Who knew Cinderella was a dog – a bulldog that is.
A year ago, Freedom held off both Laurel and New Brighton by one game to finish in third place in Section 2-2A just to make the WPIAL postseason.
When the district Class 2A brackets came out, Freedom was the No. 8 seed.
After cruising past Apollo-Ridge in the first round, the Bulldogs took a big bite out of the top seed leading to an upset of No. 1 Neshannock in the quarterfinals, 3-0.
Freedom leaned on offense in the semifinals to top section foe Shenango, 8-7.
Then in the championship game, Freedom capped off its magical run by edging Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 1-0, to capture its first WPIAL baseball championship.
The surprises didn’t end there as the Bulldogs upended Bishop McCort, Redbank Valley and Mercyhurst Prep to reach the state title game, only to settle for silver in a loss to District 1 power Faith Christian.
What eyebrow raisers will occur in WPIAL Class 2A baseball this season?
Here is a rundown of the 2026 preseason top 5 teams, some players to watch and other diamond notes in WPIAL Class 2A baseball.
Preseason Top 5
1. Neshannock (16-5 last season)
Each and every year, it seems you can count on Neshannock to be in the hunt for a WPIAL baseball title. Things don’t always go their way, like last spring when the Lancers tied Shenango for the Section 2-2A title, earned the No. 1 seed, and then were stunned in the quarterfinals by a Freedom team they beat twice in the regular season. The Lancers hope to end their district championship drought at 11 years behind four key returning players in senior outfielder and pitcher Anthony Eakin, senior infielder and pitcher Cole Hutchison, junior catcher Lucca Messanotte and junior pitcher Ryan Cameron.
2. Freedom (18-8)
Veteran Freedom coach Dan O’Leary engineered one of the great championship runs of the 2024-2025 school year. Now the Bulldogs go from pulling off playoff surprise after postseason stunner to being the team with a target on its back this spring. Several important pieces to the 2025 puzzle are back in 2026, including senior infielders/pitchers Boden Hilliard and Xavier Robbins, senior pitcher Darien Serrano (Lehigh), senior outfielder/pitcher Zach Kuntz, senior infielder Colton Blank, junior catcher and pitcher Anthony Taddeo and sophomore outfielder Nick Fessler.
3. Fort Cherry (13-6)
It was a bit of a rough start last spring for Fort Cherry and its pitching staff. The Rangers lost three of their first four games and in those contests, allowed 42 runs. However, the pitching improved, the sticks were there all season and Fort Cherry went on to win 12 of its final 14 games. Last year was a monster season for two outstanding sophomores in catcher/pitcher Colton Temple and outfielder/pitcher Ryan Huey. Temple batted .621 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs as one of the top sluggers in the district. Three other promising Rangers juniors are infielder Ben Demascal, infielder and pitcher Tyler Wolfe and outfielder and pitcher Landon Trnavsky.
4. Laurel (10-12)
Heading into the final week of the regular season, it didn’t look like Laurel was even going to make the 2025 postseason. The Spartans took care of business with three section wins in a row to finish tied for fourth place with New Brighton in Section 2-2A. Then the fun began for the green and while as they upset Fort Cherry in the first round and defeated a Shenango team that beat them twice in the regular season before falling to surprise Freedom in the semifinals. Laurel might not need a dramatic finish to the regular season this spring as they welcome back, among others, senior infielder Luca Santini (PennWest-Clarion), senior outfielder Jacob McBride and junior catcher/pitcher Kolton Carlson (Seton Hill).
5. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (15-9)
There were high hopes for Our Lady of the Sacred Heart coming into the 2025 campaign, and the Chargers did not disappoint. They won the Section 3-2A championship by two games over both Riverview and South Side. They earned the No. 2 seed in the Class 2A district playoffs after winning 11 of their final 14 regular season games. OLSH knocked off New Brighton and Riverview to earn a spot in the district title game where it lost to Freedom. The Chargers return one of the top freshmen in the district last spring in outfielder Dean Douglass. Also back are senior catcher Bruno Williams and senior infielder Chad Minton.
