The Seneca Valley baseball team, seen here during a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinal win against Mt. Lebanon, will face off with District 10 champion McDowell in the first round of the PIAA tournament on Monday. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

The PIAA Class 6A baseball championship bracket was released on Friday. In the opening round of the tournament, WPIAL champion Seneca Valley will face District 10 winner McDowell (17-5) at home at 4 p.m. on Monday.

The Raiders (17-6) will aim to begin their march toward a third state title, having previously won it all in 1995 and 2007.

The Raiders finished as the WPIAL Section 1-6A runner-up, but didn’t get a chance to face the grouping’s winner, North Allegheny, in the district playoffs. The top-seeded Tigers were upset by Hempfield in the quarterfinals on May 19, the same night No. 3 Seneca Valley downed Mt. Lebanon.

The Raiders defeated Canon-McMillan the next day, then dispatched Norwin to claim their fifth WPIAL crown. During the latter victory, starter Ryan Rebholz and reliever Luis Torrenegra collaborated for a two-hit shutout.

McDowell defeated Erie for the District 10 Class 6A title, then beat District 6 champion State College in a sub-regional on Tuesday.

Over its last five games, Seneca Valley has outscored the opposition 27-6. The Raiders have won nine in a row heading into the state tournament. The winner of Seneca Valley’s clash with McDowell will play either District 1 fifth-place finisher Pennsbury (17-6) or District 3 runner-up Cedar Cliff (17-6) on Thursday.

According to MaxPreps statistics, Jake Hower has starred for McDowell, registering a .357 batting average with 20 RBIs.