Baseball Game Summaries

Facing the District 10 champion McDowell Trojans in the postseason for the third time in the last five seasons, the North Allegheny baseball team earned an 11-5 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class 6A playoffs. The Tigers’ lineup put up crooked numbers in the fifth and seventh innings to advance to the state quarterfinals where they’ll face District 3 champion Cedar Cliff on Thursday.

In 2018 and 2019, the Tigers earned PIAA first round victories over the Trojans. On Monday afternoon at Mercyhurst University, North Allegheny once again defeated McDowell on a day where every player in the NA lineup gave rise to a productive at bat. Exemplary of the Tigers success was senior leadoff man Harron Lee, who went 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, three RBI’s and two runs scored. The Harvard commit was named the Wright Automotive Player of the game.

The Tigers started the scoring in the top of the first inning and began the game with a leadoff double by Lee. Later in the inning, a bases loaded walk by senior Ian Zahorchak brought home Lee for a 1-0 lead.

McDowell tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third on a North Allegheny throwing error, but regained the lead quickly in the top of the fourth. Junior David Posey led off the fourth with a double, and his courtesy runner Sean O’Donnell scored later in the frame thanks to an RBI groundout by Lee and the Tigers led, 2-1.

Thanks to a four-run fifth inning, North Allegheny started to take command of the game. Junior Owen Schall plated one run with a successful squeeze bunt and Andrew Hart scored another on a wild pitch, to increase the lead to 4-1. Senior Anthony Varlotta drove in Schall with an RBI single for a 5-1 advantage. Anthony Varlotta scored on an error later in the inning to grow the lead to 6-1, Tigers.

With a knack for late-game comebacks this season, McDowell started to chip away with an RBI groundout by Carter Swanson in the fifth inning, and Jake Banks scored on a passed ball in the sixth, trimming the NA lead to 6-3.

The Tigers doused any comeback hopes for the Trojans, however, in the top of the seventh with a five-run frame. The big inning included a two-run double by Lee, a sacrifice fly RBI by Drew Dougherty, an RBI double from Spencer Barnett and an RBI single courtesy of Schall. Schall ended the day with a 2-for-3 outing with two RBI’s and a run scored.

With NA leading 11-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, McDowell refused to go away quietly and cut the score to 11-5 on an RBI single from Connor Cross and a bases loaded walk for an RBI by Nick Hamilton. The effort was too little, too late for the Trojans as reliever Nico Varlotta induced a flyout of Brady Kramer to end the ballgame and the Tigers prevailed, 11-5.

Nico Varlotta went two innings of relief for NA and Posey, who started game, earned the victory with five strong innings and eight strikeouts. McDowell’s Nick Hamilton, who pitched a no-hitter in the PIAA subregional game against State College, suffered the loss and surrendered three runs in four innings on the bump.

North Allegheny improves to 17-7 on the season and will take on Cedar Cliff in the PIAA quarterfinals on Thursday at a site and time to be determined. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network. McDowell’s season comes to a close with a 15-7 record.

Line Score - Baseball vs. McDowell - 06/05/2023

Already owning a league-best eight WPIAL titles, North Allegheny’s quest for a ninth district crown fell short on Wednesday night in a 4-0 defeat to Mt. Lebanon in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game at Wild Things Park. Mt. Lebanon pitcher David Shields threw a no-hitter, with nine strikeouts, a walk and two hit batsmen. Shields’ performance was 21 years to the day of when Chris Koutsavlis pitched the first no-hitter in PNC Park history in a Mt. Lebanon WPIAL championship win over Blackhawk.

Appearing in the WPIAL Championship game for the 18th time in program history, North Allegheny seemed poised to strike first when senior Harron Lee led off with a walk in the bottom of the first inning. A Drew Daugherty sacrifice bunt advanced Lee to second base, but he’d traverse no farther as Shields retired the next two batters to keep the game scoreless.

Mt. Lebanon gave Shields more than enough run support with a three-run second inning. A two-out RBI single from Jacob Tinnemeyer scored the game’s first run and a two-run triple later in the frame by Tanner Donati gave the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead.

Mt. Lebanon added an insurance run in the top of the fourth inning when Tinnemeyer raced home on a North Allegheny error for a 4-0 advantage.

Shields made sure that the four runs would stand and permitted only four base runners on the night. Shields improved to 5-1 on the season with the victory. North Allegheny junior J.D. Costanzo pitched well despite taking the loss. The NA southpaw struckout six batters and allowed four runs (three earned). Junior David Posey worked one scoreless inning of relief.

Following the loss, North Allegheny falls to 16-7 on the season, while Mt. Lebanon improves to 13-10. The Tigers will take on McDowell in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs on Monday at a site and time to be determined. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Line Score - Baseball vs. Mt. Lebanon - 05/31/2023

On the strength of a complete-game four-hitter by junior pitcher David Posey, North Allegheny defeated Butler 5-2 in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals on Tuesday night at Boyce Mayview Park. The triumph over the Tornado sends the Tigers to the WPIAL championship game for the second time in the last three seasons. The Tigers, who already own a league-record eight WPIAL titles, will vie for a ninth district crown next week against reigning champion Mt Lebanon.

Posey’s pitching, and the stellar defense behind him, highlighted an overall sound victory for the Tigers. Butler starter Colin Casteel surrendered only three hits in a complete-game effort, but North Allegheny scratched across five runs against the right hander with the use of some small ball.

In the bottom of the first inning, Harron Lee led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second base by Drew Dougherty. A Spencer Barnett walk put two runners on base and Andrew Hart followed with an RBI single to score Lee, giving the Tigers a 1-0 lead. With runners at the corners, a well-executed double steal brought Barnett across the pay station for a 2-0 advantage.

Butler nearly cut into the NA lead in the second inning on a two-out single by Andrew Lucas, but a pin-point throw from left fielder Anthony Varlotta nailed runner Liam McElroy at the plate to keep the score, 2-0, Tigers.

The Golden Tornado did touch the scoreboard for the first and only time in the top of the third inning when Lance Slater clubbed his first home run of the season over the left field fence to tie the game at 2-2.

Matthew Parreaguirre scores on a throwing error to give NA a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning.

The decisive inning occurred in the bottom of the fourth for North Allegheny. Hart led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. An out later, Ian Zahorchak drew a walk and was substituted on the bases by courtesy runner Matthew Parreaguirre. After a double steal by Hart and Parreaguirre put runners at second and third, Varlotta bounced an RBI fielder’s choice ground ball to Lucas at third base. Lucas uncorked a high throw to home plate and over the head of catcher Connor McTighe, allowing a second runner to score and NA held a 4-2 lead. With Varlotta at second base, a passed ball advanced him to third and a walk to Posey placed runners at the corners with still only one out. Sophomore Augie Maslo laid down a beautiful sacrifice squeeze bunt for an RBI, scoring Varlotta, and increasing the Tigers advantage to 5-2.

The three-run lead was more than enough for Posey, who earned his second victory against Butler this season, improving to 4-2 on the year. Posey silenced the Tornado with nine strikeouts and was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Casteel punched out eight batters in a hard-luck loss for the Youngstown State commit.

With the win, North Allegheny leaps to 16-6 on the season, while Butler’s campaign ends with a 12-9 mark. The second-seeded Tigers will take on fifth-seeded Mt. Lebanon next week at Wild Things Park. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Line Score - Baseball vs. Butler - 05/23/2023

The North Allegheny baseball team punched its ticket to the WPIAL semifinal round for the fifth time in the last six seasons with a with 3-0 shutout of the Norwin Knights in the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals on Monday night at Boyce Mayview Park.

Junior southpaw J.D. Costanzo tossed five innings of one-hit baseball with eight strikeouts to earn the victory and improve to 6-2 on the season. Sophomore reliever Nico Varlotta worked two scoreless innings to complete the shutout. Costanzo was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game.

