Baseball Game Summaries

By: Randy Gore

North Allegheny rallied for four runs in the bottom of the seventh for a thrilling 5-4 walk-off win over Central Catholic on Thursday night. The stunning victory completed a three-game sweep of the Vikings and was the eighth consecutive for the Tigers.

On a night that saw the teams combine for 14 walks, three hit batsmen and four wild pitches, the tone was set early as Central Catholic capitalized on two walks, a passed ball, and an error to score the game’s first run in the top of the first inning. With runners
at the corners and one out, the Vikings executed a successful double steal, with Reece Hankinson crossing the plate for a 1-0 lead.

Central Catholic increased the lead to 3-0 in the second inning thanks to an RBI groundout by Brady Wilson and a two-out RBI double by C.J. Proch. Wilson’s fielder’s choice RBI groundball in the third inning made it 4-0, PCC. The Vikings had a chance to blow the game wide open in the third inning but squandered a bases-loaded situation as NA starter Jackson Walsh buckled down for a strikeout of Landon Greene, keeping the Vikings’ lead at four runs. Walsh’s strikeout and the relief work of senior Colin Moore proved pivotal to the comeback win. Moore silenced Central Catholic for the remainder of the game and permitted only two hits in four scoreless innings of relief. Moore struck out seven batters and ultimately earned the win, making him an easy choice for Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors.

Central Catholic starting pitcher Ryan Tatar, a University of Connecticut commit, was sharp in the first four innings and limited NA to only four baserunners and one hit, a harmless bunt single in the second inning. However, Tatar ran into trouble in the fifth inning as he walked three batters and hit two others, allowing the Tigers to score their first run. A sacrifice fly by Miles Pealer drove in Mason Dratfinsky, cutting the PCC lead to 4-1. The Vikings limited the damage as a baserunner was thrown out at third by left fielder Wilson, and reliever Nathan O’Leary struck out a batter with the bases loaded, keeping the Vikings’ lead at 4-1.

In the sixth inning, PCC reliever Josh McFadden struck out a batter to leave the bases loaded to thwart an NA threat, but the Tigers were able to rally against the right-hander in the bottom of the seventh. After McFadden struck out the inning’s first batter, Christian Simons drew a walk and advanced to third on back-to-back wild pitches. Nate Surman lifted a deep fly ball to left field for a sacrifice fly to score Simons, cutting the deficit to 4-2. On the same play, the fly ball was dropped by Wilson, allowing Surman to also reach base with still only one out in the inning. Augie Maslo followed with an RBI triple laced into the left-centerfield gap to trim the PCC lead to 4-3. Moments later, Maslo scampered home on a wild pitch, and the game was tied, 4-4. With game now deadlocked, Sean O’Donnell kept the rally going with an infield single. An infield single by Dratfinsky followed the O’Donnell base hit, and when PCC’s third baseman threw the ball errantly down the right field line, O’Donnell raced around the bases to score the game-winning run and the Tigers prevailed, 5-4.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 8-2 overall and 6-0 in the section. Losers of five in a row, Central Catholic falls to 5-7 overall and 2-7 in the section. The Tigers will host Penn-Trafford on Saturday at noon. The game will be broadcast live by the North
Allegheny Sports Network.

North Allegheny traveled to the No Offseason Complex in Russleton, PA for the second game of three with Central Catholic. After winning the first game 6-5, the Tigers claimed the series taking the second game 6-3 on Tuesday afternoon.

After falling behind 3-0 in the first inning yesterday, NA struck in the top of the first when Mason Smith led the game off with a walk, Miles Pealer singled, and Christian Simons singled to score Smith and the Tigers led 1-0 going into the bottom of the first.

Central Catholic would score a run in the bottom of the third and two in the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. North Allegheny would respond in the top of the fifth when Pealer walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a balk to make the score 3-2. Pinch-runner Carson Burns scored on a pass ball with two outs and the game was tied 3-3 going into the bottom of the fifth.

After getting a one-two-three inning, NA kept the pressure on offensively. Grant Husky led the inning off with a walk, Smith singled and advanced to second on the throw, and courtesy runner Sam Vargo (running for Husky) scored on a passed ball to give the Tigers the lead back at 4-3. With runners on the corners, Simons grounded into a fielder’s choice scoring Smith, and North Allegheny led 5-3 going into the bottom of the sixth.

The Tigers gave themselves some breathing room by getting one more in the top of the seventh when Sean O’Donnell had a one-out double, Mason Dratfinsky reached on an error advancing O’Donnell to third, and Husky grounded out scoring O’Donnell to make the score 6-3.

NA reliever Liam Cooper put the Vikings down in order in the bottom of the seventh inning and the Tigers came away with the 6-3 victory. Cooper got the win going 3 1/3 innings not allowing a hit and striking out two. Nate Persinger started for North Allegheny, he went 3 2/3 innings allowing three hits and three runs (none earned) while striking out six batters.

North Allegheny improves to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the section. Central Catholic falls to 5-6 overall and 2-6 in section play. The Tigers go for the sweep on Thursday when they take on the Vikings in the series finale at 7 p.m. This game will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Baseball Summary at Central Catholic, 4-15-25

by Randy Gore

The North Allegheny baseball team won its sixth consecutive game on Monday afternoon with a 6-5 home triumph over Central Catholic. The Tigers overcame an early 3-0 deficit and fended off a Vikings rally in the late innings to claim game one of the three-game series.

