WPIAL baseball playoffs roundup for May 20, 2019: Blackhawk edges Mt. Pleasant in 8th
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Monday, May 20, 2019 | 10:39 PM
Blackhawk’s Raymond Knallay is mobbed by teammates after his walk-off hit defeated Mt. Pleasant, 7-6, in their WPIAL Class 4A playoff game Monday, May 20, 2019, at Fox Chapel High School.
Blackhawk’s JarrettWright celebrates his RBI double against Mt. Pleasant during a WPIAL Class 4A playoff game Monday, May 20, 2019, at Fox Chapel High School.
Mt. Pleasant catcher Pete Billey tags out Blackhawk’s Mike Hixenbaugh at home plate during their WPIAL Class 4A playoff game Monday, May 20, 2019, at Fox Chapel High School.
Blackhawk’s Hunter Woodward scores past Mt. Pleasant catcher Pete Billey during their WPIAL Class 4A playoff game Monday, May 20, 2019, at Fox Chapel High School.
Mt. Pleasant’s Cody Surma drives in two runs with a base hit during a WPIAL Class 4A playoff game against Blackhawk Monday, May 20, 2019, at Fox Chapel High School.
Mt. Pleasant second baseman Kyle Jones makes a diving attempt on a ball in right field during a WPIAL Class 4A playoff game against Blackhawk Monday, May 20, 2019, at Fox Chapel High School.
Ray Knallay’s infield single, his fourth hit of the game, scored Hunter Woodward from third base with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning to propel No. 4 Blackhawk to a thrilling, 7-6 victory against Mt. Pleasant in a WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal baseball game Monday at Fox Chapel.
The win puts Blackhawk in the semifinals against the winner of the Greensburg Salem/New Castle game, which was suspended because of darkness.
Both teams staged seventh-inning rallies.
No. 12 Mt. Pleasant tied the score 5-5 with a two-out double by Jonathan Surma. The Vikings took a 6-5 lead on a wild pitch.
Blackhawk tied the score 6-6 on Jarett Wright’s two-out double.
“We never quit and we kept battling,” Mt. Pleasant coach Chris Firmstone said. “We’re a young team, and hopefully we’ll learn from this.”
Blackhawk coach Bob Amalia said it took awhile to get over last season’s playoff loss to Greensburg Salem last year. He was happy to reach the semifinals.
“We’ve won four or five games late this season,” Amalia said. “Jarett and Ray came up big.”
Class 3A
Freeport 1, Waynesburg 0 — Jarrett Heilman wasn’t perfect Monday. He just came exceptionally close.
Freeport’s ace pitched 52⁄3 perfect innings and finished with a complete-game one-hitter, leading No. 1 Freeport to a victory over No. 8 Waynesburg in a WPIAL Class 4A baseball quarterfinal at Latrobe.
Heilman didn’t walk a batter and struck out 11 to pitch the Yellowjackets (14-5) to the semifinals, where they’ll play No. 4 Steel Valley (11-8) on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
Waynesburg’s Jesse Johnson ended the perfect game attempt with a two-out single in the top of the sixth and stole second, but Heilman stranded him there.
Joseph Hotalski’s bases-loaded squeeze bunt in the bottom of the fourth inning provided the lone run for Freeport.
Luke Robinson took the hard-luck loss for Waynesburg (12-6).
Hopewell 3, Burrell 1 — Jake McGovern allowed just two hits over 6 2/3 innings to lead No. 2 Hopewell (14-5) to a Class 3A quarterfinal win at Boyce Mayview Park. Anthony Slate went 3 for 3 with two RBIs for the Vikings. Seth Fischbach and Tyler Mock had the lone hits for Burrell (12-5), with Fischbach picking up the RBI. Luke Virag took the loss, allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings.
Keystone Oaks 9, Ellwood City 6 — Keystone Oaks (14-4) erased an early deficit, built a seven-run lead and held on to knock off Ellwood City in a Class 3A quarterfinal at Upper St. Clair’s Boyce-Mayview Park.
Trailing 2-0 in the third, the Golden Eagles scored four unearned runs with two outs to take the lead for good.
