Tyler Skaggs tosses no-hitter to give Serra Catholic its 5th WPIAL baseball title

By: Don Rebel
Wednesday, May 28, 2025 | 1:22 PM

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Tyler Skaggs threw a no-hitter in the WPIAL Class A championship game to lead Serra Catholic past Carmichaels, 9-0, on Wednesday at EQT Park in Washington.

Skaggs became the third pitcher in three straight years to throw a no-hitter in the district finals and the second Eagles hurler and sixth pitcher this century to hold opponents to zero hits in a championship game.

He joins a list of Chris Koutsavlis of Mt. Lebanon (2002), Alain Girman of Serra Catholic (2010), Jake Vitale of Union (2021), David Shields of Mt. Lebanon (2023) and David Posey of North Allegheny (2024) as pitchers to throw no-hitters in the district finals in the last quarter century.

“I feel amazing,” Skaggs said. “Going in, I just wanted to get my pitches there and have my defense work for me. It ended up a no-hitter, and you can’t complain about that.”

It was the second straight start in a title game for Skaggs, who was the losing pitcher in the 2024 Class 2A championship game in which Serra Catholic fell to Seton LaSalle, 5-0.

“For Skaggs to throw a no-hitter on the biggest stage is unbelievable,” Serra Catholic coach Brian Dzurenda said. “He battled through the conditions. We always say if it’s too tough for them, its just right for us. We go outside and we battle the elements, we battle the rain, the sleet and the snow.”

The elements Wednesday went from a steady drizzle to heavy rainfall near the end with temperatures in the 50’s.

“The last part of the game was difficult, but that had no bearing on the game,” Carmichaels coach Richard Krause said. “We just didn’t execute and when you have a big zero under hits, you’re not winning any games like that.”

Check out the highlights of today's #WPIAL Class 1A Baseball Championship Game that saw #1 @SerraCatholic no-hit Carmichaels in a 9-0 victory for its fifth championship #HSSN pic.twitter.com/GMeRzSBvd4

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) May 28, 2025

Serra Catholic scored the only run it needed in the second inning off Carmichaels starter Jase Zdravecky when Max Black led off with a single, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a two-out single by freshman No. 8 hitter Cole Hann.

“Hann came through when (Jacob) Anderson went down with a shoulder injury,” Dzurenda said. “He’s filled in admirably, and he’s going to be a star.”

The Eagles then went into add-on mode by plating two runs in the fourth inning and another in the fifth.

Chris Johnson and Hann singled in the fourth inning and Bodi Rieger walked to load the bases.

The Mighty Mikes went to Colin Andrew in relief, and he gave up an RBI fielder’s choice by Owen Dumbroski. The third run came across when the Eagles executed a double steal with Hann scoring from third.

In the fifth, Black’s RBI double plated courtesy runner Matt Dukovich, who was running for Skaggs after he led off with a walk.

Serra blew the game open with five runs in the sixth inning off Robbie Wilson-Jones on a run-scoring single by Skaggs, a two-run double by Jacob Holmes, an RBI groundout by Black and a single by Johnson that scored the ninth and final run of the game.

Johnson led the Eagles’ nine-hit attack with three hits and an RBI, Black had two hits and two RBIs and Hann had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI.

The only question heading into the seventh inning was would Skaggs make history with a no-hitter?

He ended the game with a bang, striking out Colin Andrews, Dillan Fisher and Copper Richards to finish off his gem.

Skaggs pitched seven innings, walked two, hit two batters and struck out 10.

“My full focus going into this game was just to throw strikes,” Skaggs said. “Walks is what kills baseball teams. My defense was amazing, and that’s all we needed.”

Skaggs was asked if he was impacted by the wet weather throughout the game.

“In the warm-ups, I let one go that was nowhere near home plate,” Skaggs said. “Obviously, the ball was going to be slippery, so I threw slower to get it there. I was not trying to let it rip and blow it by people. I was relying more on my fastball because that would be the most accurate, but my curveball was also working.”

Carmichaels had a nine-game winning streak snapped as it fall to 15-5.

The Mighty Mikes will regroup and play the winner of the District 6 championship game between Juanita Valley and Homer-Center in the PIAA first round.

“We’re not blessed to get here as often as some of these private schools,” Krause said when asked if it would be easy to bounce back for the state postseason. “It’s a different thing for us. We haven’t been here in 11 years. So it’s not going to be easy to put it behind us, but these kids are resilient, and we’ll be ready for Monday.”

It was the fifth WPIAL title for Serra Catholic and the second chamionship in four years.

“I’m thrilled to get this for this group,” Dzurenda said. “We were able to ride the tide. I really felt like our schedule was not tough enough last year, so I wanted to bolster it this year, and I felt we were more battled-tested this year.”

The title also was the fifth for Dzurenda, who is now in his 26th season as Eagles skipper.

He moved into a tie for second place with former Neshannock coach Mike Kirkwood on the all-time baseball title coaching list.

They both are one behind former McKeesport coach Abby Falquist and current Riverside coach Dan Oliastro with six crowns. Riverside will play for the Class 3A championship Wednesday night.

Serra Catholic improved to 20-3 with seven straight wins as it heads into the PIAA playoffs and a game against District 9 runner-up Clarion on Monday.

Tags: Carmichaels, Serra Catholic