Trib HSSN baseball player of the week for June 2, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, June 2, 2024 | 9:00 PM

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Trib HSSN baseball player of the week: David Posey

School: North Allegheny

Class: Senior

Position: Pitcher, first base

#Earned: For a second straight year, a David was crowned king at the WPIAL Class 6A championship game with a no-hitter at his coronation. One year after David Shields of Mt. Lebanon threw a no-hitter in the title game to beat North Allegheny, the tables were turned, and it was Tigers senior David Posey throwing the no-no to beat the two-time defending champion Blue Devils, 1-0. Posey improved to 6-0 on the season with the victory. He allowed only four baserunners, one on a strikeout/wild pitch, one on an error on the left fielder and two walks in the sixth inning. He walked two and struck out 11 in becoming the fifth pitcher this century to throw a no-hitter in a WPIAL baseball championship game. Posey also had one of the Tigers’ five hits off Shields.

What coach says: “The moment was not too big for him,” North Allegheny coach Andrew Heck said about the no-hitter. “He was focused on executing and throwing his game.

“I know his calf was bothering him a little, so for his sake I was just hoping that he was going to be able to work through that. But from the game side of things, I think the score is what kept him focused on executing pitches more that the no-hitter. At least it was for me. I wanted to make sure that we were staying with the game plan and getting ahead of hitters and making sure we were moving the ball around to not allow any comfort.

“Being able to locate with all pitches is a key. When he is able to do that, he is an elite pitcher. A couple times early in the year, he wasn’t locating great, and it cost him on the numbers end of things. But outside of those couple innings, he has been tremendous.

“David will not be going (Monday),” Heck said of his pitching plans against West Lawn Wilson at home in the opener of the state playoffs. “We have a great group of pitchers that have been throwing well for us. He might be available, but (Nico) Varlotta, (Charles) Mau and (Cole) Suba will all be in the mix for Monday. Wilson is very good. Another D-I left-handed starting pitcher that we will be going up against. He has great numbers. They have some bats in their lineup that have had great years and some good power numbers. We will have our hands full and will have to play at our same high level like last Wednesday night.”

Background: Posey will continue his academic and baseball careers next season at the U.S. Naval Academy. North Allegheny added to its district lead in baseball gold with nine. Posey was a freshman, and his older brother Aaron was a junior the last time North Allegheny captured a WPIAL championship in 2021. That Tigers team won three more games in the PIAA playoffs before falling to LaSalle College, 2-1, in the 6A state title game. Aaron is a sophomore at Kennesaw State. David and Aaron’s father, along with two of their uncles, also played Division I baseball. Posey played basketball until high school when he turned his full attention toward baseball.

2024 Trib HSSN Baseball Players of the Week

Week 8: David Shields, Mt. Lebanon

Week 7: Dylan Smith, Blackhawk

Week 6: Brock Cornell, West Allegheny

Week 5: A.J. Verdi, Mohawk

Week 4: Jake Robinson, Montour

Week 3: Gio LoNero, Seton LaSalle

Week 2: Tommy Schafale, North Catholic

Week 1: Ryan Petras, Bethel Park

Tags: North Allegheny