Beaver shuts out No. 14 Highlands in Class 4A quarterfinals

By: William Whalen
Monday, May 20, 2019 | 8:16 PM

Monday’s WPIAL playoff game won’t go down as one of the best games Highlands played this season, but the 2019 season will go down in the record books as the best season of the new millennium.

Beaver broke open a tight game with a five-run fourth inning, and Bobcats starting pitcher Jack Yanssens kept the Golden Rams off the board as No. 6 seed Beaver rolled past No. 14 Highlands, 10-0, in six innings in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals at Butler’s Pullman Park.

“You can’t give up five runs in an inning, and they got on to (starting pitcher) Noah (Gillette),” Highlands coach Jeff Campbell said. “They rallied with five runs in that one inning. We put the bat on the ball, and it went straight to people.”

Gillette was his normal dominant self until the fourth inning. Beaver’s Mason Rose got things started with a single through the gap at shortstop. Michael Champ added another single to shallow left field to set the table for a big inning.

Dominic Petrella bunted back to Gillette, and his errant throw past Trent Bielak opened the floodgates, scoring Rose as the Bobcats’ lead grew to 2-0.

Senior Harrison Pontoli drilled a line drive back to the mound off Gillete’s foot to reach base.

Yanssens then singled through the gap at shortstop to score Petrella and Pontoli. Vincent Mastrangelo added an RBI single to score Yanssens to make the score 6-0. Freshman pitcher Tanner Nulph replaced Gillette and struck out Alec Berg to retire the side.

Gillette stepped off the mound for his last time as Golden Ram, striking out eight and giving up eight hits over 3²⁄₃ innings.

“I think they just started catching on to everything I was throwing,” said Gillette, a Pitt-Johnstown commit. “It was hard leaving that game, but you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Up until the fourth inning, fans in attendance were treated to what appeared to be an old-fashion pitchers’ duel.

Yanssens picked up the win for Beaver (12-7), allowing five hits and striking out five through 5²⁄₃ innings.

Yanssens left the game in the top of sixth inning when Gillette hit a line drive back to mound that hit him in the face. Yanssens was able to partially deflect the hard-hit ball but still remained down on the mound for a few minutes following the play.

“He’s pretty bruised up right now,” Beaver coach Noah Medich said. “He’s gonna be sore and swollen a little bit.”

Highlands (11-9) also suffered an injury when it’s top hitter — senior Zac Kuniak — jammed his foot on the bag after trying to return back to first base. He was carried off by teammates and did not return.

“Zac coming out put a little damper on our bench,” Campbell said. “That’s a big bat coming out of our lineup.”

Highlands let in one run in the second when Beaver senior Zach Hansen scored on Champ’s hard-hit liner down the third-base line for what turned out to be the game-winning run.

Beaver moves on to Wednesday’s semifinals to play No. 2 Yough at a site and time to be determined. The Cougars downed No. 7 South Park, 3-1, to advance.

“It was a great season and the older kids carried us,” Campbell said. “The younger kids got playing time and experience, and they know what to expect going forward.”

Check out an archived video stream broadcast of this game on the TribLive High School Sports Network.

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Beaver, Highlands