Not many people saw this quarterfinal matchup coming.
Well, maybe the teams did.
Whatever the case, may the best underdog win.
Derry, the No. 13 seed, will meet No. 12 Hampton in the WPIAL 4A playoffs at 7 p.m. Monday at Plum for the right to play in the semifinals.
Derry hasn’t been to the semis since 1984, the year it won its only WPIAL championship.
Derry is the only team in the bracket with a losing record (8-9) but was clean and crisp in its 2-1 upset of No. 4 Beaver on Monday at Deer Lakes.
The Trojans were led by Max Doherty, who was efficient with an error-free defense backlighting him. He scattered seven hits and struck out three before turning it over to Cason Long for the final 1 1/3 innings for the save.
Doherty also delivered at the plate with a double and two RBIs.
“I always had faith in our team to come out and shock everyone, but I can’t say I saw it coming,” Doherty said. “I was very proud of the way our team rallied and played defense in the field. Every player picked each other up throughout the game and I think we saw that a lot through the energy in the dugout.
“They were locked down on Monday, and if we keep playing like that we should be in a good spot.”
Hampton (13-8) upset No. 5 Belle Vernon, 7-1, at Gateway, as Caleb Custer went 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI, and Cole Motchenbaugh drove in two runs.
The Derry-Hampton winner will play the winner of No. 8 Knoch and No. 1 Indiana in the semis on Wednesday at a time and site to be announced.
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Short stay for Section 1
And then there was one in Section 1-5A.
One of the most competitive baseball sections in the WPIAL had a 1-3 showing in the first round of the playoffs.
Only Penn-Trafford advanced after a 4-1 win over Fox Chapel.
While the section received favorable seeding, three teams were upset in the first round. No. 5 Plum lost to No. 12 Upper St. Clair, 16-5 in six innings, No. 6 Latrobe was knocked off by No. 11 Bethel Park, 6-1, and No. 7 Franklin Regional was beaten by No. 10 South Fayette, 8-2.
“I didn’t think the lights would be too bright for us,” Latrobe coach Matt Basciano said. “After 20 games, you expect to be ready to go. (Bethel Park) has a great program and they executed well.”
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Spring break
Greensburg Central Catholic was thrilled to get the No. 2 seed in the Class A playoffs, but the first-round bye has the unbeaten Centurions (15-0) twiddling their thumbs.
They will finally play Monday when they take on No. 7 Jefferson-Morgan (12-8) in the quarterfinals at Washington & Jefferson.
GCC will have gone 10 days between games when they play the Rockets, who they swept in the teams’ first Section 1 series of the season.
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State playoffs
The PIAA playoffs will follow the WPIAL tournaments as usual, but there are different numbers of qualifiers based on classification.
Only the WPIAL champion will qualify in Class 6A, the top four advance in 5A, 3A and A, and the top three go in 4A and 2A.
There is a third-place game in all classes except 6A.
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Big 5/6 selections
The Big 5/6 Conference announced its all-section teams Thursday.
The organization recognizes the accomplishments of teams in the WPIAL’s two largest classifications.
The Section 2-6A first team included Norwin’s Derek Berger (Sr., OF), Tristyn Tavares (Sr., IF) and Caden Sivrich (Sr., P), while the second team has seven Hempfield players: infielders Grady Wheaton (So.), Owen Shuglie (Sr.) and Chase Sikorski (Sr.), outfielders Chase Damaska (Sr.) and Drew Jones (Sr.), catcher Ian Kovalcik (Sr.) and designated hitter Evan Dunlap (Sr.).
Zane Markovitz (Sr., OF) and senior pitchers Matt O’Neil and Jake Knight of Norwin also made the second team.
Section 1-5A first teamers are Luke Williams (Sr., SS), Liam Bernadowski (So, OF), Tim Pirone (So., DH) and Anthony Mitchell (Jr. U) of Franklin Regional; Cole Short (Sr., IF) of Latrobe; and Tanner DeStefano (So., IF), Nico Casciato (S.r, OF), Aiden Drotos (Jr., P) and Colton Tyburski (Sr., C) of Penn-Trafford.
Lou Cortazzo of Penn-Trafford was the coach of the year.
Second team picks included: Grady Ruffner, Aaron Gaskey and Ty Wisniewski of Latrobe; and Logan Matrisch, Dom Delio and Jordan White of Penn-Trafford.
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All-section
Greensburg Salem had four players make the all-section 3-4A team. Catcher Zach Smith and outfielder Brody Chismar were selected to the first team, while outfielder Colin Doyle and infielder Robert Visnick made the second team.