As it turned out, North Allegheny got all the offense it needed in the bottom of the third inning when back-to-back RBI singles by seniors Andrew Dougherty and Spencer Barnett gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

NA tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Junior Owen Schall deposited a double down the right field line with one out in the inning. On a deep fly out to centerfield, Schall tagged and advanced to third. When the Norwin defense uncorked an errant throw toward third base and into the Knights’ dugout, Schall scored and the Tigers held a 3-0 lead.

Despite being shutout, Norwin had plenty of base runners thanks in part to six walks, but left nine men on base. In the top of the seventh inning with two outs, back-to-back singles by Keegan Carr and Ryan Mesko brought the potential game-tying run to the plate in the form of Chris Slatt. However, Varlotta buckled down to induce a ground out of Norwin’s No. 3 hitter to end the ballgame and propel the Tigers into the WPIAL semifinals. Second baseman Augie Maslo made an outstanding play on Slatt’s slow ground ball, charging in and darting a perfect throw to first base for the game’s final out.

An additional sterling defensive effort was turned in during the top of the fourth inning. With a Jake Auld at third base and one out, Stephen Rodgers bounced a chopper to first baseman David Posey, who quickly cut down the runner with a throw home to catcher Ian Zahorchak. The alert play by Posey and tag by Zahorchak kept NA’s 2-0 lead intact at that point in the ballgame.

Norwin sophomore pitcher Ethan Culbertson was the hard-luck loser, giving up three runs, just one earned, with three strikeouts in an efficient 59 pitches.

With the win, North Allegheny leaps to 15-6 on the season, while Norwin’s year comes to an end with an 8-8 record. The Tigers will take on section rival Butler on Tuesday night in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals. The game will be broadcast live by the North Allegheny Sports Network.

Line Score - Baseball vs. Norwin - 05/22/2023

The North Allegheny baseball team capped the regular season with doubleheader sweep against Fox Chapel and Trinity in non-section play on Thursday. In game one, the Tigers prevailed in walk-off fashion against the Foxes, 6-5, thanks to a walk-off RBI single by Andrew Hart to score Matthew Parreaguirre in the bottom of the 10th inning. In the night cap, the Tigers blanked the visiting Hillers, 7-0.

Against Fox Chapel, North Allegheny trailed 5-2 before the staging a rally in the bottom the seventh. Junior Owen Schall‘s one-out RBI single cut the deficit to 5-3. With the Tigers down to their final out, senior Anthony Varlotta’s two-run single knotted the score at 5-5 to force extra innings. The game remained deadlocked until Hart’s walk-off single drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

Senior Spencer Barnett had a big day at the plate in game one, going 3-for-4 with two walks and two runs scored. Senior Joseph Dejonckheere picked up the win in relief with 4.2 innings of work, permitting two runs on three hits with one walk and two strike outs.

Junior J.D. Costanzo silenced Trinity for six shutout innings and 15 strikeouts in a 7-0 win.

In game two, the Tigers and Hillers were scoreless through three innings before NA broke the game open with a five-run fourth inning. Varlotta sparked the big inning with a two-run single, junior David Posey followed with a two-run base hit and a Trinity error made it 5-0, Tigers. North Allegheny tacked on two more runs in the fifth when senior Harron Lee scored on a passed ball and Schall drove in the game’s final run with a sacrifice fly to bring the game to its eventual final, 7-0.

Junior pitcher J.D. Costanzo silenced the Hillers with six innings of two-hit baseball and 15 strikeouts. Junior Charles Mau tossed a scoreless seventh with a pair of strikeouts in relief.

With the doubleheader sweep, North Allegheny improves to 14-6 on the season. The Tigers await the WPIAL playoff brackets, which will be released on Friday.

Line Score - Baseball vs. Fox Chapel - 05/11/2023

Line Score - Baseball vs. Trinity - 05/11/2023