2025 WPIAL Class 5A baseball championship breakdown: Pine-Richland vs. Shaler

By: Chris Harlan
Monday, May 26, 2025 | 4:02 PM

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WPIAL Class 5A baseball final

No. 1 Pine-Richland vs. No. 3 Shaler

7 p.m. Tuesday, EQT Park, Washington

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

WPIAL titles: Pine-Richland 6 (2019, ‘17, ‘10, ‘06, ‘05, ‘04), Shaler 6 (2023, ’19, ’99, 1981, ‘80, ‘64)

Pine-Richland (20-3)

Coach: Kurt Wolfe

Projected starting lineup

14, Anthony Mengine, LF, 5-8, sr.

7, Logan Plummer, CF, 5-11, jr.

12, Sam Heckert, C, 5-10, sr.

20, Ben Husted, DH, 5-10, jr.

(18, Keegan Deihl, P, 6-3, sr.)

19, Jake Waddell, 1B, 6-0, sr.

10, Anthony Annichine, 3B, 6-2, sr.

2, Tanner Cunningham, SS, 5-8, sr.

15, Drew Boivin, RF, 6-1, jr.

11, Thomas Kapanowski, 2B, 5-6, sr.

How they got here: Pine-Richland defeated No. 16 Trinity, 1-0, in the first round; No. 9 Latrobe, 8-7, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Bethel Park, 5-4, in the semifinals.

Notable: Pine-Richland and Shaler shared the Section 3 title. The teams split a two-game section series: Pine-Richland won 9-1 on April 22 and Shaler won the rematch 7-0 a day later. Each team won with its ace on the mound. … Pine-Richland dropped to Class 5A this season after previously winning 6A titles in 2019 and ’17. … Deihl is undefeated in his high school career. The Baylor recruit is 10-0 with a 1.45 ERA as a senior, upping his career record to 20-0. The right-hander has 62 strikeouts and 30 walks in 58 innings this year. … In his 9-1 win over Shaler, Deihl allowed one run on five hits, three walks and two strikeouts in seven innings. … Junior pitcher Drew Boivin is 5-1 with a 2.10 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 26 walks in 33 1/3 innings. … The Rams have five players hitting better than .300, led by Heckert (.414), Annichine (.373) and Mengine (.366). … Heckert has a team-high 25 RBIs. Mengine leads with 23 runs. … The Rams average 6.4 runs per game and allow 2.6. … This is Wolfe’s 20^th year as Pine-Richland’s coach. His career record is 282-128 with four WPIAL titles and one state championship. … Heckert and Cunningham are Frostburg State recruits. Waddell (IUP), Annichine (Tiffin) and Kapanowski (John Carroll) are college recruits.

No. 3 Shaler (16-6)

Coach: Brian Junker

Projected starting lineup

1, Kaleb Jockel, RF, 5-8, sr.

7, Joe Rispoli, C, 5-10, sr.

10, Ben Yeckel, 1B, 6-0, jr.

11, Max Saban, DH, 5-10, sr.

(5, Troy Leas, 3B, 6-0, sr.)

3, Landon Schiffhauer, SS, 6-0, sr.

25, Colby Weber, P, 6-6, sr.

17, Colby McGuire, 2B, 5-10, sr.

15, Brendan Fitzgerald, LF, 5-6, sr.

2, Logan Bauer, CF, 5-9, sr.

How they got here: Shaler defeated No. 14 Montour, 8-0, in the first round; No. 11 Connellsville, 2-1, in the quarterfinals; and No. 7 Peters Township, 2-1, in the semifinals.

Notable: Shaler has reached the finals for the third time in six seasons. … The offense is led by Rispoli (.519), Fitzgerald (.471) and Yeckel (4 HRs). The Titans average 6.6 runs per game and allow 2.6. … They outscored their first three playoff opponents 16-2. … Weber is an East Carolina recruit. The right-hander is 9-0 with a 0.35 ERA. He has 99 strikeouts and seven walks in 60 innings. … Weber struck out 28 batters combined in playoff wins over Montour and Connellsville. … Against Pine-Richland, Weber pitched a complete-game one-hitter with 11 strikeouts in a 7-0 victory April 23. … Rispoli is a Wheeling football recruit. Bauer (PennWest California), Schiffhauer (South Carolina-Lancaster), Leas (Westminster), McGuire (Washington & Jefferson) and Dante Deleonibus (Misericordia) are college baseball recruits. … Deleonibus, a senior, pitched a compete game in the semifinals. … Junker, a 1995 Shaler graduate, was hired as baseball coach in 2010.

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: Pine-Richland, Shaler