Sad ending: Pioneers’ greatest season closes with loss to OLSH
Rob Burchianti | 蘑菇视频
West Greene蘑菇视频 Dalton Lucey pitches against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart during Thursday蘑菇视频 WPIAL playoff game at Burkett Field.
Rob Burchianti | 蘑菇视频
West Greene shortstop Dalton Lucey takes the late throw as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart蘑菇视频 James Saftner steals second base during Thursday蘑菇视频 WPIAL playoff game at Burkett Field. Saftner stole five bases in the Chargers鈥� 6-0 win.
Rob Burchianti | 蘑菇视频
West Greene蘑菇视频 Morgan Kiger throws to first base for the out after fielding a ground ball against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart during Thursday蘑菇视频 WPIAL playoff game at Burkett Field.
Rob Burchianti | 蘑菇视频
West Greene蘑菇视频 Lane Allison gets a lead as Our Lady of the Sacred Heart first baseman Nate Schmid holds him on during Thursday蘑菇视频 WPIAL playoff game at Burkett Field.
Rob Burchianti | 蘑菇视频
West Greene coach Lenny Lohr has a chat with the home plate umpire during Thursday蘑菇视频 WPIAL playoff game against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Burkett Field.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart pitcher Isaiah Schulz pitches against West Greene in Thursday's WPIAL playoff game at Burkett Field. Schulz threw a one-hit shutout as the Chargers won, 6-0.
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart's James Saftner slides in with a run as West Greene catcher Morgan Kiger watches the throw come in during聽Thursday's WPIAL playoff game at Burkett Field.
West Greene center fielder Lane Allison catches a fly ball as second baseman Kaden Shields looks on during聽Thursday's WPIAL playoff game against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at Burkett Field.
McKEES ROCKS 鈥� There蘑菇视频 a general theory in baseball that to have success against a good pitcher you have to get to him early.
West Greene failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity in its first at at bat against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in their WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at Burkett Field on May 19.
Chargers pitcher Isaiah Schulz worked out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first inning and cruised the rest of the way to lead his team to a 6-0 win and a spot in the semifinals.
鈥淭hat was key,鈥� West Greene coach Lenny Lohr said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we threatened after that. Usually we can hang some runs on the board.鈥�
James Saftner was the offensive catalyst for the fifth-seeded Chargers, going 3 for 3 with a walk while stealing five bases and scoring three runs.
Schulz didn鈥檛 need much help, though. The left-hander twirled a one-hitter with two walks and 15 strikeouts in putting an end to the senior-laden Pioneers鈥� greatest season.
West Greene (12-6) earned its first outright section title and then won only its second ever playoff game 鈥� the first coming last year 鈥� in the first round, 8-1, over Western Beaver.
鈥淭his is a very special group to me,鈥� Lohr said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to miss them. They鈥檙e awesome. I鈥檝e been with those guys all four years. We鈥檙e really close.鈥�
The Chargers (12-7) knocked off a Section 2-A team for the second game in a row, following a 12-2, five-inning win over Jefferson-Morgan in the first round.
OLSH took a 2-0 lead in the first inning off West Greene pitcher Dalton Lucey. James Saftner and Brandon Brazell both singled to start the rally which also included Gino Williams鈥� RBI ground out and Brady Brazell蘑菇视频 run-scoring double.
Schulz hit the Pioneers鈥� Hunter Hamilton with his first pitch in the bottom of the inning, then walked Kaden Shields. Dalton Lucey hit a sharp single to center to load the bases.
Schulz then got two strikeouts and a ground out to escape the threat.
West Greene only had two other base runners from then on. Ian Van Dyne hustled to first on a chop in front of the plate that resulted in an errant throw with one out in the second. Lane Allison drew a one-out walk in the fifth.
The fourth-seeded Pioneers could never get their timing down against Schulz as they belted a slew of drives foul down the left field line.
鈥淭he kid kept us off-balance and we just didn鈥檛 hit the ball, and when we did it was foul,鈥� Lohr said. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 faced many lefties, just one that I can remember against Bishop Canevin. It蘑菇视频 a different approach. We don鈥檛 have a left-handed kid on our team.鈥�
OLSH continued to add to their lead against Lucey, who gave up five earned runs on nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts
Saftner walked, stole second and scored on an error in the third. Brady Brazell singled, went to third on Mario Williams鈥� single and scored on a balk in the fourth.
Up 4-0, the Chargers capped the game蘑菇视频 scoring in the fifth, parlaying a single and two stolen bases by Saftner, a double by Gino Williams, and run-scoring single by Nate Schmid, an error and another balk into two runs.
Lucey took the loss. Morgan Kiger pitched a scoreless seventh inning for West Greene. West Greene turned two outfield double plays.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Peterswood Park at 2 p.m. but when that field was deemed unplayable the site was moved to Burkett Field.
鈥淚t ended up being a crazy day,鈥� Lohr said. 鈥淲e got a call at like 10, we鈥檙e coming here to play at one o鈥檆lock, so we had about 45 minutes to get to West Greene, get on the bus and get going.鈥�
The Pioneers were then sent scrambling for proper footware as Burkett Field has a newly installed turf infield.
鈥淭hey said if you鈥檝e got metal spikes you can鈥檛 play on this field,鈥� Lohr said.
鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 want to make excuses. The better team won today. We just didn鈥檛 get it done.鈥�
West Greene senior Hunter Hamilton was emotional after his final game.
鈥淲e had a great group of guys,鈥� said Hamilton who was on three consecutive playoff teams and part of two playoff wins and a section championship.
鈥淲e all played hard every game. I wish we could鈥檝e went further but it is what it is. We didn鈥檛 play as well as we thought we were going to. But Coach told us after the game to hold our heads high for all we did here.鈥�
The Pioneers opened the playoffs with an 8-1 win over Western Beaver in a first round game at Peterswood Park.
Corey Wise twirled a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts to put an end to No. 13 Western Beaver蘑菇视频 season at 4-12.
West Greene蘑菇视频 first ever playoff win came last year, 12-7 over Sewickley Academy.