After aces duel to draw, Shaler downs Pine-Richland in 8 innings to win WPIAL 5A crown

By: Chris Harlan
Tuesday, May 27, 2025 | 11:18 PM

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Shaler’s Colby Weber and Pine-Richland’s Keegan Deihl waged a pitchers’ duel in the WPIAL finals, but this one was decided only after the two aces ran out of pitches.

The game belonged to the bullpens, and Shaler won that battle.

Three Pine-Richland relievers combined to allow four walks, a single, a hit batter and a wild pitch in a rainy eighth inning Tuesday night, miscues that let Shaler win 5-2 in the WPIAL Class 5A final at EQT Park in Washington.

Taking the mound after Deihl or Weber exits isn’t an easy job, especially when the opponent was counting eagerly to the 105-pitch limit for a chance to face a reliever. But Shaler senior Dante DeLeonibus said he’d spent days mentally preparing to handle that exact situation in the finals.

On a rainy night with a tight strike zone, he wasn’t flawless. DeLeonibus allowed a tying run in the seventh inning but then escaped a bases-loaded jam and locked down Shaler’s win with a scoreless eighth. He allowed one run on no hits, four walks and four strikeouts in two innings.

Under the circumstances, it was more than enough.

“I’ve had this exact picture in my head all week,” said DeLeonibus, who pitched a complete game in the semifinals. “I knew the situation I would be coming into (as a reliever in the finals). Seeing Colby get up there in pitches pretty early, I prepared myself to shut them down.”

Check out the highlights of last night's #WPIAL Class 5A Baseball Championship Game that saw #3 Shaler moved into a T-2nd all-time with its 7th championship, defeating Pine-Richland, 5-2 in 8 innings. #HSSN pic.twitter.com/GZxCDGkfrF

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 28, 2025

The WPIAL title was the seventh for Shaler (17-6) and the team’s third in six seasons. The seniors on Shaler’s roster also celebrated a title as sophomores.

Only North Allegheny with nine has won more WPIAL titles.

“Being able to get back here is just an awesome feeling,” said Weber, an East Carolina-bound right-hander.

Pine-Richland (20-4) was also chasing its seventh title, but a sloppy eighth inning dashed those hopes.

A two-out RBI single by Pine-Richland’s Sam Heckert in the seventh forced a 2-2 tie and extra innings. But Shaler answered with three runs in the eighth against Rams relievers Tristan Farrar, Tanner Cunningham and Logan Plummer.

Shaler scored runs on a wild pitch, a bases-loaded walk and a bases-loaded hit batter.

“We did everything we wanted and then the rains came hard,” Pine-Richland coach Kurt Wolfe said. “We just couldn’t throw a strike. They end up scoring three runs on no hits. That was tough.”

Recognizing the dire situation Pine-Richland’s relievers faced, Shaler’s batters started taking pitches.

“The weather was crazy, and the umpire was very, very, very tight,” Shaler coach Brian Junker said. “I normally don’t do the take signs but … I thought we’d better take a strike before we start swinging. They did, and it worked out.”

Both teams advance to the state playoffs starting Monday.

Shaler and Pine-Richland split their two-game section series, each winning with their best pitcher on the mound. This time, the two aces went head-to-head.

Weber pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on two hits with 13 strikeouts and three walks. Deihl allowed two runs on three hits in 7⅓ innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Deihl, a Baylor recruit, reached the pitch limit while striking out the first batter in the eighth inning. Weber had already maxed out his pitches retiring the side in the sixth. Rain fell throughout the game — in some innings harder than others — yet the two starters managed to keep their grip on the ball.

“My fastball was a little bit everywhere tonight, but I zoned in,” Weber said. “And I found my curveball later in the game, which really helped out.”

After three scoreless innings, Shaler broke the tie in the fourth with an RBI triple by Colby McGuire. His one-out drive into the right-field corner scored Landon Schiffhauer, who’d drawn a leadoff walk.

McGuire scored on a wild pitch to lead 2-0.

Pine-Richland answered with a run later in the fourth, but Weber dashed any chance for a big inning by escaping a bases-loaded jam. The Rams had loaded the bases with a hit batter and two walks before Cunningham drove a ball deep into left field. Shaler’s Brendan Fitzgerald chased down the fly ball, and Pine-Richland’s Heckert scored on the sacrifice.

After Drew Boivin singled to reload the bases, Weber escaped with an inning-ending strikeout to keep Shaler’s lead 2-1.

“We left the bases loaded a couple of times,” Wolfe said. “We just didn’t get a big hit when we needed one.”

Pine-Richland loaded the bases again in the seventh, this time against DeLeonibus, who walked three batters. Heckert forced a 2-2 tie with a two-out infield single to score Cunningham. But with the bases still loaded, DeLeonibus got a fly out to center to force extra innings.

Two more Rams reached base in the ninth, and DeLeonibus stranded both with a game-ending strikeout.

“Earlier in the year they got me good,” said DeLeonibus, who gave up nine runs in a late-April loss. “I’ve been waiting for this game. I’ve known that I would see them again. It feels great to get them back.”

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