Westmoreland baseball playoff capsules: Games of Wednesday, May 16, 2018
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Monday, May 14, 2018 | 4:09 PM
Class 6A
No. 7 Penn-Trafford (12-5) vs. No. 10 North Allegheny (10-9)
7 p.m. Wednesday at Latrobe
Winner plays: No. 2 Bethel Park (17-3)
Coaches: Dan Miller, Penn-Trafford; Andrew Heck, North Allegheny
Players to watch: Josh Spiegel, Penn-Trafford (Sr., C); Luke Trueman (Sr., OF/P), North Allegheny
Extra bases: Penn-Trafford, which tied for second place in Section 2, enters the playoffs on a six-game winning streak. All six wins came against playoff teams. Spiegel, an Oklahoma State recruit, has a team-high four homers, and Zach Mancz, a Pitt recruit, leads the Warriors with a .400 batting average. … North Allegheny finished fourth in Section 1 and went 3-7 in its last 10 games. The Tigers lost 3-2 to Pine-Richland in the Class 6A final last year. Trueman leads the Tigers in a runs and hits and struck out 29 batters in 20 innings pitched.
Class 3A
First round
No. 6 Burrell (9-3) vs. No. 11 Mt. Pleasant (8-7)
4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Latrobe
Winner plays: No. 3 South Side (12-4)
Coaches: Mark Spohn, Burrell; Chris Firmstone, Mt. Pleasant
Players to watch: Luke Virag (Jr., P), Burrell; Jared Wagner (Jr., P), Mt. Pleasant
Extra bases: Burrell made the playoffs for the 20th time in coach Mark Spohn's 21 seasons. The Bucs beat New Brighton in the first round last season — their first postseason victory since 2010 — before losing to Riverside in the quarterfinals. This season Burrell tied for the Section 1-3A championship with Valley, clinching that spot with a victory over Steel Valley in the teams' section finale. Virag anchors the Burrell pitching staff, and Tanner Spohn has worked as the closer. … Mt. Pleasant made it to the WPIAL championship game last season before losing to Riverside. The Vikings tied for third place in Section 3-3A with Riverside and ended the season with four losses in their final five games. The Vikings' strength lies in its pitching staff. Offensively, they were held to two or fewer runs in seven of their 15 games.
Tags: Burrell, Mt. Pleasant, North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford
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