Successful season ends early for Plum baseball

By: Michael Love
Saturday, May 29, 2021 | 11:01 AM

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The Plum baseball team had different designs on the 2021 WPIAL postseason than what played out May 19 against Latrobe in a WPIAL first-round game at Norwin.

The Wildcats stunned the fifth-seeded Mustangs by jumping out to a 7-1 lead after two innings.

Plum coach Carl Vollmer appreciated the fight of his players after the early game struggles, but his team was not able to come all the way back in an 8-7 loss that brought on a sudden end to a productive return season from the 2020 covid cancellation.

“I think every team goes into the playoffs with confidence because that means you’ve had success during the season,” Vollmer said.

“The fact that we won the section gave us that confidence. We were a five seed, but we obviously didn’t play our best baseball against Latrobe. Give them credit for coming out fast. We didn’t, and ultimately, we fell a little bit short. If that game was played several times, we would like to think the outcome would be different. But you learn from all of these experiences, and hopefully with a pretty young team, that experience will have value over the next couple of years.”

Vollmer said the fight his players showed against Latrobe to the final out was indicative of the way they battled in several games throughout the regular season.

“We came from behind to win in five games,” he said. “We had three walk-off wins. We had a chance to win three more with the tying run in scoring position. We just put at-bats together (against Latrobe) and tried to not do too much all at once. Our pitching settled in a little bit and allowed us the time to get back into it. This is a team that had shown the guts, perseverance and fight that allowed us to believe that we would have a chance to come back and that we were never out of it.”

Plum finished its season 11-7 overall and won the section outright at 10-2, a game ahead of Mars and Fox Chapel.

The Mustangs swept the Planets with two dramatic late-inning victories April 12-13.

The two-game set with the Foxes on May 10-11 decided the title. Plum lost the first game, 5-2, but came back to claim the second game, 4-2, and secure its first section crown since 2016, its fifth in the past 10 years and its 19th in the history of the program.

Vollmer praised the five seniors — Ethan Kircher, Nate McMasters, Colton Lowman, Christian Brown and Matt Frazzetta — for their varying roles for the team throughout the season.

Kircher, Frazzetta and McMasters were voted team captains before the season.

“There was a high level of expectation from those guys, and they were the guys we leaned on for leadership through a really unusual offseason,” Vollmer said. “They did a tremendous job of holding things together when we were all over the place.

“Christian and Colton, regardless of their roles, provided productivity and tremendous leadership. This was a great senior class in terms of leadership because they all brought something different to the table.”

Kircher came back from a case of mono early in the season to be one of the top hitters on the team. He batted .318 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 12 RBIs.

McMasters, a first-team all-section selection, finished second on the team with a .386 average. He added a team-best 11 doubles and 19 runs scored and tallied 10 RBIs.

Frazzetta, along with juniors Colin Solinski and Justin Giarrusso, were all-section second-team picks.

Solinski led the team with a .412 batting average and formed the core of the pitching staff with Giarrusso, sophomore Brady Dojonovic and freshman Erik Streussnig.

Caden Norcutt, a sophomore, batted .381 with a team-leading 16 RBIs. He was selected all-section honorable mention.

“I am excited to see what the future holds for this team,” Vollmer said. “A lot of younger players made big impacts this year. We are building and hopefully maintaining a high level of success.”

Vollmer pointed to his team’s refurbished home field on the Plum campus as a highlight of the season and a source of pride for the program.

Plum made its season debut on the new field April 27 with a 6-2 section win over Penn Hills.

“It was awesome,” Vollmer said. “The field is one of the best in Western Pennsylvania. It is a premier facility. The kids are super excited to be on it for practices and games. It is something that is going to have a positive impact on the program for a long time.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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