Posting a losing record in the regular season doesn't necessarily equate to a season ending without a playoff appearance.

Such is the case with the Moon Area Tigers baseball squad.

Even as the Tigers sort of hiccupped through the regular season with a 9-10 overall record -- 7-5 in WPIAL Section 3-AAA -- the squad has earned a berth in the district playoffs.

	Alyssa Cwanger, Post-Gazette Casey Williams, No. 13, being congratulated by teammates after scoring in last year's WPIAL final, has been a big part of the Tigers' success this year. Click photo for larger image.

Moon will play Yough (12-6) in a first-round game at 2 p.m. tomorrow at California University of Pennsylvania.

The Tigers roll into the playoffs winning their final three section contests and will most likely put the ball into the hands of junior left-handed pitcher Bryce Goldbach against Yough.

Goldbach is the ace of this Moon staff, and has helped dig the Tigers out of a hole they were in as of April 21, when they were reeling after losing three of four section games.

"We just didn't hit the ball there," said coach Dom Santeufemio, whose contention is backed up by the fact that Moon had no runs in one of those games and two in another.

"When you don't put the ball in play, you know, not a lot of good things are going to happen. All we needed to do there, I felt, was hit the ball and we would have won a couple of those games."

But to their credit, the Moon Tigers didn't fold. They didn't let that tough stretch become habitual for the remainder of the regular season.

Between May 5-10, Moon won its final three section games, beating Ambridge, Keystone Oaks and Montour by a combined 24-8.

"I'm really proud of what the guys did in those last three games to make sure that we got into the playoffs," Santeufemio said. "They pulled up their bootstraps and they saw what they needed to do and they went out and did it. Especially against Montour.

"That was a team that we knew was going to be very tough to beat and we got by them. I'm really, really proud of what our guys did in that last week of the regular season."

And, predictably, he's proud of what senior catcher Casey Williams has done. Williams has hit six home runs on the year and has an average inching just above .380. All that, and Williams hasn't seen a ton of great pitches this year because opposing coaches have had a penchant for pitching around him.

"He's probably gone out and swung at some pitches this year that he wouldn't have last year because we were better offensively last year," Santeufemio said of Williams, who will play football at Bucknell.

"There have been a lot of times this year that Casey has taken a chance and gone after pitches out of the strike zone because he feels he has to carry us at the plate. I like that in him: I don't mind that he's done that because he's such a competitor and wants to make a difference all the time."

It would seem that every player on the Moon squad is a competitor -- and that is something that has been earned. Over the past decade, Moon has proven to be one of the winningest teams in the WPIAL. Now, although the Tigers are on the cusp of playing another playoff game, the record is a bit of a disappointment.

"Our program is at the point where we have such high standards and we not only expect to make the playoffs, but we expect to have a very good record in the regular season," Santeufemio said.

"With the success we have had in the past, I think we measure things now in championships and we worked hard to get the program to this level, so I think it is OK to do that.

"When we have a year like this, with our regular-season record what it is, it is a little bit of a disappointment. But we have to realize that the playoffs are here and if we take it game by game, we have a shot to surprise some people." HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL