A few notes on some current and former WPIAL athletes
Former Blackhawk High School star pitcher Brendan McKay sustained his first defeat as a college pitcher Saturday, but it was still another impressive performance from McKay.
McKay is a freshman pitcher at the University of Louisville, the No. 5-ranked team in the country. He was the losing pitcher in a 2-1 setback to Duke. But McKay pitched seven innings, gave up only one earned run and four hits, struck out eight and walked one. He also was 2 for 3 as a hitter.
McKay, who turned out to be one of the best pitchers in WPIAL history, has made a gigantic impact in his first year of college baseball (photo courtesy of Louisville athletics). He is now 5-1 and he is among the leaders in the country in some statistical categories. In games through Friday, the left-handed McKay was No. 2 in the country in hits allowed per nine innings (4.05), No. 9 in strikeouts per nine innings (12.38) and No. 8 in WHIP (.78).
His performance against Duke lowered his ERA to 1.91. He has started five games, all against ACC foes, and he has a 2.57 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 35 innings in those games. Before he became a starter, he had four saves.
Suffice it to say he is one of the best freshman pitchers in the country. Wait. He might have to be one of the best pitchers in the country, regardless of class.
Besides his pitching, McKay is fourth on the team in hitting at .292. He batted cleanup against Duke. How many top college pitchers do you see also bat fourth at the Division I level? McKay has six doubles, one home run and 14 RBIs for the season. He was 2 for 3 against Duke.
Perretta breaks three records
It sounds like a broken record:
Dom Perretta sets a meet record in the Warrior Track Classic.
Dom Perretta sets a meet record in the Warrior Track Classic.
Dom Perretta sets a meet record in the Warrior Track Classic.
In one of the most impressive performances of the WPIAL track season so far, Perretta set meet records in not one, not two, but three running events in Saturday's Warrior Track Classic at Central Valley. (Perretta is pictured at last year's PIAA meet).
Perretta won the 400 meters at the Warrior Classic in 51.15, the 800 in 1:56.26 and the 1,600 in 4:19.76.
It really shouldn't be a big surprise that Perretta won the 800 and 1,600. He won PIAA Class AA championships in both events last year as a sophomore. But Saturday was the first time he ran the 400 in a high school meet. Pretty impressive. And consider this: His 1,600 time of 4:19.76 was better than the 4:19.82 that he won the PIAA title with last spring.