Showdown is set
Belle Vernon, Connellsville win opening games in Region 6 tourney
ROSTRAVER TWP. 鈥� Belle Vernon and Connellsville received byes into Saturday蘑菇视频 action of the American Senior Legion Baseball Region 6 Tournament at John DiVirgilio Sports Complex, and the two teams won their respective games to set up a showdown on Sunday.
Connellsville (16-0) earned a 5-1 victory over Blackhawk in the first game on Saturday before Belle Vernon (13-3) downed Baden, 13-3, in a five-inning contest.
鈥淚t is nice to live for another day,鈥� Connellsville coach Brian Sankovich said. 鈥淚t comes down to pitching and defense, and we got both today.鈥�
Belle Vernon and Connellsville played Sunday evening in the championship bracket of the double-elimination tournament. The results were not available at press time, but a recap will be available at www.heraldstandard.com late Sunday evening.
鈥淲e knew that Connellsville is a good team, and we expect it to be a good game,鈥� Belle Vernon coach Tom Jackson said. 鈥�(Brian) Sankovich always has his guys ready.鈥�
Connellsville took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Noah Zawislan scored on starting pitcher Ethan Porreca蘑菇视频 base hit and Chase Sankovich drove in Porreca with a line drive to right field.
Connellsville added to its advantage in the third when Kace Shearer scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.
Alex VanSickle drove in Grayden Gillott on a base hit to right field and Sankovich scored on Matthew Firestone蘑菇视频 sacrifice flyout to center field for a 5-0 advantage in the top of the fourth.
Sankovich and VanSickle had two hits apiece and each drove in a run. Zawislan had two base hits and Firestone added a single along with his RBI.
鈥淎lex and Chase got big hits,鈥� Brian Sankovich said. 鈥淲e got big hits when we needed them. I wasn鈥檛 happy that we left too many people on base in the first four innings. We left two, three, two and two in the first four innings. You can鈥檛 leave that many people on base.
鈥淏lackhawk is well coached and they play the game the way it蘑菇视频 supposed to be played. I respect their coaches and their players. That蘑菇视频 always been a very good and well-coached team.鈥�
Blackhawk scored in the bottom of the frame when Tyler Syka蘑菇视频 singled to left field plated Sam Saliba to cut the deficit to 5-1, but Connellsville was able to get out of the inning and hold on for the victory.
Logan Elich had two hits for Blackhawk, who loaded the bases three times, but Porreca was able to get out of a jam in the first inning and Gillott stopped threats in the fourth and sixth innings. Connellsville turned a game-ending double play.
鈥淓than didn鈥檛 have his best stuff, and he hasn鈥檛 pitched for a while, but he gutted it out,鈥� Sankovich said.
Gillott came on for Porreca in the fourth and didn鈥檛 allow a run on three hits over 3 鈪� innings. He struck out three and walked one.
鈥淕rayden Gillott is the toughest, pound-for-pound, kid I鈥檝e ever coached,鈥� Sankovich said.
Belle Vernon used an eight-run fourth to take control in its game against Baden. The host team drew six walks and hit four singles for a 13-1 lead in the top of the frame.
Baden responded with two runs in the bottom of the inning, but Belle Vernon closed the game out in the fifth due to the 10-run rule.
Baden out hit Belle Vernon (9-7) but issued 11 free passes and made three errors. Belle Vernon didn鈥檛 commit an error.
鈥淲e took advantage of walks and just booted balls,鈥� Jackson said. 鈥淲e were glad to be able to get out of there in five innings to save our kids. It蘑菇视频 always great to be moving on.鈥�
Hunter Fulmer earned the win on the mound after allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits over four innings. Ian Porter pitched a scoreless inning.
JB Crovak led Belle Vernon蘑菇视频 offense with two hits and three RBIs. He stole two bases, walked and scored one run. Teammates AJ Grese and Nate Grimm singled and drove in two runs apiece.
Belle Vernon蘑菇视频 Cy Herchelroath, Cole Matusik and Charlie Nigut each drew a base on balls.
Baden蘑菇视频 Adam Fernandez had two hits and drove in one run.
Uniontown bows out of tournament
Rich Franks was proud of his team蘑菇视频 effort in both games of the tournament, but Uniontown had its season end at 14-10-1 after losses to Baden (3-1) and Blackhawk (9-1).
Due to inclement weather on Friday, the Baden-Uniontown game didn鈥檛 start until 10:45 p.m.
Baden蘑菇视频 Joey Pugh pitched four perfect innings with seven strikeouts to earn the win on the mound. Joseph Leseiko allowed a hit with three strikeouts and three walks over two scoreless frames before Adam Fernandez allowed one unearned run without giving up a hit for the save. He struck out two and walked three.
Pugh singled and drove in a run.
Sevi Vecchiolla scored for Uniontown on an error. Teammate Brayden Hinzy singled for Franks鈥� team.
鈥淲e were fortunate to have a scrimmage against Connellsville, and that did help a little bit with the rust, but there is a big difference between playing this level of competition than playing a scrimmage game,鈥� Franks said. 鈥淲hen you get in these situations, the moment that you become non-relaxed, everybody tightens up and starts to struggle, then people feed off that, and good teams take advantage of that.鈥�
Noah Lion pitched well but took the loss against Baden after yielding three runs (two earned) on five hits over six innings. He had three strikeouts and walked two.
Hinzy and Lion singled for Uniontown against Blackhawk蘑菇视频 Aidan Gill, who allowed one earned run over six innings with eight strikeouts and six walks.
Gill was relieved in the seventh with two on and nobody out after Luke Gresh and Connor D鈥橝mico walked, but Luca Dilonardo was able to record two flyouts and a strikeout to finish the game.
Dilonardo, Jackson Cekovich and Connor Welsh each had a double for Blackhawk.
Uniontown scored in the fifth when Parker Hoff walked, Hinzy singled and both advanced to second and third on Luke Gresh蘑菇视频 sacrifice bunt before Hoff scored when D鈥橝mico reached on an error.
鈥淚t蘑菇视频 a fantastic group that we have,鈥� Franks said. 鈥淲e love these kids. We are around these kids so much, it蘑菇视频 almost like they are our kids. We look out for them, and not just from a baseball standpoint.
鈥淭he bittersweet pill is we lose Connor D鈥橝mico, who is a great kid and teammate for all these guys. The good part is that everybody else is eligible to come back.鈥