Baseball Game Summaries

Third-seeded North Allegheny dropped a 4-2 decision to top-seeded Butler in the WPIAL Class 6A championship on Wednesday afternoon at EQT Park in Washington, PA. The Tigers were making their fourth appearance in the WPIAL title game in the last six years, while Butler was competing in the championship contest for the first time since 1992.

In a projected pitcher’s duel between North Allegheny’s Liam Cooper and Butler’s Nolan Stefaniak, the game was scoreless going into the bottom of the third before the Golden Tornado broke the deadlock. Junior Jake Szebalskie led off the inning with a base hit, and an out later, South Carolina Aiken commit, Boden Lenyk, drove a high fly ball over the left field fence for a two-run homer, giving Butler a 2- 0 lead.

Stefaniak, a Penn State commit and major league draft prospect, retired the first nine batters he faced, including six strikeouts, but ran into trouble in the fourth inning. North Allegheny junior Jake Fritz drove an opposite field triple down the right field line to start the inning, and raced home on a Stefaniak wild pitch, cutting the Butler lead to 2-1. Finishing 2-for-4 on the day with a triple and a run scored, Fritz was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

TIGERS ON THE BOARD!@jakefritz02 with a leadoff triple in the top of the 4th inning. He later comes around to score on the wild pitch.

Butler 2@natigerbaseball 1

Listen to the NA Sports Network broadcast here: https://t.co/hvqq0MQR5K

Video courtesy of @NFHSNetwork… pic.twitter.com/ad8XtPZwoa

— NATigers (@NATigerAthletic) May 27, 2026

DOUBLED UP! @DratfinskyMason with a great catch in center and a gun to the plate to complete the double play and prevent the Butler run!

Butler 2@natigerbaseball 1

Top 5th

Listen to the NA Sports Network broadcast here: https://t.co/wxIsaKM4F5

Video courtesy of… pic.twitter.com/e7OOF9NvtU

— NATigers (@NATigerAthletic) May 27, 2026

In the fifth inning, North Allegheny struck again to tie the game. Junior Gavin Ust led off with a single and stole second. Two outs later, senior Carter Boehm delivered a clutch RBI single to score Ust, and the game was knotted at 2-2.

TIE BALLGAME!@BoehmCarter2 with the RBI single, scoring @gavin_ust @natigerbaseball 2
Butler 2

5th Inning

Listen to the NA Sports Network broadcast here: https://t.co/wxIsaKLwPx

Video courtesy of @NFHSNetwork@LeeBobSports @NA_Schools @wpial7 pic.twitter.com/fGHYFhc2xM

— NATigers (@NATigerAthletic) May 27, 2026

The tie was short-lived, however, as Pitt commit Mavrik Clement vaulted Butler back in front with an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. Later in the frame, a Stefaniak RBI single scored Clement for a 4-2 lead.

With Stefaniak scuffling in the fourth and fifth innings, Butler turned to WVU commit Kyle Casteel out of the bullpen, who tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh frames to secure the win and the Golden Tornado’s first-ever WPIAL championship in baseball.

Casteel struck out the side in the seventh to collect his first save of the season. Stefaniak earned the victory and struck out nine batters to improve to 6-1 on the year. Cooper was saddled with the loss despite pitching well, going five innings and permitting four runs, just two earned, with no walks and one strikeout.

For North Allegheny, the loss ends the season with a 14-9 overall record. Congratulations to head coach Andrew Heck and the entire team for a memorable season and another trip to the WPIAL championship game.

Winners of 13 in a row, Butler improves to 20-3 on the year and will play Mifflin County in the first round of the PIAA playoffs on Monday.

BASEBALL SUMMARY VS. BUTLER, 5-27-26

Line Score	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
North Allegheny	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	6	4
Butler	0	0	2	0	2	0	X	4	8	1

By Randy Gore

For the second consecutive playoff game, a North Allegheny starting pitcher went the distance as the third-seeded Tigers outlasted second-seeded Canon-McMillan in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals, 4-3, at W&J College’s Ross Memorial Park on Wednesday night. Junior Jake Fritz tossed six scoreless innings and staved off a late rally in the seventh to propel the Tigers to their fourth WPIAL title game appearance in the last six seasons. Jake Fritz allowed three unearned runs and struck out 10, including the final batter of the ball game, to earn Wright Automotive Player of the Game honors. He was also 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI double in the seventh, driving home what turned out to be the game-winning run.

Facing Canon-McMillan right-hander Seb Shulsky, a University of Cincinnati commit, North Allegheny took the early lead in the top of the second inning when Christian Simons delivered a two-out RBI single to score Ryan Evanish for a 1-0 lead. Sophomore Ben Kern followed with an RBI triple down the right field line to increase the Tigers’ advantage to 2-0.

Shulsky settled into the game in the middle innings and retired nine consecutive batters before sophomore Nate Fritz led off the sixth inning with a double. After Dominic Williamson was hit by a pitch, a Canon-McMillan throwing error moved runners to second and third. A sacrifice fly by J.J. Mancuso scored Nate Fritz from third for a 3-0 lead.

Shulsky went six innings on the bump with 10 strikeouts before hitting the pitch-count limit. With Shulksy out of the contest, North Allegheny tacked on an important insurance run against Canon-McMillan reliever Matthew Kocan in the seventh inning. With two outs and a runner at second base, Jake Fritz hit a deep fly ball to centerfield that was lost in the lights by CM’s Massimo Falconi, dropping in for an RBI double that scored Carter Shearon for a 4-0 lead.

