What to watch for in WPIAL sports on April 12, 2022: Teams of the decade meet on diamond

By: Don Rebel
Monday, April 11, 2022 | 7:06 PM

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The sectional series in WPIAL baseball continue Tuesday with a “battle of the decade” set in Section 1-6A.

From 2010 through 2019, only six schools won WPIAL baseball championships in the highest classification — AAAA until 2017, then 6A for the final three years.

North Allegheny, Central Catholic, Norwin and Canon-McMillan each captured district gold in that 10-year span.

The other two schools were Pine-Richland and Seneca Valley.

The Rams won three championships, in 2017 and book-end title runs in 2010 and 2019.

The Raiders won gold three times in a four-year span with title runs in 2011, 2012 and 2014.

After Monday’s game between the two at Pine-Richland was rained out, they are scheduled to meet Tuesday at Seneca Valley.

Both teams are 1-1 in the section. The Raiders have won four of their five games while the Rams come into the game with a 2-4 overall record.

Seneca Valley won both games a year ago, outscoring Pine-Richland in the two wins, 14-1.

The makeup date for the game at Pine-Richland is set for Wednesday.

There is a chance the games could be flip-flopped, playing on the natural surface at Pine-Richland on Tuesday, which is expected to be sunny, and Wednesday on the turf at Seneca Valley because of a chance of rain.

Diamond dry

Here are some of the other key district baseball section games scheduled for a beautiful Tuesday in mid-April:

• Central Catholic (1-1) at first-place Butler (2-0) in Section 1-6A

• Mt. Lebanon (2-0) at Norwin (2-0) for first place in Section 2-6A

• Latrobe (2-0) at defending champion Franklin Regional (1-1) in Section 1-5A

• Mars (3-1) at Plum (2-0) in Section 2-5A

• West Allegheny (2-0) at South Fayette (2-0) for first place in Section 3-5A

• Peters Township (2-0) at Thomas Jefferson (2-0) for a share of first place with Bethel Park in Section 4-5A

• Elizabeth Forward (2-0) at Uniontown (2-1) for first place in Section 3-4A

• South Side (2-0) at Laurel (4-0) for first place in Section 2-2A

• Seton LaSalle (2-0) at Fort Cherry (3-0) for a share of first place with Burgettstown in Section 4-2A

Love the postseason

The first district postseason begins Tuesday with the first three rounds of the 2022 WPIAL singles tennis championships.

The first round, quarterfinals and semifinals will take place at Bethel Park in 3A and at North Allegheny in 2A.

First-round matches begin at noon.

Both defending champions return and are the top seeds in their respective classifications.

South Fayette senior Jake Patterson won Class 3A gold in 2021 while North Catholic senior Nicolas Scheller claimed the 2A title last spring and is the top seed in this year’s tournament.

The two finalists in 3A will also advance to the PIAA single tennis championships next month while the top three finishers in 2A will qualify for the state playoffs.

Both playoff fields have 16 participants.

The first two rounds will be first to 10 games, win by two. The semifinals, consolation and championship matches are all best of three sets.