Falcons seeded 4th as WPIAL baseball/softball pairings released
On perhaps the nicest day of spring to date, area baseball coaches weren’t busy shuffling lineups. Instead, they were sitting by the phone.
Or surfing the Web.
Six local coaches found out who their respective teams face next Wednesday when the WPIAL released its playoff pairings.
Connellsville, with 18 overall wins which included a 10-0 run through Section 2-AAA, was seeded fourth and will face North Allegheny Tuesday at Plum High School 3:30 p.m.
The teams were to have met for an exhibition game late in the season, but the game was rained out.
“North Allegheny is not a team I would have picked to play,” said Falcons coach Bob Renzi. “They’re always good. They have a great tradition and they played a tough schedule.
“But you have to beat them all anyhow, and you have to play good ball no matter who you play.”
Connellsville (18-2) had little trouble in Section 2-AAA, easily winning the section crown over Uniontown and Laurel Highlands, which tied for second place with 5-5 marks.
North Allegheny (10-9, 7-3) finished in a three-way tie for the Section 5-AAA title with North Hills and Seneca Valley.
The Falcons were riding a 14-game winning streak until Saturday, when Franklin Regional used a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to rally for a 5-3 victory.
“I think losing that game Saturday cost us a seed,” Renzi said. “If we were third instead of fourth, that would’ve meant playing a team coming off a pigtail game, because there’s three teams playing pigtails. You’d be playing a team that already had to use up a pitcher.”
Laurel Highlands and Uniontown will take part in two of those preliminary-round games. The Mustangs (13-5, 5-5) will face Chartiers Valley Saturday at 1 p.m. at California High School. The Colts (9-5, 7-3) finished in a second-place tie with Baldwin behind Mount Lebanon in Section 7-AAA.
The Red Raiders (10-8, 5-5), meanwhile, travel to Peterswood Park Friday for a noon matchup with Baldwin (9-7, 7-3).
“We’re very excited,” Uniontown coach Mark Edenfield said. “We expected to be in a pigtail game. We’re happy with our berth and hope to make some noise.”
Edenfield doesn’t know much about the 2002 version of Baldwin, but respects the team nonetheless.
“I’m sure they have a good program,” Edenfield said. “We played them three years ago in a non-section game and they were well coached. I’m sure they’ll be a good opponent.”
After losing 12-2 to Uniontown April 16, Laurel Highlands won four of its final six Section 2-AAA games, including a 6-2 victory over the Red Raiders which clinched a postseason berth.
Mustangs coach Tom Landman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night.
Uniontown clinched a playoff berth roughly three weeks ago, but has lost four straight to close out the regular season.
Mount Lebanon was given Class AAA’s top seed, followed by Blackhawk, Upper St. Clair and Connellsville.
In Class AA, Belle Vernon (14-2, 11-1) is seeded fifth and will face No. 12 McGuffey Monday at Beth-Center High School at 3:30 p.m. The Highlanders (8-6, 6-4) finished second behind Washington in Section 1-AA.
The Leopards have won 11 straight since a 1-0 loss to Mount Pleasant April 13.
South Park was the top seed in Class AA, Washington was No. 2, and Ellwood City and Center were third and fourth, respectively.
Carmichaels, which at one time was ranked No. 1 in the WPIAL, received a fourth seed in Class A and will meet Geibel Catholic Monday at California High School at 3 p.m.
The Mikes (13-2, 10-0) have won seven straight since a 14-11 loss to Beth-Center April 18.
Geibel Catholic (9-6, 6-2) finished in second place in Section 7-A behind Bentworth. The Gators started the season strong, winning six of their first seven, but struggled down the stretch, dropping five of their last eight.
In softball, Connellsville (13-5, 9-1) was seeded eighth and will host Hempfield (11-6, 6-2) Monday at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Falcons tied Elizabeth-Forward for the Section 1-AAA crown.
Waynesburg Central (16-1, 10-0) received a sixth seed after claiming the Section 3-AA title and will host 11th-seeded McGuffey (9-6, 6-4) Monday at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Highlanders finished in second place behind Canevin in Section 4-AA.
In Class A, Beth-Center (14-5, 10-0) was seeded No. 6 and will host Leechburg (8-6, 6-4) Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
The Lady Bulldogs claimed the Section 6-A title, while Leechburg finished in a three-way tie for second place in Section 7-A with Elderton and West Shamokin.
Carmichaels (12-6, 7-3) travels to Burgettstown (14-4, 9-1) Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Mikes finished in a second-place tie with Avella behind Chartiers-Houston in Section 1-A. The Lady Blue Devils tied Fort Cherry for the Section 2-A crown.
California (11-6, 6-4) will travel to Greensburg Central Catholic (14-1, 10-0) Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. The Lady Trojans tied Geibel Catholic for second place behind Beth-Center, while the Lady Centurions won the Section 7-A crown.
The Lady Gators (8-6, 6-4) travel to Elderton Friday at 5 p.m. in a preliminary-round game. The Lady Bobcats (6-4, 6-8)are the only team in the WPIAL playoffs with a losing record.