Decade’s best WPIAL finals: Baseball No. 1

By: Don Rebel
Thursday, June 11, 2020 | 10:59 PM

2728373_web1_ptr-Trib10baseball-061220 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

West Allegheny’s Mike Cummings dives onto his teammates as the Indians celebrate winning the WPIAL Class AAA championship game against Blackhawk on May 29, 2014.

2728373_web1_PTR-BlackhawkWA15-053014 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

West Allegheny’s Tyler Amedure doubles during the eighth inning of the WPIAL Class AAA championship game against Blackhawk on May 29, 2014 at Consol Energy Park.

2728373_web1_PTR-BlackhawkWA16-053014 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

West Allegheny’s Jake Cunningham (22) celebrates with Tyler Amedure after defeating Blackhawk, 5-3, in the WPIAL Class AAA championship game May 29, 2014 at Consol Energy 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. 1 – A not-so-golden end to The Streak

In the spring of 2014, whenever high school baseball fans in Southwestern Pennsylvania talked about the streak, they were talking about The Streak!

In what began in the 2013 season, Blackhawk senior Brenden McKay was making history every time he stepped to the mound and shut down his opponents.

McKay entered the 2014 WPIAL Class AAA championship game against rival West Allegheny with a scoreless streak of 69 consecutive innings. It was the longest in WPIAL history, the longest ever in the PIAA and the third-longest in U.S. high school baseball history.

The streak lasted until, with two outs in the third inning, West Allegheny scored and ended it at 71⅔ innings, just two outs from the second-longest ever and 9⅔ innings from the national mark.

However, the Indians didn’t just score one run. They plated three runs in the third inning.

Blackhawk tied the game with a three-run fourth inning as the game, played before a large and loud crowd at Wild Things Park, remained tied through seven innings.

The Indians scored twice in the eighth inning off McKay and held on to win 5-3 for the school’s third baseball championship. It also marked only the second loss in McKay’s storied career, as he ended up with a record of 29-2 at Blackhawk.

Click the final score below for the recap of the Indians’ historic win over the Cougars.

West Allegheny 5, Blackhawk 3 in 8 innings

Decade’s best WPIAL baseball finals:

No. 2, 2018 Class 5A: North Hills 3, Mars 2 in 11 innings

No. 3, 2013 Class AAA: South Park 4, Hopewell 3 in 9 innings

No. 4, 2016 Class AA: Riverside 1, Neshannock 0

No. 5, 2017 Class 2A: Jeannette 7, Greensburg Central Catholic 3 in 12 innings

No. 6, 2019 Class 3A: Steel Valley 5, Hopewell 4 in 8 innings

No. 7, 2012 Class AAA: Blackhawk 1, Belle Vernon 0

No. 8, 2010 Class AAA: Hopewell 2, Moon 1

No. 9, 2018 Class 6A: Canon-McMillan 2, North Allegheny 1

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