Top-seeded Franklin Regional’s WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal against Mars was suspended Friday night with the score tied, 5-5, when one of the light standards at North Allegheny went out.
When the game resumed Saturday in the fifth inning, it was the Panthers’ Chris Pagano and Timmy Quinn who shined bright.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Quinn laced a two-run single with the bases loaded to break the tie and put Franklin Regional ahead, 7-5. That was all Pagano needed, who struck out four without allowing a hit the rest of the game for Franklin Regional (17-1).
Johnny Fratto of Mars (13-7) drove in two runs.
Class 6A
North Allegheny 12, Upper St. Clair 2: Behind a perfect game at the plate by Danny Gallon, the Tigers needed only five innings to advance to the semifinals. Gallon went 3 for 3 and drove in four runs to pace top-seeded North Allegheny (18-3). Kyle Demi earned the victory with seven strikeouts.
The game swung in the Tigers’ favor in the third inning when they racked up seven runs. During Upper St. Clair’s at-bat in the top of the third, Owen Mandler belted an RBI double to trim the Tigers’ lead. The Panthers (9-10) then loaded the bases with no outs, but Demi recorded two strikeouts to work out of the jam. In the bottom of the third, Gallon had an RBI single before Spencer Barnett cranked a two-run homer. Gallon would get another at-bat in the inning and bring home two more with a double.
Hempfield 6, Central Catholic 4: Sparked by a three-run shot courtesy of Gage Wheaton, the Spartans overcame a 3-1 deficit against Central Catholic (10-9). Christian Zilli went 2 for 3 and drove in the other three runs for Hempfield (14-7).
Norwin 4, Seneca Valley 2: Jayden Walker bashed a two-run home run in the bottom of first inning and Ty Stecko knocked in two more runs with a single in the bottom of the fifth inning for Norwin (14-3). Seneca Valley’s Ethan Baer singled home a run in the top of the first inning and Conor Carney’s sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth provided the other run for the Raiders (11-9-1). Jacob Bazala got the win and boosted his record to 8-0 as he sat down six in 5⅓ innings.
Class 3A
Hopewell 5, Deer Lakes 2: The Vikings (15-5) built a 4-0 lead by the end of the second inning and held off the Lancers (10-7) to again reach the district semifinals. Chris Mullins, Lucas Arrington, Anthony LaSala and Couper Stala each drove in a run during the early onslaught.
South Park 13, Ellwood City 5: The Eagles (14-4) broke open a close game by plating seven runs in the bottom of the fifth. Austin Lafferty had three hits, including a home run and a double, with three RBIs. Sammy DiCaprio of Ellwood City (10-12) drove in two runs on two hits.
Avonworth 9, Valley 1: The Avonworth pitching trio of Sean McAleer, Ethan Tinker, and Jordan Kolenda combined to keep Valley (13-8) off balance and help the Antelopes (15-7) advance.
McGuffey 2, Derry 0: Austin Beattie and Jake Orr each drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead the Highlanders (14-4). Beattie doubled as the winning pitcher with eight strikeouts. Sam Jones and Lucas Ray had two hits apiece for the Trojans, who stranded seven runners in scoring position.
First Published: May 23, 2021, 3:04 a.m.
