North Allegheny Could Take the WPIAL Class AAAA Championship

North Allegheny's outlook appears good so far.

The Tigers defeated the 15th-seeded Norwin Knights, 6-4, on Monday in the opening round of the WPIAL Class AAAA baseball playoffs.

According to the North Allegheny Sports Network, the Knights took an early 1-0 lead at Matulevic Field on a two-out triple in the first inning, but the lead didn’t last long. The Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the second. 

North Allegheny is one of the top seeds in the WPIAL Class AAAA baseball playoffs, just behind first-ranked Seneca Valley. Hempfield is third and Pine-Richland fourth.

Out of the four, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette predicts that Seneca Valley will be the winner as the Raiders are the two-time defending champions and have seven players who were regulars on last year's team, playoff experience that is very helpful.

But since the WPIAL started crowning champions in 1914, the P-G reports only two teams have won three in a row so the odds are stacked against SV.  The newspaper notes that North Allegheny finished second to Seneca Valley in Section 1 and is good enough to win it all.

North Allegheny lost to Seneca Valley twice by scores of 3-2, not to mention that Pine-Richland, which used to play in the same section with North Allegheny and Seneca Valley, won the Section 4 title. 

North Allegheny has a strong chance at the championship because of its playing ability and past history. At any rate, the P-G reports it has been a team from the northern suburbs -- Seneca Valley, Pine-Richland or North Allegheny -- that has won the past four championships.

North Allegheny will take on Plum at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 15 at Shaler in the second round of the WPIAL Class AAAA baseball playoffs. Plum defeated Shaler 2-1 on Monday.