Baseball Game Summaries

by Randy Gore

The top-seeded North Allegheny baseball team fell to the eighth-seeded Hempfield Spartans on Monday night, 3-1, in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals at Boyce Mayview Park. Hempfield collected just two hits and hit the ball out of the infield only twice, both flyouts, but earned its first playoff win in four years by capitalizing on five hit batsmen and three North Allegheny errors.

The game started well for North Allegheny as a one-out single by J.J. Mancuso and an RBI double by Christian Simons gave the Tigers an immediate 1-0 lead. Despite the early deficit, Hempfield starter Josh Cayer didn’t allow a hit for the remainder of the night and retired 15 consecutive batters to end the ballgame.

With the Tigers held at bay, the Spartans tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning when Chase Sikorski raced home on a throwing error. The contest remained deadlocked until two more unearned runs scored in the fifth inning, giving Hempfield its winning margin of 3-1.

Cayer earned the victory for Hempfield with a complete game two-hitter and eight strikeouts. NA starter Nico Varlotta was the hard-luck loser, going 6.2 innings with six strikeouts and three unearned runs allowed.

For a remarkable four-year run donning the black and gold, including a WPIAL championship victory last season, the North Allegheny seniors were named the Wright Automotive Players of the game.

With the loss, North Allegheny’s season ends with a 14-7 record. Hempfield improves to 9-12 overall and advances to the WPIAL semifinals to face Norwin on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

Baseball Summary at Hempfield, 5-19-25

North Allegheny headed south to Peterswood Park to take on the Peters Township Indians in their final regular season game on Friday night. Traffic delayed the start time but once the Tigers were there, the offense exploded for 11 runs to defeat Peters Township, 11-5.

NA got things going in the top of the first inning when JJ Mancuso walked, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a Nico Varlotta single to make the score 1-0. The Tigers would get another run in the second inning when Augie Maslo led the inning off with a double, advanced to third on a balk, and scored on a Sean O’Donnell groundout to make the North Allegheny lead 2-0. Peters Township would respond with two runs in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game at 2-2.

The top of the fourth was NA’s big inning. It started with four straight walks to Varlotta, Mason Smith, Maslo and O’Donnell to give the Tigers the lead back at 3-2. Grant Husky walked making the score 4-2 and Miles Pealer singled home two runs to open the lead to 6-2. Christian Simons came up with a two-out, two-RBI single to expand the Tiger lead to 8-2 going into the bottom of the fourth. The Indians would respond with another run in the bottom of the fourth and NA led 8-3.

North Allegheny tacked on another run in the top of the fifth inning on a O’Donnell solo blast to make it 9-3. Smith hit his second home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth inning to give North Allegheny an 11-3 lead. Peters Township would score two runs in the bottom of the seventh but reliever Ben Wilcox got a line out to end the game and the Tigers came away with the 11-5 victory.

Colin Moore got the start and the win for North Allegheny going four innings allowing three runs and three hits. He struck out three batters. Wilcox threw the final three innings allowing two runs, neither earned, and two hits, striking out four. Pealer and Varlotta each had two hits for the Tigers while Pealer, Simons and Smith all drove in two runs.

North Allegheny finishes the regular season with a 14-6 record. Peters Township falls to 13-7. The Tigers will return to action on Monday, May 19 when they will battle Hempfield in the WPIAL Quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined. This game will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Baseball Summary at Peters Township, 5-9-25

North Allegheny traveled to Matulevic Field, the home of the Shaler Titans on Thursday afternoon to take on one of the top teams in 5A. The bats stayed quiet most of the afternoon but the Tigers exploded for three runs in the seventh inning to defeat Shaler by a score of 3-1.

Shaler got their one run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single to put the Titans up 1-0. NA stormed back in the top of the seventh when Miles Pealer walked, JJ Mancuso singled and Christian Simons walked loading the bases. Nate Surman would also walk to tie the game 1-1. Nico Varlotta came up with the big hit with a one-out, two-RBI single to give North Allegheny the 3-1 lead. Nate Surman closed the door in the seventh inning and the Tigers came away with a 3-1 victory.

