Tuesday’s WPIAL baseball championship preview capsules

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, May 28, 2018 | 8:21 PM

---

WPIAL

Baseball

Class 4A

Championship

No. 3 South Fayette (16-5) vs. No. 4 Ringgold (16-3)

7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park

South Fayette

Coach: Ken Morgan

Projected lineup

RF, Joey Alcorn, So.

2B, Mitch Dunay, Jr.

3B, Eli Snider, Jr.

DH, Christian Gabriel, Jr.

LF, Zach Weis, Jr.

SS, Richie Dell, Jr.

C, Nolan Lutz, So.

P, Tyler Bedillion, Sr.

1B, Matt Primm, Sr.

CF, Ryan Kokoski, Jr.

Ringgold

Coach: Don Roberts

Projected lineup

3B, Chase Angotti, Jr.

SS, Koby Bubash, Jr.

P, Ryan Varley, Sr.

CF, Bo Haines, Sr.

RF, Luke Winterbottom, Sr.

1B, Anthony Vavasori, Sr.

C, Bobby Boyer, Jr.

LF, Jake Mayer, Sr.

DH, Dylan Rujcik, Sr.

2B, Jake Rongaus, So.

Extra bases: South Fayette is seeking its first WPIAL baseball title since 1999 and Ringgold is in the WPIAL final for the first time since the same year. The Lions topped Greensburg Central Catholic, 9-2, in the '99 final for their lone title, and the Rams lost 6-3 to Shaler in the Class 3A title game. Ringgold, which broke a seven-year playoff drought last season, has never won a title. The Lions missed the postseason last year. … South Fayette scored a 1-0 win over No. 10 Hopewell in the semifinals and a 14-4 victory over No. 7 West Mifflin in six innings in the quarterfinals to reach the finals. Ringgold defeated No. 8 Greensburg Salem, 7-3, in the semifinals and won in walk-off fashion, 5-4, over No. 12 New Castle in the quarterfinals. … Varley, an Alderson Broaddus recruit, was 4-0 with a 0.70 ERA in the regular season. Winterbottom has a .456 batting average and Haines leads the team with five homers. The Rams are hitting .365 as a team and have 11 homers. … Dell, a Kent State recruit and Bedillion, a Cal (Pa.), recruit have been a strong 1-2 punch on the mound. Bedillion has a 6-1 record with a 2.45 ERA in 11 appearances and Dell sports a 5-1 record with a 2.45 ERA. Bedillion pitched a one-hit shutout in the semifinals. Kokoski leads the offense with a .469 batting average. Alcorn is hitting .388 and Bedillion is at .387.

Class 2A

Championship

No. 1 Serra Catholic (21-1) vs. No. 2 Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (17-5)

5 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park

Serra Catholic

Coach: Brian Dzurenda

Projected lineup

CF, Zach Bowen, Sr.

P, Ben Bowen, Sr.

C, Mark Black, So.

SS, Nate Pionka, Sr.

3B, Patrick Brennan, Jr.

2B, Alex Glumac, So.

RF, Andrew Cornetto, Sr.

1B, Don DeMoss, Fr.

LF, Dom Puzzenchera, Fr.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic

Coach: John Haggerty

Projected lineup

SS, Danny Lynch, Sr.

P, Ryan Feczko, So.

LF, Jack Cassidy, Sr.

C, Luc Madonna, Sr.

CF, Joe Alampi, Sr.

DH, Joe Jordano, Sr.

(1B, James Williams, Sr.)

2B, Robby Randolph, Sr.

3B, Adam Cruttenden, Sr.

RF, Nathan Saar, Sr.

Extra bases: Serra Catholic is seeking its second title in three years and fourth overall. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic has one WPIAL championship, which came in 1995. … The two teams met in the quarterfinals last year, with Serra Catholic winning 3-2. … The Eagles were 9-5 winners over No. 5 Shenango in the semifinals and 5-0 over Laurel in the quarterfinals. The Trojans won 9-2 over No. 3 Neshannock in the semifinals and 8-4 over No. 7 Carlynton in the quarterfinals. … Serra Catholic, the Section 3 champ, boasts one of the best offenses in the WPIAL, scoring 10 or more runs in 14 of its 21 games. Black, a St. John's commit, placed second behind Jeannette's Tre Cunningham in the WPIAL regular season batting title race, hitting .629. He led the district with 42 RBIs. Bowen (.567) and Brennan (.558) finished ninth and 10th in the WPIAL in hitting. Piontka went 7-0 with 48 strikeouts in the regular season. … The Trojans have a couple of options at pitcher with Feczko, Alampi and Alex Hoehn. Alampi pitched the semifinal game and Feczko played center field. Feczko is the team's top hitter. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic was the Section 2 champion.

Class A

Championship

No. 1 Vincentian Academy (15-4) vs. No. 2 Union (14-3)

2:30 p.m. Tuesday at Wild Things Park

Vincentian Academy

Coach: Brad Bestic

Projected lineup

C, Mark Yakim, Sr.

2B, Jake Stotsky, Jr.

SS, Kyler Fedko, Sr.

3B, Dan Morgano, Sr.

DH, Aidan Thomson, Sr.

(P, Stephen Turzai, Sr.)

1B, Nate Christian, Sr.

RF, Nate Stover, Jr.

LF, Sean McGrail, Sr.

CF, Jared Katz, So.

Union

Coach: Bill Sanders

Projected lineup

P, Matt Costello, Sr.

CF, Seth Pinkerton, Jr.

RF, Evan Pinkerton, Sr.

2B, Tyler Benedict, So.

DH, Sean Louis, So.

(1B, Nick Jacobs, So.)

LF, Brayden Porter, So.

3B, Bryce Smith, So.

C, Anthony Ryan, Sr.

SS, Nate Meeks, So.

Extra bases: Both teams are making their first appearance in the finals. … Vincentian endured early exits as a top seed over the last few years, but advanced this season with a 6-0 win over defending champion and fifth-seeded Jeannette in the quarterfinals. The Royals topped Cornell, 7-0, in the quarterfinals. … Union scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth to score a 6-1 win over No. 3 Greensburg Central Catholic in the semifinals and won 7-6 over No. 7 Monessen in the quarterfinals. … Fedko, a UConn recruit, finished third in the WPIAL regular season in batting average, hitting .614. He has upped his season average to .633 with a stellar postseason, including a pair of doubles and RBIs in the semifinal win over Jeannette. Turzai carries a 6-0 record with 48 strikeouts in 38 innings pitched. Yakim and Thomson are hitting over .400. … Costello is a two-way threat for the Scotties. He finished the regular season with a .571 batting average, good for seventh in the WPIAL and posted 36 strikeouts on the mound. Smith had a walk-off single in the Monessen win after the Greyhounds rallied with five runs in the seventh to tie the game. Seth Pinkerton drove in two runs with a single against the Centurions to break the game open.

Tags: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, North Catholic, Ringgold, South Fayette, Union, Vincentian Academy