WPIAL teams have memorable postseason runs
Freedom coach Dan O’Leary said he could recognize his team’s talent early in the season.
Then section play hit the Bulldogs in the mouth, as they stumbled to a 2-3 record in Class 2A Section 2, allowing 22 runs those first five games.
“I was scratching my head like ‘This is not what we anticipated,’” O’Leary said. “We kind of blew two of those games pretty bad where we had the leads, and just wondering ‘Wow, is there a curse?’ And this group of guys banded together, worked really hard and we finished section play winning nine in a row.”
Nine section wins later, Freedom joined Mars and Jeannette as teams making their first appearance in a WPIAL baseball championship. The Bulldogs knocked off Bentworth, Brentwood and Serra Catholic in the playoffs before falling to California, 3- 1, in the WPIAL finals.
A week later, Freedom fell to Bishop McCort, 4-0, in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. After averaging 10.6 runs in the regular season and five runs throughout the postseason, the Bulldogs’ bats went cold in their championship games. The Bulldogs went 16 consecutive innings without scoring a run, outside pushing one run across in the California loss.
“It’s completely, 180-degrees opposite of our season,” O’Leary said.
Despite coming up short in title games, Freedom baseball enjoyed a historic season. The Bulldogs will lose seniors Christian Krause, Zach Greene, Jordan Herzog and Nick Henderson. “I can’t say enough how proud I am of this group of guys,” O’Leary said.
Jeannette enjoyed a different result in its first WPIAL Class 1A championship — a 7-3 win against Greensburg Central Catholic. Tuesday, Jeannette fell to Elk County Catholic in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.
Mars joined the ranks of WPIAL championship firsttimers, falling short of its first win on the bigger stage. The Planets lost to Latrobe, 6-2, in the WPIAL Class 5A championship and then Cedar Cliff in the first round of state playoffs, 3-1.
In the regular season, Mars lost six games by two runs or fewer. The Planets offense didn’t awaken in the postseason, which put the team in a difficult position, according to Mars coach Andy Bednar.
“When you only score one run, it makes it awfully tough on your pitcher and your defense,” Bednar said.
Still, making it to the WPIAL finals is a step in the right direction. The Planets have trended upward, making it to the first round of the WPIAL 3A playoffs in 2014-15 and losing in the semifinals last year.
“The natural progression now is to win the 5A finals,” Bednar said he told his team.
No repeat opportunities
With Vincentian Academy’s 1-0 loss to Greensburg Central Catholic in the WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinals, no WPIAL team has the opportunity to repeat at the state level.
Vincentian defeated Serra Catholic, 4-1, in last year’s WPIAL championship, eventually defeating Meyersdale, 5-2, in the PIAA championship.
WPIAL’s recent history
No WPIAL team has won the PIAA’s biggest classification since Canon-McMillan won a Class 4A title in 2008. The year before the Big Macs’ triumph, Seneca Valley won 4A.
No WPIAL team has won back-to-back PIAA championships in the largest classification since Moon in 2001 and 2002.