Gateway baseball team looks to bounce back in Section 1-5A

By: Michael Love
Sunday, April 16, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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The Gateway baseball team got a daily double April 3 with some timely offense and strong pitching and defense in a 3-1 victory over Franklin Regional at the newly refurbished field at the Gateway Sports Complex.

Senior Nate Demchak tripled home three runs in the bottom of the fourth, while senior Brandon Bell, junior Tali Thompson and freshman Grady Dunsmore added hits in the victory over the Gators’ neighboring rival.

Senior Nolan Boehm picked up the pitching victory with one hit and one walk allowed while striking out 10 over 5 2/3 innings of work.

It all added up to a strong open to Section 1-5A play for the Gators, who also began their season 4-1 overall.

Fast forward a week, and Gateway found itself hoping to right the ship after three straight losses in a rugged section schedule.

The Gators lost the second game of the FR series, 13-3, and were swept by Fox Chapel, 6-0 and 13-3, on April 11-12.

With an uneven number of teams in Section 1, at least one team is on a bye from section games each week.

Fox Chapel, on the strength of its series sweep of the Gators, found itself at the top of the section standings at 5-1 after six games.

Franklin Regional, which split with Gateway on April 3 and 4, nipped at the Foxes’ heels at 3-1.

Armstrong (4-2), Penn-Trafford (3-3) and Plum (2-2) also were in front of the Gators (1-3) in the standings.

The top four teams from the section earn berths to the WPIAL playoffs.

Gateway found itself in a crucial situation Monday and Tuesday as it was to take on Armstrong in a home-and-home set.

While there have been a few wide margins in section matchups this spring, there also have been a number of close and competitive games.

Gateway’s win over Franklin Regional was one of eight section games decided by two runs or less through the first three weeks of the schedule.

The Gators opened the season and opened play on its new turf March 22 with a 10-1 win over Hampton. Gateway collected nine hits — five of them doubles.

The hits continued against Riverview and Kiski Area with 22 combined in 11-1 and 8-4 wins, respectively.

Thompson posted a team-best .478 average (11 of 23) through eight games with four doubles, six RBIs and five runs scored.

Bell also posted a plus-.400 average (.423, 11 of 26) with seven doubles and a team-best nine runs scored.

Juniors Noah Colbert and Ahmad Harris fronted the Gators with eight RBIs apiece, while Boehm added seven RBIs with two triples and two home runs, both team-bests.

Gateway hitters batted a collective .270 (53 for 196) over eight games.

Volleyball pulling rank

At the start of the season, Gateway boys volleyball coach Phil Randolph said things like top-10 coaches rankings were fun to look at and examine, but the wins, he said, are the thing that will determine the destination for a team looking to set itself up for the playoffs.

The Gators were ranked 10th in the preseason Western Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association Class 2A poll but fell out of the rankings a week later.

On April 10, Gateway returned to the Class 2A top 10 at No. 10 after a 3-1 Section 2 win over Armstrong on April 5.

The Gators and Latrobe both stood undefeated at a modest 2-0 in Section 2 after section games April 11, which included Gateway’s 3-0 sweep of Deer Lakes.

As of press time Thursday, the Gators were getting ready for their highly anticipated clash with Latrobe to decide the outright lead in the standings.

Gateway is in the middle of a busy week with a section matchup with Mars on Tuesday, and a nonsection battle with Class 4A Upper St. Clair on Wednesday before heading to Saturday’s Upper St. Clair tournament.

The Planets started out 3-1 in the section with 3-0 win over Armstrong on April 4 and a sweep of Deer Lakes on April 6, before a 3-0 loss to Latrobe last Tuesday.

Mars bounced back one day later and defeated Derry, 3-1.

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.

Tags: Gateway