Hebrew Oilers, North Park Senators join Jefferson Hills as 2020 Pittsburgh NABA champions
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The Hebrew Oilers (Class AA) and the North Park Senators (Class A) recently brought home Pittsburgh North American Baseball Association championships with sweeps in their respective finals series.
Both teams also won NABA titles in 2018.
The Senators, seeded first in Class A after compiling a 12-4-1 record in the regular season, swept the second-seeded Moon Area Patriots in the best-of-three finals series Aug. 15 and 16. They won with scores of 5-4 and 15-3.
North Park, which averaged 7.8 runs a game this season, defeated the No. 5 North American Lions in three games in the semifinals to punch their ticket to the championship series.
“We had a number of guys who played on the Senators from previous years who came back,” Senators coach Connor McKeel said.
“We had a few new guys, too, who were just looking to play ball. It was a really good year. The championship is nice, but it was just great to have a glimpse of normalcy again. With so much going on, we were able to just shut the world off for a couple of hours each time and play baseball.”
The Oilers, also seeded first in their playoff bracket, finished the regular season 15-5. They defeated the South Oakland Ducks in the semifinals before taking two from the No. 3 Bakery Square Bandidos in the finals over the weekend by scores of 2-0 Saturday and 4-2 Sunday.
“Nobody took the baseball for granted this summer,” Oilers general manager Bret Miller said.
“We left it all out there. As compared to past seasons, the defense really set this team apart. Everyone worked together and appreciated being out there together. We weren’t going to throw it away.”
The two playoff triumphs come on the heels of Jefferson Hills capturing the Class AAA division championship with a sweep of Ohio Valley on Aug 8-9.
Pittsburgh NABA president Joe Graff said the three playoff tournaments were an extension of a successful regular season despite the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic.
The regular seasons began the weekend of June 6, and games were played almost every day through the end of the regular season Aug. 3.
Each of the league’s 19 teams played at least 17 games with more than 300 players in action.
For more information on the 2020 summer season, visit pittsburghnaba.org.