Jackson Walsh started the game for North Allegheny going five innings allowing five hits and one run. He struck out eight batters. Surman picked up the win going two innings in relief allowing a hit and striking out four.

North Allegheny improves to 13-6 overall. Shaler falls to 13-6. The Tigers return to action tomorrow when they travel to Peterswood Park to take on the Peters Township Indians at 6:30 p.m. in their final playoff tune-up. The WPIAL brackets will also be announced tomorrow so NA will learn their playoff fate.

Baseball Summary at Shaler, 5-8-25

by Randy Gore

Senior Jackson Walsh tossed a complete game, one-hit shutout to lead North Allegheny to an 8-0 victory over North Hills on Thursday afternoon. The Gannon University commit struck out eight and retired 14 consecutive batters over the final five innings to silence the Indians. For his dominant performance, Walsh was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

Coming off a nine-run outburst in game two of the series, the North Allegheny lineup provided more than enough run support for Walsh in game three. In the third inning, Nico Varlotta gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly and Mason Smith added a two-out, two-run triple later in the frame for a 3-0 advantage.

A pair of RBI singles by Miles Pealer and Christian Simons in the fourth inning made it 5-0, Tigers. North Allegheny tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning for an 8-0 lead thanks to RBI singles by J.J. Mancuso and Varlotta, along with an RBI double by Smith. Smith, a Dartmouth College commit, went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Varlotta drove in a pair. Mancuso was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Simons and Pealer each scored a pair of runs and tallied an RBI.

North Allegheny, who had already clinched a Section 1-6A title entering the contest, finished section play with a 10-2 record and has a 12-6 mark overall. North Hills falls to 7-12 overall and 4-8 in the section. The playoff-bound Tigers will play a pair of non-section road games next week, facing Upper St. Clair on Wednesday and Shaler on Thursday.

Baseball Summary at North Hills, 5-1-25

North Allegheny traveled to North Hills High School to battle the Indians on Wednesday night in a Section 1-6A matchup. After falling on Monday, the Tigers evened the series rallying late to defeat North Hills by a score of 9-3.

NA struck first in the top of the first inning when Miles Pealer singled, got to second on a Nate Persinger walk and scored on an error by the North Hills’ shortstop to make the score 1-0.

The Indians would respond with two runs in the bottom of the second to make the score 2-1. The Tigers answered back in the top of the fourth when JJ Mancuso led the inning off with a walk, Nico Varlotta singled, both players moved up on a balk, Augie Maslo walked to load the bases and Sean O’Donnell hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Mancuso to tie the game at 2-2.

North Hills would get the lead right back in the bottom of the fourth scoring another run to make the score 3-2. The top of the sixth is when the Tigers really got work. Just like the fourth inning, Mancuso got it started with a walk and Varlotta singled. Mason Smith got a sacrifice bunt down putting runners on second and third. Maslo put down a safety squeeze that was mishandled by the first baseman, scoring Mancuso and the game was tied 3-3. O’Donnell would then put a perfect bunt down, giving himself a single and loading the bases. With two outs, Pealer stepped up clearing the bases with a three-RBI triple to break open the game and give NA the 6-3 lead.

North Allegheny would tack on three more in the seventh when Christian Simons led the inning off with a walk, Simons was pinch-ran for by Sam Vargo who stole second and scored on a Mancuso single to make the score 7-3. Varlotta singled, Smith walked and with the bases loaded, Maslo was hit by a pitch to make it 8-3. An O’Donnell walk made it 9-3 and the Tigers would put North Hills down in order in the bottom of the seventh to come away with the victory.

Persinger got the win going five innings allowing three runs on three hits and striking out eight. Liam Cooper pitched the final two innings in relief not allowing a hit and striking out two. Varlotta was 3 for 4 at the plate and Mancuso scored three times. Pealer was 2 for 5 with three RBIs.

North Allegheny improves to 11-6 overall and 9-2 in the section. North Hills falls to 7-11 overall and 4-7 in section play. The Tigers and Indians will compete in the series finale tomorrow at North Allegheny High School at 7 p.m. That game will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Baseball Summary at North Hills, 4-30-25