Coming off series losses to Seneca Valley and North Hills, Central Catholic got off on the right foot in the series opener with a three-run top of the first inning, keyed by a two-run single by junior Landon Greene. North Allegheny starter Nico Varlotta threw 30 pitches in a rocky first inning. However, the North Alabama commit settled into a groove, allowing only one hit, with seven strikeouts over the next four innings.

Varlotta’s ability to silence the Vikings allowed the Tigers to rally back with a big bottom of the third inning. Aided by a walk, a hit batsman, three wild pitches and two errors, North Allegheny needed only two hits to score four runs and grabbed a 4-3 lead. NA’s two hits in the frame were back-to-back RBI singles by senior Miles Pealer and Varlotta.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Tigers expanded the lead to 6-3 on a two-run single by senior Mason Smith. The insurance runs proved pivotal as things got tight in the late innings.

Varlotta pitched into the sixth inning but ran out of gas as the first four batters reached, including an RBI single by Christian Corderio that trimmed the NA advantage to 6-4. With the bases loaded and nobody out, coach Andrew Heck turned to the bullpen and back-end reliever Nate Surman. The right-hander wiggled out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts and allowed only one inherited runner to score on a fielder’s choice RBI by Brady Wilson, which cut the NA lead to 6-5.

In the top of the seventh, Central Catholic started an uprising with a leadoff single by Reece Hankinson and a one-out walk by C.J. Proch to put the game-tying run in scoring position and the go-ahead run on the base paths. However, Surman buckled down once again and induced a game-ending double play to secure a 6-5 victory and his third save of the season. Working two critical innings of scoreless relief, Surman was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Varlotta earned the win with five-plus innings of work and seven strikeouts. Central Catholic starter and Ohio University commit, Josh McFadden, was chased in the fourth inning and suffered the loss.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 6-2 overall and 4-0 in Section 1-6A. Central Catholic dips to 5-5 overall and 2-5 in section play. The Tigers will face the Vikings on the road in game two of the series on Tuesday afternoon. NA will host Central Catholic in game three on Thursday night in a game that can be heard on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Baseball Summary vs. Central Catholic, 4-14-25

North Allegheny traveled to Pullman Park to take on the Butler Golden Tornado in the third game of their three-game series. The Tigers jumped out to a 7-1 lead, Butler rallied to get the go-ahead run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning but NA was able to shut the door and come away with a 7-4 victory to finish off the three-game sweep.

The Tigers got the scoring started in the top of the second inning when J.J. Mancuso led the inning off with a walk, got to second on a passed ball, then scored when Sean O’Donnell singled to make the score 1-0. Grant Husky singled home O’Donnell and made the score 2-0 going into the bottom of the second.

NA’s offense got back to it in the third inning when Christian Simons got hit by a pitch, got to third on a Mancuso single and scored on an error the make the score 3-0. Augie Maslo singled home Mancuso to expand the lead to 4-0 and Husky collected another RBI singling to score Maslo and going into the bottom of the third the score was 5-0.

The Tigers scratched another run across in the top of the fifth inning when Mason Draftinsky singled and Husky doubled him home to give North Allegheny a 6-0 lead.

Butler got a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 6-1 but the Tigers got the run right back in the top of the sixth when Miles Pealer led off getting hit by a pitch, he stole second, got to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 7-1.

Butler would make the game very interesting in the seventh inning cutting the Tiger lead to 7-4 and had the bases loaded with two outs. Tiger reliever Colin Moore got a ground out to close out the game, and NA escaped with a 7-4 win, completing the sweep.

Jackson Walsh picked up the win going five innings allowing one run on three hits. Walsh struck out six batters and walked one. Husky finished the day 3 for 4 driving in three runs. Draftinsky was 2 for 2.

North Allegheny improves to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the section. Butler falls to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in section play. The Tigers return to action on Monday when they host Central Catholic in the first game of a three-game section series. First pitch is at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Baseball Summary at Butler, 4-11-25

By: Jared Barton

North Allegheny baseball beat Butler 2-1 at home in game two of the section series Wednesday afternoon. The victory secures the series win for the Tigers and keeps NA undefeated in section play.

North Allegheny had excellent pitching from senior Nate Persinger, who struck out the side to begin the game. The righty ended his outing with seven strikeouts in six innings of work.

The lone run for Butler came across in the third inning. Owen Boring reached on a single and later came around the score on an RBI single from Boden Lenyk.

The Tigers returned the favor in the bottom of the third when senior Augie Maslo reached on a walk. He later stole second base and scored on an RBI single from fellow senior Mason Smith.

Butler ace Kyle Casteel struck out nine NA batters in six and two third innings of work. Tanner Pry came in for relief  for the last out in the seventh inning.

North Allegheny turned to junior Nate Surman, who pitched well into the extra inning. He came up with four strikeouts to keep the game tied heading into the bottom of the eighth.

The Tigers found life in the bottom of the eighth to secure the win. Senior Sean O’Donnell reached first on a fielder’s choice. Later in the frame, he scored on a wild pitch from third base to end the game.

Persinger took home Wright Automotive Player of the Game laurels.

With the win, the Tigers improve to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in section play. NA plays Butler tomorrow from Pullman Park for a scheduled 5:30 p.m. first pitch to end the season series.

Line Score - Baseball vs. Butler- 04/9/2025