Roaring Lions win 6 straight, qualify for playoffs
Penn State Fayette蘑菇视频 baseball team picked the perfect time to go on a winning streak.
The Roaring Lions took a pair of non-conference games from Patrick Henry on April 22, outscoring the Sentinels by a combined 18-1, then reeled off four consecutive victories over Penn State New Kensington to qualify for the PSUAC tournament for the first time in three years.
The performance was impressive enough to earn Fayette the PSUAC Team of the Week honor.
Fayette won twice at New Kensington, 18-7 and 17-9, on Friday before sweeping Sunday蘑菇视频 home doubleheader, 15-2 and 8-7.
The Roaring Lions鈥� six-game streak was halted on Tuesday with a 9-1 non-conference loss at La Roche.
Fayette finished the regular season with a 10-29 overall record and a 6-14 mark in conference play which was good enough to get the Roaring Lions into the postseason as the fifth seed from the West conference.
They play East No. 4 Penn State Scranton at Showers Field in DuBois in a PSUAC first-round game in the 12-team, single-elimination tournament. First pitch is scheduled for 1:45 p.m.
The winner will advance to play West No. 1 DuBois later in the day at 7:15 p.m.
鈥淭his will be the third time we made the playoffs since I鈥檝e been here,鈥� Encapera said. 鈥淲e missed the last two years. Excited to be back.鈥�
The first of Saturday蘑菇视频 two games against New Kensington was Senior Day with the Roaring Lions honoring AJ Segarra and Ashton Ray.
Fittingly, both had a double, single and two RBIs in the 15-2 win.
鈥淎J was my first recruit in 2021,鈥� Encapera said. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 an RBI machine who evolved into a pitcher for us.鈥� Segarra has battled a foot injury that forced him to miss the entire 2025 season.
鈥淗e蘑菇视频 overcome so much but he蘑菇视频 still got the same friendly personality he had when he got here,鈥� Encapera said. 鈥淚 wish him the best and was blessed to have him here.鈥�
Ray made his biggest impact as a pitcher but has had a good offensive season as well.
鈥淗e loves baseball and all sports really,鈥� Encapera said. 鈥淗e蘑菇视频 a student of the game and has the best stuff on our staff, great movement and velocity make him tough to hit.
鈥淗e had a great bounce-back year hitting. He蘑菇视频 quiet but a great teammate who the rest of the players love. I appreciated his loyalty and commitment to the program and I wish him the best.鈥�
Connor Perry contributed three hits, including a pair of doubles and Manny Stitch had two hits for Fayette, which also got a single and three RBIs from Jimmy Knapton and a hit and two RBIs from both Uniontown graduate Hunter Smiley and Remington Lessman. Winning pitcher Brandon Bieler allowed just two hits and no walks with three strikeouts in four scoreless innings.
The second win which followed on Sunday to complete the four-game sweep and extend the win streak to six came in dramatic fashion.
New Kensington built a 7-0 lead before the Roaring Lions roared back with two runs in the fifth, five in the sixth and one in the bottom of the seventh to pull out the victory.
Smiley蘑菇视频 run-scoring grounder and Knapton蘑菇视频 sacrifice fly got Fayette on the board in the fifth.
Brownsville graduate Jonathan Vasbinder, who started the rally in the previous inning with a walk, singled to lead off the sixth and came home after three straight walks, the last of which was drawn by Smiley to make it 7-3. Consecutive two-run singles by Knapton and Segarra evened the score.
Perry doubled leading off the seventh. After a fly out and a hit by pitch, Knapton singled to left to bring in Perry with the winning run.
鈥淲e dug ourselves a hole that looked almost impossible to get out of,鈥� Encapera said. 鈥淲e had to play nearly perfect to have a chance and we took advantage of some opportunities. Jimmy and AJ had clutch hits to spark the tie, and Jimmy came through again to walk it off in the seventh. So proud of both their leadership qualities shining through in that game.鈥�
Josh Vacha earned the win with two scoreless innings in relief of Ray who went the first five.
Fayette got two strong pitching outings in the two wins over Patrick Henry.
Todd Kowalcyk twirled a two-hitter with three walks and six strikeouts in a 5-0 victory in the opener. Knapton had a double and a single, Frank Macioce had two hits and an RBI and Joshua Gonzalez was 1 for 2 with a walk, two stolen bases and two runs to spark the offense.
Vacha was the winning pitcher in the second game, a five-inning 13-1 victory. He allowed no earned runs on one hit with one walk and seven strikeouts in four innings. Jadyn Reese sparked the offense with two hits and three RBIs and both Smiley and Vasbinder contributed a single and two RBIs for the Roaring Lions, who also got two hits, an RBI and three runs from Stitch and a double, single and an RBI from Josh Hammer.
Fayette蘑菇视频 bats were humming in the two win at New Kensington on Friday.
In the five-inning opener Smiley, who had two hits and five RBIs, smashed a grand slam in a 10-run third that turned a 4-1 deficit into an 11-4 lead. Segarra added a three-run double later in the frame.
Fayette put up seven more runs in the fifth which included a two-run single by Macioce and an RBI double by Alex Weber, who had two doubles and three RBIs in the game. The Roaring Lions also got three hits and an RBI from Lessman and a single and two RBIs from Stitch.
Winning pitcher Hammer pitched all five innings.
Fayette scored in every inning of the 17-9 win in Friday蘑菇视频 second game, highlighted by three-run homers by both Smiley and Vasbinder and a two-run shot by Ray.
Weber contributed a triple, double and three RBIs and Perry had a double, single and three RBIs. Brogan Meighan pitched into the seventh inning in earning the win.
Encapera was pleased with the way his team stuck together and closed strong to reach the postseason.
鈥淥ur team has come a long way this year,鈥� Encapera said. 鈥淲e played a difficult non-conference schedule to get battle tested. We struggled at times but bounced back, learned from our mistakes and are playing well right now.
鈥淭he goal is to be playing your best at the end of the year and I think we are.鈥