Four local baseball/softball teams aiming for WPIAL titles
As is tradition after the Memorial Day holiday, the WPIAL will hold its baseball and softball championships this week.
Four local teams, Fort Cherry and South Fayette baseball and Carmichaels and Bentworth softball, have made it to a WPIAL championship game.
Here’s a look at each of their upcoming matchups.
Baseball
No. 1 Fort Cherry (18-1) vs. No. 2 Neshannock (18-3)
Fort Cherry is seeking its first WPIAL baseball title in 40 years and the first in longtime coach Bob Sawhill’s 38 years at the helm when they face the Lancers in the Class 2A championship, 4 p.m. Tuesday at EQT Park.
The Rangers’ path to a WPIAL final for the first time since 1986 was a third win over section rival California,11-7, in the quarterfinals and a 4-1 win against Riverview in the semifinals.
They’ve had the most prolific offense in Class 2A, averaging 10.2 runs per game and have scored 10 or more runs in 12 of their 18 wins. Landon Trnavsky, Colton Temple, Ben Demascal and Ryan Huey make up a strong top four in the lineup. Likely starting pitcher Dylan Lueck, has been strong on the mound all season. He yielded two unearned runs in 6.2 innings in the quarterfinal victory over California.
Neshannock won a pitcher’s duel in the semifinals, 1-0, over South Side Beaver to reach the championship. The Lancers cruised to a 10-0 win in six innings over Apollo-Ridge in the quarterfinals.
Nathan Rickel and Ryan Cameron hit back-to-back triples in the bottom of the sixth to plate Neshannock’s lone run and Danny Joseph pitched 6.2 scoreless innings in the win over South Side Beaver. It earned the Lancers a spot in a WPIAL championship for the first time since 2022. Neshannock has won six WPIAL titles, but none since 2015.
No. 10 South Fayette (14-9) vs. No. 12 Upper St. Clair (12-9)
Not too many prognosticators had Section 2 rivals South Fayette and Upper St. Clair meeting at EQT Park for the Class 5A championship, 7 p.m. Wednesday, but both teams have put together impressive runs.
The Lions defeated Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford and Thomas Jefferson on their way to making a WPIAL championship game for the first time since 2018. That was one of South Fayette’s two championships. The other one was in 1999.
Jacob Bostian hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth for what proved to be the game-winning run in the 4-3 win over Thomas Jefferson.
Marc “Bubba” Snider is in his first year coaching South Fayette. He’s a longtime radio host in Pittsburgh and currently co-hosts “The Bubba Show” on 100.7 FM on weekday mornings.
South Fayette swept Upper St. Clair in their two regular season meetings, 17-6 and 7-6, back on April 13 and 15.
Upper St. Clair needed a sweep of Chartiers Valley in the final section series to get into the playoffs. Once they earned their spot the Panthers have gone on an upset-fueled run beating Plum, Moon and Montour. The win over Montour in the semifinals was a 13-10 slugfest that went eight innings. The Panthers held off the Spartans after they scored nine consecutive runs to tie the game at 10-10 and force extra innings. Brooks York hit a two-run homer for the Panthers in the eighth.
Softball
No. 3 Bentworth (20-2) vs. No. 5 Neshannock (17-5)
Bentworth will get another crack at Neshannock after losing to the Lancers in the 2024 Class 2A title.
The rematch is set for Noon Wednesday at PennWest California’s Lilley Field.
Neshannock won 3-0 in the 2024 title game.
The Bearcats will try to end Neshannock’s four-year reign atop Class 2A and win their first title in the process.
If the Lancers win, then they’ll be only the second softball team in WPIAL history to win five championships in a row. The other was Sto-Rox from 2000-04.
LSU recruit Sydney Gonglik pitched the Bearcats past Chartiers-Houston, 2-1, in the semifinals.
Neshannock overcame numerous graduation losses to earn another trip to the finals. The Lancers lost the section championship to Laurel, but got their revenge in the semifinals with a 7-5 victory. Callie Biondi had four hits and a pair of RBI.
No. 1 Union (18-2) vs. No. 2 Carmichaels (17-4)
For the third time in four years, Carmichaels will play Union in the Class A championship, which is at Noon Thursday at Lilley Field.
The Mikes will try to get over the hump against the Scotties, who beat them 3-0 last year and 10-8 in 2023.
Carmichaels defeated West Greene, 9-0, in the semifinals to earn another shot to win a championship. The Mikes have been WPIAL runners-up twice and the state runner-up in the last three years.
Mikes pitcher Bailey Barnyak was strong last year against Union, but the Scotties got three runs in the sixth to earn the win.
Carmichaels is seeking its first WPIAL title since going back-to-back in 1997 and ’98, when Barnyak’s mother, Nikki Gasti, was the pitcher.
Union is looking to add to its recent run of dominance with a fourth title in five years and is in the finals for a seventh consecutive season, which is a WPIAL record.
Standout pitcher Mia Preuhs graduated, but the Scotties boast a potent lineup led by catcher Irelyn Fisher. Union pounded out 17 hits in a 17-7 win over Jefferson-Morgan in the semifinals.