Baseball battles heat up in Section 1-3A in Wednesday’s 3 things to watch in high school sports

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | 11:24 PM

Three could become two atop Section 1-3A after a “Battle in the Valley” Wednesday evening.

Three teams, Burrell, Steel Valley and Valley are tied with 5-1 section records, having all split their head-to-head games in the first half.

The first showdown in the second half takes place Wednesday at 6 p.m. at West Field in Munhall when Steel Valley hosts Valley.

The Ironmen fell to the Vikings in New Kensington two weeks ago 5-4. Jake McNabb had three hits and Andrew Serikowski added two hits with two RBIs in support of winning pitcher Shawn Demharter. Cayden Quinn pitched the final two innings to register the save for Valley.

With South Allegheny and East Allegheny winless in the six-team section, the Ironmen, Vikings and Buccaneers have already clinched playoff berths.

Mighty matchups

Top section foes compete in two other WPIAL baseball games Wednesday, one in Class 4A and the other in Class 2A.

Defending Class 4A champion Blackhawk is threatening to run away and hide from the rest of the teams in Section 2. A win at South Fayette will open up a three-game lead for the Cougars and possibly even clinch a playoff spot depending on what happens elsewhere.

It won't be easy though. While Blackhawk has beat five of its eight section opponents by at least 10 runs, with the average margin of victory begin more than seven per game, they only beat South Fayette, 3-2, at Chippewa Park two weeks ago.

Listen to the game on the TribLive High School Sports Network .

Fort Cherry hopes to forge a tie for first place in Section 1-2A when it hosts Carmichaels.

The Rangers have dropped two section games, including a 10-4 decision in Greene County. Matt Barrish had three hits for the Mighty Mikes, who blew open a close game with five runs in the sixth.

Final Four racquets

After being bumped back a day because of rain, the WPIAL semifinals are set in the boys team tennis tournament.

In Class AAA, top-seed Fox Chapel will face North Allegheny at Shady Side Academy and Allderdice, fresh off an upset of Peters Township, will face Shady Side Academy.

The Class AA final four has top-seed Sewickley Academy facing South Park at Moon and Quaker Valley facing Indiana.

All four matches are set to begin at 3:30 p.m.

Don Rebel is a TribLive High School Sports Network broadcaster and staff writer. Reach him at drebel@tribweb.com.

Tags: Allderdice, Blackhawk, Burrell, Carmichaels, East Allegheny, Fort Cherry, Fox Chapel, Indiana, North Allegheny, Quaker Valley, Sewickley Academy, Shady Side Academy, South Allegheny, South Fayette, South Park, Steel Valley, Valley