2024 WPIAL Class 2A baseball championship preview: Serra Catholic vs. Seton LaSalle

By: Bill Hartlep
Tuesday, May 28, 2024 | 3:53 PM

2024 WPIAL Class 2A baseball championship

No. 1 Serra Catholic (17-1) vs. No. 3 Seton LaSalle (16-3)

1 p.m. Wednesday at Wild Things Park, Washington

On the air: Trib HSSN

How they got here: Serra Catholic had a first-round bye and then beat No. 8 Laurel, 9-1, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Burgettstown, 5-1, in the semifinals. No. 3 Seton LaSalle had a first-round bye and then defeated No. 6 Chartiers-Houston, 9-1, in the quarterfinals; and No. 2 OLSH, 9-6, in the semifinals.

WPIAL titles: Serra Catholic 4 (2009, ‘10, ‘16, ‘22); Seton LaSalle 3 (1995, 2019, ‘23)

Coaches: Brian Dzurenda, Serra Catholic; Brad Bestic, Seton LaSalle

Players to watch: Zach Black, Serra Catholic; Mark Weber, Seton LaSalle

Extra bases: Serra Catholic won the 2022 WPIAL title in Class 2A. The Eagles won Section 3 this season at 12-0 and outscored opponents 10.7-1.6 on average. Their lone loss was a 5-4 nonsection defeat against Valley. Juniors Tyler Skaggs (2.42 ERA) and Owen Dumbroski (2.26) are 12-1 combined with 92 strikeouts and lead the Eagles’ pitching staff. Black, a senior, is batting .492 with 20 RBIs, and junior Jake Holmes (.491), senior Isiah Petty (.481), senior Collin Holmes (.438) and Dumbroski (.403) also are batting over .400. Jake Holmes and Collin Holmes have combined for 54 RBIs. … Seton LaSalle is the defending Class 2A champion after beating the Eagles, 8-1, in the title game a year ago. The Rebels finished second in Section 2 at 12-2. They had won 16 straight games before dropping a pair of section games to OLSH on May 6-7. They average 10.1 runs per game. The Rebels will be without senior shortstop/pitcher Gio LoNero (.644, 21 RBIs), a North Alabama recruit and the WPIAL’s leading hitter who was ejected in the semifinals and is suspended for two games. Mark Weber is 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA and leads the Rebels pitching staff. He also is hitting .475 with 16 RBIs. Senior Mike Todd is batting .500 with 16 RBIs. Sophomore Roman LoNero is hitting .465. Freshman Josh Burkholder (.429) is a WVU recruit.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Serra Catholic, Seton La Salle