to compete in the PIAA championships.

This is the fourth year the PIAA has had six championships in baseball and softball.

In 2017, the WPIAL sent seven teams. In 2018, it grew to eight District 7 teams, but in 2019, only five district baseball and softball teams reached the state finals.

North Allegheny (23-3) vs. LaSalle College (25-2)

4:30 p.m. Friday at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park at Penn State

Broadcast

You can listen to the audio broadcast of this game at TribHSSN.TribLive.com courtesy of the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Path to Penn State

North Allegheny defeated District 3 Warwick, 13-4; District 12 Phiadelphia Central, 8-1; District 1 Spring-Ford, 3-1

LaSalle College defeated District 1 Hatboro-Horsham, 14-1; District 11 Emmaus, 21-8; District 1 North Penn, 2-0

District Postseason

North Allegheny defeated Upper St. Clair, 12-2; Butler, 10-0; Hempfield, 4-0, to win the WPIAL championship

LaSalle College defeated Lansdale Catholic, 18-0; Devon Prep, 5-0; Archbishop Wood, 3-2 in eight innings; Philadelphia Central, 12-2, to win the District 12 championship

Performers to Watch

North Allegheny

Senior Kyle Demi is likely to get the start for the Tigers. He is 9-0 with a 0.60 ERA this season. Senior Danny Gallon and junior Cole Young are both hitting over .440 for the season. Gallon has a team high 31 RBIs while Young is second on the team in homers with six. Sophomore Spencer Bennett leads NA with eight round trippers.

LaSalle College

In 97 plate appearances, senior Mason Sermarini is batting .556 with 25 RBIs and was the Philadelphia Catholic League offensive player of the year. Junior Jephson Hadson-Taylor is second in hitting for the Explorers with a .442 batting average.

Streaks

North Allegheny has a seven-game winning streak while LaSalle College has won 23 straight games.

Factoids

• North Allegheny has a PIAA playoff record of 31-17. This will be the Tigers’ sixth appearance in a baseball state championship game. NA beat Wyoming Valley West, 5-2, in 1996 and defeated Emmaus, 9-2, in 2000. The Tigers lost to Boyertown, 5-4, in 1991, fell to Elizabethtown, 5-3, in 1993 and dropped a 5-4 decision to Plymouth-Whitemarsh in 1994.

• LaSalle College has a 13-3 record in the PIAA playoffs. This will be the Explorers’ third appearance in the baseball state finals. LaSalle College beat Council Rock South, 4-0, in 2012 and defeated Conestoga, 4-2, in eight innings in 2014.

• The three previous PIAA Class 6A baseball champions were Pennsbury (District 1) in 2017, Canon-McMillan (WPIAL) in 2018 and Souderton (District 1) in 2019.

Tags: North Allegheny