What’s coming up: 5/21/24

Posted on: by Big 56 Conference

Photo Credit: @Shaler_Baseball

by: Don Rebel

IT’S A QUICK TURNAROUND FOR BASEBALL SEMIFINALISTS

Welcome to Semifinals Tuesday in the WPIAL baseball and softball playoffs. 

Each class has a doubleheader set up at one site.

In Class 5A, the two quarterfinals on the left side of the bracket are Tuesday , so there is only one 5A semifinal on the schedule.

Here are the matchups for the WPIAL baseball final four games.

Class 6A at the Boyce-Mayview Complex in Upper St. Clair:

• No. 1 Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils (17-4) vs. No. 5 Seneca Valley Raiders (12-8) at 4:30 p.m. on Trib HSSN

• No. 2 Pine-Richland Rams (17-4) vs. No. 3 North Allegheny Tigers (15-6) at 7 p.m. on Trib HSSN

Class 5A at Gateway:

• No. 7 Penn-Trafford Warriors vs. No. 6 Franklin Regional Panthers at 6 p.m.

QUARTERFINALS LEFTOVERS

When the rains came and suspended Wednesday’s WPIAL Class 5A first-round baseball game between Shaler and South Fayette, forcing the game to be completed Thursday, district officials made the decision to bump the second round on the left side of the 5A bracket back a day.

So while all of the other baseball playoff games had the quarterfinals Monday and the semifinals Tuesday, the left side of the 5A bracket will play the two quarterfinals Tuesday with the winners meeting in a final four contest Wednesday.

Thanks to a Brady Alexander three-run homer when play resumed, Shaler (16-5) defeated South Fayette, 3-2.

Now the defending district and state champion Titans will battle Section 3-5A foe and top seed West Allegheny (16-3) at the Washington & Jefferson College Complex at 7 p.m. The Indians had a first-round bye.

The teams split their section series in mid-April. Shaler won the first game, 12-0, while West A responded the following day with a 7-6 victory.

In the other 5A quarterfinal Tuesday, No. 4 Bethel Park (13-6) goes up against Section 2-5A rival No. 12 Trinity (9-8) at the Boyce-Mayview Compex in Upper St. Clair at 2 p.m. 

The Black Hawks swept the Hillers in their section series in late April by scores of 10-1 and 6-4.