Still perfect: Belle Vernon Legion escapes with 3-2 road win
MASONTOWN 鈥� Half the folks gathered at German-Masontown Park on Monday night believed Austin Hoffman蘑菇视频 fly ball to deep center field in the top of the seventh inning bounced over Evan Weakland蘑菇视频 head and over the fence for a double.
The Belle Vernon faithful maintained the ball flew over Weakland蘑菇视频 outstretched glove and bounced once it cleared the fence.
The only two opinions that mattered were the umpires and after a conference, circled Hoffman around the bases for a game-tying home run.
Then, the winning run scored two batters later when courtesy runner Zach Bird hustled home on a throw to first on a mishandled third strike to give visiting Belle Vernon a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Smithfield-Fairchance in a Fayette County American Legion Baseball League game.
Belle Vernon remains undefeated and clinched first place with a 13-0 record.
鈥淭hey had to play smart ball today. A win蘑菇视频 a win. We made some plays. It蘑菇视频 funny how it works,鈥� said Belle Vernon manager Tom Jackson.
Belle Vernon opened the scoring when Colton Lee doubled and came home on Kayden Faychak蘑菇视频 single in the top of the first inning.
Smithfield-Fairchance responded in the bottom of the inning when Weakland walked, moved to third on a passed ball and wild pitch, and scored on Geno Valente蘑菇视频 sacrifice fly.
The home team pulled into the lead with a run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Luke Wilson and Matt Malinsky walked to start the inning, and moved ahead a base on Evan McGee蘑菇视频 sacrifice bunt. Wilson scored on Jake Bellish蘑菇视频 single and McGee advanced to third.
Bellish stole second. Malinsky attempted to score on Ethan Carr蘑菇视频 infield ground ball, but was out at the plate. A strikeout and throw to first on the dropped third strike ended the threat.
Smithfield-Fairchance had an opportunity to take the lead in the bottom of the second inning after Wilson led off with a single. Malinsky蘑菇视频 grounder was mishandled and Wilson hustled to third.
The throw to third was not in time to get Wilson, but Malinsky made a wide turn at first and Belle Vernon third baseman Alex Nash fired the ball across the diamond to first base and Lee applied the tag. The inning ended with back-to-back strikeouts.
Losing pitcher Robbie Wilson-Jones was safe on an error when his short fly ball off the end of the bat was not cleanly fielded with one out.
JJ Myers kept the inning alive with a two-out single, but took a wide turn at first base and got caught in a rundown. Weakland, running for Wilson-Jones, broke for home, but the throw was in time to end the rally.
鈥淲e had a few chances and got caught in a rundown,鈥� said Smithfield-Fairchance manager Nick Groover.
Malinsky and Wilson-Jones kept the high-scoring Belle Vernon offense at bay for most of the game.
Malinsky stranded the bases loaded in the top of the third inning, aided by a caught stealing.
鈥淭heir pitching was really good,鈥� said Jackson. 鈥淚 think we were just way ahead of everything. We like fastball. We鈥檙e fastball hitters.
鈥淗ats off to that first pitcher. He had a good fastball, good curveball. He mixed pitches up. I don鈥檛 think we were really patient at the plate.鈥�
鈥淢att threw very well. That蘑菇视频 the best he蘑菇视频 thrown this year, even through high school. Robbie came in and threw well,鈥� said Groover. When they did get guys on, they really didn鈥檛 capitalize because of our pitching.
鈥淚t should鈥檝e been a good win.鈥�
NOTES: The regular season comes to a close this week. The sixth and seventh place teams will play a qualifying game on Monday, July 1, at the site of the sixth-place team. 鈥� The third-place team faces the winner of the play-in game, while the fourth-place team plays the fifth-place team in the quarterfinals on July 2, 3 and 5 (if necessary). 鈥� The top two teams then play the remaining teams in the semifinals, beginning on July 8, and the championship series begins July 12. 鈥� The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship are all scheduled to be best-of-3 series. 鈥� The regional tournament begins on July 19 with Blackhawk serving as the host team.