Baseball Game Summaries

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

by: Brandon Rossi

The North Allegheny baseball team began its final section series of the season on the losing end of a 7-3 final score Monday night to North Hills. The loss drops the Tigers to 10-6 on the season and 8-2 in section play. Although the Tigers lost, Seneca Valley defeated Butler, which made NA section champions.

During pregame, the 10 North Allegheny seniors were celebrated in the Tigers’ annual Senior Night. The decorated class includes Augie Maslo, Nico Varlotta, Miles Pealer, Nate Persinger, Colin Moore, Carson Burns, Ben Wilcox, Jackson Walsh, Mason Smith, and Sean O’Donnell. Out of these 10 players, eight of them are currently committed to play collegiate baseball.

North Allegheny got out to the early lead after an RBI single by Varlotta put the Tigers on the board first in the bottom of the second inning. However, the wheels quickly fell off in the top of the third when 10 North Hills batters came to the plate and five of them scored, reaching in a myriad of ways including base hits, walks, hit by pitches, and even a strikeout on a passed ball allowing said baserunner to reach.

After the Tigers were struck out in order in the bottom of the third, but were able to get one run back in the next inning after junior Nate Surman led off with a base hit. The next two batters grounded out, which allowed Surman to reach third base, and then he eventually scored on a wild pitch.

The gap quickly went back to four runs after a leadoff walk for North Hills came all the way across the diamond on three separate wild pitches. In the fifth, Pealer grounded to second base with runners on second and third, driving in the latter and giving him the RBI, putting the score at 6-3. An RBI single in the top of the sixth put the nail in the Tigers’ coffin at 7-3.

Despite the four-run defeat, there were some bright spots. Three Tigers’ pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts in the game, and every batter in the North Hills lineup struck out at least once. However, what did NA in was several wild pitches, hit batsmen, and a pair of walks. Varlotta took the loss in four innings of work, striking out seven in that span. Wilcox went the next two innings and fanned four Indians of his own, while Moore finished out the seventh inning.

As for baserunners, the Tigers only reached base six times with three hits and a trio of walks. Varlotta was the only NA player to reach base more than once with an RBI single and a leadoff walk in the fifth.

The Tigers will look to get a win back tomorrow with the second of a three-game set with the Indians beginning at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at North Hills.

Baseball Summary vs. North Hills, 4-28-25

North Allegheny traveled to Seneca Valley High School to take on the Raiders in the rubber match of the section series. The Tigers fell behind early 4-0 but had a huge fourth inning that catapulted NA to a 9-6 win on Thursday afternoon. The win puts North Allegheny in prime position to claim the section title as they are now two games up on Seneca Valley with three games to go.

Seneca Valley got two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the third to jump out to a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers responded in the top of the fourth inning as they got three straight singles from JJ Mancuso, Grant Husky and Sean O’Donnell to load the bases. Miles Pealer grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Mancuso and cut the Seneca Valley lead to 4-1. Augie Maslo walked to reload the bases and Nate Surman also walked to make the score 4-2. Nate Persinger got hit by a pitch to cut the lead to 4-3 before Christian Simons walked to tie the game 4-4. With two outs, Mancuso got his second hit of the inning, a bases clearing double, and the Tigers had their first lead of the day at 7-4.

 NA tacked on one more run in the fifth inning when Pealer got hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Surman single to make the score 8-4.

The Tigers got some insurance in the top of the seventh inning when Mason Dratfinsky and O’Donnell had back-to-back doubles to make the score 9-4. Seneca Valley made the game interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning getting two runs before reliever Surman shut the door, and North Allegheny took the series with a 9-6 win.

Jackson Walsh got the win on the mound going four innings allowing four hits and two earned runs. Walsh struck out five batters. Surman picked up the save going the final 2 1/3 innings giving up four hits and one earned run.

Mancuso went 3 for 4 on the day driving in two runs. Husky, O’Donnell and Surman all had two hits.

North Allegheny improves to 10-5 overall and 8-1 in section play. Seneca Valley falls to 8-6 overall and 5-4 in the section. The Tigers return to action on Monday when they host North Hills at 7 p.m. This is Senior Night, and the game will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Baseball Summary at Seneca Valley, 4-24-25