Latrobe stuns Montour in Class 4A
Boring’s 3 RBIs key for Wildcats in 10-7 victory
Montour did everything it could to erase a huge deficit against Latrobe.
In the end, though, the Wildcats found that little extra just when they needed it most to keep the game out of reach of the Spartans and pull of the upset of the reigning state champions.
Eli Boring hit a critical sacrifice fly as part of a two-run seventh inning that gave Latrobe (17-6) some muchneeded breathing room and sophomore Luke Nipar closed it out with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to lead the No. 5 Wildcats to a 10-7 victory against top-seeded Montour (19-4) in a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal at Boyce-Mayview Park in Upper St. Clair.
Latrobe will make its first finals appearance since winning the Class 5A title in 2017.
Boring, who drove in the late insurance run, was huge catalyst for Latrobe. He went 3 for 5 with a double, drove in three and scored once. Starting pitcher Riley Smith, who picked up the win, was 2 for 3 and drove in two runs.
Senior Nicholas Walker was 2 for 4 with a triple and five RBIs, including a basesloaded, three-run triple in the bottom of the sixth that got Montour back to within 8-7.
Other Class 4A
Hopewell 7, Indiana 5: The Vikings are the No. 14 seed in the playoffs. But now they are headed to the finals after another postseason upset.
Class 6A Mt. Lebanon 3, Pine-Richland 0:
The Blue Devils continued one of the greatest inseason turnarounds in WPIAL history with the upset of the top-seeded Rams. Pine-Richland had scored double figures in three of its past four games, including 14 runs in a WPIAL first-round victory on Monday, but were shut out by Mt. Lebanon’s Matt Delvaux, who pitched a three-hitter and struck out five. The Blue Devils had only three hits off Pine- Richland’s Jacob McGuire, but handed McGuire (6-1) his first loss of the season as they came up with all three runs in the fifth inning.
Class 5A Bethel Park 8, Penn-Trafford 5:
The Black Hawks (174) won their 10th in a row as they came up with five runs in the fifth inning to come from behind and knock off the Warriors (14-6) to clinch their second visit to the finals in three years. They have not won a WPIAL title since 1987.
Class 3A Riverside 11, East Allegheny 2:
Sophomore Drake Fox doubled and drove in five runs to help the Panthers roll past the Wildcats and into the championship game for the first time since winning the Class 3A title in 2017. Ronnie Harper allowed four hits and fanned seven in five innings to pick up the win for Riverside.
Neshannock 2, Avonworth 1: A move up in classification didn’t hurt the Lancers (18-4), who sneaked past the Antelopes (17-6) to earn a spot in a WPIAL championship game for the second year in a row.
Class 2A Serra Catholic 10, Burgettstown 0:
The defending champion and top- seeded Eagles (19-2) needed a couple of innings to get the offense going, but once they did, the No. 4 Blue Devils (144) couldn’t stop them as Serra won in five innings. Sophomore Tyler Skaggs was 2 for 3 with two singles and three RBIs. He also fanned five and surrendered two hits to pick up the win. Serra Catholic scored its 10 runs in the third and fourth innings.
Seton LaSalle 2, New Brighton 0:
The secondseeded Rebels (16-4) got the only runs they needed in the first inning. Cole Starrett drove in Gio LoNero with the only RBI of the game and they made it stand up against the No. 3 Lions ( 15-5). Brian Reed allowed two hits and struck out nine in a completegame victory. The two teams had split their two Section 2 matchups during the regular season.
Class 1A California 9, Union 6:
The Trojans never had an opportunity to defend their 2019 Class 1A title. First the COVID- 19 pandemic shut down the 2020 season and then they spent two years in Class 2A. Now, back in Class 1A, No. 4 California (14-7) ended the top-seeded Scotties two-year reign atop the classification as sophomore Caden Monticelli picked up the win in relief and the team broke a 6-6 tie with three in the top of the seventh to win it.
Bishop Canevin 9, Rochester 4:
The No. 6 Crusaders (14-3) have not won a WPIAL title since taking Class 2A in 2000, but will have the opportunity to win their third overall after knocking out the Rams (10-8). Aiden Didion had three hits and Tyler Maddix picked up the win for Bishop Canevin.