May 30, 2018 3 min read

After its semifinal win over Central Catholic, Canon-McMillan High School baseball coach Tim Bruzdewicz said they are the best team in the WPIAL when starting pitcher Zach Rohaley is on the mound.

North Allegheny’s Ben Surman was going to make sure Bruzdewicz’s sentiments were put to the test.

Leading off the sixth inning with a triple, Rohaley forced Surman, who represented the game-tying run, to stay at third base by striking out the next batters – the No. 3, 4 and 5 hitters in the Tigers order – and fourth-seeded Canon-McMillan held on to defeat No. 10-seed North Allegheny 2-1 in the WPIAL Class 6A Championship game Wednesday night at Wild Things Park.

“He proved it again,” said Bruzdewicz. “That’s Zach Rohaley his whole life. He has done that every single time. In big spots, he gets better. It was all Rohaley. Curveballs, sliders, changeups and fastballs on both sides of the plate says it all. He is a big-time guy.”

Rohaley turned for a typically emotionless pitcher, especially when he gets into trouble, to pumping his fist while first baseman Ian Hess approached him after recording the second of three strikeouts.

“You get the heart of the North Allegheny Tigers order up you have to get to work on them,” Rohaley said. “They are all going to play at the next level, and I’m giving all I have for this team. Our guys are giving all their effort. It’s indescribable.”

It was the first time Canon-McMillan (17-5) has won a WPIAL baseball title. The Big Macs last championship came in back-to-back seasons, 1935 and 1936, when it was called Canonsburg High School.

The Big Macs held onto a lead it took in the bottom of the third inning when Cam Walker tripled down the right-field line to score Brandon Kline from first. Then, Hess hit a run-scoring, line-drive single to centerfield to give C-M a 2-0 lead. Both runs came with two outs.

“It means everything,” said Hess. “We faced North Allegheny last year and blew it in the semis. We lost to them earlier this year. But we got them when it really matters.”

Ryan Dougherty trimmed the North Allegheny (13-11) deficit in half on a run-scoring triple that rolled to the left-centerfield wall, driving home Justin Hamm and making it 2-1 in the fourth.

The Tigers also stranded a runner at third base in the seventh inning, as Cam Weston relieved Rohaley with two outs to strikeout the final batter.

“I can’t even fathom it yet,” Bruzdewicz said. “We have a lot of administration here, our athletic director and principals. They are fired up. And it makes me fired up. In the next couple of days I’ll realize just how important this ball game was for this school district and athletic program.”

Rohaley allowed the lone run in 6 2/3 innings, striking out nine. In the four playoff games, the Big Macs’ pitchers have stranded 31 runners.

North Allegheny starter Luke Trueman went all seven innings for the Tigers, giving up only four hits and striking out seven.

Canon-McMillan plays Dallastown, the third-seeded team out of District 3, while North Allegheny takes Erie McDowell in the first round of the PIAA tournament that begins Monday. McDowell lost 3-2 to State College in a Wednesday night qualifying game, but State College was forced to forfeit after breaking the pitch-count rule by one pitch. The sites and times of the games have not been determined.