Party on, again
North Allegheny pitcher Partridge stymies WPIAL champs a second time
It certainly has been hard for teams to figure out how to beat the Pine-Richland this season. But North Allegheny found the perfect formula. Throw a Party.
“Party’s my nickname, short for my last name,” Ryan Partridge said.
We figured. But against Pine-Richland, this kid is a Party animal.
Partridge, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound senior left-hander, threw a four-hitter and struck out six to lift North Allegheny to a 4-1 victory against Pine-Richland in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals Thursday at La Roche University.
Pine-Richland (19-5) is the WPIAL champion and lost only twice in its final 18 games. Both losses were to North Allegheny and Partridge.
Partridge pitched a 2-0 gem against Pine-Richland in the final week of the regular season, a two-hit, 11-strikeout performance that North Allegheny coach Andrew Heck called “probably the best game Partridge has ever pitched.”
The performance Thursday wasn’t quite as impressive, but much more important. It put North Allegheny (196), the No. 3 team from the WPIAL, into Monday’s semifinals.
“I think it’s a big win for our program, just to prove we’re there. We can get over the hump, at least in our region,” said Heck, a third-year coach whose team lost in the PIAA quarterfinals and first round the past two years. “We’ve begun to prove ourselves the past two years, but we just haven’t capitalized on a couple opportunities we had.”
Pine-Richland has capitalized on many pitchers this season. After winning the WPIAL title last week coach Kurt Wolfe said his team had been particularly good lately with runners in scoring position. Against Partridge Thursday, PineRichland scored an unearned run in the first inning.
After that, the Rams had only two runners reach second base. Partridge, a Penn State recruit, now has a 6-2 record with a 1.52 ERA.
“I kind of knew I had some of their numbers,” Partridge said of PineRichland. “But they’re very good hitters. They have great ability to adapt. I just came out confident and I guess it paid off.”
Partridge wasn’t overpowering, but his curveball was effective throughout most of the game.
“My fastball was off and on at some points, but it was my curveball that did it for sure,” Partridge said. “When my curveball is there, it’s probably my best pitch. The past two games, I really relied on it and it helped me out.”
Heck said, “I thought he threw well when he found his breaking ball. He’s able to keep teams off balance more when he has that going because he can throw it early in the count for a strike. And he throws it two different ways.”
North Allegheny beat standout Pine-Richland sophomore pitcher Tommy Beam, who came in with a 1.48 ERA. North Allegheny had seven hits and took advantage of three Pine-Richland errors, which all led to runs.
Shane Murphy had two run-scoring doubles for North Allegheny. His first tied the score, 1-1, in the second. In the fifth, North Allegheny had runners on first and third when Jared Orwell hit into a double play. But C.J. Weller, who reached on an error, scored on the play to give the Tigers the lead.
In the sixth, Cam Medic reached on an error with two outs. Murphy then delivered his second double.
North Allegheny’s final run in the seventh scored on an error.
North Allegheny will play in the semifinals Monday against Central Bucks South, a suburban Philadelphia team that beat Wilson, 2-1, in another quarterfinal.