It's a group that began playing together "since T-ball," about a baker's dozen young baseball players who are all the same age, had success together from Little League through the North Allegheny junior high and junior varsity teams before finally starting for the Tigers' varsity team last season.

Now, the great North Allegheny Class of 2009 is set to graduate in about a month.

According to the school district Web site, graduation ceremonies are set for June 12, but these Tigers seniors are hoping they aren't able to attend.

That's because June 12 happens to be the day the PIAA Class AAAA baseball championship is scheduled.

North Allegheny has had a strong enough regular season that such a prospect is well within the realm of possibility. The Tigers were 15-2 overall and 10-1 in Section 1-AAAA play heading into yesterday's regular-season finale against North Hills.

They held a one-game lead over Pine-Richland (16-2, 9-2) for the section lead. The Rams were scheduled to play at Shaler.

"We're very happy so far," coach Andy Maddox said. "We have a really nice bunch of seniors, most of whom are two-year starters, and they've been excited about this season and the chance to play in and hopefully go far in the playoffs.

"We had high expectations coming in. And these kids have lived up to all those expectations."

The senior class is the biggest reason for the high expectations ... and performance. North Allegheny starts nine seniors (including the designated hitter) for many games, depending upon who the starting pitcher is, and senior utility man Kurt Devlin is a top option off the bench.

And to show how talented this group is, consider that no fewer than six will play baseball in college, including at least two at the Division I level. And that doesn't count right fielder Dan Wentz, who was recruited by schools to play baseball but whom Maddox said will pay football in college. Nor does it include senior pitcher Greg Piehler, whom Maddox said is capable of playing in college but wanted to attend Penn State.

"We're a real tight group of seniors," left fielder Jackson Boyd said. "We've been playing with each other so much -- since we were real young -- and we've been tight this whole time, so we know who each other are.

"We've got real good team chemistry ... We all know how to play off each other and pick each other up when we're down."

Last season, most of these current seniors started for the first time, and the team advanced to the WPIAL semifinals. But the team started only 8-6 overall and 4-4 in section play, so it had to win its final four regular-season games just to get into the postseason.

With more experience, this year, the Tigers have been able to cruise, having clinched a playoff spot with a couple weeks to go in the season. They also remained in the running for the section title.

Often, third base is the only spot on the field manned by an underclassman, junior cleanup hitter Justin Brozick. He was the team's leading hitter entering the week, batting close to .450.

Boyd bats behind Brozick and also was hitting better than .400. He is a Duquesne recruit. Center fielder Jon Wilson was batting .389 with a team-high 11 stolen bases. He will play at Division I Maryland.

The team's leadoff hitter is Jeff Dassner, a second baseman who was hitting .367 and will play at Allegheny College beginning next year. Designated hitter Sean Oglesby (.340 average) bats third and is heading to Slippery Rock University.

Seton Hill recruit Brad Comport, a first baseman, had a team-high 22 RBIs. Wentz was batting .314 and senior Nick Butterini is known for his slick defense at shortstop. Even the team's No. 9 hitter, catcher Matt Ludwig, was batting .393.

"We've done a real good job hitting, one through nine," Maddox said Monday. "We're hitting throughout the lineup, batting .352 as a team, and we've supplemented that with solid defense and very good pitching."

The two pitchers the Tigers rely upon most are right-handers Piehler (4-1, 2.87 ERA, team-high 32 strikeouts in 32 innings) and junior Ryan Oglesby (5-0, 1.48).

It's enough to have North Allegheny shooting high as the WPIAL playoffs are set to begin next week.

"This has been one of the hardest-working groups we've had in a long time," Maddox said.

"Everything we've done so far is nice," Boyd said. "But once the playoffs start, it's like a whole 'nother season. Everyone's one-and-done ...

"I've been looking forward to this year making the playoffs. I know what our group of seniors is capable of doing. I think we can make a good run."