Breaking down the 2024 WPIAL baseball playoffs

By: Chris Harlan
Friday, May 10, 2024 | 7:41 PM

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Class 6A

Favorite: Mt. Lebanon and coach Patt McCloskey are trying to win their third straight WPIAL title. The Blue Devils return senior ace David Shields, a lefty committed to Miami (Fla.) who threw a no-hitter in last year’s finals. Shields is 4-0 with a 0.43 ERA but is not the only big arm on the roster. Freshman Graham Keen is 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA and also has a team-high 23 RBIs at the plate.

Challengers: Pine-Richland won the Section 1 title outright after sharing it the past two seasons. Pitcher Keegan Deihl is 5-0 with a 0.82 ERA, and outfielder Peyton Ford is batting .365 with a team-best 17 RBIs. The Rams won 11 of their last 13 games. … North Allegheny was last year’s WPIAL runner-up. Owen Schall is batting .436 with 20 RBIs, Mason Smith has scored a team-high 20 runs and Navy recruit David Posey is 4-0 with 32 Ks in 25 innings. … Hempfield finished second in Section 2 behind the bats of Carson Shuglie (.423, 20 RBIs) and Dylan Firmstone (.397, 17 RBIs).

Don’t overlook: Seneca Valley was ranked second in preseason rankings and still has the talent to maybe make a playoff run. Senior pitcher Owen Yarussi is an Auburn recruit.

Prediction: Mt. Lebanon over Pine-Richland

Class 5A

Favorite: West Allegheny seeks its second WPIAL in three years. Ohio-bound junior Mason Gass (4-2, 2.26) and freshman Brandon Boyce (4-0, 2.93 ERA) bolster an Indians pitching staff that held 12 opponents to three runs or less. Marshall recruit Wil Gubba leads the offense with a .407 batting average and 21 RBIs. The Indians have won four WPIAL titles in coach Bryan Cornell’s 22 seasons.

Challengers: North Hills tied West Allegheny atop Section 3. That section has produced four of the past five WPIAL 5A champions (Shaler in 2023 and ’19, West Allegheny in ’22 and North Hills in ’18). … There was a four-way tie in Section 1 between Fox Chapel, Plum, Franklin Regional and Penn-Trafford. … Fox Chapel was seeded highest by the WPIAL baseball committee because it split its two-game series against the other three co-champions. OF/P Jeremy Haigh is a two-way standout who’s 3-1 with a 1.05 ERA and 17 RBIs. … Franklin Regional’s Max Bernadowski is 5-1 with a 3.33 ERA, and N.J. Ramchandran is 2-2 with a 2.06 ERA. They’ve combined for 97 Ks in 68 innings. … Penn-Trafford’s Brody Hoffman and Ethan Septak have 18 RBIs each for the second-highest scoring offense in WPIAL 5A. … Bethel Park won the Section 2 title behind Northwestern recruit Ryan Petras, who batted .471.

Don’t overlook: Shaler, the reigning WPIAL and PIAA champion, only a game behind West A and North Hills in the section standings. The Titans were the highest-scoring team in WPIAL 5A.

Prediction: West Allegheny over North Hills

Class 4A

Favorite: Belle Vernon missed the playoffs a year ago, but the Section 2 champion enters this postseason as the No. 1 seed. The Leopards never have won a WPIAL baseball title but have hopes to change that behind the bats of Adam LaCarte (.431, 4 HRs, 18 RBIs), Cole Matusik (.404, 13 RBIs) and Lucas Judy (.396, 18 RBIs). The lineup outscored Thomas Jefferson, 13-5, in a nonsection game.

Challengers: Thomas Jefferson and West Mifflin shared the Section 3 title. TJ offense was led by Tyler Lesko, Brady Hodge and Alex Warden, a Penn State recruit. The Jaguars never have won a WPIAL title. … West Mifflin is seeking its second WPIAL title after winning in 2022. Zane Griffaton is 4-0 with a 0.66 ERA, and Jake Martina is 3-1 with a 2.94 ERA. Griffaton also leads the team with 16 RBIs and a .426 batting average. … Montour was led to the Section 1 title by Kent State recruit Jake Robinson, who went 4-1 on the mound and has a team-high 20 RBIs. … North Catholic won the Section 4 title behind St. Joseph’s recruit Blake Primrose, who batted .480 with 22 RBIs.

