Rainouts take a toll on area pitching staffs
Section games are bunched up, counts limited
All of the rain lately has made for one of the wettest Aprils ever in the Pittsburgh area, according to the National Weather Service. The poor weather also is putting a strain on many high school pitching staffs, according to coaches.
The rain has forced numerous postponements of section games. That, coupled with the way the WPIAL now schedules section games and mandates when postponed section games should be made up, means some teams have a backlog of section games and might be playing five or six games in a week.
When you throw in the fact that Pennsylvania high school baseball uses a pitchcount rule, many coaches feel like throwing up their arms because of a lack of arms.
“It’s hard to blame anyone, but it’s really going to be tough on us,” Springdale coach Dante Mahlmeister said.
Due to the rain and poor field conditions, Springdale had played only three games after Monday’s contest against Rochester. Springdale was to play Rochester again Tuesday, St. Joseph on Thursday and Friday and Leechburg next Monday and Tuesday. That’s six section games in eight days for a Class 1A team that has only 13 players on its roster and only five pitchers. Mahlmeister said he will likely have to use players at pitcher who aren’t pitchers.
“Besides an upgrade in WPIAL-wide facilities and fields, I don’t know what could be done,” Mahlmeister said. “To a certain degree, this is out of control. But in late March and early April, rain in Pittsburgh should be expected and accounted for.”
Having a number of games rescheduled because of weather isn’t a new problem for WPIAL teams. But a few years ago, the WPIAL changed the way it schedules all section games. The league also wants section games made up on the next available date. Those two things complicate schedules and make it rough on teams when it rains four or five days in a row.
For ages, it used to be that WPIAL teams played a section opponent twice, once in the first half of the season and once in the second half. But when a game would be postponed, some teams wouldn’t make up the game right away. Teams would then tinker with their schedules, so a top pitcher might be able to face the top teams.
But a few years ago, the WPIAL started scheduling section teams to play twogame series against an opponent on back-to-back days, just so teams couldn’t use the same pitcher twice against an opponent. Class 6A teams play a three-game series against a section opponent on consecutive days. Also, the WPIAL now mandates that when a section game is postponed, it must be made up on the first available date and a section makeup game must take priority over a non-section game. In other words, if needed, a non-section game must be canceled and replaced by a section makeup game.
“It’s absurd what our team is doing,” said East Allegheny coach Mike Cahill, whose Wildcats have a 5-0 record but are only 2-0 in Class 3A Section 3.
East Allegheny was to play a doubleheader against Burrell on Tuesday, a doubleheader against Derry on Friday and then Valley next Monday and Tuesday.
“That’s six section games in seven days,” said Cahill, whose team is ranked No. 2 in Class 3A. “I have four pitchers. They’re probably all going to have to pitch every day.”
Under PIAA pitching rules, a player may throw no more than 200 pitches in a calendar week and not pitch in more than two consecutive days. A pitcher can throw a maximum of 100 pitches in a game. Throwing 26-50 pitches requires one day’s rest, 51-75 two days’ rest and 76-100 three days’ rest. Cahill’s son, Mike, is a top pitcher for East Allegheny who might pitch three times in the next week.
“We’re going to have to limit guys’ pitch count, regardless of the situation, just so they’re available to pitch the next two games. It’s a bit crazy,” coach Cahill said.
Some teams’ schedules have more makeup games than others.
“Competitively, I don’t feel ata disadvantage because a lot of teams are in the same boat,” Mahlmeister said. “I just know all teams aren’t going to be able to put their best product out there.”
Dynamic hitting Dynamo
Since 2000, only one player has led the WPIAL in hitting in two consecutive years. The way he has started this season, Springdale’s John Hughes looks like he has a chance to duplicate the feat.
Hughes is a senior shortstop-pitcher for Springdale and an Allegheny College recruit. He led the WPIAL in hitting during the 2023 regular season with a .649 average. But Hughes now is hitting .750 (6 for 8). The only player to lead the WPIAL in hitting in two consecutive seasons since 2000 was Neshannock’s John Sansone, who was No. 1 in 2011-12. Sansone went on to play at Florida State, was selected in the eighth round of the 2016 MLB draft and made it to Triple-A.
LoNero close to 100 RBIs
Seton LaSalle senior Gio LoNero continues to swing a scorching bat and is closing in on a rather impressive milestone.
LoNero, a senior shortstoppitcher, was 3 for 3 with a double, triple and three RBIs on Monday. In seven games this season, he is batting .750 (12 of 16) with five doubles, five triples, two home runs and 14 RBIs, and his OPS is an eyepopping 2.534.
The impressive milestone LoNero should soon reach is 100 career RBIs. He has 97. It’s not known what the WPIAL record is for career RBIs, but it’s safe to say there isn’t a long list of players with 100. Two of the top RBI producers in modern WPIAL history were Jordan Jankowski, a 2008 Peters Township graduate who had 132, and Tom Kail, a 1998 Baldwin grad who had 135.