Tough one to swallow
Connellsville loses in walk-off fashion in legion state tournament
MILLCREEK TWP. 鈥� In a game that could have easily been played at Hempfield Area High School, or any central location between Fayette and Westmoreland counties, Bushy Run earned a 2-1 walk-off victory over Connellsville on Sunday in the Pennsylvania American Legion State Tournament at David P. Hanlon Community Athletic Complex on the campus of McDowell High School.
Bushy Run, which mainly consists of players from Penn-Trafford, had seen Connellsville twice in the high school baseball season, but the Warriors came up short twice by one run. The Falcons earned a 3-2 victory on March 29 and a 2-1 triumph on May 15 in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.
Bushy Run (24-6-2) got a measure of revenge in handing Connellsville (19-1) its first loss of the season.
鈥淭hey all know each other, so that adds to the intensity of the game,鈥� Bushy Run coach Scott Peyman said. 鈥淲e knew it would be a tough game, but every game you play up here in the state tournament is tough. I wouldn鈥檛 say this is a rivalry, but it is still two teams that are familiar with each other.鈥�
Bushy Run will play North Parkland on Monday night at 6:40 p.m. in the championship bracket. North Parkland edged Bristol, 2-1, prior to the Bushy Run-Connellsville game.
For its season to continue, Connellsville must defeat Stripes & Strikes in an elimination game on Monday at 3:40 p.m. Connellsville can still win the tournament, but has its back against the wall.
鈥淲e have to be better,鈥� Connellsville coach Brian Sankovich said. 鈥淚t蘑菇视频 tough, and we are not used to this, but we have to win three games in a row, and we move on. We will just have to come back tomorrow.鈥�
Bushy Run took the lead in the bottom of the first inning when Jake Sincak walked and scored on Carmen Metcalfe蘑菇视频 triple to left centerfield for a 1-0.
Connellsville had several opportunities to tie the game, including a spot in the fifth inning when Matt Firestone hit a ground ball to third baseman Johnathan Lovre, who fired across the diamond to Dylan Ridley, who stretched and picked the ball from the turf for the final out of the frame on a bang-bang call.
Connellsville broke through in the top of the seventh inning when Gradin Hodge walked and pinch runner Mason Miller stole second before advancing to third on Ethan Porreca蘑菇视频 base hit to left centerfield. Miller scored when Grayden Gillott hit into a double play, but the game went into the bottom of the seventh frame tied at 1-1. Gillott had two hits for Connellsville, including a double.
Bushy Run shook off Connellsville tying the game and loaded the bases with two outs on back-to-back singles from Caleb Kerstetter and Brody Hoffman and a walk to Sincak.
Sincak was initially ruled to be hit-by-pitch, but the home-plate umpire ruled he leaned into the pitch, but he was still awarded first base after taking a fourth ball.
The call didn鈥檛 sit well with Sankovich, or the rest of the Connellsville faithful that made the trip up north.
鈥淭he home-plate umpiring was very suspect,鈥� Sankovich said. 鈥淗is strike zone was all over the place. Even the ball that hit the runner when he leaned into it was a strike, so it should be called a strike. However, when you only score one run, you don鈥檛 deserve to win.鈥�
Kerstetter scored when Metcalfe was hit-by-pitch to force in the game-winning run.
Porreca allowed an early run, but didn鈥檛 let it faze him in yielding one earned run on three hits over six innings. He had 11 strikeouts and walked three, but had to exit the game due to pitch-count rules.
鈥淓than threw well,鈥� Sankovich said. 鈥淭he walk hurt him in the first inning, but he settled down, had 11 strikeouts, and they didn鈥檛 even sniff the ball.鈥�
Bushy Run starting pitcher Robert Andrews had to leave the game in the third inning due to discomfort in his elbow. Evan Gigliotti relieved Andrews and the Region 7 champions didn鈥檛 miss a beat in yielding one earned run on three hits over 4 鈪� innings. He struck out and walked three batters.
鈥淗is (Andrews) elbow was bothering him, so we have to wait and see what happens with that,鈥� Peyman said. 鈥淓van (Gigliotti) came in and did a great job.
鈥淓ven when they tied it, we just told the kids all that had to do was score one more run and we would be on to the next day, which is all you can do in this tournament. We qualified last year, but we were two and out, however, our kids learned a lot from that experience.鈥�
Hoffman added a double for a two-hit day.