Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Baseball No. 9

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, May 20, 2020 | 10:22 PM

2663138_web1_ptr-Trib10basbeall-052120 — Sean Stipp | Tribune-Review

Canon-McMillan celebrates beating North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class 6A baseball championship May 30, 2018 at Wild Things Park.

While it almost became a theme to repeat in WPIAL softball this past decade, it was nearly an impossible dream for district baseball teams.

Wild Things Park in Washington continued to be the home for the WPIAL baseball championships, but only twice in 42 title games was a school successful in repeating as champions. Seneca Valley in Class AAAA and Neshannock in Class A pulled it off the same two years in the spring of 2011 and 2012.

Speaking of Seneca Valley, the 2014 team gave hope for every team that qualifies for the district playoffs as that Raiders team captured WPIAL gold as the No. 16-seed.

So, while the third decade of the 21st century got off to a slow start with the 2020 season wiped away, here is a look back at the last 10 years with a countdown of the top 10 WPIAL baseball championship games.

No. 9 – Big Mac attack

Coming into the 2018 season, Canon-McMillan had plenty of success over the previous decade and a half on the baseball diamond, but only one championship to show for it. Ten years earlier, the Big Macs won the 2008 PIAA Class AAAA state championship.

In 2017, Canon-McMillan saw its WPIAL title hopes end when it lost to North Allegheny, 5-3, in the district semifinals, the second straight year the Big Macs were bounced in the final four.

So after Canon-McMillan beat Central Catholic in the 2018 semifinals, the pitching-rich Big Macs were finally taking the short trip south to Wild Things Park in Washington to play for a first district crown.

Their opponent was once again North Allegheny. The Tigers were playing in their second straight WPIAL Class 6A title game after losing in the 2017 finals to Pine-Richland.

What followed was an instant classic as NA settled for silver while Canon-McMillan celebrated what would be the first title of its WPIAL and PIAA golden run in the spring of 2018.

Click the final score below for Chris Harlan’s look back at the Big Macs triumph over the Tigers.

Canon-McMillan Big Macs 2, North Allegheny Tigers 1

Decade’s best WPIAL baseball finals:

No. 10, 2017 Class 2A: California 3, Freedom 1 in 10 innings