2024 WPIAL baseball postseason outlook for Beaver Valley teams
The 2024 WPIAL Baseball Playoffs begin on Monday, May 13 with a number of Beaver County schools vying for WPIAL gold. Lets take a look at the field of teams in this year’s playoff brackets.
Class 6A
Beaver County Schools: No Beaver County Schools
Class 5A
Beaver County Schools: No. 1 West Allegheny, No. 10 Moon Area
Beaver County First Round Matchups:
No. 1 West Allegheny - Bye
No. 7 Penn-Trafford Vs. 10. Moon Area Wednesday May 14, 2 p.m. at. Gateway High School
West Allegheny
The Indians rolled through their regular season schedule and are one of two teams that have secured the top seed in the Beaver County Times’ coverage area.
Over the course of this season, West Allegheny went toe to toe in their section with North Hills and defending WPIAL champion Shaler for the top spot in section three play with the Indians edging out both schools with a 7-3 record in the section and a 16-3 record overall.
With West Allegheny holding the top spot in the section, it will have a first round bye and will take on the winner of Shaler and South Fayette in the WPIAL quarterfinals on May 20.
Moon Area
In a loaded WPIAL Class 5A section three, the Tigers secured the 10th seed in the postseason after finishing fifth in the section with a 5-5 record and a 9-7 record in conference play.
Moon Area will face off against Penn-Trafford in the first round of the playoffs as the Warriors won their section posting a 9-3 section record and a 15-3 overall record.
Class 4A
Beaver County Schools: No. 8 Central Valley, No. 12 Hopewell, No. 16 Blackhawk
Beaver County Schools First Round Matchups:
No. 8 Central Valley Vs. No. 9 Indiana, Wednesday, May 15, 2 p.m. at North Allegheny High School
No. 5 Greater Latrobe Vs. No. 12 Hopewell, Wednesday, May 15, 4 p.m. at Plum High School
No. 1 Belle Vernon Vs. No. 16 Blackhawk, Wednesday May 15, 4:30 p.m. at Boyce Mayview Park
Central Valley
The Warriors were awarded the highest seed out of three Beaver County schools in the postseason in Class 4A as Central Valley will square off against Indiana on Wednesday.
For the Warriors, they finished second in respective section two games behind Montour after they finished with a 10-7 overall record and a 7-3 record in section play.
As for their opponent in Indiana, it finished second in section four play with a similar record as Central Valley posting a 10-8 overall record and 7-3 record in section play.
Hopewell
After claiming WPIAL gold last season, the Vikings narrowly made it back into the postseason and will have a chance to defend their WPIAL title.
On the year, Hopewell finished with a .500 record overall posting a 9-9 record and a 4-6 record in WPIAL Class 4A section one play.
The Vikings will set their sights on Greater Latrobe who put together a pretty impressive season finishing with an 18-3 overall record and a 8-2 record in section two play.
Blackhawk
The Cougars were the final team to qualify for the Class 4A playoffs after finishing with a 7-10 overall record and a 4-6 record in section play good enough for a fourth place finish in the section.
Blackhawk will match up against top seeded Belle Vernon after posting a 13-3 overall record and a 9-1 record in conference play. The Leopards narrowly edged out fifth seeded Latrobe for the top spot in section two after finishing a game ahead of the Wildcats.
Class 3A
Beaver County Schools: No. 1 Riverside
Beaver County First Round Matchups:
No. 1 Riverside Vs. No. 16 Keystone Oaks, Tuesday May 14, 4:30 p.m. at North Allegheny High School
Riverside
The Panthers will have an opportunity to defend their WPIAL crown once again this season after another dominant regular season from Riverside after they posted an 11-1 record in their section along with a 13-1 record overall.
Riverside has been an offensive juggernaut as Zach Hare, Bo Fornataro, Hunter Gavin and Darren McDade all have played key contributions on the offensive side of the plate.
Hare hit for .553 which led all batters in the Panthers lineup, Hunter Gavin also played a key role as he had a strong power stroke this year as he mashed five home runs over the course of the regular season.
Along with the solid approach at the plate, Riverside also has had a leathal pitching staff as Zach Hare, Christian Lucarelli and Hunter Garvin have anchored the rotation.
Hare and Lucarelli both have sub one ERA’s while Gavin also had a successful season pitching to the tune of a 1.53 ERA.
Their opponent Keystone Oaks finished fourth in its section posting a 4-10 overall record and a 4-6 record in section play.
Class 2A
Beaver County Schools: No. 2 OLSH, No. 11 Freedom Area
Beaver County First Round Matchups:
No. 2 OLSH - Bye
No. 6 Chartiers-Houston Vs. No. 11 Freedom Area, Tuesday May 14, 2 p.m. at Burkett Park
OLSH
OLSH put together a season to remember as it captured a section title after picking up back-to-back victories over Seton LaSalle to end the regular season.
The Chargers are coming into the season red hot as they finished with a 16-4 overall record and a 13-1 record in section play.
Looking ahead, OLSH will scrimmage West Allegheny the top seeded team in WPIAL Class 5A on Monday as the Indians also have a first round bye in the postseason. The Chargers will await the winner of Riverview and Bethlehem-Center in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Freedom Area
The Bulldogs come into the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs after posting an 11-8 overall record and a 8-6 record in conference play.
Boden Hillard and Mason O’Donnell have paved the way offensively for Freedom Area as both have hit over .400 over the course of the regular season.
As for their first round opponent in Chartiers-Houston, it finished second in section one posting a 9-3 record in section play and a 9-8 record overall.
Class 1A
Beaver County Schools: No. 5 Western Beaver, No. 12 Sewickley Academy
Beaver County First Round Matchups:
No. 5 Western Beaver Vs. No. 12 Sewickley Academy, Tuesday May 14, 2 p.m. at North Allegheny High School
Tuesday’s Class A first round matchup at North Allegheny High School features the lone matchup between two Beaver Valley school’s as Western Beaver and Sewickley academy face-off in the bottom half of the bracket.
Western Beaver finished with a 9-3 record in section play finishing three games behind section two champion Union
The Golden Beavers offense has been led by August Lichtner who hit .350 on the season driving in seven runs on seven hits while scoring 13 runs.
Sewickley Academy has had a number of players that have found success offensively as Jordan Smith, Nolan Donnelly and Billy Pietragallo led the team on the offensive side of the plate.
Smith is hitting a hot .553 in 12 games this season driving in 19 runs on 21 hits while legging out two triples, six doubles while also hitting one home run on the season.
The Panthers finished fourth in section three play compiling a 5-10 record and a 5-7 record in section play.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: 2024 WPIAL baseball postseason outlook for Beaver Valley teams