Players to watch
Colton Temple, Jr., C-INF-P, Fort Cherry
Ryan Huey, Jr., OF-P, Fort Cherry
Ben Demascal, Jr., INF, Fort Cherry
Tyler Wolfe, Jr., INF-P, Fort Cherry
Landon Trnavsky, Jr., OF-P, Fort Cherry
Aaron Walsh, Sr., OF, Chartiers-Houston
Brady Gotfredson, Jr., INF-P, Chartiers-Houston
J.J. Livingston, Jr., C-P, Chartiers-Houston
Josiah Moushlian, Jr., INF-P, Chartiers-Houston
Ben Hays, Sr., OF, Bentworth
Sam Wade, Sr., OF-P, Bentworth
Chase Fulmer, Sr., OF, Frazier
Tyler Morrison, Sr., C, Frazier
Matthew Bredel, Sr., INF-P, Burgettstown
Jayden Roach, Jr., OF, Burgettstown
Logan Hartley, Sr., OF, California
Kaden Weston, Sr., UTIL-P, California
Boden Hilliard, Sr., INF-P, Freedom
Zach Kuntz, Sr., OF-P, Freedom
Darien Serrano, Sr., P, Freedom
Xavier Robbins, Sr., INF-P, Freedom
Colton Blank, Sr., INF, Freedom
Anthony Taddeo, Jr., C-P, Freedom
Nick Fessler, So., OF, Freedom
Anthony Eakin, Sr., OF-P, Neshannock
Cole Hutchison, Sr., INF-P, Neshannock
Lucca Messanotte, Jr.,C, Neshannock
Ryan Cameron, Jr., UTIL-P, Neshannock
Luca Santini, Sr., INF, Laurel
Jacob McBride, Sr., OF, Laurel
Kolton Carlson, Jr., C-P, Laurel
Nick Rawlings, Sr., C-INF-P, Northgate
Chris Crawford, Sr., INF, Northgate
Jaxson Zahn, Sr., INF-P, New Brighton
Trey Ross, Sr., INF-P, Shenango
Dean Douglass, So., OF, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Bruno Williams, Sr., C, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Chad Minton, Sr., INF, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
Miles Duncan, Jr., C, Riverview
Lukas Duncan, Jr., P, Riverview
Rex Roberts, Jr., OF, Riverview
Blaize Dias, Sr., INF-P, Brentwood
Mike O’Leary, Sr., UTIL-P, Brentwood
Andrew Redman, Jr., C-INF-P, Springdale
Luke Bramson, Jr., C-INF-OF, Springdale
A.C. Corfield, Sr., INF, South Side
Eric Firle, Sr., UTIL-P, Carlynton
Noah Stewart, So., UTIL, Apollo-Ridge
Diamond notes
• Freedom will be attempting to accomplish something rare this spring. It will try to become only the fifth WPIAL Class 2A school to repeat as diamond champions. The others were Seton LaSalle in 2023-2024, Washington in 1997-1998, Center in 1989-1990 and Ford City in 1987-1988.
• Freedom was close to also winning a PIAA championship last spring but lost to Faith Christian. That continues a trend among district baseball teams when it comes to the state playoffs. The last WPIAL 2A team to win a PIAA state championship was Neshannock in 2015. In the 12 years before the Lancers’ state title run, there was state gold aplenty as the district produced five PIAA 2A champions: Ellwood City in 2003 and Riverside in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2012. The first three PIAA 2A state champions were all from the WPIAL. Wilmington (now D-10) won it in in 1981, Northgate in 1982 and Riverview in 1983.
• Co-section champions in two of the three sections in 2025 and a champion winning as the No. 8 seed proved how deep and balanced Class 2A baseball has become. Beside the teams listed above in the Preseason Top 5, others teams to watch in 2A this spring include Chartiers-Houston, Burgettstown and California from Section 1, Shenango and New Brighton from Section 2 and Riverview from Section 3.
• For as much success as Aliquippa has enjoyed in football and basketball, that has not translated to the baseball diamond. The Quips were the only Class 2A winless team again in 2025 and carry a 47-game losing streak into the 2026 season, still nowhere near the district record 107-game skid over eight years by Aliquippa that ended in 2017. Other teams looking to bounce back after tough springs a year ago are Carlynton (2-16), Bentworth (3-10), Northgate (4-14), Springdale (4-10) and Brentwood (5-13).
• This is the 47th season of Class 2A baseball in the WPIAL. The first 2A champion was Freeport after it defeated Chartiers-Houston in the 1979 championship game at West Field in Munhall.
Some of the other 2A championship anniversaries being celebrated this season include:
Fort Cherry captured 2A gold 40 years ago in the spring of 1986 with a win over Ford City at Pullman Park in Butler.
Riverside won the first of the school’s seven WPIAL crowns 30 years ago by claiming gold in the 1996 2A finals over Chartiers-Houston.
Twenty-five years ago, Ellwood City doubled up Shady Side Academy to win the 2001 2A title game, 6-3.
Riverside crushed Greensburg Central Catholic 20 years ago to win the 2006 crown in Class 2A, 12-1.
Hey, another Riverside championship run took place 10 years ago when the Panthers edged Neshannock in the 2016 finals, 1-0.
Five years ago, Shenango edged Seton LaSalle to win the 2021 2A championship game in the return season for baseball after the 2020 campaign was cancelled due to the covid outbreak.
2026 Alignment
Section 1: Bentworth, Beth-Center, Burgettstown, California, Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry, Frazier
Section 2: Aliquippa, Freedom, Laurel, Neshannock, New Brighton, Northgate, Shenango
Section 3: Apollo-Ridge, Brentwood, Carlynton, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Riverview, Springdale, South Side