WPIAL Class 6A baseball final
No. 1 Butler vs. No. 3 North Allegheny
4 p.m. Wednesday, EQT Park, Washington
On the air: Audio: Trib HSSN; Video: NFHS Network
WPIAL titles: Butler 0, North Allegheny 9 (2024, 2021, 2013, 2009, 2005, 2003, 1996, 1991, 1990)
Last championship game appearance: Butler lost to Upper St. Clair in the 1992 Class 3A title game. North Allegheny defeated Mt. Lebanon in the 2024 Class 6A finals.
Up next: Only the winner advances to the PIAA playoffs. The WPIAL champ will open up against the winner of the McDowell vs. Mifflin County PIAA 6A subregional.
Section foes: This is the fourth meeting of the season between the Section 1-6A foes. The Golden Tornado won the first two games, 1-0 at Pullman Park, and 5-3 at North Allegheny. The Tigers took the final game of the three game series at NA, 8-1.
Butler (19-3)
Coach: Josh Forbes
Projected starting lineup
1, Boden Lenyk, SS, sr.
5, Mavrik Clement, C, sr.
19, Trent Best, 3B, jr.
14, Nolan Stefaniak, P, sr.
8, Blake Scott, DH, sr.
(4, Toby Geibel, RF, sr.)
34, Ryan Rattigan, 1B, jr.
6, Karsten Lenyk, CF, soph.
12, Jake Szebalskie, 2B, sr.
21, Nash Cuffman, LF, jr.
How they got here: Butler edged Mt. Lebanon in eight innings in the quarterfinals, 3-2, and rolled past Norwin in the semifinals, 9-3.
Coach’s quote: “I wouldn’t mind playing NA 100 times a year because they are the best around and they make your team better every time you play against them and the goal is to get better every day,” Josh Forbes said. “Playing them for a fourth time is just another great opportunity we have to get better on the field.”
Notable: Butler has been the team to beat in Section 1-6A since taking two of three from North Allegheny in early April. The Golden Tornado have won 12 straight games and in that span, have given up more than three runs in a game three times. They also have six shutouts in this streak. Obviously pitching has carried the day for Butler thanks in large part to the one-two Division I punch of Nolan Stefaniak and Kyle Casteel. Heading into the postseason, Stefaniak, a Penn State commit, was 5-1 with a 0.00 ERA with no earned runs allowed and 54 strikeouts in 35⅔ innings. Casteel, a West Virginia commit, was 5-0 with a 0.19 ERA with one earned run allowed and 60 Ks in 36⅓ innings. Mavrik Clement, a Pitt commit, leads the Golden Tornado in doubles, home runs and fielding percentage.
North Allegheny (14-8)
Coach: Andrew Heck
Projected starting lineup
22, Jake Fritz, CF, jr.
23, Nate Fritz, LF, soph
4, Dom Williamson, 3B, jr.
3, JJ Mancuso, RF, jr.
7, Ryan Evanish, DH, jr.
28, Ben Kowger, C, sr.
18, Gavin Ust, SS, jr.
10, Christian Simons, 1B, jr.
14, Ben Kern, CF, soph.
11, Carter Boehm, 2B, sr.
12, Liam Cooper, P, sr.
How they got here: North Allegheny shut out No. 6 Hempfield in the quarterfinals, 2-0, and then upended No. 2 Canon-McMillan, 4-3, in the semifinals.
Coach’s quote: “The three-game series is great,” Andrew Heck said. “You get to see a lot of a team over that stretch. We were able to see their top two arms and they were impressive. We know what we have to prepare for. … We opened the section with the Butler series. I thought we battled, and we had opportunities in the first two games of the series, but we did not capitalize on our opportunities in those games. With their top two arms, you aren’t going to get a ton of opportunities, so when you do, you have to execute. This game is going to come down to playing clean defensively and capitalizing on opportunities offensively.”
Notable: The Tigers had the right stuff last week to eliminate Hempfield and Canon-McMillan to return to the finals for the fourth time in six years this decade. Liam Cooper was the winning pitcher in the quarterfinals victory over the Spartans, allowing only three hits while striking out four. The Fritz brothers combined to help knock off the Big Macs, with Jake Fritz going 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI and Nate Fritz contributing with a double. Jake leads the team in RBIs with 16 and Nate has a team-high .400 batting average. North Allegheny had a season-high five-game winning streak between April 10-20. NA already has the most WPIAL baseball championships with nine as the Tigers look to be the first to move in double-digit diamond titles.