A-K Valley baseball playoff preview capsules: Games for May 14, 2025

By: Bill Hartlep
Tuesday, May 13, 2025 | 3:54 PM

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WPIAL baseball playoffs

Class 5A

First round

9-Latrobe (14-6) vs. 8-Fox Chapel (15-5)

7 p.m. Wednesday at Gateway

Winner plays: Winner of 1-Pine-Richland (17-3)/16-Trinity (10-9) in quarterfinals May 20 (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Eli Boring, Latrobe; Jeremy Haigh, Fox Chapel

Extra bases: Latrobe finished section play with consecutive 3-0 losses to Plum. It also lost a two-game series to Penn-Trafford. The Wildcats won a tournament in Altoona … Fox Chapel infielders Tyler Golembiewski and Antonio LeDonne make a solid pair up the middle. Haigh is hitting .535. Fox Chapel finished third in Section 3 behind Pine-Richland and Shaler.

15-Mars (8-10) vs. 2-Plum (18-2)

3 p.m. Wednesday at Fox Chapel

Winner plays: Winner of 7-Peters Township (13-7) vs. 10-Baldwin (9-7) in quarterfinals May 20 (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Daniel Murray, Mars; Jake Dombkowski, Plum

Extra bases: Mars finished fourth in Section 3 with a 4-6 record. The Fightin’ Planets have won three of their past five games, including a split with Shaler. Senior Hayden Reisinger knocked in three runs in a 6-5 win over Shaler last week. Sophomore Murray had a walk-off single against West Allegheny in another key section clash. Senior Luke Goodworth was an all-section honoree last season. … Plum earned the No. 2 seed after winning the Section 1 title at 11-1. The Mustangs have averaged 6.8 runs and allowed just 3.1. They have won 11 straight games since a 5-2 loss to defending WPIAL champion Penn-Trafford. Their only other loss was against Class 6A North Allegheny. Dombkowski is batting .452 with 12 RBIs and also is 4-0 on the mound with a 2.55 ERA. Junior Braden Kemmerer leads the pitching staff with a 1.88 ERA and 5-0 record and 31 strikeouts.

Class 4A

First round

9-Ambridge (8-10) vs. 8-Knoch (10-10)

4 p.m. Wednesday at North Allegheny

Winner plays: 1-Indiana (19-1) in quarterfinals May 20 (time, site TBD)

Players to watch: Jonathan Janicki, Ambridge; Zane Pacek, Knoch

Extra bases: Ambridge finished fourth in Section 1 at 6-6. The Bridgers are riding a five-game losing skid. They swept a section series against Central Valley last month and split with North Catholic, Hopewell, Hampton and Blackhawk. Janicki is batting .365 with 16 RBIs for the Bridgers. Joe Leseiko leads the pitching staff with a 2.44 ERA and 47 strikeouts. … Knoch placed second in Section 3 at 6-4. The Knights snapped a three-game skid with a sweep of Derry before falling to Pine-Richland in a nonsection game. Pacek, a 7-foot-1 junior pitcher, tossed a no-hitter against Greensburg Salem earlier this season. The deep Knights pitching staff also includes seniors Cody Stull and Noah Glassic as well as juniors David Breese and Alex Eddy. Knoch lost in the first round to West Mifflin last season.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Ambridge, Fox Chapel, Knoch, Latrobe, Mars, Plum