Last season, the only thing that could stop West Mifflin's march to a Region 6 title and state tournament berth was perennial regional power Blackhawk and the state's top pitcher, Brendan McKay. Though they finished one win shy last year, this year's squad appears poised to build on that past success.
Few teams across the state have played as well as West Mifflin this season. It's not just the gaudy league record, to this point 14-0 in the Allegheny South League, it's also the way in which they're winning. In fourteen league contests the team has outscored opponents 125 to 18. In two early season contests against Elizabeth, West Mifflin pitchers surrendered five runs in each game. Excluding those two games, the WM pitching staff has allowed just eight runs in twelve games.
To start it all off, West Mifflin pitcher Luke Hils tossed a five inning no-hit shutout to aid his team's ten run mercy rule victory over Upper St. Clair. A second inning outburst propelled the team past Houston 4 to 3 in a game that would begin a string of five games in five days. Following the pair of victories over Elizabeth, West Mifflin continued its dominance in a short 15-0 win over Carrick.
The team's offense jumped all over Moon in its next game, to the tune of fifteen hits and a 9-2 victory. A doubleheader against Peters Township was the next task, and West Mifflin handled it well, outscoring their opponent in a big win and topping them twice 14-0 and 8-1.
Between June 23rd and 30th, West Mifflin played five games. Their pitching staff surrendered two runs. It began with another run rule victory, 15-1 over Keystone Oaks. The team's second no-hitter of the season, this one by Josh Fodor, helped West Mifflin take both ends of a doubleheader with South Park, beating them 11-0 and 3-0. While Bethel Park mostly kept the bats at bay in the next contest, it was once again Luke Hils leading the way. He tossed a shutout in support of his teams 2-0 victory.
Things haven't gone any different for West Mifflin this week. They once again used terrific pitching to win a pair of games, 9-1 over Moon and 8-0 over Houston.
The team returns to action with a doubleheader this evening against Chartiers Valley. They'll round out the regular season with games against Bethel Park and Keystone Oaks.
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