Shaler baseball caps tough season, falls short of playoffs

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, May 11, 2018 | 12:27 AM

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Being part of a section laced with tradition-laden programs won't be a hill the Shaler baseball has to climb next season.

This season, the Titans missed the playoffs for the first time in coach Brian Junker's nine years at the helm. That was while playing in a section where four of the six teams had won at least one WPIAL title in the past 10 seasons.

Shaler (7-10, 4-6) wrapped up its season with a 2-0 loss to North Hills last Tuesday. The Titans nearly made the playoffs, being eliminated via tiebreak after finishing in a three-way tie for fourth place with Seneca Valley and North Allegheny.

Shaler will drop down to Class 5A next season because of its enrollment changing. The Titans will be in a section with Hampton, Mars, Moon, North Hills and South Fayette.

Moon (2009) and South Fayette (1999) are the only two out of the group that have won district titles. Mars has shown improvement in recent years and was the runner-up in Class 5A last season.

“I'm disappointed because I love the rivalries,” Junker said. “Going up there to play at Butler at night, North Allegheny and Seneca Valley, all those teams is very exciting. I'm sure we're going to build rivalries with the new teams, I don't think there is any drop-off in talent. I think the section is going to be good with just as much talent.”

Shaler lost five of its final six section games. What made things tough was losing a 1-0, 17-inning contest to North Allegheny in late April, which started on a Monday and ended on a Thursday. The game was postponed by darkness, weather and other schedule commitments.

Junker said his players had a positive approach, but it was a long week. Shaler also dropped a 6-3 section contest to Butler and a 12-4 game to Central Catholic that week “As a coach, I could feel it,” Junker said. “We got home Monday night at midnight. We went to Butler and got home at midnight that night and we had to finish the game on Thursday. We're not tired and all that; when you lose that game 1-0, I think it did take its toll. I can't remember any time we went 0-3 like that.”

What made Junker proud was how his team grew throughout the season. How the Titans pitched showed a remarkable turnaround. Shaler was without its top pitcher, Seton Hill commit Christian Seelhorst, who couldn't throw because of Tommy John surgery.

Noah Gumto and Hunter Boyan helped filled the void.

“We don't have any 90-mile-per-hour arms,” Junker said. “We wanted to go out there and attack the strike zone; our goal was to throw 65 percent first-pitch strikes. Gumto and Hunter Boyan did that. Pitching to locations and hitting our spots kept us in games.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

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