NA’s Big Bats Knock Out Norwin In Season Opener, 10-3
In a the long-awaited season opener, the North Allegheny baseball team began the 2023 season on a high note with a 10-3 non-section win at Norwin on Thursday afternoon. Home runs by juniors David Posey and J.D. Constanzo sparked the offense as the Tigers earned their third consecutive opening day victory.
North Allegheny starter Andrew Hart and Norwin hurler Ryan Orosz kept things quiet in the first two innings with a pair of scoreless frames before Keegan Carr’s home run in the bottom of the third gave the host Knights a 1-0 lead. It was the first and only lead for the Knights on the afternoon.
The Tigers immediately responded in the top of the fourth and tied the game on a Hart RBI single that scored Spencer Barnett from second base. After a stolen base by Hart, Posey followed with a two-run homer to give North Allegheny a 3-1 lead.
In the fifth inning, Costanzo hit a solo home run and Barnett added an RBI double later in the inning to increase the Tigers advantage to 5-1.
After touching up Orosz for five runs in 4.1 innings, the Tigers broke the game wide open with a four-run top of the sixth. The big inning included an Ian Zahorchak RBI single, a two-run base hit by Harron Lee, and another RBI double by Barnett. Barnett, a WVU commit, finished 3-for-4 on the day with two doubles, two RBI’s and a run scored.
North Allegheny tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh when Matthew Parreaguirre scored on a Norwin error for a 10-1 lead. The Knights scored two meaningless runs in the bottom of the seventh to finish up a 10-3 victory for the Tigers.
On the mound, Hart went three innings in the start and allowed only one run with one walk and three strikeouts. Costanzo picked up his first varsity win with two scoreless innings of relief, including three strikeouts and one walk. Posey tossed the final two frames and surrendered two unearned runs with two strikeouts and three walks.
Orosz took the loss for Norwin, while Matt Rivera served up four runs on five hits in 1.2 innings of relief. Caden Sivrich was the bright spot on the mound for the Knights with one inning of work, giving up only one unearned run.
Following the opening day win, North Allegheny is scheduled to visit Upper St. Clair on Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Line Score - Baseball vs. Norwin - 03/30/2023
| Score by Innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Allegheny | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Norwin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 |