Vincentian baseball’s ‘really good offensive day’ leads to 32-2 win over Leechburg

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, April 13, 2018 | 12:27 AM

Vincentian Academy baseball coach Brad Bestic knew Thursday's lopsided score would raise some eyebrows.

His Royals won 32-2 at Leechburg in three innings.

“I've already had a couple of buddies send me screen shots of people saying, ‘What was that coach doing?' ” said Bestic, a first-year coach. “It's whatever. They weren't at the game. They're just seeing a final score. I felt like our guys composed themselves well for that being the score. I'm not concerned with what anyone else says because I know what happened out there.”

Here's what happened: Vincentian's batters went 24 for 35 at the plate (.686 average) led by UConn recruit Kyler Fedko, who was 5 for 5 with two home runs, five runs scored and nine RBIs.

The Royals scored 15 runs in the first inning, nine in the second and eight in the third. Sophomore Sam Basso went 3 for 3 and drove in seven runs, and junior Jake Stotsky was 3 for 5 with five RBIs.

“Our guys were just on today,” said Bestic, adding that Fedko also had a double hit the center-field fence 408 feet away. “They were seeing the ball really well, and everything just kind of came together for everyone on the team. I'm really proud of the effort today.”

Of the 14 batters Vincentian used, 11 had at least one hit and 12 scored. Leechburg had three errors. The Royals drew seven walks and did not strikeout. They also stole five bases.

Bestic said it's tough to ask a baseball team to slow down, especially when it's only the second or third inning.

“There were situations later in the game where we had guys put really good swings on the ball and put something in the gap,” Bestic said. “I've always felt that playing against a team that's doing that well and having them hold runners, it's kind of disrespectful rather than having them play all out. There's that gray area there, but I've always told the guys, ‘Don't worry about that. I'll take the heat. You keep doing what you do.' And they did, and I was proud of them for it.”

Vincentian improved to 4-1 overall, 2-0 in Section 1-A. The Royals outscored Springdale, 14-3, in the section opener Monday. Leechburg is 0-4, but there weren't hard feelings afterward, Bestic said.

“I talked to their coaches. They were just impressed with how well we hit,” Bestic said. “Really, they didn't make that many errors. It was just a really good offensive day by us.”

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Vincentian Academy