Mars Area High School Boys Varsity Baseball Team ended its season in fourth place in the 2019 WPIAL Class 5A Boys Varsity Baseball Championship.

The Fightin’ Planets advanced to the WPIAL Third Place Consolation Game on May 28, but were defeated 4-1 by the Franklin Regional Panthers. The team was toppled by the Shaler Area Titans 8-2 in the WPIAL Semifinals on May 22.

The team impeded the West Allegheny Indians 4-3 in the WPIAL Quarterfinals on May 21; and shut out the Fox Chapel Foxes 5-0 in the first round of WPIAL play on May 16. The Planets ended the regular season with an overall record of 10-8 and 5-5 in Section 2-5A play.

Players on this year’s team included seniors William Bednar, Rowen Fletcher, Shane Fox, Gabriel Franz, Matt Fuller, Shinno Ikeda, Tyler Kowalkowski, Ben Merritt, Joey Pifer and Jon Quinn; juniors Brad Astbury, Joseph Craska, Charlie Luedtke and Nolan Kush; sophomores Dawson Cadamore, Alex Heavner, Remy Monteleone, Nate Roush, Teddy Ruffner, Caiden Schmitt, Mitchell Schultz and Jonathan Wetherholt; and freshmen Derek Blake, Ty Garver, Lucas Kuremsky, Nathan Leshinsky, Ryan Mitchell, Matt Mroz and Trey Wagner.

For more information, visit www.wpial.org.