Batter up
Five of eight area baseball teams begin playoffs Monday
When the WPIAL released its baseball playoff pairings on Friday, Carmichaels coach Dickie Krause immediately took note of the schedule and when his team would play.
无毛视频淲e were a little surprised that it was Monday,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淲e expected no earlier than Tuesday. That无毛视频檚 pretty tight because that doesn无毛视频檛 give you a lot of time over the weekend when you无毛视频檙e scouting and trying to get ready for a new opponent.无毛视频�
Carmichaels is one of five area teams, along with Jefferson-Morgan, California, Frazier and Belle Vernon, who are slated to open the postseason on Monday.
Three more 无毛视频� Connellsville, Waynesburg Central and Mount Pleasant 无毛视频� get underway on Tuesday.
The Rockets (11-8) and Mikes (8-8) were seeded seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Class A bracket and play a doubleheader at Washington & Jefferson无毛视频檚 Ross Memorial Park. Carmichaels faces No. 9 Sewickley Academy (8-9) at 4 p.m. and J-M takes on No. 10 Union (6-10) at 6:30 p.m.
This will be the final playoff appearance for Rockets coach John Curtis who is stepping down after 42 years at the helm.
When asked how he无毛视频檚 approaching this last postseason, Curtis said, 无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 a tough question. It无毛视频檚 something I try not to think about, like, well this is my last time in the playoffs, this is last home game, last this or that.
无毛视频淚t无毛视频檚 in the back of my mind but I无毛视频檒l think about it more when it无毛视频檚 all said and done. It went fast, I无毛视频檒l say that.无毛视频�
The Class A seedings fell about where Curtis thought they would with top eight in order being Eden Christian, Greensburg Central Catholic, Serra Catholic, Western Beaver, Leechburg, Avella and then Jefferson-Morgan and Carmichaels.
无毛视频淚 always kind of do a pre-bracket of my own, and Avella, us and Carmichaels, we无毛视频檙e pretty much where I thought we would be, six, seven and eight,无毛视频� Curtis said. 无毛视频淭he top four, I had Eden two and GCC one for the simple reason GCC was 15-0. I know Eden has a lot of history and they were pretty good.
无毛视频淩egardless, you无毛视频檝e got to take them one at a time, try to win and move on.无毛视频�
The Rockets, who have won 10 of their last 12, finished third in Section 1 behind GCC and Avella with Carmichaels fourth.
无毛视频淲e got kind of a late start, practice-wise, with a lot of them because of the great success of our basketball team but that was a good thing for the school,无毛视频� said Curtis, whose teams have had a knack for getting better as the season has gone along through his career. 无毛视频淲e make a few adjustments and continue to do what we do and the kids seem to respond to that. So we usually see our hitting, pitching and defense get much better as the season goes on.无毛视频�
Getting a scouting report on opposing teams is usually easier nowadays with much available online, but Curtis had trouble digging up information on the Scotties.
无毛视频淯nion is hard to gauge because they didn无毛视频檛 have anything on MaxPreps,无毛视频� Curts said. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檝e had a couple people I know help me out so we have a little bit of info but not a whole lot. All of our stuff is out there.无毛视频�
J-M ace John Woodward will likely be the starting pitcher against the Scotties.
无毛视频淵ou have to win the first one so I无毛视频檇 say it无毛视频檚 a pretty good bet,无毛视频� Curtis said. 无毛视频淭he games are a little more spread out than usual. There无毛视频檚 only 12 teams.无毛视频�
Krause has had plenty of playoff success recently, including guiding the Mikes to the WPIAL final where it fell to Serra last year, but not as much was expected from his youthful 2026 squad.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e thrilled to be back in the playoffs. I无毛视频檓 really happy for the kids,无毛视频� Krause. 无毛视频淭o get into the playoffs was a goal at the beginning of the season. We went 7-5 in the section which I was pleased with.
无毛视频淭he last two years have been successful but we turned over so many players, eight seniors from last year and six the year before, so that无毛视频檚 14 kids out of your program in two seasons. In Class A that无毛视频檚 a big hit, one we haven无毛视频檛 had before. This year we only have three seniors and one is a first-year player.无毛视频�
As he expected, Carmichaels had its ups and downs this season.
无毛视频淲e were typical of a young team,无毛视频� Krause said. 无毛视频淥ne day we would go out and play a great game and have a nice win, then the next game we wouldn无毛视频檛 play nearly as well. Like Avella, we played a nice, solid game and won at their place and the next day we looked about as bad as we could look, miscommunicated, dropped a pop up on the mound that was a big play in that game and made a bunch of mistakes.
无毛视频淲e came on at the end, won four of our last five games, so we无毛视频檙e getting better and all signs are looking positive about next year when we get most of these kids back. The kids are excited about being there and we无毛视频檙e looking forward to Monday. This is one of the hardest working teams I无毛视频檝e ever had and they无毛视频檙e good kids.无毛视频�
As for Sewickley, Krause said, 无毛视频淭hey have a similar record and played in a section with (Bishop) Canevin, Eden and Serra and all of those teams we无毛视频檝e played in the playoffs the last three or four years so we know how competitive that section is.无毛视频�
While playing Monday was a surprise, Krause is happy with the site.
无毛视频淲&J is a beautiful facility so we无毛视频檙e looking forward to playing there,无毛视频� Krause said.
