Tyler Skaggs will always remember May 28, 2025, but he and his Serra Catholic classmates graduating from high school might not even be the most vivid memory from the day.
As great of an accomplishment as that is, the excitement that comes with it might pale in comparison to throwing a no-hitter while leading his team to a WPIAL title.
With the rain steadily falling Wednesday at EQT Park in Washington, Skaggs rained strikes on No. 6 Carmichaels, firing a no-hitter with 10 strikeouts to vault No. 1 Serra to a 9-0 win in the Class 1A championship.
It was the fifth WPIAL title for Serra (20-3) and its first since 2022. And it came after the Eagles fell in the championship game the previous two seasons. Carmichaels (15-5) was seeking its first title since 2008.
“It feels amazing,” said Skaggs, a senior right-hander. “I’m just so happy that we were able to get the job done. The past two years we weren’t able to, but going out with my senior year, that’s what I was going for.”
It was not only a redemption game for Serra, but also for Skaggs, who started last year’s final and came on in relief in the 2023 title game, struggling both times as he gave up seven total runs in 3⅓ innings of work. Skaggs is one of the many Serra players who also played on the school’s basketball team that fell in the WPIAL final a few months back.
What’s interesting is that, in a game in which Skaggs tossed a no-hitter, his coach nearly pulled him early in the game. Skaggs issued a walk in the first inning and hit a batter in the second, causing Serra coach Brian Dzurenda to consider going a different route.
“To be honest, the first couple of innings I didn’t feel like he had his best stuff, and we were actually considering making a move. But, man, he settled in and he was just dominant with the off-speed pitches,” said Dzurenda, who has guided Serra to all five of its titles.
It turned out that the best move was making no move at all, as Skaggs eased into the game and had his way with Carmichaels hitters the rest of the way to improve to 7-1 on the season. Skaggs walked two and hit two batters in the game, but those were the only players to reach base for the Mighty Mikes, who had beaten No. 3 Leechburg in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Eden Christian in the semifinals.
“I kept telling him that this was his world and we’re just living in it,” junior first baseman Max Black said. “He just got in the strike zone and forced them to beat him. He executed pitches. They didn’t get it done, but we did.”
Skaggs said that he wasn’t even concerned about losing his no-hitter as he walked to the mound to start the seventh, saying that he just wanted to get the ball over the plate. He certainly did that, working around a hit batsman to strike out the side. Skaggs got Cooper Richards to strike out swinging to end the game. Catcher Jake Holmes then picked up Skaggs before a dogpile ensued.
“I’d say my fastball [was working best],” Skaggs said. “It was the most accurate and it was consistent. I was trying to get it there, and it was working. My curveball, I was able to throw for strikes and that helped out a lot. And it was keeping them off balance, so they weren’t ready for the fastball.”
Complementing Skaggs’ performance was the play of the Serra offense, which had mustered only one run across the past two championship games. But on Wednesday this looked more like the unit that came in averaging 10.2 runs per game. Chris Johnson collected three of Serra’s nine hits and Black and freshman Cole Hann had two apiece. Black and Holmes both drove in a pair of runs.
“We knew if we got big trying to hit home runs, guys would end up flying out. So we all just committed to just having team approaches and trying to hit balls hard and pass the baton to the next guy, and it worked out really well for us,” Black said.
It did come a little slow, with just four of the nine runs coming in the first five innings. Hann’s run-scoring double in the second turned out to be the winning hit. In the fourth, Owen Dumbroski drove in a run with a groundout and Hann later scored when he stole home. Black then drilled an RBI double in the fifth to make it 4-0.
With the rain picking up, the floodgates opened up for the Serra offense in the sixth. A five-run inning saw Skaggs tack on an RBI single, Holmes a two-run double, and Black a run-scoring groundout. Carmichaels used three pitchers in the game, and they combined to walk six and hit three batters.
“We know they were softer pitchers, so our main focus was to sit back and just drive it,” Skaggs said. “Our approach worked out in the end. Slow start, but nine runs, you can’t complain about that.”
You can’t complain about tossing a no-no in the WPIAL final, either. It was actually the third year in a row a player has thrown one in the championships. Mt. Lebanon’s David Shields did it in 2023 and North Allegheny’s David Posey last season.
Skaggs and Serra’s four other seniors will celebrate winning their WPIAL title while attending graduation ceremonies later Wednesday.
That brings up the question of what Skaggs will ultimately remember more from the day.
“I won’t forget this day at all no matter what,” he said. “I’d say probably the no-hitter is better, but graduating high school is obviously a big accomplishment.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.