Vikings’ late rally results in 5-1 win at Waynesburg
WAYNESBURG — Mount Pleasant broke away from a 1-1 deadlock with four runs in the top of the seventh to hand Waynesburg Central its first Section 3-AAA loss of the season, 5-1, Wednesday evening at Meadowlark Park.
The Vikings (9-5, 8-2) have won six of their last seven games and ended Waynesburg’s nine-game winning streak.
“We stayed disciplined at the plate and kept on battling,” Mount Pleasant coach Chris Firmstone said. “We finally broke through in the seventh. They have a really good pitcher, but we competed against him every at-bat. We didn’t get rattled at the plate and we worked their pitcher to a high pitch count.”
With one out and two runners on in the top of the seventh, Waynesburg’s starter Hunter Robinson had to be lifted from the game as he reached the 100-pitch mark.
After a single loaded the bases for the visitors, Jason Beranek laced a two-run single to break the tie.
Brady Duricko added a RBI groundout and Brandon McCormick recorded a two-out RBI single to stretch the Vikings’ lead to 5-1.
The Raiders (11-2, 8-1) didn’t go down without a fight, though, as Trey Rohanna and Dalton Riggenbach reached base with singles in the bottom of the seventh.
But just like how it played out the whole entire contest, Mount Pleasant’s defense was able to make the critical plays and ended the game with a 1-6-3 double play.
“We didn’t make any adjustments at the plate and we missed some signs,” Waynesburg coach Scott VanSickle said. “We struggled at the plate and I guess we were due for one of these (types of games). Sometimes we rely too much on Hunter shutting everyone out, and our bats can go silent.”
The Vikings collected a tailor made 6-4-3 double play to sniff out a rally in the sixth and made several stellar defensive plays throughout the contest.
“Defense will win you ball games,” Firmstone said. “When any pitcher is going out there and he has that belief that any ball hit to the defense is going to be caught, it’s a great feeling. We turned two key double plays and defense has been our strong suit this year.”
Robinson was issued the loss for Waynesburg, going 6.1 innings and allowing three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts, three walks and three hit batsman.
Luke Robinson came on in relief in the seventh and picked up the final two outs.
Beranek went the distance for the Vikings in the victory, limiting Waynesburg to just five hits. He had two strikeouts with two free passes.
“JB threw a lot of first pitch strikes and was able to battle some early wildness,” Firmstone said. “I think he had 30 pitches the first two innings, but he regrouped and got his work in. He has a lot of confidence in his pitches and in his defense.”
After a scoreless top of the first, the Raiders grabbed a run in the bottom half of the inning without getting a hit.
Brandon Turcheck drew a walk and his courtesy runner, Jesse Johnson, advanced to third after an errant pickoff throw and a groundout to the pitcher.
With one out, Hunter Robison slapped a RBI groundout that scored Johnson.
The Vikings responded in the second frame, when Jared Wagner reached base with a one-out walk and crossed home plate after a RBI double by No. 9 hitter Joe Shrum.
“The guys knew how big this one was,” Firmstone said. “Waynesburg got the better of us last time out (a 12-7 loss on April 12). They are still in the driver’s seat for the section and this puts some pressure on them. We both have some games left, but this was a must-win for us. Our goal was to go undefeated in the second half of the section schedule.”
Mount Pleasant will resume section action today versus Charleroi, while Waynesburg travels to Brownsville on Friday in a critical section showdown.
“If we don’t do the little things and if we are not fundamentally sound, we can lose to anybody,” VanSickle said. “We can’t roll over curveballs for grounders. We have to go the other way. We have to play defense as a unit and be in the right spots. We have to learn from this one and get back to work.”