Friday, May 30, 2008

PIAA baseball, softball sites

Sites and times for the four local baseball and one local softball teams are set. All games are Monday, June 2.

Class AAAA baseball
Peters Township (18-6) vs. Erie McDowell at North Allegheny High School, 4 p.m. Peters Township is the WPIAL champion. Erie McDowell won District 10.
Canon-McMillan (18-4) vs. Allderdice (12-5) at Shaler High School, 4 p.m. Canon-Mac is the third-place team from the WPIAL. Allderdice won the City League.

Class AAA baseball
Trinity (16-7) vs. Punxsutawney at Brockway High School, 4 p.m. Trinity is the WPIAL runner-up. Punxsutawney won District 9.

Class A baseball
Carmichaels (20-1) vs. Keystone at the Burkett Complex, Robinson Township, 4:30 p.m. Carmichaels is the WPIAL champion. Keystone is the third-place team from District 9.

Class AA softball
Washington vs. Villa Maria at Penn State-Behrend, Erie, 1:30 p.m. Washington is the third-place team from the WPIAL. Villa Maria won District 10.


Of note: If Peters Township and Canon-McMillan both win, it sets up a quarterfinal contest between the two.

Also of note, there's a chance Trinity can play my alma mater (Somerset) in the semifinals. Of course, my alma mater would have to beat West Allegheny in the quarterfinals and that would be a significant upset.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,
Which local team do you think can suprise people by making a deep run into states and which local team is on upset alert?

Also, who do you think will be on the all O-R team will be? I know this area was loaded with talent this season.

mike_kovak said...

I really believe Carmichaels can make a very deep run in states. I've yet to see a Class A team with the quality and depth of pitching the Mikes have, plus the top of the order is stacked.

I think Carmichaels can at least make it to the semifinals.

It's funny how Canon-Mac gets an easier draw in the first round than Peters Twp but that's how the bracket breaks down. If C-M loses to Allderdice, which has not beat a WPIAL team this year, I'll be stunned. PT, on the other hand, has a much tougher draw in D10 champ Erie McDowell.

Still, I expect PT, C-M and Carmichaels to advance to the quarterfinals. Trinity definitely has a challenge in playing D9 champs Punxsutawney about 3 hours from Washington. Punxsy beat West A last year.

As for the all-star team, there are a few obvious choices but if I revealed the team, than why would anyone by the paper when it gets released? As always, teams who make it this far tend to have more representation than others.

Anonymous said...

When will the O-R release the team?

How does peters get a harder bracket than c-m when they finished 1st and c-m came in 3rd?

Anonymous said...

i really hope that both cm and pt advance to the next round. them playin each other for a 4th time will be a great match up and i expect the winner to make an appearance in the state championship game.

also, with all the hype surrounding this try to put your mind around how good of a team peter township will have for legion this summer since they are combining with canon mac... now that will be a team to be reckon with

Anonymous said...

I believe the PIAA brackets are pre determined and they just slot the teams in order of how they finished. If CM and Peters both advance in the states, can you imagine the hype will be like surrounding that game!

Any thoughts on whom Peters or CM will be throwing on Monday?

Anonymous said...

i dont know about peters but canon mac will probably start pierpont and have douglas in relief. dittmar is still nursing an ankle injury that he suffered against plum and isnt ready to pitch yet, but could be ready if they advance to the next round

mike_kovak said...

Yes, the bracket is predetermined.


"How does peters get a harder bracket than c-m when they finished 1st and c-m came in 3rd?"

When's the last time the City League was good at anything besides boys and girls basketball? Even Perry is down in football.

D10 is much stronger than D8.

Anonymous said...

The bracket was redone this year. In previous years, Peters (the district champ) would have been matched up against the City League champ (last year peters played carrick in the 1st rd of the state tournament). The problem the PIAA runs into for AAAA baseball is that half of the districts are lucky to have any AAAA teams. For example, district 9 has no representative in the state tournament and only has one AAAA team in the whole district (Dubois). As a result, they had to play a state qualifier against the District 10 champ. The reality of American population centers is that the rural areas tend to have few schools and fewer kids attending those schools. 10 of the 16 AAAA state playoff teams come from 3 districts (out of 12 total districts statewide).

Anonymous said...

Mike any truth to the rumor that you are being voted the washington-greene county journalist of the year?

mike_kovak said...

Heard a few rumors about the honor but it turns out they are honoring some fella named Mike Novak. Think he writes for the Recorder.

Anonymous said...

Hey you guys really need to stop ragging on Taylor Allderdice, and City league baseball. If it was not for a questionable call at second base with two outs in the fifth, Allderdice easily could have won, and still took the game to extra innings