WPIAL sets dates, times for baseball, softball championships

By: Jonathan Bombulie
Friday, May 22, 2026 | 11:42 AM

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There’s been a little of everything over the past two weeks in the WPIAL baseball and softball playoffs.

Class 5A baseball has a matchup of Cinderellas with 10th seed South Fayette facing 12th seed Upper St. Clair.

South Park has two of the most dominant arms in the district with Cooper Hochendoner throwing the baseball and Sydney Sekely spinning the softball.

In baseball, there’s only one champ back to defend its title – Indiana. In softball, there are four – Hempfield, Shaler, Neshannock and Union.

On Friday, the WPIAL set dates and times for next week’s championship games, with the baseball games being played at EQT Park in Washington and the softball games being played at Lilley Field at Cal (Pa.).

Here’s a first look.

Baseball

Class 6A

No. 1 Butler (19-3) vs. No. 3 North Allegheny (14-7)

4 p.m. Wednesday

Both teams have great 1-2 pitching punches. For the Golden Tornado, Kyle Casteel struck out 14 in the semis vs. Norwin and Nolan Stefaniak fanned nine in the quarters vs. Mt Lebanon. For the Tigers, Liam Cooper threw a three-hit shutout vs. Hempfield and Jake Fritz whiffed 10 vs. Canon-McMillan.

Class 5A

No. 12 Upper St. Clair (13-8) vs. No. 10 South Fayette (14-9)

7 p.m. Wednesday

Two teams on Cinderella runs with big bats. In the semifinals, the Panthers blew a nine-run seventh-inning lead vs. Montour and won anyway on a homer by sophomore Brooks York. USC has scored 39 runs in three playoff games. The hard-hitting Lions, coached by Mark “Bubba” Snider of radio fame, have scored 23.

Class 4A

No. 1 Indiana (17-4) vs. No. 2 Elizabeth Forward (16-6)

7 p.m. Tuesday

Indiana, the defending WPIAL and PIAA champ, hasn’t allowed a run in two playoff games. Charlie Manzi has pitched in both, totaling seven no-hit innings. Elizabeth Forward wants revenge after a 4-2 loss to Indiana in last year’s title game. JB Crovak struck out 11 in the quarters vs. West Mifflin.

Class 3A

No. 5 South Park (17-5) vs. No. 3 Ellwood CIty (18-3)

1 p.m. Wednesday

Hochendoner, a 6-foot-3 lefty, has struck out 25 in 17 innings and is 5 for 7 at the plate in the playoffs. He no-hit Keystone Oaks in the first round. The Wolverines might be a team of destiny, though. They came back from 4-2 down to beat Burrell 5-4 in the quarters and from 5-2 down to beat Riverside 6-5 in the semis.

Class 2A

No. 1 Fort Cherry (18-1) vs. No. 2 Neshannock (18-3)

4 p.m. Tuesday

The Rangers won their first 17 games of the season and are looking for their first WPIAL title since 1986. In the playoffs, 3B Tyler Wolfe is 4 for 6 with a homer. The Lancers, though, are tough to score on. They’ve used four pitchers to throw back-to-back shutouts, allowing a grand total of seven hits in 13 innings.

Class A

No. 1 Eden Christian (15-4) vs. No. 2 Greensburg Central Catholic (17-0)

1 p.m. Tuesday

Safe to call this a matchup of the top two teams in Class A all season. Warriors 1B Brady Hull is 5 for 8 in the playoffs with two singles, a double, a triple and a homer. Centurions righty Tyler Samide struck out 17 in the quarters vs. Jefferson-Morgan.

Softball

Class 6A

No. 1 Hempfield (20-1) vs. No. 2 Seneca Valley (15-5)

4:30 p.m. Wednesday

With a win, the Spartans will tie Baldwin and Sto-Rox for most WPIAL softball titles with 10. Hempfield averages 10.2 runs per game. SS Lauren Howard went 3 for 3 with five RBIs vs. Canon-McMillan in the semis. The Raiders played the Spartans close twice in the regular season, however, losing 4-3 and 5-2.

Class 5A

No. 1 Shaler (20-1) vs. No. 11 North Hills (12-7)

2:15 p.m. Wednesday

Shaler’s Bria Bosiljevac is the rock star of the WPIAL softball playoffs. In three playoff games, she has allowed two hits and struck out 35 in 15 innings. The Titans have backed her with 31 runs. North Hills is the surprise team of the tournament, having beaten the No. 6, No. 3 and No. 2 seeds to reach the finals.

Class 4A

No. 1 Elizabeth Forward (19-3) vs. No. 3 Blackhawk (12-4)

4:30 p.m. Thursday

Warriors SS Julia Resnik is a great story. A Robert Morris recruit who recently returned from a torn ACL, Resnik stepped in to pitch – not her best position – and threw 1⅔ scoreless innings in a 7-5 semifinal win over Hampton. The Cougars can play any game you want. Kylie Prisuta struck out nine in a 3-1 win over Laurel Highlands in the quarters and doubled twice and drove in three runs in a 13-4 win over North Catholic in the semis.

Class 3A

No. 1 South Park (19-1) vs. No. 3 Mt. Pleasant (15-4)

2:15 p.m. Thursday

Sekely has been a nightmare for opponents in the playoffs. In two shutout wins, she has allowed two hits and struck out 34 in 14 innings. The Vikings have team-of-destiny vibes, with freshman Chloe Borelli delivering a walk-off RBI double in a 3-2 win over Keystone Oaks in the semis.

Class 2A

No. 5 Neshannock (17-5) vs. No. 3 Bentworth (20-2)

Noon Wednesday

The four-time defending champs were written off when they lost five times in the regular season. Big mistake. The Lancers have scored 76 runs in their last seven games. To keep that up, they’ll need to solve Sydney Gonglik, which is no picnic. In the playoffs, she’s struck out 39 in 21 innings.

Class A

No. 1 Union (18-2) vs. No. 2 Carmichaels (17-4)

Noon Thursday

The Scotties have perhaps the hottest hitter in the WPIAL in C Irelyn Fisher, an Akron recruit who is 5 for 7 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in two playoff games. The Mighty Mikes have a star pitcher in Bailey Barnyak, who has struck out 31 in 14 innings in two playoff shutouts. A classic confrontation.

Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.