By Chris Rossetti, www.d9sports.com
MaxPreps.com
WASHINGTON, Pa. – Zak Sinclair threw a complete-game three-hitter to lead West Allegheny to its second consecutive WPIAL Class AAA baseball title with a 4-1 win over Trinity Tuesday night at Consol Energy Park in Washington, Pa.
Sinclair also struck out 11 while picking up his second consecutive WPIAL title game victory.
The 6-foot-4 senior pitcher is headed to North Carolina State, dependent on his draft position.
“This one means a little more,” Sinclair told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Just because this is my senior year and now I’m going out on top of the WPIAL.”
West Allegheny (19-3), the top seed, scored all the runs Sinclair was going to need in the first two innings to take a 2-0 lead off of Trinity starter and loser Tyler Schrader/
Ricky Deveraux’s sacrifice fly in the first gave the Indians a 1-0 lead, and a wild pitch by Schrader in the second scored Justin Meyers who had singled and gone to third on an error by the left fielder.
Trinity (16-7), which was gunning for its first WPIAL title since 1941, cut the lead in half in the fifth on a bases loaded walk by Frank Dobbin but wasted an opportunity to score more when it had the bases loaded with one out but couldn’t push the tying run across the plate.
West Allegheny then added to its lead in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs off reliever Alex Frey including an RBI double by Sinclair, and the Indians pitcher
NOTES: Sinclair now has 86 strikeouts in just 56 innings and ran his record to 8-1 on the year and 20-3 in his career…Both teams move into the PIAA playoffs starting next week…Blackhawk, an 11-6 winner over Moon in the consolation game also played Tuesday, will join West Allegheny and Trinity in the 16-team PIAA bracket.
WPIAL Class AA Baseball: Beaver Strikes Early to Claim Title
Beaver scored four times in the bottom of the first inning and then held off a late charge by upstart Bishop Canevin to claim the WPIAL Class AA baseball title with a 4-3 win in another Tuesday-night contest at Consol Energy Park.
The third-seeded Bobcats (18-4), who won their first WPIAL title in 25 years (1983), used two-out lightning to take an early 4-0 lead.
Manny Cutlip got the rally started when he battled from a two-strike deficit with two outs in the first to draw a walk off Bishop Canevin starter and loser Brian Billigen.
Eric Mastsko then gave Beaver a 2-0 lead with a triple before stealing home on the backend of a double steal to make it 3-0. The Bobcats then stole another run the same way to make it 4-0.
Billigen settled down after the first inning allowing just four hits and no runs after the first to keep his team in the game.
The Crusaders then started to crawl their way back into the contest with scoring solo runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth to cut the Beaver lead to 4-3 heading to the seventh.
Then in the top of the seventh, Bishop Canevin (13-8), the 13th seed, put runners on first and second with two outs for Eric Junta. But Cutlip got Jutca to fly out to center field to seal the title for the Bobcats.
“The championship was right there,” Cutlip told the Post-Gazette. “I knew I needed to make a pitch and get us out of it.”
NOTES: Both teams advance to the PIAA playoffs, which start Monday. Beaver will play the District 6 runner-up, either Bald Eagle Area or Bishop McCort, while Bishop Canevin will take on District 10 champion Sharon…In all, four WPIAL Class AA teams advance to the PIAA playoffs with Burrell getting third place by virtue of Beaver’s victory and Seton-LaSalle fourth place. Burrell will take on the District 9 champion – either Brookville or Redbank Valley – while Seton-LaSalle will take on the District 6 champion – either Bald Eagle Area or Bishop McCort.
Class AAAA District 10 Baseball: Erie McDowell's Long Wait Over
Erie McDowell claimed its first District 10 Class AAAA baseball title in 20 years while finally finding a way to beat rival Erie Cathedral Prep with a 6-0 victory Friday at Jerry Uht Park in Erie.
The Trojans had lost their nine previous title-game tries to the Ramblers under 12th-year head coach Mike Hayes.
“This is the year they did it for me,” Hayes told the Erie Times-News. “Thank goodness they did it this year because this is Prep’s last year in Quad-A. We had to get it down this year because I always wanted to prove to everybody out there that the Trojans are for real, and this club is for real.”
Tyler DeCrapio was a big reason McDowell finally got to hoist the championship trophy, The junior tossed a one-hitter after carrying a no-hitter through five innings. He walked one and struck out four.
“Tyler gutted it out,” Hayes told the Times-News. “He knew what kind of monkey has been on our back in this game, and he wanted to take that and run with it. I think he took it personally and just went out and took control of the game.”
Phil Sorensen had the lone hit off DeCrapio, a leadoff single to right field in the sixth inning.
By that time McDowell led 4-0 thanks to a three-run sixth that including an RBI single by Ryan Skellie and an sacrifice fly by Brandon Hoelke. The Trojans then added two more runs in the seventh to put the game away.
Prep’s Bryan Colish pitched well in the loss going six innings and allowing four runs on three hits and two walks while striking out eight.
McDowell will now take on DuBois is a PIAA sub regional game at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Slippery Rock University.
Class AAA District 10 Baseball: Hickory Wins Second-Straight
Hickory won its second straight District 10 Class AAA baseball title with a 7-0 win over Corry Monday at Slippery Rock University.
“I don’t think that’s every been done at Hickory,” manager Gary Hinkson told the Erie Times-News off the back-to-back titles.
The second straight tile came thanks to the arm of Tyler Armstrong and the bat of Jaymee Shephard.
Armstrong threw a contact shutout – he had just three strikeouts – to pick up the win, while Shephard had three extra base hits, including a triple, and three RBIs. David Saluga added two RBIs for Hickory (19-1), which advances to the PIAA playoffs.
Class AA District 10 Baseball: Johnson Lifts Sharon to Title
Cory Johnson’s RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted unbeaten Sharon to a 5-4 win over North East and its second straight District 10 Class AA baseball title Monday afternoon at Slippery Rock University.
Alex Senak got the seventh started for the Tigers by drawing a leadoff walk brining Johnson to the plate, and the Sharon hero ripped a ball into the right-center field gap to win the game.
“It was a 2-0 count and I was just looking for something I could drive, and I got it,” Johnson told the Sharon Herald. “In the game of baseball, sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t. This time it went my way.”
The game was a back-and-forth affair with North East (18-4) taking a 1-0 lead in the first only to see Sharon (19-0) score three times in the third to go up 3-1.
The Grape Pickers came back with two in the fourth and one in the fifth to retake the lead at 4-4, but Sharon tied the game with a run in the bottom of the fifth before winning it in the seventh.
Todd Rearick got the complete-game win allowing four runs on four hits, seven walks and a hit batter while striking out eight. Gary Revale had a two-run single for the Tigers.
Domnic Kownacki led North East’s offense with a two-run double in the fifth. Nick Grow took the loss for the Grape Pickers.
Class A District 10 Baseball: Villa Maria's Wright, Gnacinski Too Much for Linesville
Chris Wright and Kevin Gnacinski combined to throw a two-hitter to lead Villa Maria to an 8-1 win over Linesville in the District 10 Class A baseball title game Monday at Slippery Rock.
The title is the third in the past four seasons for the Victors (17-3-1).
Wright went the first seven innings to pick up the win allowed one run on two hits and two walks while striking out seven. Gnacinski then came in and pitched two scoreless innings to seal the championship. He walked one and struck out three after taking over for Wright with no outs and a man on in the sixth.
Villa Maria got all the runs they would need in the third inning scoring six times in the inning to take a 6-0 lead. Gnacinski had the big hit in the inning, a two-run single.
The Victors also got a home run from terry Carson.
