Resilient Leopards sweep Latrobe to earn section title
Submitted photo
Belle Vernon knew the task at hand as it entered its two-game Section 2-AAAA series with first-place Latrobe this week.
The Leopards sat in second place, one game behind, and needed a sweep of the Wildcats to claim the section title.
A gutsy, marathon 4-3 win at Latrobe in a tense 12-inning battle on Monday set up a winner-take-all game at DiVirgilio Sports Complex that was postponed by rain from Tuesday to Wednesday night.
In another thrilling clash with a roller-coaster ending that saw Belle Vernon go from a 5-2 lead to a 5-5 tie to a 6-5 walk-off win, all in the seventh inning, it was senior Adam LaCarte who rescued the Leopards on senior night.
LaCarte, who scored what proved to be the winning run in the 12th inning of Monday’s victory, pitched out of a bases-loaded one-out jam to halt a Latrobe rally and keep the game tied in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the inning his single brought in Cole Matusik from second base with the winning run for a dramatic walk-off victory.
That earned the Leopards just their fifth section championship plaque in program history and first in 12 years.
“I’ve never seen a more resilient team in all my years of coaching,” BV coach Tony Watson said. “Many of these guys have that winning pedigree from winning multiple football championships. They handle their business and they pull for one another. The chemistry on this team is so noticeable.”
Belle Vernon (9-1, 13-3) trailed 2-0 after two innings thanks to run-scoring singles by Latrobe’s Mason Leonard and Louie Amatucci in the second but the Leopards sliced the lead to one on Colton Lee’s RBI groundout in the fourth.
Belle Vernon took the lead with a three-run fifth as Matusik’s sacrifice fly, an error and Lucas Judy’s groundout each produced a run. Connor Bergman’s run-scoring single in the sixth inning gave the hosts a 5-2 advantage.
The Leopards retired the lead-off batter in the top of the seventh, but a hit batter followed by five consecutive walks helped the Wildcats (8-2, 13-3) pull even at 5-5.
Watson then called on LaCarte, Belle Vernon’s fourth pitcher of the night and third of the inning, and he came through, inducing a shallow fly out to right fielder Jake Gedekoh and a force out to third baseman Bergman.
“Our strength is pitching depth this year,” Watson said. “We probably have four guys that can be aces on a lot of other high school staffs. But we were down to the bare bones of our pitching at the end of this game. I think it was a combination of nerves and exhaustion.”
LaCarte isn’t considered one of those four aces.
“Adam LaCarte comes in and the kid’s got ice water in his veins,” Watson said. “He’s not really a pitcher, he just comes in and eats innings for us but I needed someone to stop the bleeding there, called on him and he shut the door and limited the damage which was very important.”
Hayden Porterfield came on in relief for Latrobe in the bottom of the seventh and hit Matusik with a pitch and Matusik advanced to second on Judy’s single to center.
That set the stage for LaCarte who lined a single to left field. Even with no outs, Watson waved Matusik home who slid in safely with the winning run.
“It was an inside pitch and Adam barreled it up and it was a rocket down the line,” Watson said. “Cole Matusik is one of our fastest runners so there was no hesitation on my part, I said we’re going for it here, and he beat the throw.”
That set off a wild celebration by the Leopards.
“It was nuts,” Watson said. “I think I may have been a little bit animated myself.
“There’s just no quit in this group.”
Winning pitcher LaCarte and Bergman had two hits apiece for Belle Vernon. Lee started for the Leopards and allowed two unearned runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts in throwing 97 pitches in five-plus innings
Amatucci and Riley Smith each had two hits for Latrobe. Starting pitcher Luke Nipar-Smith gave up four earned runs on six hits with four walks and three strikeouts in six innings.
“I’m just really proud of the kids and I told them that and how much they mean to me after the game,” Watson said. “They put baseball back on the map here.”
The game was the regular-season finale for the Leopards.
“I told them enjoy, rest up, heal, you have the next two days off,” Watson said. “Then we’ll start preparing for the playoffs.”