WPIAL Class 4A baseball final preview: Blackhawk vs. Beaver

By: Chris Harlan
Wednesday, May 29, 2019 | 2:52 AM

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WPIAL Class 4A baseball championship

No. 4 Blackhawk (16-4) vs. No. 6 Beaver (13-7)

5 p.m. Wednesday at Wild Things Park, Washington

Coaches: Bob Amalia, Blackhawk; Noah Medich, Beaver

Players to watch: Ray Knallay, CF, Jr., Blackhawk; Vinny Mastrangelo, C, Sr., Beaver

WPIAL titles: Blackhawk 3 (2017, ’12, ’04), Beaver 3 (1983, 2008, ’13)

How they got here: Blackhawk defeated No. 13 Knoch, 4-0; No. 12 Mt. Pleasant, 7-6; and No. 9 New Castle, 4-3. Beaver defeated No. 11 Belle Vernon, 5-0; No. 14 Highlands, 10-0; and No. 2 Yough, 7-2.

Extra bases: The teams played in the same section and split their regular-season matchups. Beaver won 6-2 on April 17 and Blackhawk won the rematch 3-2 on May 8. Blackhawk won the section title by one game over Beaver. Beaver has 14 seniors on its 17-player roster. Mastrangelo, a .367 hitter, leads Beaver with 20 RBIs, 10 doubles and four home runs. The team’s top pitcher is senior Jack Yanssens (5-0). The Bobcats last won the WPIAL title in 2013 by defeating Quaker Valley, 7-1. Blackhawk makes its ninth WPIAL championship appearance under Amalia, who owns three titles. The Cougars’ top pitcher is junior Marco Borello (7-3). Knallay is batting a team-best .533. Blackhawk defeated South Park, 3-0, in the 2017 championships.

PIAA tournament: The winner will play the District 9 champion in the PIAA first round. The losing team will play the District 5, 6 or 8 champion. Both games will be June 3.

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: Beaver, Blackhawk