PIAA baseball figures, factoids and memories
FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP: The PIAA didn’t start baseball championships until 1977, and Hatboro-Horsham of suburban Philadelphia defeated Penn Hills in the first title game, 4-0, at Shippensburg University. There was only one classification for baseball in 1977 and ‘78. A second classification was added in 1979.
THE FIRST FROM THE WPIAL: Penn Hills came back from a loss in the 1977 title game and won the championship in 1978 with a 7-5 victory against Valley View at Shippensburg. Penn Hills was coached by Neil Gordon, who is the only coach in Pennsylvania history to win state titles in baseball and football. Gordon coached the 1995 Penn Hills football team to the PIAA Class 4A title.
SHALER THE BEST EVER? The 1980 Shaler Titans, PIAA Class 3A champions, could possibly be the best team ever from the WPIAL. You can certainly make an argument for coach Jerry Matulevic’s team. How many teams from the WPIAL have had two seniors taken in the first nine rounds of the MLB draft in the same year? But that’s what Shaler had with catcher Doug Maggio (third round, Phillies) and pitcher Wayne Schuckert (ninth round, White Sox). No WPIAL team has come close to that distinction since. Plus, three other players (Matt Stennett, Rich Schlieper, Chip Peluso) from that Shaler team were eventually selected in the top 20 rounds of the draft in college, and pitcher-first baseman Ken Karcher (10-0 as a pitcher) had a brief time as an NFL quarterback. Three other players went on to play major-college baseball — Tom Weider at Maryland, Ed Bodner at Pitt, Kevin Walsh at Kent State. Weider was an all-ACC selection and Walsh led Kent State in hitting one season.
ONE BIG TOURNEY IN SHIPPENSBURG: For the first few years of the PIAA playoffs, all teams would go to Shippensburg and the tournament was played over three days. But in 1980, the PIAA tried a different format, which was never used again. All 16 teams that qualified from eastern and western Pennsylvania went to Shippensburg for a double-elimination tournament that lasted from Monday through Friday. There were no pitching limits back then. But teams in the losers bracket were throwing No. 6 and 7 pitchers by Thursday. Starting in 1981, the PIAA held only the semifinals and championship games at Shippensburg. That format was used until 1989, when only the championships were at one site.
MOST CHAMPIONSHIPS: Heading into this year, Riverside of the WPIAL had the most titles of any Pa. team with four. No other WPIAL team won more than two. All four Riverside championships came under coach Dan Oliastro, who recently finished his 51st season at the helm.
NO-HITTER FOR BROWN: Riverside pitcher Curtis Brown used to wear red cleats. But in 2005, that’s not what made him stand out from any other pitcher in PIAA history. Brown, a 5-foot-8 senior, pitched the first no-hitter in a PIAA title game as the Panthers defeated Halifax, 8-0. Brown struck out seven and walked three.
FROM CITY LEAGUE CATCHER TO NFL: City League teams Peabody, Allderdice and Langley were regular PIAA championship contenders in the late 1970s and 1980s. The only City League baseball team to ever play for a PIAA title was Langley in 1982. The Mustangs lost in the title game to Hershey, 5-4, in eight innings. Langley’s talented catcher was Bobby Howard, who went on to become a backup running back in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
TWO FOR THE SHOW: Not many WPIAL teams have two future major leaguers. But two WPIAL teams that made it to PIAA title games had two future MLB players. Mt. Lebanon won a title in 1998 and featured junior Josh Wilson and senior Don Kelly, two future bigleaguers. Kelly was 2 for 3 in a 9-6 victory against Coatesville and Wilson 2 for 5. Wilson played eight years in the majors and Kelly nine seasons. The 1983 Beaver team had two pitchers who made it to the major leagues. John Burkett won the semifinal game against Allderdice to lift his record to 12-0. In the title game, Doug Piatt pitched a threehitter, but Beaver lost to Reading, 2-1. Burkett had a long MLB career, winning 166 games. Piatt pitched 21 games in 1991.
MARINO ALMOST MADE IT: Central Catholic came one win away from making it to the PIAA championship in 1979 and the Vikings’ star pitcher-shortstop would go on to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dan Marino raised his record to 12-0 with a first-round win against Cedar Crest. He scored the winning run in a 3-2 quarterfinal win against Langley. But Central Catholic’s playoff run ended in a 13-11 loss to State College in the semifinals. State College ran out to a 12-1 lead before Central Catholic made a comeback. Central Catholic also had catcher Mike Berger, who would go on to become an assistant GM with the MLB’s Florida Marlins. In 1980, Berger was a fourth-round pick of the Pirates and Marino was a fourthround pick of the Royals in the 1979 draft.