PIAA baseball, softball semifinals part of what to watch in WPIAL sports Monday, June 14, 2021

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, June 13, 2021 | 8:21 PM

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Monday is the final stop on the Path to Penn State.

The PIAA baseball and softball semifinals are scheduled for Monday with six of the games to be seen or heard on Trib HSSN.

The WPIAL has seven baseball teams and eight softball teams playing in the final four.

District 7 is guaranteed to have two baseball and two softball teams in Happy Valley later this week, and could have as many as 11 teams playing for state gold Thursday and Friday.

Baseball semifinals

The two finalists in the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs will meet again for a fourth time with a spot in the state championship game at stake.

WPIAL champion New Castle will battle Montour on the turf at Neshannock at 4 p.m. Monday.

On its way to the Section 2-4A title, Montour beat New Castle twice during the regular season, 3-0 on April 13 and 6-4 just 10 days later.

However, the Red Hurricanes enjoyed some golden revenge when Rocco Bernadina one-hit the Spartans in the WPIAL finals, a 5-0 New Castle victory for the school’s first district baseball crown.

Another team that captured its school’s first district baseball championship two weeks ago is Shenango in a 2-1 victory over Seton LaSalle in the Class 2A title game.

Two state playoff wins later, Shenango will face a Serra Catholic team that is one win away from returning to Penn State after losing in the PIAA finals to Devon Prep in 2019.

The Wildcats and Eagles will also meet at Neshannock in the nightcap of the state playoff doubleheader at 6:30 p.m.

The other three PIAA semifinals baseball games involving WPIAL teams are:

WPIAL 6A champion North Allegheny vs. Spring-Ford from District 1 at Peoples Bank Field in York at 4 p.m.

WPIAL 5A runner-up Bethel Park vs. District 6 champion Central Mountain at PNG Field in Altoona at 3 p.m.

WPIAL Class A No. 3 seed Eden Christian Academy vs. District 5 champion Southern Fulton at First Commonwealth Field in Homer City at 5 p.m.

Softball final four

If you think one WPIAL championship game rematch in the state softball semifinals is great, how about two?

Both the Class 5A and Class 4A Western Regional finals are rematches of District 7 championship games from two weeks ago.

In 5A, North Hills rolled past Armstrong to win WPIAL gold, 12-2.

The River Hawks will try to turn the tables on the Indians when the two teams meet in Mars at 4 p.m.

In the preceding game, Highlands is also looking to avenge the Class 4A title game results when the Golden Rams face undefeated Beaver at 2 p.m.

After the Golden Rams tied the title game in the seventh inning, the Bobcats scored the golden run in the bottom of the inning to win a thriller, 2-1.

The other four PIAA semifinals softball games involving WPIAL teams are:

WPIAL 6A runner-up Canon-McMillan vs. North Penn from District 1 at Mechanicsburg at 2 p.m.

WPIAL 3A champion Mt. Pleasant vs. District 9 champion Punxsutawney at St. Francis University at 1 p.m.

WPIAL 2A No. 3 seed Ligonier Valley vs. District 10 runner-up Union City at Slippery Rock University at 2:30 p.m.

WPIAL Class A champion West Greene vs. District 9 champion DuBois Central Catholic at Slippery Rock University at noon.

Tags: Armstrong, Beaver, Highlands, Montour, New Castle, North Hills, Seton La Salle, Shenango