Mt. Lebanon squeezes past Upper St. Clair for 1st WPIAL title since 2006
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Tuesday, May 31, 2022 | 11:38 PM
Mt. Lebanon pitcher Jack Smith hoists the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating Upper St. Clair, 2-1, in the Class 6A final on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
The Mt. Lebanon baseball team celebrates after defeating Upper St. Clair, 2-1, in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
Mt. Lebanon pitcher Jack Smith delivers against Upper St. Clair during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
Mt. Lebanon’s Tyler Smith slides into third base with a triple against Upper St. Clair during the sixth inning of WPIAL Class 6A championship game on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
Mt. Lebanon’s Tyler Smith (left) celebrates with David Shields after scoring the go-ahead run against Upper St. Clair during the WPIAL Class 6A championship game on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
Mt. Lebanon’s Joey Daniels celebrates with the WPIAL championship trophy next to Eli Heidenrich after defeating Upper St. Clair, 2-1, in the Class 6A final on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
Mt. Lebanon pitcher Jack Smith celebrates after defeating Upper St. Clair in the WPIAL Class 6A championship game on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Wild Things Park.
Mt. Lebanon waited 16 years for this celebration, so another hour and a half didn’t matter.
The Blue Devils’ Tyler Smith lined a sixth-inning triple into the right-field corner at Wild Things Park and scored the winning run on Derrick Shields’ sacrifice fly for a 2-1 victory over Upper St. Clair in a WPIAL Class 6A championship game that got a late start.
Two runs were enough for Lebo starter Jack Smith, a Harvard recruit who pitched a complete-game two-hitter with 14 strikeouts as top-seeded Mt. Lebanon won its fifth WPIAL title but its first since 2006.
The Blue Devils (16-7) also won WPIAL titles in 1959, ’93 and 2002, but coach Patt McCloskey quickly put this one on top because of the large crowd, the quality of play and the heated rivalry with Upper St. Clair.
“It’s the biggest game in Mt. Lebanon history,” McClockey said. “I can’t enjoy the crowd when I’m here (coaching), but it seemed insane. We’ve never played in front of this many people or a crowd like that.”
The game started 90 minutes late because the Class 4A game needed extra innings, but that extra time just let the anticipation – and the crowd – build.
“We can’t stand these guys,” Jack Smith said. “These are our biggest rivals. On a night like this, here, with the crowd like this, it was electric.”
McCloskey, in his 18th season, had seen his teams come close in years past. They were WPIAL runners-up in 2012 with future MLB player Ian Happ in the lineup. They reached the semifinals again in 2017, yet took first-round losses in 2018, ’19 and ’21.
The difference this year, McCloskey said, was the competitiveness of this senior-heavy lineup. McCloskey pointed to intensity shown by Jack Smith, who struck out six of the first seven batters he faced with a sharp curveball and a reliable fastball.
“He’s not pitching in a warehouse. He’s not worried about a prospect ranking. He’s worried about winning,” McCloskey said. “He’s worried about beating St. Clair. That’s why I coach high school baseball because we’ve got 20 of those guys.”
Shields, a senior, drove in both of Mt. Lebanon’s runs.
Mt. Lebanon also won both regular-season matchups with USC, 7-0 and 2-0, in early May. No. 7 seed Upper St. Clair (12-10) was trying to win its second WPIAL title and its first since 1992.
“We came so far,” USC coach Jeff Donati said. “We’re a seven seed. Nobody expected anything.”
USC starter Joe Altvater kept the Panthers in contention Tuesday by pitching into the sixth inning. The senior allowed five hits and two runs in 5⅓ innings with seven strikeouts but was chased by Shields’ sacrifice fly. Smith’s triple was the only extra-base hit allowed by Altvater.
“We pitch and we play good defense,” Donati said. “We’re a year away hitting-wise. We’ve got a lot of young guys, and Jack was really good. He was outstanding.”
Mt. Lebanon took a 1-0 lead in the first inning with three consecutive two-out singles by Jack Smith, Tyler Smith and Derrick Shields. Shields’ line drive into left field scored Jack Smith from third base.
“The only thing that mattered to Jack tonight was winning and (he’ll) do whatever it takes to win,” McCloskey said. “You can’t teach that competitiveness.”
In the fifth, Upper St. Clair forced a 1-1 tie. Brandon Liokareas drew a leadoff walk, reached second on a wild pitch and scored on Charlie Eberle’s two-out single into right field.
But Mt. Lebanon couldn’t be denied, said McCloskey, not even when he tried to stop Tyler Smith at second base on his triple. If he had stopped, then the sixth inning might have played out differently.
“I got the stop sign rounding second and just blew right through,” said Smith, who didn’t see McCloskey until he was already halfway to third. “I’m happy I did.”
His coach agreed.
“That’s where good players are better than good coaches,” McCloskey said. “I had the stop sign up, but Tyler is another one of those kids that is in the moment, win now.”
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: Mt. lebanon, Upper St. Clair
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