In Class 2A on Monday, No. 8 California plays No. 9 Freedom in a 4 p.m. game at Peterswood Park and No. 13 Frazier goes up against No. 4 Riverview, 6:30 p.m. at West Mifflin.
Trojans first-year coach Jason Rechichar felt his team would be seeded a bit higher.
无毛视频淚 honestly thought we would be somewhere between five and seven, with our record being 14-6 overall and 10-2 in the section,无毛视频� said Rechichar, whose squad finished second behind top-seeded Fort Cherry in Section 1. 无毛视频淚 felt we无毛视频檇 get a better seed than what we got, looking at say Apollo-Ridge, which had five section wins and eight overall and was put above us. It was frustrating.
无毛视频淲e lost some non-section games to good, bigger schools, like Belle Vernon and South Park and Ringgold, that were playoff teams. That无毛视频檚 who I wanted to play in the regular season to make our team better but I guess they didn无毛视频檛 take that into account.无毛视频�
Rechichar did agree with the Rangers being placed at the top of the seedings
无毛视频淔ort Cherry is a very good baseball team and I无毛视频檓 not surprised they were No. 1,无毛视频� Rechichar said. 无毛视频淲hat did surprise me was I felt like they didn无毛视频檛 give the rest of our section the respect it was due.无毛视频�
Rechichar has done a bit of scouting on Freedom.
无毛视频淚 know they无毛视频檙e a contact hitting team and they have two pretty good pitchers,无毛视频� he said.
Rechichar took over as California无毛视频檚 coach after Taylor Andrisko left the Trojans to coach Belle Vernon, but he was part of the program.
无毛视频淚 was the middle school coach for three years here prior to taking this job, so the transition was really smooth,无毛视频� Rechichar said. 无毛视频淚 knew most of the kids, obviously, having coached them before. It was pretty seamless.无毛视频�
He has a four-man coaching staff behind him including former Brownsville coach Skooter Roebuck, who has a WPIAL title on his resume.
无毛视频淪kooter coached me in high school,无毛视频� Rechichar pointed out. 无毛视频淎lso I have PJ Ross, Chris Daniels and Trent Wible.无毛视频�
Rechichar feels his players are ready for the postseason.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e excited to be in the playoffs and we feel confident,无毛视频� Rechichar said. 无毛视频淲e were literally one out away from beating Fort Cherry the second time we played them and a kid hit a home run in the seventh inning to tie it and we wound up losing. I无毛视频檝e told them you guys can beat anybody if you bring your 无毛视频楢无毛视频� game.无毛视频�
Andrisko took the reins of a Leopards team that reached the Class 4A semifinals last year under Tony Watson. Belle Vernon (14-5), which tied with West Mifflin for second in Section 2, is the fifth seed and plays No. 12 Hampton, 6:30 p.m. at Gateway on Monday.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檙e very satisfied with the five seed,无毛视频� said Andrisko, who led California to the WPIAL final three years ago. 无毛视频淚 think had we won at home against West Mifflin last week we may have been a spot or two better. I think the committee did a great job this year and the playoffs are going to be competitive in every round.无毛视频�
Andrisko is wary of the Talbots.
无毛视频淲e know that Section 1 is very competitive top to bottom and has some very good teams,无毛视频� he said. 无毛视频淗ampton has had some very impressive wins this season so we know they无毛视频檙e battle-tested out of that section. They also have some impressive non-conference wins.
无毛视频淭hey certainly don无毛视频檛 appear to be a 12 seed to be slept on. That speaks to the entire 4A bracket. Every team in the field is competitive and has a guy on the mound that they trust, and that makes anyone dangerous on any given day.无毛视频�
Waynesburg is the 16th and last seed in Class 3A but owns a win over No. 2 Seton LaSalle. The Raiders (7-12) placed fourth in Section 4.
无毛视频淲e weren无毛视频檛 surprised with where we landed,无毛视频� Waynesburg coach Perry Cunningham said. 无毛视频淯ltimately, if we wanted a better seed, we should无毛视频檝e played better in both the section and our non-section schedules.
无毛视频淲ith that being said, we feel our non-section has prepared us for the postseason. We scrimmaged and played five playoff teams, four of which are 4A as well as Avella, plus Trinity. We didn无毛视频檛 play very clean in most of those games, but I still felt the speed of those teams and pressure they put on us will help us.无毛视频�
The win over the Rebels gives his players hope against top-seeded Avonworth. The two will meet in a 6:30 p.m. game on Tuesday at Ross Memorial Park in the second game of a doubleheader. No. 8 Mount Pleasant (12-8) faces No. 9 Charleroi in the first game at 4 p.m.
无毛视频淲e talked to our kids about the reality of our Seton LaSalle win and if we can beat the No. 2 team, why can无毛视频檛 we beat the No. 1 team?无毛视频� Cunningham said. 无毛视频淐ertainly it无毛视频檚 going to be a challenge and we无毛视频檒l have to play clean baseball just as we did against Seton LaSalle, but that win should be a reminder that we can play a solid game, and, hopefully, our kids bring that confidence.
无毛视频淎lso, this is a different feeling for us this year. Last year无毛视频檚 team had expectations and there was a certain level of pressure that came along with those. This group doesn无毛视频檛 have any pressure, especially as the No. 16 seed.无毛视频�
Like Waynesburg, Connellsville (9-11) is a No. 16 seed and faces top-seeded Pine-Richland on Tuesday in a 6:30 p.m. game at Gateway.