2022 WPIAL Class A baseball championship preview: Eden Christian vs. Union

By: Bill Hartlep
Tuesday, May 31, 2022 | 4:04 PM

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WPIAL Class A baseball championship

1-Eden Christian (17-0) vs. 2-Union (11-4)

1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wild Things Park, Washington

On the air: Trib HSSN (video)

Road to the finals

Eden Christian – The Section 3 champions earned a first-round bye and then shut out No. 8 Greensburg Central Catholic, 6-0, in the quarterfinals and defeated No. 5 OLSH, 6-5, in the semifinals.

Union – After winning the Section 1 title, Union had a first-round bye, beat No. 10 Riverview, 5-1, in the quarterfinals and then edged No. 3 Rochester, 3-2, in the semifinals.

Secret to their success

Eden Christian – With a 17-0 record, a lot has gone right for first-year coach Joe Dougherty and the Warriors this season. Senior Jared Bees, a Marietta recruit, hit .455 during the regular season and went 7-0 on the mound with a 0.53 ERA with 68 strikeouts. Sophomore Caleb Emswiler (4-0, 0.95) and senior Christian Cropper (2-0, 1.87) round out the rotation. Eli Szenyeri (.409, 16 RBIs) and Brian Feldman (.423, 22 RBIs) help bolster the lineup, which has outscored opponents 154-24.

Union – Tyler Staub was a key player in Union’s run to the WPIAL title last season and continued his hot hitting this season, batting .537. He also was the team’s top pitcher at 5-1 with 56 strikeouts in the regular season. He threw a four-hitter with seven strikeouts in the semifinals. Mark Stanley (.488, 24 RBIs) and Nick Vitale (.486) also powered the Scotties lineup. They outscored opponents 125-38.

Championship factoids

Eden Christian – Eden lost to Union in the WPIAL semifinals last season but rebounded to defeat Jefferson-Morgan in the third-place consolation game. The Warriors then beat DuBois Central Catholic, Kennedy Catholic and Southern Fulton to reach the PIAA title game before falling to Halifax.

Union – The Scotties captured their first WPIAL championship last season, defeating Riverview, 3-0, in the finals. They then reached the PIAA quarterfinals before losing to Southern Fulton. … This is the fourth straight WPIAL championship appearance for Union. Union lost to Vincentian Academy, 6-1, in the 2018 Class A finals and to California, 9-6, in the 2019 title game.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Eden Christian, Union