2016 WPIAL Baseball Championship Previews

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, May 30, 2016 | 11:40 PM

For 75 percent of the teams in the WPIAL baseball championships, foes are familiar.

Three of the four championships match teams that have already played once this season. Greensburg Central Catholic vs. Serra, and Neshannock vs. Riverside are title games between teams from the same section. Plum played Norwin in a non-section game.

The Class AAA championship – Blackhawk vs. Chartiers Valley – is the only game where teams have not played before.

All of the championship games will be played Tuesday and Wednesday at Consol Energy Park, home of the Washington Wild Things and heard here on the MSA Sports Network.

Here is a breakdown of the four championships:

WPIAL CLASS AAAA:

The game: Plum (22-0) vs. Norwin (15-7), Wednesday at 8 p.m.

Pitchers: Plum’s Alex Kirilloff (5-0) vs. Norwin’s Ryan Weaver (4-1).

What’s going on: Plum defeated Norwin, 6-4, in a game earlier this year. … Plum has not allowed a run in three playoff games. Norwin has scored 19 runs in three playoff games. … Weaver is not an overpowering pitcher. He has struck out only 27. He will face a Plum lineup that features Kirilloff, likely a first-round pick in next week’s Major League Baseball draft. Kirilloff is hitting .550 this year with 24 RBIs. Justin Sembower also is hitting above .500 for Plum. … Kirilloff has allowed only 11 hits this season and four earned runs. He has 53 strikeouts. Norwin has won six in a row and has averaged seven runs in those games. Nick Amendola is batting .406. … This is Norwin’s second championship appearance in a row. Last year, the Knights lost to Central Catholic, 2-0. Plum’s last championship was in 1998. Norwin’s last title came in 1960.

Remember when? The last time Plum won the championship, the Mustangs defeated North Catholic, 9-2, at Three Rivers Stadium in 1998. Brandon Stewart had three hits for Plum while Bryan Hartung and Justin Pifer had two. Future Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl had one hit for North Catholic, but made an error.

WPIAL CLASS AAA:

The game: Blackhawk (18-4) vs. Chartiers Valley (15-7), Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Pitchers: Blackhawk’s Mark Engel (7-2) vs. Chartiers Valley’s Cole Horew (6-1).

What’s going on: Blackhawk has won seven in a row, 15 of the past 16 and the Cougars’ pitching has been excellent lately. They have allowed only two runs in the postseason. Engel has a 1.25 ERA. Teammate Andy McClymonds is 6-0 with a 0.51 ERA. Blackhawk’s hitting is led by Michael Turconi, who has a .448 average. This is coach Bob Amalia’s seventh championship game. He has won two. … Chartiers Valley is making only its second championship appearance. The Colts lost to Moon in 2009. Char Valley’s Dante Panucci has a .500 average while shortstop Brady Gulakowski can make things happen as the leadoff hitter, carrying a .373 average. Near the end of the season, Chartiers Valley lost four in a row, but beat Bethel Park to end the regular season, and then won three playoff games.

Remember when? Blackawk’s last championship came in 2012 when the Cougars beat Belle Vernon, 1-0. Brendan McKay had a perfect game for 5 2/3 innings. He finished with a two-hitter, struck out 11 and ended the game on a 1-2-3 double play. McKay is now a star at the University of Louisville.

WPIAL CLASS AA:

The game: Neshannock (19-2) vs. Riverside (19-2), Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Pitchers: Neshannock’s Frank Fraschetti (9-1) vs. Riverside’s Michael Boswell (7-1).

What’s going on: This is the third meeting between the two. Riverside won the first, 10-2, and Neshannock the second, 2-1. Boswell won the first game and Fraschetti the second. … Fraschetti is trying to win the championship for the second year in a row. He beat Quaker Valley last year, 4-0. He has 33 wins in his career and has a 0.97 ERA this season. Denny Welker leads Neshannock with an average above .400. Neshannock is trying to become the first team to win back-to-back Class AA titles since Washington in 1997-98. … As good as Fraschetti is, Riverside’s pitching has been superb in the postseason. Riverside has not allowed a run in three postseason games.  Boswell has been excellent with a 0.67 ERA this season. He has struck out 81 in 52 innings. But Riverside also has a strong hitting team. Jason Dambach leads with a .444 average. … Both coaches are used to championship games. Neshannock’s Mike Kirkwood has won five championships while Riverside’s Dan Olisatro has won three. Oliastro is in his 48^th season.

Remember when? Five years ago, Neshannock beat Chartiers-Houston, 11-1, to win the WPIAL Class A title. The game was stopped after six innings because of the 10-run rule. John Sansone drove in two runs for Neshannock. Sansone was an all-ACC pick this year at Florida State. … Twenty years ago, Oliastro got his first WPIAL title when Riverside scored two runs in the top of the seventh to beat New Brighton, 2-1.

WPIAL CLASS A

The game: Greensburg Central Catholic (15-3) vs. Serra (21-2), Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

Pitchers: Serra’s Zack Bowen (6-0) vs. Greensburg Central Catholic’s vs. Greensburg Central Catholic’s Neal McDermott (5-1) or J.P. Pellis (4-1).

What’s going on: Greensburg Central Catholic defeated Serra by 8-4 and 6-5 this season. Bowen is undefeated but he faces a GCC team that has a .398 team batting average. GCC’s Tommy Pellis hit better than .700 in the regular season, but has dropped to .661. Harrison Boyle is hitting .533. … Serra has outscored its three playoff opponents, 22-3. Six Serra starters are hitting better than .400, led by Nate Piontka (.467). Piontka also has 39 RBIs. Bowen pitched back-to-back perfect games this season. … Nick Lonigro is in his first season as GCC’s coach and the Centurions are the defending WPIAL champions. Serra won back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2009-10.

Remember when? Six years ago, Serra defeated Neshannock, 7-3, behind a no-hitter by Serra pitcher Alain Girman. A sophomore, Girman had some control problems, and that allowed Neshannock to score a few runs. Unbelievably, it was the second consecutive no-hitter for Girman, who pitched a five-inning no-hitter in the semifinals.

Tags: Blackhawk, Chartiers Valley, Greensburg C.C.