Clutch outing from Nolan Wagoner leads Quaker Valley past Ligonier Valley in Class 3A 1st round
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Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 7:57 PM
Ligonier Valley’s Noah Knupp tries to complete the double play as Quaker Valley’s Holden Kirkham slides during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday.
Quaker Valley’s Ryan Finamore steals second base before Ligonier Valley’s Owen Smith can apply the tag during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday.
Quaker Valley’s Ryan Finamore runs down a ball hit by Ligonier Valley’s Owen Smith during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday, May 15, 2025, at Fox Chapel Area High School..
Quaker Valley’s Todd Kagle scores behind Ligonier Valley catcher Tyler Smith during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday.
Quaker Valley’s Oscar Roig (left) and Todd Kagle celebrate with starting pitcher Nolan Wagoner after Wagoner threw a complete game against Ligonier Valley during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday.
Quaker Valley’s Ryan Finamore is called out as Ligonier Valley’s Gavin Moore stretches for the ball during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday.
Quaker Valley’s Kyle Rader is caught stealing by Ligonier Valley’s Owen Smith during a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Thursday.
Nolan Wagoner’s first career complete game couldn’t have come at a better time for the Quaker Valley baseball team.
“It was for these boys,” the senior right-hander said Thursday, glancing toward the Quakers’ dugout. “Wouldn’t have wanted to do it for anyone else.”
Wagoner threw just 79 pitches (57 for strikes) and backed his six-hitter by going 3 for 3 with an RBI to help No. 7 seed Quaker Valley to a 4-2 opening-round victory over No. 10 Ligonier Valley in the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs at Fox Chapel.
No. 2 Avonworth held off No. 18 Keystone Oaks, 1-0, in the second game and will advance to play Quaker Valley in the quarterfinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
Wagoner struck out five and didn’t walk a batter while battling hot conditions on an artificial surface.
“It was warm on that turf, but my arm felt good,” he said. “I wanted to just throw strikes, and I knew if I put it over the plate, the guys behind me would have my back.”
The outcome was the fifth victory in a row for Quaker Valley (13-6) and ended Ligonier Valley’s eight-game winning streak.
Ligonier Valley (10-8) scratched out a run in the first inning against Wagoner, when Noah Knupp led off with a single, eventually reached third on a pair of groundouts and scored on losing pitcher Austin Harr’s infield single off Wagoner’s glove.
But the Rams didn’t score again until the seventh, when Quaker Valley held a 4-1 lead, and Wagoner slammed the door before Ligonier Valley could do any further damage.
“Did he tell you he called it in the beginning and basically told me, ‘You don’t need anybody else. I got this (complete game)?’ ” Quaker Valley coach Rich Garbee said. “He said it to me (Wednesday), then right before the game (Thursday), and then during the game.
“I said, ‘Go get it.’ He only threw (79) pitches. That’s very efficient for a seven-inning high school game.”
Harr, a transfer from Glen Dale (W.Va.) John Marshall, kept Quaker Valley off the board early and pitched the first six innings for Ligonier Valley. He yielded four earned runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
The junior right-hander allowed a pair of runs each in the fourth and sixth innings before sophomore Miles Smith relieved him.
“He had movement on the fastball. He moved the ball around well,” Garbee said of Harr. “We had to get used to that. I thought he pitched extremely well, and I thought they played extremely well. Just a well-played game all around. It was fun to watch.”
No doubt, more fun for the Quakers.
“It’s just one step in a journey,” Garbee said.
Quaker Valley took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on Todd Kagle’s RBI single and Jack Cindrich’s safety squeeze bunt, scoring Kagle with the go-ahead run.
“We saw really good things today that showed us getting better,” Garbee said. “Whether it be the execution of a safety squeeze or our catcher (Bradley Semonik), who has thrown out seven of the last nine guys, the little things are starting to come together, which are great signs.”
Quaker Valley chased Harr with two more runs in the sixth.
Kagle led off with a triple into the right-field corner and scored on Wagoner’s infield hit.
After Smith relieved Harr, Cindrich, bunting again, sacrificed Wagoner to second. Wagoner moved to third on third-baseman Duncan Foust’s throwing error and scored on Kyle Rader’s single to center field.
Ligonier Valley made a run at Wagoner in the seventh.
Harr doubled to lead off the inning before Kolton Johnson made a leaping grab of Tyler Smith’s long line drive to right.
“We weren’t worried about the first run being scored,” Garbee said. “Certainly, we didn’t want the bases to get crowded. Kolton’s catch was really important. He went back on that ball, and it could’ve been over his head. That would’ve changed the whole perspective of the game.”
Said Ligonier Valley coach Jason Bush: “That catch was real big.”
Gavin Moore singled to left, putting runners on the corner, and Miles Smith’s sacrifice fly scored Harr, cutting the Quaker Valley lead to 4-2.
But Wagoner struck out Owen Smith, and the Quakers earned their quarterfinal-round berth.
Bush said Quaker Valley reminded him of his own team.
“(Wagoner) settled in and filled up the strike zone, and then we got real aggressive at the plate and hit a lot of ‘atom balls,’ ” he said, referring to a pun regarding a baseball hit directly at a defender.
“They looked a little bit of a mirror image of us, maybe a little older and a little better.”
Bush figured the score was proof of it.
“I don’t think we lost it. They just beat us,” he said. “It wasn’t mistakes. It wasn’t errors. They got four runs. We had two. We played good defense. They played good defense. They had a couple more timely hits.
“We talked afterwards about the big picture. We started the season 1-6. Then, we battled the whole way back to win a share of (Section 3), which is the first section title Ligonier Valley has won in the playoffs since rejoining the WPIAL.”
Ligonier Valley originally spent 43 years as a member of the WPIAL before leaving for PIAA District 6 in 1969. The school made a return in all sports to the WPIAL at the start of the 2020-21 season.
“We only have three seniors, so the future is bright for us,” Bush said. “The big picture was the most important thing — to understand what we’ve accomplished after a 1-6 start.”
The Rams closed the year by winning nine of 11 games.
Meanwhile, Wagoner said he isn’t planning to play baseball when he figures to attend Penn State in the fall, instead choosing to focus on a career in engineering.
“You’ve got to throw a little harder than that,” he said, referring to his latest high school mound performance.
But before he’s off to college, Wagoner has a date to play again for Quaker Valley, perhaps in the infield this time.
“I’m excited to play another game with these guys,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Tags: Ligonier Valley, Quaker Valley
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