Apr 17, 2015 3 min read

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Canon-McMillan baseball has won five consecutive game and sits in second place in Section 5-AAAA.

Who saw that coming? I can’t say I did.

From the news of Luke Blanock’s Ewing’s sarcoma relapse to the controversy surrounding player suspensions, there has not been a shortage of distractions for the Big Macs (4-1, 7-2).

They have responded brilliantly, defeating Baldwin and Bethel Park on back-to-back days this week. Those are two teams that everyone believed would compete for the section title. The next test will come tonight against Peters Township, which has struggled this week, losing three consecutive section games to drop to sixth place.

The story of Canon-McMillan’s success is even more impressive when you consider they have lost two of their top starting pitchers and were without their head coach for a stretch this season.

Though defense is still a major question mark, the Big Macs’ pitching has been steady, led by Matt Mish; and the offense is living up to expectations. It’s tough for a pitcher to face two players like Jared Beach and Tanner Piechnick.

Both can drive up pitch counts before coming up with a timely hit. C-M also has a nice influx of young talent.

It is still early, but this looks like a playoff team. The next week will decide where the Big Macs will finish in the standings. After facing the Indians tonight, Canon-McMillan has Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair next week.

The Big Macs lost to the Blue Devils, 6-2, earlier this season and had a nice win over the Panthers. Winning both of those games could put them in position for a share of the section title.

Suddenly a story surrounded by a dark cloud has given way to optimism about on a group of kids who winning despite plenty of adversity.

• Will Wash High ever get the chance to face Brownsville? It seems like the two teams’ Section 2-AA game has been postponed a dozen times. It’s a game everyone is looking forward to. A victory would establish the Prexies (4-0, 4-1) as a team to watch in AA. They are now set to play Wednesday and Thursday next week.

• Despite losing Olivia Lorusso and Gia Zeremenko, Canon-McMillan softball is still very, very good. The Big Macs are much stronger defensively this season, plus having three Division I players (Linda Rush, Brittany Crawford and Abby McCartney) in the top-half of the batting order gives opposing pitchers fits.

Look for them to make plenty of noise in the WPIAL playoffs.

• Speaking of softball, what happened to Waynesburg? With the return of Hannah Gibbons, a Penn recruit, and Tiffany Ross, I thought the Raiders could be a favorite to win Section 2-AA. The loss to Bentworth Monday raised a red flag. This team could be one of a few that took a step back.

• One team that is still rolling is Burgettstown softball (5-0, 10-1). The Blue Devils scored 30 runs in two games Thursday against Freedom. They have scored double-digit runs in seven games and have pitched six shutouts.

Keep an eye on them moving forward. This could be a WPIAL title contender.