2025 WPIAL Class 2A baseball championship breakdown: OLSH vs. Freedom

By: Chris Harlan
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 | 2:05 PM

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WPIAL Class 2A baseball final

No. 2 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart vs. No. 8 Freedom

2 p.m. Wednesday, EQT Park, Washington

On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network

WPIAL titles: OLSH 0, Freedom 0

OLSH (15-7)

Coach: Phil McCarren

Projected starting lineup

8, Bruno Williams, C, 5-8, jr.

2, Gino Williams, SS, 5-11, sr.

21, Sean Hudac, 3B, 5-10, sr.

3, Dean Douglass, 1B, 5-7, fr.

12, Iseia Schulz, P, 6-0, sr.

13, Chad Minton, RF, 5-7, jr.

22, Anthony Hansen, CF, 5-8, sr.

24, Vann Kavals, DH, 6-5, sr.

(5, Colby Lane, 2B, 5-4, so.)

15, Ryan DeNinno, LF, 5-2, so.

How they got here: After a first-round bye, OLSH defeated No. 10 New Brighton, 8-0, in the quarterfinals; and No. 6 Riverview, 3-1, in the semifinals.

Notable: OLSH is making its second appearance in the WPIAL finals. The Chargers were runners-up in 2013, losing to Western Beaver, 3-2, in the Class A game. … Schulz, a Point Park recruit, leads a pitching staff that limits opponents to 3.5 runs per game. The left-hander is 8-1 with a 1.97 ERA, 92 strikeouts and 26 walks in 49 2/3 innings. … Hudac is 2-1 with a 3.37 ERA in 33⅓ innings. Thomas Medwig is 2-1 with a 1.12 ERA in 31⅓ innings. … Medwig also leads the offense with a .581 average and 18 RBIs, but the senior is ineligible for the playoffs under PIAA transfer rules. The catcher/pitcher is a Marietta recruit. … Gino Williams is batting .439 with 23 runs and 15 RBIs. Williams is a Millersville recruit. … Schulz pitched seven scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in the quarterfinals. Hudac pitched a complete game in the semifinals and allowed one unearned run. … The Chargers won the Section 3 title. … McCarren, now in his 16th year as coach, reached the 200-win milestone last season. … Kavals, an Akron football recruit, missed most of the season but recently returned from injury.

Freedom (14-7)

Coach: Dan O’Leary

Projected starting lineup

4, Nick Fessler, CF, 5-10, fr.

42, Tommy Ward, C, 5-10, sr.

26, Mason O’Donnell, SS, 5-9, so.

48, Boden Hilliard, P, 5-10, jr.

6, Xavier Robbins, 3B, 6-1, jr.

17, Zach Kuntz, RF, 5-11, jr.

39, Colton Blank, 2B, 5-9, jr.

31, Ryan Fessler, 1B, 5-10, sr.

22, Anthony Taddeo, LF, 5-8, so.

How they got here: Freedom defeated No. 9 Apollo-Ridge, 12-2 (5 innings) in the first round; No. 1 Neshannock, 3-0, in the quarterfinals; and No. 1 Laurel, 8-7, in the semifinals.

Notable: This is Freedom’s second appearance in the WPIAL final. The Bulldogs lost in 10 innings to California, 3-1, in the 2017 Class 2A game. … The team finished the regular season third in Section 2, one game behind co-champions Neshannock and Shenango. … Freedom has six players batting better than .300 led by Ward (.467), Robbins (.434), Hilliard (.404) and Kuntz (.365). … Kuntz had 25 RBIs, O’Donnell has 23 and Hilliard has 20. … Hilliard and Kuntz are both two-way players. … Hilliard leads the pitching staff with a 5-2 record, a 2.57 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings. He pitched a four-hit shutout in a quarterfinal win over top-seeded Neshannock. … Kuntz is 3-3 with a 4.37 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 33 2/3 innings. … Freedom averages 8.7 runs per game and allows 6. … The Bulldogs pounded out 11 hits to defeat Laurel in the semifinals. Robbins went 3 for 4 with two runs and an RBI. … O’Leary is in his 15th year as coach.

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

Tags: Freedom, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart