Burrell offense does just enough to back strong pitching, defense in key win over Steel Valley

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, May 7, 2018 | 9:06 PM

Burrell didn't see many scoring opportunities in its crucial Section 1-3A baseball game Monday, not with the way Steel Valley's Nick Harhai was pitching.

It took just one big inning for the Bucs, though.

Nick Hwostow's two-run triple gave Burrell the lead for good in a three-run fifth inning, and a big effort from starter Luke Virag and the defense made it stand up as the Class 3A No. 4 Bucs beat No. 3 Steel Valley, 3-1, in Munhall.

“Especially when you play teams like this, it's the little plays that are going to win you the game,” said Hwostow, a senior center fielder. “I feel like we pulled through.”

Burrell (9-2, 8-2), already in the playoffs for the 19th time in coach Mark Spohn's 20 seasons, earned a share of the Section 1-3A title with rival Valley (10-5, 8-2), which finished its section games last week. Defending section champion Steel Valley (8-6, 7-3) fell to third place.

“It's two quality ball teams going at it,” Spohn said. “I told the kids on the bus this is a playoff warmup. This is what the playoffs are like. It's a nice field, just like you're going to see in the playoffs, against a good team, against a good pitcher. It's a great warmup for us.”

Harhai limited Burrell to four hits, but the Bucs clustered three of them in the fifth inning to enable the victory.

Steel Valley, on the other hand, put runners on base in six of seven innings, but Virag's ability to pitch out of trouble — and some sparkling play from his defense — limited the Ironmen to one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Ironmen left nine runners on base, including five in scoring position.

“We hit the ball hard all day, just right at people,” Steel Valley coach Tim Vickers said.

Playing on the pristine turf at West Field, the Bucs made several big plays to snuff out potential big innings. Right fielder Seth Fischbach made a pair of key running catches, Tanner Spohn caught a deep fly ball over his shoulder in left field and Jake Okopal started a double play by diving to catch a popped-up sacrifice bunt attempt.

“We came with the energy on defense as well as offense today,” Mark Spohn said. “The offense struggled, but the defense, it's much nicer when you get to play on fields like this.”

After stranding five runners in the first three innings, Steel Valley broke through with two outs in the fourth on Brady Miller's run-scoring single.

Burrell responded in the top of the next inning. Marshall McKallip walked with one out, and Tyler Mock singled. Hwostow, the No. 9 hitter in Burrell's lineup, followed with a deep fly ball that left fielder Joe Kraft couldn't track down, leading to an easy triple. Zach Miller added an RBI single to make it 3-1.

“I don't even know if he necessarily made a mistake in that inning,” Vickers said. “Those kids got a couple pitches to hit. Those hits found holes, and ours didn't.”

Harhai pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits, with four walks and four strikeouts.

Virag gave up six hits and five walks before exiting after reaching the pitch-count limit with two outs in the seventh. It took Tanner Spohn one pitch to induce a game-ending groundout.

“(We've) just got to keep our heads up high, take this and transition into the next couple games here,” Hwostow said.

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer.

Tags: Burrell, Steel Valley