Scholastic Notebook – 04/17/2015

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, April 17, 2015 | 2:40 PM

Life in Section 1 of WPIAL Class AAAA baseball is full of close calls.

The WPIAL season is a little less than a month old and it’s remarkable how many close games there are in Section 1. Heading into Friday’s action, there have been 12 games played in the section. Two-thirds were decided by two runs or less and five had been decided by one run.

The close games certainly reflect the balance of the section. But they also reflect the strength of the section.

This should tell you the strength of Section 1: It includes four teams – Moon, North Allegheny, Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley – that have made 17 WPIAL championship appearances in either Class AAAA or AAA over the past 11 years. The other members of the section are North Hills and Butler.

So far this season, Seneca Valley, Butler, North Hills and North Allegheny have all played two one-run games while Moon and Pine-Richland have a single one-run game.

Heading into Friday’s games, Butler and Seneca Valley were atop the section with 3-1 records. North Hills and North Allegheny were 2-2, while Moon and Pine-Richland were 1-3.

Walk on the Wild Side

Avonworth’s Chris O’Malley certainly has some of the most interesting offensive statistics in the WPIAL this season.

O’Malley has been at bat 17 times and has 11 hits for an impressive .647 average. But O’Malley has as many walks as hits. O’Malley has been walked 11 times this season. That makes his on-base percentage .785.

A “Ray” of Hope

This is the fifth season of Central Valley baseball since the school was formed in the 2010-11 school year. It is undoubtedly Central Valley’s best season so far – and it has come under a first-year head coach.

Ray Antonelli has guided the Warriors to a 9-1 record so far in his first season. It is a terrific start when you consider that Central Valley didn’t more than 10 games in any of its first four seasons.

Today, Central Valley has what you could easily call the biggest baseball regular-season game in school history. Central Valley is 5-0 in Class AAA Section 1 and the Warriors play at Hopewell, which also is 5-0.

It will be a homecoming game of sorts for Antonelli. He was a standout left-handed pitcher at Hopewell who pitched the final WPIAL game ever played at Three Rivers Stadium. Antonelli pitched a five-hitter and struck out seven in a 3-1 victory over North Allegheny in the WPIAL Class AAA title game at Three Rivers.

Antonelli was a senior that year and had a 4-0 pitching record in the postseason. He was 12-1 overall, led the WPIAL in strikeouts and had a 0.61 ERA.

The Perfect Teams

Heading into Friday’s games, only two teams were undefeated in WPIAL baseball. Quaker Valley was 6-0 and Apollo-Ridge 4-0.

Meanwhile, WPIAL softball had eight undefeated teams. They were Fox Chapel (6-0), North Allegheny (6-0), South Side Beaver (6-0), Seton-LaSalle (5-0), Mohawk (7-0), Ellwood City (6-0), Frazier (6-0) and Sewickley Academy (4-0).

Pacak Out at Monessen

In a move that surprised some people, the Monessen school board decided this week to open Andy Pacak’s job as football coach.

Pacak had been the Greyhounds coach for 11 seasons and certainly enjoyed some success, going 75-40. Maybe his biggest win was in 2013 when the Greyhounds broke Clairton’s 66-game winning streak.

Pacak made the WPIAL playoffs in nine of his 11 seasons. Sure, the Greyhounds played some of those seasons in the much-maligned Tri-County South Conference, but they had some successful seasons in other conferences as well. But Monessen didn’t fare well in the playoffs. In nine playoff appearances under Pacak, the Greyhounds made it to the semifinals only once.

The thing that some also question is the timing of the move. Whoever is the new coach will certainly be at a big time disadvantage.

Roundball Classic

The annual Roundball Classic starts tonight and includes the top boys and girls basketball players in the WPIAL. Unlike past Roundballs, the event is now staged over two days.

Roundball director Allen Deep added two games to this year’s Roundball, which is held at Geneva College. An underclassmen game will be played tonight followed by an East-West game. Tomorrow, there will be two girls games and two boys games, starting at 2 p.m. The final game is 8 p.m.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Avonworth, Central Valley, Ellwood City, Fox Chapel, Frazier