WPIAL baseball/softball pairings
Mustangs draw top-seeded Shaler; Lady Falcons seeded 5th Laurel Highlands has been one of the best baseball teams in the WPIAL when it comes to the first round of the playoffs, but that trend will be strongly tested this year.
The Mustangs (7-7-1) drew the 16th seed in the Class AAA bracket and face top-seeded Shaler (19-1) in the first round at Freeport High School at 7 p.m. Monday, according to the WPIAL baseball pairings released Wednesday.
Connellsville’s softball team didn’t receive much respect in the Class AAA pairings, being placed at No. 5 while Greater Latrobe (16-3), a team the Lady Falcons beat on the road during the regular season, was tabbed as the top seed. Connellsville (15-1) hosts No. 12 Franklin Regional (10-8) at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Six local baseball teams will begin the postseason on Monday.
In addition to LH in Class AAA, Connellsville (10-9-1) drew the No. 13 seed and faces fourth-seeded Bethel Park (15-3) at Beth-Center High School at 6 p.m.
In Class AA, Brownsville (10-4) was placed seventh and takes on 10th-seeded Ellwood City (13-6) at Burgettstown at 4 p.m.
In Class A, second-seeded Carmichaels (15-1) and sixth-seeded Geibel Catholic (10-5) play a doubleheader at Peterswood Park in Peters Township. The Gators meet No. 11 Avonworth (8-5) at 4 p.m., and the Mikes clash with No. 15 Union (8-10) at 6 p.m. Also, 10th-seeded California (10-4) goes up against No. 7 Leechburg (12-4) at Mount Pleasant High School at 2 p.m.
Four local softball teams are in this year’s tournament.
Like Connellsville, Belle Vernon (15-2) plays on Monday. The eighth-seeded Lady Leopard host No. 9 Highlands (12-5) at 3:30 p.m. in Class AA.
In Class A, second-seeded Beth-Center (14-6) hosts No. 15 Elderton (6-11) at 3 p.m. Monday, while fourth-seeded Carmichaels (15-1) hosts No. 13 Brentwood (11-7) at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Shaler may be a No. 1 seed, but it’s unlikely the Titans would look past Laurel Highlands. The Mustangs are 11-1 in first-round games under coach Tom Landman, but he admits LH’s opener is a tall order.
“Hopefully, we’ll have an outstanding game, which is what it’s going to take to beat Shaler,” Landman said. “They have an outstanding program. In looking at the teams who qualified, only two had more losses than us – Connellsville, and they were our section champion, and Norwin – so we figured we’d be around 15 or 16. We’re a little disappointed for our fans that we have to travel that far and that the game starts so late.
“But I think our kids made a huge accomplishment this year to get into the playoffs. We only had one returning letterman and we beat every team in our section at least once. Truthfully, we have nothing to lose. I think the kids will be ready to play. Anything can happen in one game. You never know in high school baseball. If the baseball bounces a certain way or if you get a good outing by one of your pitchers, you can wind up winning any game. I’m pretty sure we’ll go with Paul Briczinski as our pitcher and see what happens.”
Laurel Highlands finished second behind Connellsville in Section 2-AAA. Shaler was the Section 3-AAA champion.
Like Landman, Falcons coach Bob Renzi isn’t about to complain about the seedings.
“There was a time during the season where we were hanging by a thread just to make the playoffs,” Renzi said. “The best I thought we’d be was either an 11 or 12 seed. We’re in the tougher side of the bracket with Moon, Shaler, Plum, Bethel Park … there are a lot of good teams up there. But, hey, you’ve got to hit, pitch and field no matter who you play.”
Bethel Park was co-champion of Section 6-AAA along with Peters Township.
“They have a pretty good hitting team, but I don’t think they have any dominating pitchers from what I’ve heard,” Renzi said. “They’ll be tough, but then again I would bet they’re not thrilled about playing us in the first round either. We were playing pretty good baseball at the end of the year. The kids are pretty confident.”
