Shady Side Academy baseball coach Bob Grandizio, Jr. has a yo-yo of sorts in his hand.

It is in the form of his baseball team.

Long story short, there are times the Indians play up, and times they play down -- and much of it is contingent on the strength of the competition.

"Right now, the most troublesome thing is that there are a lot of days that I feel like we can beat anybody, but then there are days that we can also lose to anybody," Grandizio said with a slight chuckle and some obvious bewilderment. "We seem to be playing up and down to the level of the competition far too much. Now, in saying that, I think when we are good, we are very good.

"It is a matter of making sure that every time we go to the field, we realize we should be up to the task as much as possible."

For the most part, the Indians have been playing well. Going into their regular-season finale yesterday at Riverview, Shady Side had a 12-6 overall record, but more importantly a 9-2 mark in WPIAL Section 4-AA, clinching a playoff berth .

When the Indians have performed to Grandizio's liking, there is no secret that solid pitching has spearheaded the charge -- particularly the top two arms, junior Tim Giel and senior Arlen Greenberg, a pair of right-handers.

Giel, also a standout wrestler and football player, has breezed to a 6-1 record, a 0.80 earned run average with 46 strikeouts in 42 innings. Greenberg has constructed a solid resume, posting a 4-1 record with a 0.69 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 26 innings.

As anyone knows, though, high school baseball success in Western Pennsylvania comes down to, at some point, the strength of a team's whole pitching staff.

That said, Grandizio knows, that down the stretch, Shady Side might have to rely on guys such as junior Sean Hannon or senior Ben Kander to take the ball and turn in a very good performance in a pivotal game.

"We have been telling them exactly that all along," Grandizio said. "The other pitchers know that Timmy and Arlen have been our workhorses and have been guys whom we can really count on."

And not just that -- Shady Side's defense also needs to understand that the time will come when big plays will need to be made.

Grandizio spoke with confidence about his defense, saying: "Our pitchers have started to understand that they do not need to strike everyone out. They know that we can make some plays behind them and that makes a whole lot of difference."

Around the infield, junior catcher Andy Lewis, junior first baseman Zach Jones, senior second baseman Drew Singer, shortstop Scott Royston and junior third baseman Bo Stewart have performed admirably.

In the outfield, the left field tandem of Hannon and Kander, senior center fielder Jake Cohen and right fielder Andy Giallonardo have been very solid.

And while this marks the 113th season of baseball at Shady Side Academy, the Indians have never won a WPIAL title since they joined the league in 1994.

Grandizio believes -- if everything comes together -- this might be the year they can make a solid run at a title.

"I say to kids all the time that they need to realize the tradition here," Grandizio said. "I speak to alums all the time and they ask me, 'Hey, how is the baseball team doing?' And I tell them that we are doing pretty well.

"I don't know if our players, because they are just teenagers, fully realize what it means to play in a program that has been competing in baseball for so long."