Pine-Richland's Garrett Pampiks celebrates with fans after winning the WPIAL Class AAA baseball title.
Click photo for larger image.
Neil Walker had a slight headache. Pine-Richland's senior dinner dance was Friday night on the Gateway Clipper, and Walker said he was still feeling the effects of loud music.
Walker and his baseball teammates had to deal with some loud music again yesterday afternoon. This time, they didn't mind the volume.
For the Rams, "We Are The Champions" had a nice sound to it.
That was the song played at Falconi Field in Washington after Pine-Richland won the WPIAL Class AAA championship with an 8-1 victory against North Allegheny.
Pine-Richland (19-4) used a 10-hit attack to make its first title game appearance a memorable one.
Walker, a star senior catcher, continued his torrid postseason hitting, going 2 for 3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. He is batting .786 (11 for 14) in four postseason games.
The Rams also got a fine pitching performance from sophomore John Karr to keep North Allegheny from winning its second consecutive title and fifth in school history. Karr pitched a six-hitter.
"North Allegheny is so well-coached, and they've been here so many times," said Pine-Richland coach Jeff Rojik. "I think maybe some people wondered if we can play with these guys. But after we scored a couple runs in the first inning, I think we all said, 'We can play with these guys.' "
Pine-Richland became the first school since North Allegheny in 1990-91 to win a Class AAA baseball title and WPIAL football championship in the same school year. Walker also was a star receiver-defensive back on Pine-Richland's football team.
"There aren't as many fans as Heinz Field [for the football championship], but this feels just as good," Walker said.
An estimated crowd of 2,700 watched Pine-Richland continue its offensive postseason ways. In four WPIAL playoff games, the Rams outscored the opposition, 37-13. Their only close game was an 11-9 victory against Latrobe in the quarterfinals.
"I think the hitting is just a contagious thing," Rojik said. "Everyone just feeds off each other."
Besides Walker, No. 4 hitter Dale Mollenhauer was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs. He is batting .538 (7 for 13) in the postseason with nine RBIs. Designated-hitter Ryan Schleiden was 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and left fielder Mike Ross was 2 for 4 with a double.
"It's one of these things now where we're just so confident," said Mollenhauer, a senior shortstop. "We expect to score runs. We're surprised when we don't."
North Allegheny starter Eric Leuthold lasted only 12*3 innings and was charged with six earned runs. Leuthold came in with a 7-1 record, but he was hit hard in three innings against Peters Township in the semifinals. Josh Hungerman relieved Leuthold against Pine-Richland and gave up only two runs the rest of the way.
"If you want to say we should have started Hungerman, I don't know," said North Allegheny coach Tim Banner. "My reasoning was, I didn't think Josh could make it seven innings."
Pine-Richland jumped on Leuthold with two runs in the first inning as Walker had an RBI double and Schleiden an RBI single.
Pine-Richland scored four runs in the second to grab a 6-0 lead. Ross' double scored Bill Musher to make it 3-0. With two outs and a runner on second, Walker was intentionally walked. But Mollenhauer hit a run-scoring single and Schleiden followed with a two-run single.
"Being down six runs all of a sudden, that changed everything," Banner said. "It's a whole different ballgame. You can't run. And that's a lot of our offense."
In the third, North Allegheny ran itself out of a run. Evan Mulzet led off with a single and tried to score on John Quimby's double. But Mollenhauer's relay throw nailed Mulzet at the plate.
"That was me," Banner said. "I sent him, and he was dead. Their shortstop made a great throw, and it wasn't even close."
Rojik said: "That was a momentum stopper. That was huge."
Quimby scored later in the third on Mike Juliano's single, but North Allegheny managed only two hits in the final four innings off Karr.
"Once we got the lead, Karr didn't have to worry about being so fine with his pitches," Rojik said. "He did well, but they hit the ball, too. They had some shots. In a smaller high school park, some of those shots might have been out of here."
Karr, who had seven strikeouts, is 5-1.
"I knew we'd hit, but I knew they'd hit, too," Karr said. "But I knew if we made plays, we'd be all right."
North Allegheny was trying to become only the seventh team in WPIAL history to win back-to-back championships in the largest classification.
Both North Allegheny and Pine-Richland have eight days off before beginning the PIAA playoffs June 7.
Pine-Richland will play Peters Township, the No. 4 team from the WPIAL. North Allegheny will play the City League champion, either Brashear or Allderdice.
Mike White can be reached at mwhite@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1975.
First Published: May 30, 2004, 4:00 a.m.