Brownsville coach Skooter Roebuck wasn’t surprised at his team’s draw.
“We expected to be somewhere in the middle, anywhere between five and eight, so I’m not real shocked,” said Roebuck, whose Falcons won their third section crown in the last five years by finishing first in Section 1-AA. “I know Ellwood City has a real stud No. 1 pitcher who supposed to throw pretty hard.”
Brownsville was playing its best ball near the end of the season.
“I thought we were on a little bit of a roll at the end. We beat Waynesburg, California and Laurel Highlands, then we got stuck in the gym for a week and a half due to the rain.”
Roebuck said he’ll send ace Dom DeCarlo to the mound against the Wolverines, who finished second in Section 6-AA.
Section 1-A champion Carmichaels takes on a team from coach Dave Bates’ old stomping grounds in Union, which finished second in Section 5-A.
“I used to live up in Grove City, so I’m familiar with that area. I was athletic director at Lake View High School,” Bates said. “That area is known for its great baseball. Then I was an assistant baseball coach for Linesville in 1999 and we lost to Camp Hill 4-2 in the state final.”
Union takes on a red-hot Mikes team that’s won nine in a row.
“I thought Neshannock would be No. 1 and we’d be No. 2,” Bates said. “That’s what the rankings said pretty much all season.”
Bates was just happy to have a rare nice day to practice on Wednesday.
“The kids still remember what shape the ball was,” Bates said. “Today was like a breath of fresh air.”
The Section 7-A champion Gators suffered a three-game losing streak early in the season, but won eight of their last 10 games to earn a date with Avonworth, which finished second in Section 2-A.
The Trojans wound up second behind the Gators in Section 7-A, while their opponent, Leechburg, won Section 3-A.
Connellsville’s softball team may have been hurt by its only loss, which came at home to Norwin, a non-playoff team, but the Lady Falcons defeated Latrobe, the Section 1-AAA champions, 3-0.
Belle Vernon won Section 7-AA, while Highlands tied for the Section 6-AA title, which should make for a tough first-round battle.
The Lady Bulldogs were seeded ahead of Carmichaels even though the Lady Mikes sported a better record and defeated them during the regular season. Beth-Center likely was rewarded for its strength of schedule, which began with six teams outside the WPIAL before a game against Connellsville.
“I’m sure they were surprised,” said B-C coach Frank Mazeppa, whose team has made the playoffs eight straight years in winning seven section titles, including the 6-A crown this year. “It’s nice being No. 2, but there’s no easy ride for anyone.”
Mazeppa thinks Beth-Center, which has won seven section championships since 1986 and reached the WPIAL final last year, is finally being recognized as a strong program.
“I definitely think our history and especially last year’s performance helped us in the seedings,” Mazeppa said. “We took Connellsville eight innings and we lost to a good McGuffey team. Carmichaels beat us outright, but I think our exhibition schedule came into play.”
The Lady Mikes originally were supposed to play Apollo Ridge (7-7) in the first round, but the WPIAL had Brentwood pitted against Section 5-A rival Shady Side Academy, so the Spartans and Vikings switched games. The WPIAL tries to keep section team from playing each other in the first round.
The entire situation irked Carmichaels coach Al McMinn.
“I just don’t understand it,” McMinn said of his team being seeded two spots behind Beth-Center. “We beat them head to head, and if you compare some other scores, I can’t see how they got ahead of us. And then I find out one day we’re playing Apollo Ridge and the next day we’re playing Brentwood, a team that lost only twice in its section to Shady Side Academy? How can a six-member panel put together a bracket like that and not now those two teams are in the same section?
“If we beat Brentwood, we’ll probably play Shady Side Academy, which is undefeated, and then Sto-Rox, which is the No. 1 seed. I don’t know how you justify that with the season we had. I don’t know what else we were supposed to do.
“I know this, though. We’ll come out playing hard, because I think we have something to prove.”