They added four more runs in the fifth on six consecutive two-out singles to make the score 9-3.
Ellwood City (8-10) scored three runs and had runners on first and second with no outs in the seventh inning before KO senior Mason Brooks came in to retire all three batters he faced for the save.
“I think we only have two kids with playoff experience, so I think we had some jitters,” Keystone Oaks coach Nick Kamberis said.
Brooks, Colby Rockacy, Benny Kvederis and Nate Brestensky had two hits each for Keystone Oaks, while Sammy Tortorella picked up the win.
Steel Valley 8, Beth-Center 0 — Nick Harhai threw a one-hitter with nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings to lead No. 4 Steel Valley (11-8) to a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal victory at West Mifflin. Mason Haley, Aidan Good and Josh Fossick all had two hits for the Ironmen.
Class 2A
Seton LaSalle 6, OLSH 5 — Brett Wagner smacked a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift No. 4 Seton LaSalle to a victory over No. 5 OLSH in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal baseball game Monday at Burkett Complex.
Dom Popa hit a two-out double to tie the game before Wagner sealed the win. Daniel Boehme homered for the Rebels (17-2).
Nathan Hart had two RBIs, and Jake Gartley was 3 for 4 for OLSH (18-3).
Neshannock 11, Carmichaels 1 (5 inn.) — Preston Turk was 4 for 4 with three RBIs, and Frank DeLuca was 3 for 3 with two RBIs to lead No. 3 Neshannock (17-2) to a Class 2A quarterfinal win at Burkett Complex. Jake Staph also had two hits and two RBIs for the Lancers, who will play No. 2 Serra Catholic (19-2) in the semifinals.
Laurel 4, Shenango 2 — Robert Herr hit a two-out double in the fifth inning that turned out to be the winning run as No. 9 Laurel (12-6) upset No. 1 Shenango (19-3) in a Class 2A quarterfinal game at Pullman Park.
Shenango will play No. 4 Seton LaSalle in the semifinals.
Class A
California 9, Eden Christian 6 — At Latrobe, Payton Conte was 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs to help No. 1 California (16-1) claim a Class A quarterfinal win. Jordan Kearns tripled in a run for the Trojans, who will play No. 4 Quigley Catholic (13-6) in the semifinals.
Quigley Catholic 7, Greensburg Central Catholic 2 — Winning pitcher LJ Evans had three RBIs, and Kaden Cvitkovic was 3 for 3 to help No. 4 Quigley Catholic (13-6) capture a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal win at Kiski Area. Paul Rice was 2 for 2 with an RBI for No. 5 Greensburg Central Catholic (10-9).
Union 7, St. Joseph 6 — St. Joseph experienced postseason triumph in the first round of the WPIAL baseball playoffs, and the Spartans tasted heartbreak in the quarterfinals.
Union’s Bryce Smith hit a towering shot to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning to score Caleb Lombardo from first base as the No. 3 Scotties rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat No. 11 St. Joseph in the Class A quarterfinal at Pullman Park.
St. Joseph (8-8) put five runs on the board in the second inning to take an early 5-1 lead. Spartans starting pitcher Tyler Wood pitched a strong game before being replaced by Hayden Mallin in the sixth.
Wood gave up eight hits and three runs and struck out six batters.
Mallin took the loss for St. Joseph, which was making its first playoff appearance since 2000 and was coming off a first-round upset of Monessen.
Jake Vitale replaced starter Caleb Lombardo for Union (14-3) in the second inning and silenced the St. Joseph batters the rest of the way, giving up four hits and striking out 11 batters.
Bowen Lambermont sparked the Spartans’ offense in the second inning with a two-run home run to center field to give St. Joseph the lead.
Vincentian Academy 10, Bishop Canevin 0 (5 inn.) — Sam Basso threw a three-hit shutout with nine strikeouts as No. 2 Vincentian Academy (12-3) won a Class A quarterfinal game at Shaler.
Jake Stotsky was 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and Jared Katz and Basso each knocked in two runs for the Royals, who will play No. 3 Union (14-3) in the semifinals.
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