Baldwin Boys Lacrosse in WPIAL’s Division II Semifinals

Some things tend to get lost in the shuffle as school and interscholastic sports years draw to a close every May. Unfortunately, one of those things that has been overlooked, at least by many in the Baldwin-Whitehall area this year, is a truly outstanding season being put together by ’s varsity boys lacrosse team.

Baldwin High, which will play in the semifinals of the WPIAL’s Division II boys championships this Wednesday, is 14-3 during the 2011 season.

Though the Highlanders compete in the lower of the WPIAL’s two lacrosse divisions, LaxPower.com’s computer ratings have them ranked ninth overall out of the WPIAL’s 34 teams, ahead of many Division I schools.

Baldwin started the season on fire, winning its first six games before running into the two teams that eventually finished ahead of it in the Division II Section 1 standings—Greensburg Central Catholic and high schools. The Highlanders lost, 15-4, against Greensburg Central Catholic on April 19 before falling, 14-1, at Chartiers Valley on April 21.

Greensburg (14-4, 8-0 in section play) and Chartiers (14-4, 7-1) finished first and second in Division II Section 1, respectively. Baldwin finished third by going 6-2 in section play with its only other overall loss coming against Division I Central Catholic High School, 20-8, on April 28.

The Highlanders got back on track after their two section losses by winning seven out of their last eight regular-season games, including their last five by a combined 67-16 score, meaning that Baldwin could be hitting its stride at the perfect time.

But it hasn’t been all good news for the Highlanders lately, even after their 12-5 win over defending champion Butler Area High School in the Division II quarterfinals on May 18. The bad news: Both Greensburg and Chartiers, ranked sixth and eighth by LaxPower, respectively, are in the Division II tournament’s final four as well.

Baldwin plays Greensburg at neutral-site North Allegheny High School on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Greensburg is fresh off of a 12-4 victory over Erie McDowell High School in the quarterfinals on May 18.

The Highlanders will need to upset Greensburg in the semis to face the winner of the Chartiers-Hampton High School game, which will immediately follow the Baldwin contest at North Allegheny.

The WPIAL’s Division II championship game will be played in front of a potential partisan crowd at Chartiers on Friday at 6 p.m.

“Based on the rankings, I feel that we’re an upset …” Baldwin’s senior midfielder Tim Douglass said, “but I feel like we’ve made a statement by beating the former Division II champs … 

“I think, earlier in the season, when we faced (Greensburg and Chartiers), we were still trying to find our identity. We were still rotating goalies, seeing who was going to be the starter, how our lines were going to work because we had a new head coach and everything. Now, last game, we were rolling on all cylinders beating Butler.

“I think we’ve found our identity of who we are as a team.”

Offensively, Baldwin is led this year by senior attack Cody Golon, who registered 52 goals and 35 assists during the regular season for an impressive 87-point total that ranked sixth in Pennsylvania and 43rd in the country. The 52 goals were good for fourth in the state.

Baldwin’s other top scorers include fellow senior attacks Garrett Wild and Craig Madison, both of whom scored 32 goals during the 2011 regular season. Wild added 24 assists, and Madison had six helpers.

Senior defenders Tyler Molnar and Matt Unger, senior midfielder Kevin Madden and senior goalkeeper Nate Boyle helped the Baldwin defense to limit their opponents to 109 regular-season goals, good for a solid goals-against average of 6.81.

Unfortunately, Baldwin had its Senior Recognition night on May 12 rained out, and Head Coach Shawn Leydig, a former Highlander in his first year as head coach of the program, said that his team could not reschedule the game with the WPIAL.

“It’s a shame the guys didn’t get to come out of that tunnel one more time on their home field,” Leydig said. “They worked hard all year, and the WPIAL took away something that only happens once in a lifetime.”

Leydig called out a few of the underclassmen who contributed mightily to the Highlanders’ success this year as well: junior Tom Degore, who shared time at goalkeeper with Boyle, and junior defender Mike Markunas.

Though Senior Recognition night would have been a once-in-a-lifetime event, Baldwin’s boys are one of just four teams left in Division II with a shot at experiencing another once-in-a-lifetime moment: winning a WPIAL title.