North Allegheny picked the wrong year to show up for Section 1-AAAA play with an inexperienced, younger group of players.

With a loaded group of veteran players on the Shaler Area and Seneca Valley rosters, the Tigers knew going into this season it would be an uphill climb with only one returning starter.

Despite the youth and inexperience, North Allegheny still finds itself right in the thick of the section race. Entering their game against Shaler yesterday, the Tigers (8-5, 4-3) were fourth in the section behind Seneca Valley (6-1), the Titans (5-2) and Butler Area (5-2).

"This is one of the younger NA teams ever," Tigers coach Andy Maddix said. "It was tough in the offseason. It took us a while to get started because we had a lot of competitions for starting positions.

"We had to let it play out on the field and it took long because of how young we were and without many returning starters."

The Tigers coaches had a chance early on in section play to find out how the young lineup would fare. They opened up against Seneca Valley, the team ranked No. 2 in Class AAAA by the Post-Gazette in the preseason, and knocked off the defending PIAA champions, 4-3.

The Raiders got their revenge at home in the second meeting between the two teams with a 3-1 win Monday.

"I am not surprised at all by how we've played this year," Maddix said. "We came in feeling like our junior and sophomore classes were pretty strong. We feel like we are going to be very good next year but we thought we had the ability to compete right now.

"Seneca has 15 seniors on their 17-man roster and Shaler is predominantly seniors. We know we have the talent to compete, but we know its going to be tough."

David Duffett, a three-year starter, is the lone returning starter for North Allegheny. He plays third base, bats cleanup and has one of the top RBI totals on the team.

Offensively, junior Jackson Boyd has gotten off to a strong start batting in the middle of the order and playing left field. Junior center fielder Jon Wilson is leading the team in hits and consistently finds a way to get on base. Dylan Songer also starts for North Allegheny and his bat has been hot early in the season.

Senior Sam O'Neil has pitched well so far this season. He picked up the win against Seneca Valley in the first meeting between the two teams, allowing only one hit in six innings.

O'Neil is the only pitcher back who logged many innings last year. He had limited action during the regular season but appeared in relief against Plum in the quarterfinals last year. His cousin, Mike O'Neil, plays right field and has some experience from occasional action last year.

"We are going to have to pitch well and hit more consistently," Maddix said. "We have hit well at times but we haven't really put a string of games together where we have had good hitting.

"Overall we have played pretty well but we have been up and down a little bit. There have been good wins, but we haven't been able to follow them up with two or three good wins in a row."

Last season, North Allegheny went 16-6 and 7-5 in the section to finish second in Section 1-AAAA behind Seneca Valley and claim a playoff spot. The Tigers defeated Norwin, 4-2, in the first-round but lost to Plum, 4-3, in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Along with Duffett in the infield there is a trio of juniors. First basemen Brad Comport, second basemen Jeff Dasser and shortstop Nick Butterini round out the infield.

Sophomore Justin Brozick is a designated hitter, while senior Steve Martinkovich sees time in the outfield.

With the jumble of four teams at the top of the section vying for three playoff spots, the remaining few section contests have taken on an extra importance.

"Every section game from here on out is like a playoff game," Maddix said.

"With all the teams bunched together at the top [of the standings] and from what I have seen from North Hills [fifth place] and Pine-Richland [sixth place], those guys are going to upset some people in the second half, they are getting better every game."