Unwilling to go away quietly, Canon-McMillan rallied in the bottom of the seventh. A throwing error allowed Troy Stimpson to score the Big Macs’ first run, trimming the NA lead to 4-1. Later in the inning and down to their final out, the Big Macs came through with a clutch pinch hit, two-out, two-run single off the bat of Alex Eslep and NA’s advantage was cut to 4-3. With the potential game-tying run on the bases, Jake Fritz buckled down and struck out Noah Westfall to end the ballgame and North Allegheny prevailed for a 4-3 victory.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 14-8 on the season and advances to the WPIAL Class 6A championship to face section rival Butler next week at EQT Park. Canon-McMillan’s season concludes with a 16-6 mark. As always, the WPIAL Class 6A championship game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

BASEBALL SUMMARY VS. BUTLER, 5-27-26

Line Score	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
North Allegheny	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	2	6	4
Butler	0	0	2	0	2	0	X	4	8	1

By Randy Gore

Senior Liam Cooper tossed a three-hit complete game shutout to lead North Allegheny to a 2-0 win over the Hempfield Spartans on Monday night in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals at Boyce Mayview Park. It was a masterful performance by the NA right-hander, tallying four strikeouts and needing just 72 pitches to dispose of the Spartans. Cooper improved to 6-2 on the season and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game for his heroics.

The victory was a measure of revenge for the Tigers, who were upset by the Spartans in the 2025 WPIAL quarterfinals, 3-0. This time around, it was North Allegheny who frustrated Hempfield with stellar pitching.

With Cooper holding the Spartans at bay, North Allegheny scored all the runs it needed in the second inning. Junior Christian Simons drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single to right field that plated Ryan Evanish for a 1-0 lead. Moments later, a fielder’s choice RBI groundout by senior Ben Kowger drove home Gavin Ust to extend the NA advantage to 2-0.

To his credit, Hempfield starter Lucas Simmons was outstanding on the mound as well, yielding only two runs and scattering seven hits in a complete game effort. Simmons struck out three batters and was the hard-luck loser for the Spartans.

North Allegheny improves to 13-8 overall with the win and advances to the WPIAL semifinals to face the Canon-McMillan Big Macs on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network. Hempfield’s season comes to an end with a 10-11 record.

BASEBALL SUMMARY VS. HEMPFIELD, 5-18-26

Line Score	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	R	H	E
Hempfield	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
North Allegheny	0	2	0	0	0	0	X	2	7	2

By: Jared Barton

The North Allegheny baseball team hosted Peters Township for a non-section matchup to cap off the regular season at home Friday evening. The Tigers out-hit the Indians, but came up short in the score column, falling 5-1.

The Indians broke the scoreless tie in the top of the first inning on an RBI sacrifice fly from David Oberschelp that scored James Tygard.

Peters added to the lead at the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Lucas Wells scored on a passed ball. After a flyout, Oberschelp singled in Tygard, and he later scored on an error himself. The Indians took a 5-0 lead when Gabe Marino scored on another passed ball.

North Allegheny cracked the score sheet with two outs in the sixth inning. Junior Dominic Williamson was hit by a pitch, then he stole second base before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Junior JJ Mancuso singled the run home.

Junior Preston Howard took the loss on the bump for the Tigers, only going one inning and letting up the first run of the ballgame with one strikeout. In a designed pitching strategy, junior Jake Fritz completed four innings of relief work, striking out eight while letting up four unearned runs. He also two hits offensively and was named Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Senior Ryan Veverka earned the win from the mound for Peters Township, pitching four scoreless innings and striking out five Tigers.

North Allegheny has over a week before the first playoff game on Monday, May 18th. NA takes on Hempfield in a rematch of last year’s WPIAL 6A Quarterfinal from Boyce Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair at 7:00 p.m.

BASEBALL SUMMARY VS. PETERS TOWNSHIP, 5-8-26

LINE SCORE	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	R	H	E
Peters Township	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	5	5	0
North Allegheny	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	8	4

By: Jared Barton

The North Allegheny baseball team celebrated senior night in a big way, topping Shaler 11-1 on Thursday night in five innings.

Junior Gavin Ust got the offense rolling for the Tigers in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI single that scored senior Alex Lopez. 

NA really did some damage in the bottom of the third inning, scoring six runs. Junior Jake Fritz grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored sophomore Ben Kern. On the next at-bat, junior Mason Dratfinsky doubled in two runs, scoring both Jake and Nate Fritz. Dratfinsky later scored on a wild pitch before senior Carter Boehm doubled in Ust. With the bases loaded later in the inning, Nate Fritz walked, scoring senior Nate Surman. The Tigers led 7-0 after three innings.

In the bottom of the fourth, senior Carter Shearon singled in both Kern and Ust to make it a 9-0 NA lead. Boehm scored on a passed ball in the next at-bat.

Shaler found the lone run of the ballgame in the top of the fifth inning, but the game ultimately ended due to the run rule in the bottom of the frame on a lineout from senior Grant Huskey that scored Nate Fritz.

With his three-hit performance, Fritz was named Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Senior Liam Cooper earned the win on the bump, pitching four innings with five strikeouts and only one walk. Seniors William Schmidt and Garrett Evanish each also contributed a strikeout from the hill.

North Allegheny hosts Peters Township in the final game of the regular season on Friday afternoon at 4:00.

BASEBALL SUMMARY VS. SHALER 5-7-26

Line Score	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	R	H	E
Shaler	0	0	0	0	1	X	X	1	5	1
North Allegheny	0	1	6	3	1	X	X	11	12	1