Baseball Game Summaries

The third-seeded North Allegheny Tigers were upset in the First Round of the WPIAL Playoffs on Friday as the Canon-McMillan Big Macs earned a 4-2 victory in eight innings from W&J’s Ross Memorial Park. The 14th-seeded Big Macs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a Jared Beach sacrifice fly, but North Allegheny quickly responded in the bottom of the first with a two-run double by Mitch Machi to grab a 2-1 advantage.

In the top of the fourth, Beach evened the score at 2-2 with a solo home run. North Allegheny had a chance to gain command in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and nobody out. However, the Big Macs managed to wiggle out of the jam and forced extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, CM took the lead for good thanks to a two-run double by Trevor Schrecengost. NA reliever Tyler Saundry was the hard luck loser for the Tigers, working four innings and allowing only two hits and two unearned runs. Jake Trainor was the winning pitcher for Canon-McMillan.

North Allegheny’s season ends with a mark of 13-8. Canon-McMillan moves on to the quarterfinals with a record of 13-5.

Hempfield rallied for three runs in the sixth inning for a 3-2 comeback victory over North Allegheny on Wednesday night. Luke Zahren drove in both of North Allegheny’s runs with RBI singles in the second and fourth innings.  Zahren finished with three hits on the day, as did Josh Plichta as both Tigers went 3 for 4.

In the pivotal sixth inning, Hempfield scored on three consecutive plate appearances to take the lead. Nolan Beresford drove in a run with an RBI single, Matt Tarabek plated a run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, and Tyler Hensler singled in another run to give Hempfield a 3-2 advantage. Reliever Tyler Tubbs made sure that the lead stuck with three scoreless innings for the save.  Eric Loucks was the winner with four innings and three K’s.

NA’s Jake Fischbaugh suffered the loss, allowing three runs in one inning on the bump.  Tyler Saundry got the start for the Tigers and tossed four scoreless with three strikeouts before giving way to Fischbaugh in the fifth.

North Allegheny falls to 13-7 overall with the loss. Hempfield, the Section 1-AAAA champions, improve to 16-3 overall. Both teams await the release of the WPIAL Class AAAA pairings on Friday night.

Line Score - NA Baseball vs. Hempfield, 5/7/14

Senior Jason Monper drove in three runs and earned the victory on the mound to lead North Allegheny to a 7-1 non-section win vs. McDowell on Tuesday afternoon.  Monper was 2 for 4 with two doubles personally providing enough run support to collect his second victory of the season. On the bump, the right-hander limited the Trojans to one unearned run and struck out three. Trevor Smith tossed three scoreless innings to earn the save.

Part of a 15-hit performance, six Tigers had multiple hits in the game. Josh Plichta and Mitch Machi collected three hits apiece. Blake Young, Dan McCauley and Garrett Hagen notched two hits each. McDowell pitcher Cody Ballay served up seven runs (six earned) in six innings on the mound.

North Allegheny, who earned a share of the Section 1-AAAA crown thanks to a Butler loss on Monday night, improves to 13-6 overall.  The Tigers will host Hempfield on Wednesday afternoon.

Line Score - NA Baseball vs. Erie McDowell, 5/6/14

With the help of a nine-run fifth inning, North Allegheny pummeled the New Castle Red Hurricanes on Saturday afternoon, 16-5, from Flaherty Field. The Tigers used a 12-hit attack, and took advantage of six New Castle errors, in a convincing Section 1-AAAA victory.

Leading the NA attack was Blake Young and Josh Plichta who drove in three runs apiece.  Plichta posted a 2 for 3 afternoon and scored four times and walked twice. Dan Trettel scored three runs and drove in a pair.  Ryan Hamm was 2 for 3 with two RBI and a walk.

Starter Jon Dignazio was the benefactor from all of NA’s run support and earned his third victory of the season.  The southpaw tossed four-innings and allowed one unearned run while striking out six.

North Allegheny leaps to 12-6 overall and 8-2 in Section 3-AAAA.  New Castle falls to 6-12 overall and 1-10 in section play. The Tigers return to action on Tuesday for a non-section tune-up game against McDowell. First pitch in Erie is slated for 4:00 pm. The Tigers, who concluded their section schedule with their triumph over New Castle, still can earn a share of the section title.  NA needs a North Hills win over Butler on Monday afternoon to claim a share of the Section 3 crown.

Line Score - NA Baseball vs. New Castle, 5/3/14

Battling for their playoff lives, the North Hills Indians used a five-run second inning to upset the North Allegheny Tigers, 8-6, at Herb Field on the final Friday of the regular season.  The North Hills win snapped a seven game losing streak to the Tigers and kept their playoff hopes intact as they hope to track down the Seneca Valley Raiders for third and final playoff spot in Section 1-AAAA.

Having already clinched a playoff berth, the Tigers have their sights set on a section title and jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.  Mitch Machi drove in Matt Muslin with a two-out single and Dan Trettel also came in to score when Indians left fielder Chad Myer misplayed the ball in the outfield. NA added on in the second inning on a two-out base hit single by Josh Plichta to make it 3-0, Tigers. Going 2 for 2 with a pair of RBI and walk, Plichta was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Atoning for his error in the first inning, Myer drilled a first pitch fastball in the bottom of the second over the centerfield fence to spark a five-run frame. Adept at pirating bases, the Indians utilized their team speed to continue the big inning.  With runners at first and third and one out, North Hills executed a double steal that allowed Andrew Bly to trot home and the score was cut to 3-2, Tigers. Later in the inning, the Indians tied the game on an RBI ground out by Tyler Volz and took a 4-3 lead on an RBI single by Josh Kaminski.  A batter later, Kaminski rounded the bases on an NA throwing error to put North Hills ahead, 5-3.

The Tigers cut the score to 5-4 in the fifth inning on a majestic homerun to left field by Ryan Hamm, his first long ball of the season, but the Indians regained control in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run inning.  Tyler Volz capped the frame with a two-run double with two outs.

North Allegheny refused to go away quietly in the top of the sixth, chipping away with a sacrifice fly RBI by Plichta and another RBI single by Machi, cutting the North Hills advantage to 8-6.  With two on and two out, Hamm put a scare into the Indians with a deep fly ball to right-centerfield, but Bly made a reaching catch into the gap to keep the Tigers from coming any closer.

Kaminski, North Hills’ closer, finished off the 8-6 victory in the seventh inning by inducing a 4-6-3 double play. Indians starter Mike Serpa earned the win, grinding through six innings despite serving up 12 hits to the Tigers.  Machi got the start for NA and was chased in the second inning as he was saddled with his first loss of the year.

North Allegheny slips to 11-6 overall and 7-2 in Section 1-AAAA.  North Hills improves to 7-7 overall and 4-5 in section play. The Tigers visit New Castle on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 pm.  The Indians, hoping to reach playoffs for the first time since 2007, will take on Butler on Monday.

Line Score - NA Baseball vs. North Hills, 5/2/14