WPIAL baseball
California, Laurel Highlands seeded high, draw early byes California will get the chance to defend its WPIAL title as a No. 1 seed, after it was given top billing when the playoff pairings were released Friday.
Also, Laurel Highlands was rewarded for an outstanding regular season with a No. 3 seed in Class AAA.
California and Laurel Highlands both received first-round byes, and won’t see action until the quarterfinal round.
Section 2-AA champions Brownsville drew a No. 6 seed and will square off against No. 11 Riverview in Class AA’s first round on Thursday, May 17.
The site and time of most of the baseball games has yet to be determined.
Waynesburg Central is one of the few teams that knows when, where and at what time it will play its first game. The Raiders face off against Ford City in a preliminary-round game Tuesday, May 15 at 4 p.m. The game will be played at the Burkett Sports Complex in Robinson Township.
Carmichaels, which won WPIAL Class A titles in 2003 and 2005, is seeded No. 7 and faces Rochester in the first round, Friday, May 18.
California (18-2) has the best record of any Class A team. The Trojans captured Section 1-A by two games over second-place Bentworth, and have won six straight games.
Springdale drew a No. 2 seed behind California, with Laurel No. 3 and Our Lady of Sacred Heart No. 4. All four teams received first-round byes.
California has won three WPIAL titles, two in Class A. Last year, the Trojans defeated Geibel Catholic in the Class A title game when Zack Jeney smashed a one-out, two-run home run off Geibel’s Jeff Baluch in the top of the seventh inning to give Cal a 5-4 lead.
Jeney then retired the Gators 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning, striking out Baluch on three pitches to end the game.
The Trojans also won the 2001 Class A title, and in 1983, claimed the Class AA crown. California has won 18 section titles. When they do play, the Trojans will face the Chartiers-Houston/Vincentian winner in the quarterfinals.
Laurel Highlands (17-2) comes into the postseason after winning its first outright section title since 1992. The Section 2-AAA champion Mustangs have won six straight, losing just to one team this year, Yough.
The Mustangs have won five section titles, and this is their 14th playoff appearance. The last LH team to make the playoffs lost in the first round to Shaler, 7-2, in 2003.
Laurel Highlands has won its opening playoff game 11 out of 13 times.
In the quarterfinals, the Mustangs will face either West Mifflin or Blackhawk.
West Allegheny, the WPIAL’s lone unbeaten team, is 20-0 and drew Class AAA’s top seed. New Castle is No. 2, and after Laurel Highlands, Trinity was tabbed No. 4.
Brownsville (12-5) ran away with the Section 2-AA title, and has won eight straight games. The Falcons last made a playoff appearance in 2005, losing a preliminary-round game to Deer Lakes, 1-0.
Riverview (11-5) finished second in Section 4-AA behind Greensburg Central Catholic.
Waynesburg (7-8) tied Washington for second place behind Brownsville with a 7-5 section mark.
The Raiders are making their first postseason appearance in six years. Waynesburg captured the 1999 Class AA title, and was runner-up in the PIAA final.
Carmichaels (11-6) finished tied with Bentworth for second place in Section 1-A. The Mikes face Rochester (9-8), which tied for second place with Monaca in Section 3-A behind Laurel.
In Quad-A, Plum was top seeded, followed by No. 2 Seneca Valley. Bethel Park was seeded third, and Penn-Trafford No. 4. Plum and Seneca Valley received first-round byes.