Bushy Run stays hot, advances to championship game

By: Paul Schofield
Sunday, August 2, 2020 | 4:25 PM

Earlier in the season, Bushy Run manager Scott Peyman wasn’t thrilled with the way his team was playing.

But he is now.

Bushy Run advanced to the Westmoreland County American Baseball League championship game by defeating second-seed Murrysville, 8-2, in the deciding Game 3 on Sunday at Sunrise Elementary School.

The win puts Bushy Run against regular-season champion Latrobe at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Legion-Keener Field. It also earns it a berth in the regional tournament next weekend at Hollidaysburg.

Murrysville can still qualify for the regional tournament. It will play host to Yough at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Haymaker Field.

“We’re in the championship game again,” Peyman said. “A couple of weeks into the season, I never thought we’d make it to the championship game. We weren’t playing well, but we turned things around pretty quickly.”

After splitting the first two games of the semifinal series at Murrysville on Saturday, Peyman said he felt comfortable about his team’s chances in Game 3.

“We were able to reset our pitching,” Peyman said. “Both pitchers lobbied to pitch on Saturday, but I wanted them to be ready for Sunday and Tuesday.”

Scott allowed six hits and struck out four. Matt Skelly was the losing pitcher.

Gavin Berardi broke the game open with a two-run double in a three-run fourth inning to build a 6-2 lead. It added two more runs in the sixth.

Bushy Run collected seven hits, two by Garrett Couch, and received nine walks.

Latrobe reached the championship game by winning two series. In both series, Mt. Pleasant and Yough, the Jethawks were challenged. They overcame an 11-0 deficit to defeat Yough on Friday and they rallied late to edge both Mt. Pleasant and Yough in Game 2 of their series.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Penn-Trafford