14th-seeded Hopewell completes Cinderella run to WPIAL Class 4A crown with win over Latrobe
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Tuesday, May 30, 2023 | 6:27 PM
Hopewell’s Ty Eberhardt celebrates with the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating Latrobe in the Class 4A final Tuesday at Wild Things Park.
Hopewell pitcher Landon Fox is mobbed by teammates after defeating Latrobe in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Hopewell pitcher Landon Fox delivers against Latrobe during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Hopewell’s Lucas Arrington reacts at second base during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game against Latrobe on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Hopewell pitcher Landon Fox kisses his gold medal after defeating Latrobe in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Hopewell pitcher Landon Fox celebrates with teammates after defeating Latrobe in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Latrobe pitcher Logan Bradish delivers during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game against Hopewell on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Latrobe’s Cooper Basciano turns a double play over Hopewell’s Greg Barlion during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Hopewell’s Stephen Slate tags out Latrobe’s Erick Batista in a rundown during the seventh inning of the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Latrobe catcher Louie Amatucci tags out Hopewell’s Lucas Arrington at home plate during the WPIAL Class 4A championship game on Tuesday, May 30, 2023, at Wild Things Park.
Landon Fox was hurting but hunting.
The Hopewell senior pitcher injured his lower back in the last playoff game and was feeling pain early in Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 4A championship game.
“It was getting pretty bad in the third inning,” Fox said. “But I figured, you only get to the WPIAL championship once a year, so I knew I wasn’t coming out.”
Or in this case, twice in three years.
Just the same, Hopewell, the No. 14 seed, expected to be in the finals. And the Vikings weren’t going to let anything stand in their way of winning another title — not back pain, not a late baserunner, not the top of Latrobe’s order.
Fox pitched a complete game and went 2 for 3 with a double to power the Vikings to a 4-3 victory over No. 5 Latrobe at Wild Things Park in Washington.
“Nobody expected us to win, so the pressure was off,” Fox said. “It was just, go out and play.”
Hopewell (12-11) won a title two years ago and was upset last year as the No. 1 seed, so the team didn’t exactly come out of nowhere.
But it had to hold off a similarly scrappy Latrobe team to claim its fifth WPIAL title.
“They showed a lot of fight, just like us,” said Latrobe senior Logan Bradish, who also went all seven innings and had two hits, including a double. “They came out and wanted to fight.”
The lowest-seeded team to win since No. 16 Seneca Valley in 2014, Hopewell rallied from a 2-0 deficit.
Down 4-3, Latrobe (17-7) looked primed to tie or win in the bottom of the seventh, but ran into trouble.
Senior Erick Batista dropped a one-out bunt single, then stole second to move the tying run into scoring position.
Batista, though, was picked off between second and third, as Fox threw to sophomore shortstop Zach Gigliotti, and then to senior third baseman Stephen Slate for the 1-6-5 putout.
Fox got junior Louie Amatucci to look at a 2-2 pitch for a game-ending strikeout.
“These last four games, we have really become the team we thought we could be,” Vikings coach Morgan Singletary said. “Landon is a great kid. Every time he goes out there, we know what we’re getting. He is baseball smart.”
Latrobe was hoping to conjure some of the walk-off magic its 2017 WPIAL champion team had, but it fell short.
“Give Hopewell credit,” Latrobe coach Matt Basciano said. “And give our kids credit for fighting until the end. Both pitchers threw great games. The defenses played well. It was a couple plays. That’s baseball.”
Latrobe took a 2-0 lead in the first on a double by Bradish and a two-run single by senior Anthony Massari.
But the Vikings answered in the top of the second. Senior Greg Barlion singled, Fox doubled and a walk loaded the bases.
Junior John Vescio was then hit by a pitch for the first run, Gigliotti followed with a single to tie it, and senior Ty Eberhardt’s sacrifice fly made it 3-2.
It became a two-run lead in the fourth when Gigliotti delivered a sacrifice fly after a Latrobe error.
The Wildcats cut it to 4-3 in the fifth. Batista tripled into the left-field corner, and Amatucci brought him home on a sac fly to make it 4-3.
Vascio made a highlight-reel catch in center to rob senior Tyler Fazekas of a hit in the sixth.
Despite some pain, Fox said he settled in and kept the Wildcats’ lineup at bay.
“They were good early in counts,” he said. “My changeup started working for me. This is the second WPIAL title for this group. We know how to win.”
Barlion had two hits for the Vikings.
Batista and Massari each had two hits for Latrobe. Batista scored twice.
Both teams will enter the PIAA playoffs Monday.
Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
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