TribHSSN Baseball Team of the Week for the week of May 6, 2019

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, May 12, 2019 | 8:10 PM

The Trib HSSN Baseball Team of the Week is North Allegheny, a squad that is on a roll heading into the playoffs after winning all three of its games last week.

The week began with a showdown against section champion Pine-Richland in the Section 1-6A finale. The Tigers blanked the Rams, 2-0, in a game that had a postseason feel to it.

“It was a great win for us,” North Allegheny head coach Andrew Heck said. “I like that it prepared us for the playoffs because it was a playoff atmosphere against a top team in 6A. We felt like we outplayed them in the first game and just missed on a couple opportunities.”

The Tigers concluded their regular season with shutout victories over Allderdice and Plum. This gave NA four shutouts in the final two weeks.

“(Ryan) Partridge, (Anthony) Hattrup and (Kevin) Schott have been our leaders in innings thrown and all have been very good,” Heck said. “We have seven arms that can go out there and give us a chance to win a game, and that’s awesome. The depth on the mound is awesome but also hard because everyone wants their innings, and we get limited with a number of games we can play.”

Besides senior Partridge and his complete-game win over Pine-Richland, Heck pointed out two key players who enjoyed big games last week.

“Freshman Cole Young is a special player. He is playing an impressive shortstop and has been our RBI leader at the plate. Senior C.J. Weller is doing a great job behind the plate for us. But doing whatever it takes to get on base is what has got us rolling.”

Nobody is hotter in WPIAL Class 6A as North Allegheny heads into the playoffs winner of eight straight.

“Well, last season we lost four of five going into the playoffs, but we ended up making a run,” Heck said of his team’s championship-game appearance last year. “That being said, I am a firm believer that the team playing the best at the right times are the ones that make runs in the playoffs.

“The coaching staff and I stress solid defense, quality pitching, battling at the plate and for the last two weeks we did just that which is important.”

North Allegheny received a bye in the first round as the No. 4 seed and awaits the winner of the Butler-Peters Township quarterfinal game.

“It’s great to get it,” Heck said. “Personally I’m a fan of playing and get rolling in Round 1, but you always have that chance of running into a solid pitcher that can knock you out. So we are treating it like we won round one and got the ball rolling.”

Previous Trib HSSN Baseball Teams of the Week:

South Park Eagles

Laurel Highlands Mustangs

Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles

Union Scotties

Upper St. Clair Panthers

Avonworth Antelopes

Trib HSSN Baseball Player of the Week — Jimmy Sadler, Chartiers-Houston