Nico Ward has been busy this summer.

The rising junior at West Allegheny clinched a spot in the 78th USGA Junior Boys Amateur, and he also played in the USGA Final Qualifier for the U.S. Open.

There must be something about Westmoreland County he likes. He qualified for the Amateur at Totteridge Golf Course on June 4, and Thursday he claimed the West Penn Golf Association’s 52nd C.R. Miller Match Play title by defeating Fox Chapel’s Carson Kittsley in the semifinals, 4 and 3, and North Allegheny’s Ravi Desai, 4 and 2, in the finals.

Desai advanced to the finals by defeating Shade Side Academy’s Alex Avi, 2 and 1.

“It was two fun matches,” Ward said. “They were good battles.”

Ward’s 50-foot birdie on No. 14 swung the momentum.

The hole did not start well for Ward, who saw his lead fall to 1-up after Desai won No. 13. He pulled his drive left, and it ended up behind some trees.

Despite clipping a branch, his second shot found the fairway and his third shot landed on the front of the green.

Desai was in better shape off the tee. He hit his second shot from the right rough, and it landed short of the green.

His third shot went past the hole, leaving him with a 10-footer for birdie.

“I was just trying to get it close enough for par,” Ward said. “In match play, anything can happen. That putt won me the match.”

Desai just missed his birdie putt to fall back two holes.

“That definitely was a backbreaker,” Desai said.

Ward put it away by chipping in from the bunker for birdie on No. 15 and carding a third consecutive birdie on No. 16.

Desai started the final round going 2-up after birdies on Nos. 1 and 2.

But Ward quickly tied the match with a birdie on No. 3 and a par on No. 4.

“I was not worried after his quick start,” Ward said. “I was confident I was going to turn it around at some point. I was giving myself good looks.”

He took the lead for good with a birdie on No. 6 and went 2-up with a birdie on No. 8.

The shock came in the seventh WPGA Girls’ Match Play when 13-year-ond Brooke Kline, who will in eighth grade this fall at Quaker Valley, defeated returning PIAA champion Mya Morgan of Elizabeth Forward, 1-up.

“I told myself to have fun, be confident and it was you against the course no matter what happened,” Kline said. “It was awesome to be invited to play here. I enjoyed it. I believed in myself.”

And Kline said she did not think about who she was playing.

“I did not think about what she was doing,” Kline said. “It was a real good match.”

It was the third consecutive year Morgan finished runner-up.

Though she was disappointed she did not win, the day was not a total loss.

She found out 45 minutes prior to the finals that she was selected to participate in the U.S. Junior Girls Amateur Championship next week at Durham, N.C.

“She played really well,” Morgan said. “She had some unbelievable putts and hit some incredible shots.

“The best thing about today was getting that phone call. It takes away the sting, and I am so excited to get the opportunity to play in the National Championship.”