2025 PSUAC Baseball Championship Preview

FAN INFORMATION

DUBOIS, Pa. - Two divisions, six teams. That's what remains of the 2025 PSUAC Baseball season as Championship weekend is set for May 2-4 in DuBois, Pa. Showers Field, a full turf facility, will host up as many as nine games this weekend as we work to crown a champion.

The tournament will begin with two elimination games as the second and third seeded teams from each division battle to earn a spot in the weekend's double-elimination bracket alongside the top seeds Penn State DuBois and Penn State Schuylkill.

First pitch is slated for Friday morning at 11:00 a.m. as West no. 2 seed Penn State Greater Allegheny clashes with West no. 3 seed Penn State Shenango with a match-up with DuBois awaiting the winner. Following that game, the East's no. 2 seed Penn State Mont Alto will face no. 3 seed Penn State York in a bid to play in Friday's nightcap against Schuylkill.

Saturday will feature three games, including two elimination games. The PSUAC will play its third elimination game and the winner's bracket final in the morning, then break until the evening to play the loser's bracket final on Saturday night. It all works its way to Championship Sunday, as the first game will start at 12:00 p.m. If the "if necessary" game is needed, it will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first championship game.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

The PSUAC baseball season is comprised of 20 conference games, with each team playing its division opponents four times during the regular season. DuBois (28-7, 20-0 PSUAC) was the class of the West in 2025, going undefeated en route to the no. 1 seed. They're joined by Greater Allegheny (19-13, 14-6 PSUAC), a team that finished with a four-game sweep of Penn State New Kensington that simultaneously knocked New Kensington out of the playoffs and earned Greater Allegheny the no. 2 seed from the West. Shenango needed four wins in its final weekend to have a shot at the postseason, and they picked them up in dominating fashion over Penn State Fayette to finish the season 16-18, including 10-10 in the PSUAC. Shenango will enter its first PSUAC Baseball Championship tournament in the program's second year of existence and first year in the conference.

Greater Allegheny won three of four games against Shenango in their early April series, but three of those games were decided by two runs or fewer. Greater Allegheny was able to play DuBois the toughest, losing two one-run games, but neither team was able to dent the armor and hand their divisional foes a loss.

York (20-18, 11-9 PSUAC) needed two big weekends to grab the final playoff spot in the East, and they got them. Trailing Scranton by 3.5 games before a pivotal series between the two teams in mid-April, York picked up three wins in four games and then used a final weekend sweep of Penn State Wilkes-Barre to leapfrog into the final spot. York will now look to bounce back from their losses to Mont Alto and Schuylkill during the regular season, two teams that had their number early in conference play.

Schuylkill (29-16) earned the no. 1 seed on a tiebreaker with Mont Alto (26-15) as both teams finished with a 16-4 record in the PSUAC. The teams split their regular season series and will look to settle that score should Mont Alto advance over York, a team that Mont Alto beat three times in the regular season. All three teams in the East played more games this season than their West counterparts, with Schuylkill playing the most with 45 total games.

STREAKS

Schuylkill enters the postseason having picked up eight wins in their final nine games of the regular season. Mont Alto finished the season 16-3 in its final 19 games, while York won its final nine regular season games, including three non-conference wins.

DuBois had won 10 games in a row before dropping their final game of the season, a non-conference tilt against Houghton College. It was DuBois' second streak of at least 10 wins in 2025, as they carded an 11-game streak from March 20 to April 9.

Greater Allegheny won its final five games and seven of its last eight entering poastseason play, while Shenango has won six in a row heading into Friday's elimination game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Schuylkill may have the best 1-2 punch of utility players--while they are true baseball players, it's tough to place Owen Zimmerman and Brenan Adams in one positional box. The teammates excel on the mound and in the batter's box, with Zimmerman leading the PSUAC in hitting at .490 and Adams leading the league in RBIs with 42. Adams also picked up six wins on the mound while Zimmerman shut the door five times, finishing with the most saves in the PSUAC.

DuBois is led by catcher Grant Lillard who finished in the top five in RBIs (40) and home runs (5). Teammate Zach Tiracorda earned six victories on the mound while Isaac Tiracorda adapted well to the PSUAC in his first year, hitting .450 and finishing in the top five in batting. Connor Cherry picked up seven wins of his own, serving as the leader of the DuBois pitching staff.

Mont Alto is led by James Sibert and the Kissel brothers at the plate, with Sibert batting .474 while Wyatt and Gavin Kissel each hit over .350. Carter Fogal has also been a versatile player for Mont Alto, picking up four wins and pitching to a 3.12 ERA in nine appearances. Fogal also batted .403 and drove in 19 for Mont Alto. And no one can ignore Zach Garlin, a big-game pitcher who struggled in 2025 when compared to his career numbers. Yet Garlin still led the league in strikeouts with 56 and he won six games as a consistent workhorse alongside Joshua Sullivan, with both throwing more than 45 innings. 

Greater Allegheny's Gabe Kendrick impressed on the mound in his first year, going 5-1 and averaging nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. Vinny DeVone hit .424 with four homers and 29 RBIs while Dustin Strom hit .371 and scored 35 runs. Henry Dickmann added pop from behind the plate, batting .362 with 21 RBIs.

York's Ryan Ness hit .402 during the regular season, scoring 40 runs, driving in 29 and stealing six bases. Brandon Shirk batted .311 in 122 at-bats, while Antonio Nicolo led the pitching staff with four wins and nearly a strikeout per inning. 

Shenango expects to be paced by Logan Cypher whose season included a .394 average and 14 RBIs. Troy Bachman added 21 RBIs and a .363 average while stealing 11 bases. Nate Evans and Nick Osborne will be Shenango's go-to pitchers, with each finishing in the top six in the PSUAC in strikeouts. 

HOW TO WATCH

The PSUAC will offer a free live stream of all postseason games on the PSU Campus Athletics Network. Visit www.psucampusathletics.com or download the PSU Campus Athletics Network app on your phone, tablet, smart TV or streaming device (e.g. Roku). Live stats will also be available for those who are unable to watch. Please visit the PSUAC Baseball schedule page for links.