Don’t overlook: Latrobe was the WPIAL runner-up a year ago. The Wildcats finished second in their section but could make another postseason run.

Prediction: Montour over Thomas Jefferson

Class 3A

Favorite: Riverside is the defending WPIAL and PIAA champion. The Panthers have one of the state’s top arms in pitcher Christian Lucarelli (3-0, 0.93 ERA), but the right-hander was limited late in the regular season. His availability is a key, but the offense has averaged more than 10 runs. Junior Zach Hare (8-0, 0.88 ERA) is another strong starting pitcher.

Challengers: Mohawk finished second to Riverside in Section 1 but still drew the No. 2 seed. Warriors sophomore P/SS Vinnie Pessuolo is batting .414 with a team-high 13 RBIs. He’s also 6-1 on the mound. Youngstown State recruit Jay Wrona is batting .320. Mohawk lost to Riverside, 3-2 and 9-4. … Mt. Pleasant’s Connor Drzal is batting .429 with 15 RBIs, and Cole Chatfield is hitting .469 with 11 RBIs. The Vikings lost in a preliminary-round game last year but bounced back to win the Section 3 title. … Wesley Schrock is 4-1 with a 1.03 ERA for Section 3 champion Valley, which has four pitchers with at least three wins. … South Allegheny won the Section 2 title ahead of Avonworth, which reached the semifinals last year.

Don’t overlook: Neshannock was the WPIAL runner-up a year ago, and the Lancers already own six league titles.

Prediction: Riverside over Mohawk

Class 2A

Favorite: Serra Catholic is the WPIAL’s highest-scoring team, averaging 11.1 runs. The Eagles have eight batters with an average above .320, led by junior Jake Holmes, (.542), senior Isaiah Petty (.500) and senior Zach Black (.492). Petty has scored a team-high 27 runs, and Holmes leads with 26 RBIs. Serra won the WPIAL title in 2022 and was runner-up last year.

Challengers: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart grabbed the Section 2 title and earned a No. 2 seed by sweeping a two-game section series from WPIAL champion Seton LaSalle earlier this week. OLSH won 8-2 and 12-4. The Chargers are seeking their first WPIAL title. … Seton LaSalle has one of the WPIAL’s top hitters in senior Gio LoNero, a North Alabama recruit batting .644 with 34 runs and 20 RBIs. The Rebels have eight batters averaging better than .320. The team has won three WPIAL titles. … Burgettstown won the Section 1 title behind two-way senior Brodie Kuzior, who’s hitting .444 with 23 RBIs, and is 3-1 with a 1.24 ERA.

Don’t overlook: Riverview reached the quarterfinals a year ago as a No. 10 seed. The Raiders are led by junior Eli Devita, who’s batting .527 with 23 RBIs.

Prediction: Serra Catholic over OLSH

Class A

Favorite: Union will try to win its third WPIAL title in four years. The Scotties average 11 runs, led by Slippery Rock recruit Mike Gunn (.410, 24 runs) and freshman Landon Eckert (.452, 15 RBIs). The team has six batters averaging higher than .330 and outscored section opponents 164-25. Pitchers Rocco Galmarini (1.81 ERA) and Jalen Peace (2.62) have 60 strikeouts in 51 innings.

Challengers: Eden Christian has scored a WPIAL-best 189 runs. Fueling that offense are senior Caleb Emswiler, a Gardner-Webb recruit batting .466 with 37 RBIs, and sophomore Brady Hall (.509, 34 RBIs). The Section 3 champions are seeking their first WPIAL title. They were seeded second last year and were upset in the quarterfinals. … Bishop Canevin, the defending WPIAL champion, finished second to Eden in the section. The Crusaders are led by senior Quentin White (.440, 30 RBIs) and junior Tyler Maddix (.526, 23 RBIs). They lost to Eden Christian, 9-1 and 11-1, in early April. … Fort Cherry won the Section 1 title, and Avella, Carmichaels and West Greene all tied for second. Fort Cherry sophomore Matt Seig, also a football standout, is batting .529 with 24 RBIs.

Don’t overlook: Leechburg had a strong finish to the regular season, including a pair of one-run losses to Union.

Prediction: Union over Eden Christian

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.