The Moon Area Tigers brought out the heavy lumber Tuesday night, getting a pair of home runs from two different players in a 16-1 four-inning mauling of Baldwin in a WPIAL Class 5A baseball tournament opener at Peterswood Park in Peters Township.
Nick Machusko clubbed a pair of two-run homers and totaled seven RBIs in a 3-for-4 performance, and Andrew Cross went 4 for 4 with two home runs and three RBIs for the fourth-seeded Tigers.
The win vaults Moon, now 16-4, into a quarterfinal matchup with 12th-seeded Upper St. Clair, which knocked off No. 5 seed Plum Tuesday. The Moon-Upper St. Clair matchup will take place Tuesday, May 19, at a time and place to be determined.
It’ll be the third time the two Section 2 teams have met; the section champion Tigers won the previous two meetings, 10-8 and 7-4.
In Tuesday’s game, Baldwin opened the scoring with a single run in the top of the first inning, but Moon answered with three in the bottom of the inning on Cross’ solo home run and Machusko’s two-run shot.
That would be all the Tigers needed, but they weren’t finished unloading as they added two runs in the third and eight in the fourth. Moon drew six walks in that eight-run fourth inning.
Moon finished with 13 hits, with Owen Amey adding a pair of hits and two RBIs. Thad Longwell drove in two runs and scored twice for the Tigers.
Chris Sandor worked the first three innings for Moon, scattering five hits and a run while walking two and striking out five.
Montour 6, West Allegheny 5
The Spartans came all the way back from a 5-0 deficit, pushing across a run in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Indians in a first-round Class 5A playoff matchup at Boyce Mayfield Park in Upper St. Clair.
Montour, the eighth-seed, will move on to meet top seed Pine-Richland, a winner over Connellsville, on Tuesday, May 19, at a place and time to be determined.
In Tuesday night’s thriller, Caleb Ambruster walked to lead off the ninth, and Matteo Weber followed with another free pass to put runners at first and second. Michael Ivanoff laid down a perfect bunt while attempting to sacrifice, but it went for a base hit to load the bases.
Dalton Young followed with a line shot back to West Allegheny pitcher Donovan O’Connor, who knocked it down and threw home for the force out. Tyler Puffer then followed with a high chopper to second, and the throw to the plate was late, giving the Spartans the win.
Ivanoff had three of Montour’s eight hits and Puffer finished with two hits and two RBIs.
Weber shook off a five-run third inning to pitch six innings, striking out 11. Gavin Foley provided three scoreless innings of relief for the Spartans, allowing two hits and two walks while striking out five.
The Indians got on the board first with a two-out, five-run rally in the third inning. Zac Lucas singled home two runs and Brysan Zirwas belted a two-run homer.
Montour cut the deficit to 5-2 in the fourth on a two-run error, then pushed across three runs in the fifth to tie the score. Young singled home a run and another run came in on an error that allowed Young to go all the way to third. He came home with the tying run when Puffer singled.
WPIAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
North Hills 5, Montour 1
Abigail Sutton came up big when it counted Tuesday, hurling a complete-game six-hitter and going 3 for 4 with two RBIs, powering the Indians past the Spartans in the opening round of the Class 5A tournament at North Allegheny.
North Hills, the 11th seed, jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead and that proved to be enough in knocking off sixth-seeded Montour.
The Spartans, who tied for the Section 3 title, finished the season with an overall record of 12-6.
Montour scored its only run in the fifth inning, trimming North Allegheny’s lead to 3-1. Singles by Hailey Herbst and Emily McClean, sandwiched around a sacrifice, left runners at first and third, and an error on a ball hit by Hailey Staub scored Herbst with Montour’s first and only run and put runners at second and third.
But Sutton retired the next batter on a strikeout and induced Paige Fiedler to fly out to center to end the threat. North Hills answered with two runs in the top of the sixth to seal the win. Sutton retired the final six batters she faced without allowing a baserunner.
Shaler 10, Moon Area 0
Addison Aleski homered and drove in three runs and Bria Bosiljevac held the Tigers hitless in pacing the top-seeded Titans to a one-sided victory in their Class 5A tournament opener at North Allegheny.
Shaler built a 4-0 lead after two innings, added two more runs in the fourth and then ended the game with a four-run fifth inning.
Jayla Antomachi had three hits and drove in three runs and Alyssa Schaffold went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs for Shaler.
The Tigers, who won their tournament opener Monday, finished the season with a 9-11 record.
WPIAL BOYS VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 3, South Park 0
Isaac Tarbuk had 13 kills and 13 digs to help the Chargers break a playoff drought with a 25-15, 25-19, 25-17 victory over the ninth-seeded Eagles in a Class 2A matchup at OLSH’s Angela Activities Center.
The Chargers had made the playoffs twice in the past five years but never advanced beyond the opening round during that stretch.
Paddy Altmar chipped in seven kills and four blocks, Brady Rooney had eight kills and Ryan Bridge six kills for OLSH. Aiden Curry added 32 assists, Marco Buzzard had five digs and Mathias Lieb led the Chargers in serve-receive percentage for the night.
The win moves No. 8 seed OLSH into a quarterfinal matchup with No. 1 seed and defending WPIAL champion Shaler at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14, at Shaler.
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